Insufficient postage

[egglesdtp]

I had a buyer purchase two identical items weighing 380g each but somehow has paid for just one lot of postage. I have no idea how she managed this, as usually if you buy two items you pay for two lots of postage. In this case the second item pushed the weight up into the next category (>500g) , and so will cost $3 more to post in a 1kg satchel. I emailed the buyer explaining the situation, and sent her a Paypal invoice for the extra amount.

(I know some of you will say suck it up, it's only $3 extra postage, but each item cost just $5 and she got a bargain at 2 for $10.)

I haven't heard anything from the buyer (now 3 days later) and am wondering what to do. I can just refund her the whole of the original payment, or I can send just one item with the postage she's paid and refund her $5. Opinions?

[collect247]

Both of your solutions in my opinion are wrong you need to suck it up and send the items,you're experienced enough to know ebay will punish you and not the buyer LOL

[brerrabbit585]

When you click on the postage section of that listing it says $9 for postage and handling, then under "each additional item" it says free. Unless there's a glitch in the system you'll have to wear it. It might pay to check what postage you've got in your other listings.

[lm-entertainment]

unfortunately, you're going to find yourself in a world of hurt if you do either of the options you've explained. you simply can't just cancel the transaction and refund them if you haven't heard from them. the buyer hasn't actually done anything wrong as far as they or ebay are concerned. 

the fact your listing doesn't have any additional postage value for additional items purchased means the problem is with your listing - not with the buyer or ebay. 

if it was me - i'd be losing the $3 and send the items this time - and make sure your listing is corrected. if you don't give the buyer what they've paid for, you're looking at negative feedback, possible seller defects. you can't just decide what you're going to refund .. especially with no communication from the buyer :] 

sometimes it's worth sacrificing a small amount like $3 to save yourself the hassle which you'll no doubt encounter if you do any of the others scenarios you've played out. what will most likely happen is the buyer will lodge an "item not received" or "item not as described" claim and then you'll lose the whole transaction amount possibly. 

[egglesdtp]

I certainly never chose that option for additional items, although I always choose $0 for local pickup. No idea how it managed to become each additional item free. But as you say, I will just have to wear it. I'm just a little surprised I haven't heard back from the buyer.

Now of course I have to wonder how many of my other listings have managed to make each additional item free (not that I have many multiples).

[digital*ghost]

This is the kind of situation that the line "the seller assumes all responsibility for this listing" refers to, assuming that it was an error in the way postage was set up and not something caused by eBay, and the most accepted option is to post for the price that was quoted, with the alternative to cancel and refund. There are some circumstances where it's a bit more acceptable to ask the buyer for extra, but the buyer doesn't have an obligation to pay it. (eg I once quoted someone for international postage based on a <500g parcel, but realised later it was going to be >500g, a price difference of about $12 from memory. I hadn't even listed the item so they hadn't bought yet, and I contacted them to advise I'd calculated the weight incorrectly so the quote was out, but that I'd honour it, just that if they wanted the same deal in the future, postage would have to be a bit more. They insisted on paying the correct postage, so in the end I split the diff between the two, so they still got discounted postage and I didn't lose so much - I mention the full story because sometimes the trick is to be willing to wear the odd loss, and you gain a great customer who is willing to work with you). 

I know when you look at one transaction where you make less, or even a loss, it can be hard to swallow, and if sales are few and far between it can make it worse, but I like to look at these kinds of losses in the context of all sales (i.e. $5 extra for that one $10 sale sucked, but I profited on everything else so it's not so bad). 

[enigmabear]

Based on what has just been posted on another thread, just wondering if you were using th app when doing that listing by any chance?

[collect247]

Not to sure why you're surprised that you haven't heard from the buyer,as you probably won't hear from the buyer until the due date passes and the buyer opens a case for item not received.

The buyer has paid and is now waiting for their item,that's what I do when I purchase an item,I wait for it to turn up or not and then contact the seller and not before hand,simplez 

[egglesdtp]

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@enigmabear wrote:

Based on what has just been posted on another thread, just wondering if you were using th app when doing that listing by any chance?

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No I wasn't using the app, but upon reflection, I so rarely have more than one of any item I sell, I may not have noticed that option when I was listing. I have seen it pop up on occasion when it is not relevant, but have ignored it and it goes away. I guess this time I must have missed it (but surely one has to actually enter a figure if it appears? - and I would never have entered zero - or else ebay just make it default to zero?) . Anyway, the parcel has now been posted, and I will now have to check through my other listings just to make sure the same thing hasn't happened for other multiple items.

[lm-entertainment]

the default postage for additional items is "0" - but on multiple item listings it is right next to where you put the the cost for the first item - so it's up to the seller to change out the zero and put in the desired cost :] 

i dare say it defaults to 0 because ebay want to encourage free postage - or simply because it may need a value in there and 0 is the only thing that makes sense as a default.