Ebay undercharged for postage?

[annemarie9416]

A buyer bought an item from me internationally (Perth, Australia to Hong Kong) and was charged $13.80 for shipping. Yet when I went to the post office to send, the minimum postage was $15. 

I always overestimate the weight of a parcel by nearly 100g so I am not sure what happened here. I cannot use the ebay postage labels as it is an international sale. 

Can anyone shed any light on this? I guess I will have to wear the postage costs this time but it is very frustrating!

Thanks

[kopenhagen5]

It could be the way you have your listing set up.

It has used calculated for Australia by the look of the price.

You need to set the rates in International postage.

If it's not going letter then I usually have either 15 or 20 for the main International cities.

Keep in mind if using calculated, the rates are given to eBay by AP and aren't always accurate.

[annemarie9416]

But even on the Australia Post website, the minimum postage to Hong Kong is $15.00 for Economy Air?

I did set it (I think) to calculate international rates, as I set the shipping to worldwide.

I have just had a look at the original listing now and this is what it is showing on the postage estimator:

I am messaging the buyer now to re-confirm the shipping address. 

Do you set the rate above the estimated postage? 

Thanks for your help, I am still relatively new to selling!

[digital*ghost]

I believe this has been a long-term issue affecting international calculated postage - the best anyone knows is that the parcel rates ebay quote are based on economy air, not the tracked service, and are outdated, but no explanation or fix has ever been forthcoming from ebay (there are a lot of threads in the forum from sellers who have experienced the same, unfortunately). 

Best to stick to flat rate postage and enter in the amounts yourself for each country  definitely quote for tracked mail on the higher priced items. 

[annemarie9416]

Actually think I just figured it out, it appears if you post to China it costs $13.80 but to Hong Kong is $15.00 on Australia Post, but ebay shows Hong Kong postage as $13.80!

[kopenhagen5]

It looks like you have done it correctly but unfortunately the rates aren't always accurate.

I now use flat rates and round them up so there is a little room or be considered as pack n handling.

Often $20 and these days it doesn't seem to scare off buyers as postage rates around the globe have increased dramatically in the last five or so years.

[melinachristina]

What Kopes ^^^^ says.

Ours is $23 I think. Works for us.

We occasionally get the odd $30 - $40 postage cost, but it all seems to even out pretty closely over 12 months.

Melina.

[ozstockman]

You need to keep in mind that they ate not rates from eBay they are rates directly from Australia Post obtained through their API in real time. So whatever eBay is showing for postage is what Auspost tells them.

The problem may be with the postage method you selected when you created your listing. AusPost could remove that method some time ago and eBay is trying to get a rate for it and is getting the wrong one based on your parcel weight and size. Try to edit postage method for that item or at least go to your item edit mode and see whether eBay will tell you on saving your listing if this method no longer exists.

[kitty-kat-kollection]

Last week I posted a Lego set to the USA from QLD and I checked the estimated cost on the Aus Post website and based on the weight, it would cost $15. I made it $17 as I know that often it ends up costing more.

When I actually posted it though, it cost me $30!!! This was because the Lego set was a TINY bit too large to fit in a standard international satchel so had to go in a tough bag. Somehow this ended up making it cost $30. Sigh. I ate the cost as it wasn't the buyer's fault and they'd already paid $60 for the Lego.

This is why I don't usually post overseas.

[balsamic3]

Even domestic postage is under priced by eBay