eBay taking commission from postage costs!

[carouselfetish]

Hello, it has come to my attention, and my concern, that eBay's online calculator for postage is proving to alter eBay's commission from sales upward, often excessively, at the expense of the sellers, who then afterward are obliged to refund excess postage costs to the buyers. eBay then, interestingly, does not refund the percentage of that excess postage that the seller must give back, to the seller. eBay keeps it.
Very frequently the online postage calculator for eBay has determined postage to my location of quite small objects to be extremely high. In every case, the actual postage has been a great deal lower. The seller has always been surprised and has refunded that postage to me.
In other examples, I have been unable to request a total for a range of items from one seller if any of those items are set at a discount price. As postage is separate to such discounts, it should be possible to request combined postage. But eBay prevents that if discounted items are included. Why is that, please? I think that should be rectified as soon as possible.
After some months of purchasing items from eBay sellers, I have been refunded many hundreds of dollars IN POSTAGE EXCESS ALONE to my account by those sellers. And from those many hundreds of dollars, eBay has taken an extra commission because it takes a percentage of the total cost, including postage.
This is unfair practice, and cause for great concern. I am considering contacting Consumer Affairs about it.
Many sellers I have dealt with have complained to me about this, but have felt unsure what can be done about it. I, however, am not the least unsure about what can and should be done about it.
I suggest that eBay refrain from taking a commission from the total sale price that includes postage. After all, eBay should only be entitled to a percentage of the sale price of the item itself. The postage is not a profit situation for any seller, as it goes to the postal service/courier, and should not increase eBay's commission.
I am interested to hear eBay's position on this issue, which I will take very seriously and to further authorities, regardless of eBay's response to me. I am, after all, not an eBay seller. But I am a concerned citizen aware of fair and unfair practices.
I intend to post this into eBay's forums to begin with. I do hope that eBay takes this issue seriously.

[brerrabbit585]

Ebay's postage calculator has always been spot on for me. I'd suggest some sellers don't put the right measurements or weights in when they do their listings.

"Is it just me, or can anyone else see the illogic of eBay Customer Service's reply to me??" Anyone who expects logic from ebay is living in dreamland!! We're all well aware of how illogical a lot of their policies and decisions are and have decided for the sake of our health and sanity that it's just not worth trying to fight something we can't do anything about.

[digital*ghost]

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@carouselfetishwrote:

Firstly, sellers don't get that fee credited back. Please do your research.

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Automatically? No.

By contacting ebay and requesting the credit? Yes. 

[gutterpunkz05]

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@carouselfetishwrote:

You don't get the postage calculator bit.

I didn't say the postage calculator adds commission. I said, eBay takes a commission from the total cost; including postage. Which is not right, because the postage calculator usually calculates very high, much higher than the real cost. So the seller has to refund the excess, but loses the commission already taken on that excess.

Was that too complex for you?

Sorry.

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Your a bit behind the times,  It has been happening for years and you have only just noticed

[seasidemarion]

thankyou for your “well said” notes,,  It makes me extremely disappointed in ebays method of charging fees on postage,, does Australia Post know this ???   it would surely be unlawful to profit this way,, does it mean then that shops who also sell stamps,  can charge extra too,, ???   I do all posting myself, and find oftern cheaper than ebay quotes,, BUT as I do overquote, to be safe, then I include any excess in the parcel with stamps,, sometines up to $3 refunded,,BUT  GUESS WHAT - yes ,,, ebay charged me fees on my “quoted” postage?!?!?!?!   how unfair is that,,  When contacted, they can only tell me 

“it is ebay policy” —- NO ITS NOT, it is sheer theft !?!?!?!?!   and it should be refunded to me,,,    

  its so good to see so many other places to sell now,,  so is it time to give up on ebay,, I have been with ebay for maybe 12 or 14 years and loved it,,  but now,, hardly any sales since that ridiculous “specific requirements” came into being,  its dreadful, I refuse to use it,  so much quicker to add your own than search their huge long lists, only to find what you need isnt there anyway,, what a huge waste of my time,, -so,, now they WRONGLY add  words from my description,  and its  causing me to lose sales,, e.g. a co-ord dress pattern — they added “shorts” -/ NO, —its for jacket, top, trousers n shorts  ?!   another,  they said “dress” -/ NO, — thats for a maternity top and trousers ?!?!  /. another dress pattern,  they said “ patterned paper”  -/ NO ,, 

I am not selling Gift Wrap. ?!?!

   Oh SPARE US from this horrible dilemma !!!!  Ebay must delete that requirements lists,,  and simply let us know if we do miss a needed detail,,     I see that BOOKS still do not say - size, or number of pages,,,  but its so easy to ‘contact seller’ - which is what ebay used to say,,”get to know your buyer/seller”. I dont see that anymore. , 😟,,,  the other query,,   ???why do I not see any mention of it when I search for something ???     we need HELP,,,,  not just pushed aside ,,,,     regards ,,,

[sugar249]

Hang on you are giving up on Ebay but still have 52 items listed,  thats hardly giving up.

By the way this is a 5 year old post, why not open a new one and have your rant.   

PS.  don't slam the door as you leave.

[kh-stanley1]

Hi everyone,

Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread HERE if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thank you for understanding.