Bad seller not fair.

[emalith]

Hello please advise me where to go on this. I have purchased 4 coins from a seller on Saturday.  I got them reasonably priced not cheap not expensive, they were bought as silver scrap as there not in very good condition.  He had 4 all seperate auctions and they went for just under $2 each bare in mind there worth max $4 ea for there silver content.  He had each one at $4 postage each so I just assumed he would combine like all small item sellers genrally offer. Well I had a feeling something was wrong straight away as I had to send several emails to get a response , well I got one today after again sending 2 more emails. 

Now this is simply not right 4 coins the size of 10 cent pieces that cost less $7 and he wants to charge me $16 postage $4 ea. really is this allowed that is just not right.  I mean all up there only worth$16 . Consider most other sellers charge between $0.60 - $1.50 for the same service.  Now I will pay just to leave 4 red dots as that is not on and should be stamped out. Sorry for venting but its just not fair. Thanks.

[springyzone]

How is it fee avoidance?

I can see that if someone combines items in a package but charges for postage separately, it isn't necessarily fair (depends on the total  postage costs etc) but the person would still be paying ebay & paypal fees on each sale, I assume.

Iamanark said:

It is because of sellers like this that people are deserting ebay in droves

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Ebay is becoming known as the rip-off site, with one main reason being sellers like this

Ebay has changed for sure over the years, but I would guess a lot of lost business (if they are losing any) would be because of all the daily deal sites that have sprung up everywhere. I know for a fact that some of them either charge individually for postage (no combined postage offered) or else some charge a flat rate, no matter how little or big the purchase. So for example, on UCW site, if you just buy a tiny piece of jewellery or a small bra extender, it is $10 postage regardless.

One thing I have noticed though is as a rule, ebay sellers get back to you with a reply if you ask a question. Usually quickly.

Go on gumtree and ask a question of a few sellers and you'll find about 80% totally ignore you, they don't even bother to reply with 'sorry, sold' or pull their ad off. And I am not kidding, I do mean 80%-perhaps higher.

I am  guessing it is because there is no such thing as feedback on there.

So ebay has changed but it still has a lot of advantages for some items and some situations.

[iamanark]

Yes, people are leaving ebay in droves . Why do you think ebay keep offering hundreds of free listings each month? . You figures show profits … because ebay keep putting up fees to maintain their profits … when I joined ebay FVF were about 5% . And also when you quote profit/growth … you include Paypay income/profit … deduct that and where would ebay shares be ? . People are leaving ebay in droves and one main reason is because of sellers like the OP has encounted . It is not over until the fat lady has posted

[digital*ghost]

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@silversterio2 wrote:

Opinions aside the fact is, it's fee avoidance.

When a buyer gives a star rating of 1 or 2 to the question:

"How reasonable were the postage and handling charges ?" a box appears showing

'Why weren’t you satisfied  with the postage and handling charges ? Did the Seller"

5 options are there to choose from  with one of them being

"Combine multiple items into one box but charge for postage for each item  individually"

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Fee avoidance is debatable - they were individual auctions with $4 P&H, coins must be sent registered, so the original quote per item is more than reasonable. End price is determined by the bidders, and while combined purchases might be relatively common in that category, it's not a given.

Still, as implied by my previous post, I don't think there is anyone here that would condone the seller's decision - that's assuming their express intention was to put all coins in one package to garner additional profit they otherwise would not have if each item was purchased by a different member, if so then it's an opportunistic decision most sellers wouldn't make, but not necessarily one against eBay's policies, including fee avoidance (depending on individual interpretation). We do not as yet know for sure exactly how the seller planned to post their items, so that's only making a (semi-educated) guess based on previous experience / probability, and there are lots of sellers who package and post items individually for one reason or another. 

eBay's "scenarios" provided for low DSR scores are hardly "catch-all", nor pay any mind to the variety of circumstances that can affect what postage actually costs. Sometimes putting separate items into one package = more than individual P&H costs, so the buyer doesn't get a discount and the seller is out. (Perhaps interestingly, though slightly beside the point, "free post" quite often means buyers pay individually, don't get the opportunity for combined discounts, and can't even rate the P&H DSR...)

[harley_babes_hoard]

When you joined you say, well that was 7 years ago going by this ID. Tell me what hasn't gone up in 7 years. FVF are at about 9.9% or less now, so that's almost 5% in 7 years.

[pentney97]

I would combine the postage, this seller didnt / wont.

I would ask before bidding on multiple items, this buyer didnt.

A learning experience for both parties I guess.

[iamanark]

FVF are at about 9.9% or less now, so that's almost 5% in 7 years.

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LOL

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For some people mathematics are not their strong point

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5% FVF to 10% FVF is a HUNDRED PERCENT INCREASE

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LOL

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I  STILL DO NOT UNDERSTAND HOW MEMBERS CAN DEFEND A SELLER WHO RIPS OFF ANOTHER MEMBER WITH POSTAGE GOURGING

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PS I have been a member for 12 years

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. IT IS NOT OVER UNTIL THE FAT LADY POSTS

[digital*ghost]

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@iamanark wrote:

.

I  STILL DO NOT UNDERSTAND HOW MEMBERS CAN DEFEND A SELLER WHO RIPS OFF ANOTHER MEMBER WITH POSTAGE GOURGING

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Ripping someone off means you deceive them to gain funds and don't provide what was offered for the sum of money paid. That's impossible to do when the seller has been clear about their postage costs and what the buyer will get for that sum of money. Is it good value for money? Well, not to me it isn't, but the fact remains that not getting good value for money doesn't = rip off.

Advising the buyer that they have some responsibility for the uninformed purchase decisions they make is not the same as defending the seller - if the seller came here to ask for advice, do you really think any of the posters here would say "good on you! stick it to the buyer!". No, they would be advised to combine and discount postage to a reasonable amount wherever possible, or be prepared for unhappy buyers. I trust that no one on this forum would post content that encourages sellers to rip off buyers - lots of posters seem perfectly happy to condone "sticking it" to sellers, though. 

[diecastcarsvicki]

? who is defending seller.

re look at the tread you will see that most here do agree seller should offer combine postage there is no argument there.

fact is also buyer took it upon themselves to presume combine postage will be offered.

ops argument is there was only a few minutes before auctions finished and took the gamble on postage discount. that gamble didnt pay off. the seller responded with offer due to misunderstanding to cancel sale but ops has let there ego take over and willing to buy just to leave neg,s. no matter how you look at it ops is the one that leaves with egg on there face because its one thing to have a grip against a seller but to make comment that all sellers are rip off,s is totally out of bounds. what seller fees has to do with ops question is behond me. ops does have an attitude  because they didnt get the responce they where looking for. in the end ops is going to do what they want and ebay will decide if that feedback is exceptable 

[the_great_she_elephant]

There is an old sying "assumption is the mother of all stuff-ups"

Also:

5 options are there to choose from  with one of them being

"Combine multiple items into one box but charge for postage for each item  individually"

As I understand it the buyer has not yet received the items - so why should one assume they will all be posted in the same envelope?

[harley_babes_hoard]

Yeah you're right I suck at math . The point is it's still cheap to sell on ebay . Everything goes up so ebay is no different. Ebay will be around for many years to come.