Wanting postage difference back

[bilbobaggins86]

I had a buyer asking for the difference of the postage back after he has recieved and payed for it, In all my years of selling I have heard something so dumb, set price he payed I sent he got that should be it.

[bilbobaggins86]

I got charged $36.50 for something that should of been about $20 because of distance, and i didn't go to the buyer hey postage was dearer then I had listed can you send me the money to make the difference

[kylies*swap*cards*]

If you went to coles and they over-charged you by $18 on something you wouldn't be a little ticked off and expect it back?  Ok it's not exactly the same a real B&M store but if you want to have a good online reputation then I'd be apologizing and offering the refund.  The red dot your buyer is likely to give you and the low star rating you are almost guaranteed to get will follow you around for a long time.

[digital*ghost]

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@bilbobaggins86 wrote:
He wants the money I didn't' spend on the postage

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Which is how much after postage, packaging and any other services that may have been used?

While there are a lot of people who will say that $18 is ridiculous and the buyer has every right to be upset, I can guarantee you that if the buyer started a thread about this, they'd receive a resounding chorus of "you agreed to that price when you purchased, and while it is a bit steep and I'd never charge that much, you have no right to ask for a refund".

I personally (and perennially) take the middle-ground. While the buyer doesn't have any real right to ask for a refund, I can understand why they're a bit upset over the difference. If you overestimated postage costs just to try and make sure you didn't undercharge, I presume there was no intention to profit from the postage portion of the sale (regardless of sold price), so I would also presume you would be ok with offering the buyer a compromise and partial refund of the difference. 

[horizon1907]

Your last answer has me confused. What was the postage cost ? What did he pay ?  Not what you were out of pocket. 

[bilbobaggins86]

We have agreed on $15.00 refund which I think is fair seeing as I have fees and travel expenses

[kylies*swap*cards*]

that is a great compromise 🙂  just make sure you refund the money directly from PayPal and use the buyer's email address they paid you to manuallly send the payment back - if you do a refund through ebay I am pretty sure you get a defect for that? someone a bit more cluey should be able to clarify that one though.

[digital*ghost]

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@kylies*swap*cards* wrote:

If you went to coles and they over-charged you by $18 on something you wouldn't be a little ticked off and expect it back?  Ok it's not exactly the same a real B&M store 

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This is a problematic comparison, because we're not talking about the difference in shelf price to scan price, but the difference from a portion of costs to asking price. 

To compare this situation to a B&M scenario, it would be more akin to buying grapes at $10 a kilo, seeing on the receipt that the grapes cost the store $3 a kilo to buy, and asking for $7 back. 

[kylies*swap*cards*]

I realize the differences, just it was a broad example of if you purchase something then get overcharged you get ticked off and want a refund.

[ms_aussie]

Don't get upset with the people here because they are telling you something you don't want to hear. They are right.

You charged the buyer $40 for postage and the actual postage was $22. You accepted a deal that was $50 lower than the price you hoped to get for the item - $300 instead of $350. That has nothing whatsoever to do with the postage. You cannot make up for the lower price by overcharging on postage.

I would get the money back to the buyer fast before he decides to open a dispute and gives you a neg. Ebay may then give you a defect.

[bilbobaggins86]

I'm not upset just stressed when people message back with complaints when I just wants sales to go smoothly and it has already been fixed