3BrNBBRz4UYdo+!~~60_7.JPG "chameleon54"){kind=avatar}
@ljhosking,
I hope that you managed to salvage your hat.
I hope you are aware that eBay's Postage for sellers page says nothing about sellers not being able to include in the postage charge any associated costs. chameleon is absolutely correct.
I hope you can see that it would be illogical for a seller to be forced to include in the item price such postage-related expenses as any, some, or all of the following: packaging materials (bubble wrap, packing tape, boxes, satchels, packing peanuts), pens, ink, printer, labels, time spent on packaging based upon an hourly rate (if the postage options chosen at the time of listing didn't reveal the option of including a handling cost), any associated fuel costs, cost of postage, cost of extras (signature on delivery, priority, insurance, etc.), eBay's fee on the postage amount, self-insurance (to cover the items inevitably "lost", stolen, or otherwise claimed to be missing), and so on. (Should someone who picks up an item rather than have it delivered be paying for costs associated with postage, for instance? Something to consider...)
In the past, there definitely were eBay policies that forbade sellers to include some of those costs in the postage amount. That's changed; it no longer applies.
gutterpunkz has mentioned that your seller didn't actually say "This hat will be posted in a box", but rather addressed the point that sending in a box would result in a higher postage amount. The $20 quoted would NOT cover the cost of postage in a box. What postage method was actually set up in the postage tab? (My guess is... not a box.)
I hope you are pleased to have received a refund of $11.70. But... to be frank... that $11.70 was the least of your worries. You had a legitimate route to request a return and full refund since you say that the hat was damaged. But as you've posted to the effect that you want to try to force sellers into adding all costs to their items, and hope sellers learn a lesson from your PayPal refund victory, I suspect that sellers will instead learn an entirely different lesson and decide that you pose too high a risk to a smooth trouble-free transaction. Sellers mitigate that sort of risk by adding buyers/bidders to the blocked list. (Many sellers read here but never post.) That would be a sad outcome.
