why do buyers get all 'im being over charged' if you list a item at $5+$15 post = $20 as apposed to

[nowayjose13]

why do buyers get all "im being overcharged" if i list a item at $5+$15 post=total $20 as apposed to $20 +free post =$20 cant they work out that it is the same cost to them ? and just a way for the seller to make it worth while to list ? i think it is pure greed on the buyers part they want the item but dont want the seller to get anything for it!!!

[*sparklz*]

If you list for $5 with $15 postage then the buyers expect you to pay $15 in postage costs to get the item to them.

You are not allowed to charge more than the actual postage, packing and handling costs than it costs.

This is why buyers say they are being ripped off.

They see the cost of the postage and know they have been overcharged for postage.

It is also against ebay rules to profit from postage and is fee avoidance by doing this.

If you list at $20 and free postage then they are happier then thinking they are getting something free when the postage is in the item cost.

[nowayjose13]

why would you care what the price is listed as ?when i buy i only consider the cost to me not how it is listed 

[*new2vintage]

You've received an honest answer. If you want to experience problems with your buyers keep doing what you are doing.

[digital*ghost]

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@nowayjose13 wrote:

why would you care what the price is listed as ?when i buy i only consider the cost to me not how it is listed 

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Therein lies your answer - not everybody looks at it the same way as you do, and you can't demand or expect that they do. 

It's not really about cost, it's about impressions, and sparklz answer actually explains quite well the impression some buyers get when postage is inflated. To some people's mind - including yours - the total cost is all that is important and where/how the total is made up is irrelevant, but that's not true for everyone and there's nothing you can do to change that, since it's a matter of personal opinion and preference. No one is more "right" than someone else, although there are policies in regards to excessive postage and maybe one person inflating the cost of postage to minimise eBay fees doesn't do much, but thousands of people doing it probably does (eg FVF is now payable on postage in some other countries, and I would think that fee avoidance as well as general buyer impressions played a big part in making that acceptable). 

[sonya0576]

If I was to buy an item that was listed with $15 postage and received it in an envelope with $1.80 of stamps on it, then I would be quite peeved off. The final price while it may be a factor when buying feeling I have been ripped off in postage is a factor when I decide whether to buy from a seller again.

Inflating your postage to avoid ebay fees only ends up costing other sellers, and in the long run buyers, more money when ebay decides to make fvf apply to cost + postage as DG mentioned above.

[belindabargainhunter]

I always add up postage and sale cost thats the amount that is important to be, But I would not buy from the person asking more postage than the actual cost as it's not within the rules and as someone said before it ends up costing more in the end if everyone ones to do the wrong thing. At the end of the day its up to u but if u can see buyers don't like it it might be better for your sales to play by the rules

[mitsfix]

As we use Aust Post e-parcel with signature the min cost for the small items is around $9, goes up to $18 for the larger items. For the above reason we simply add the cost of the postage to an item and list as free postage as we also found that some people did not appreciate that the cost of postage using the above method can be expensive.

Since doing this we have had no issues at all. Again we do not profit from post, I add a flat rate across the board and in some instances we are a little ahead and in some we are behind in the postage cost especially when someone lives in a remote area which is often the case. BTW this also does not factor in packing materials and cost as we dont charge for that

[aussie-picker]

Excatly what Mitsfix said. I use free postage and handling on many items, takes away any guess work or confusion to buyers.

[ozstockman · Accepted solution]

Do buyers see how much packing material cost or. how long it takes to pack orders and bring them to LPO for postage?

I always charge $2-3 handling fee for postage while pick up is free. In some cases $3 fees do not even close to cover 20-30 minutes packing time for a huge custom made item not to mention making a custom packing from MDF and modifying a stock shipping box to help saving a customer on a shipping volume,

And posting 10-15 orders takes at least one hour for me for driving to my local LPO, waiting in a queue, lodging and coming back. So it you add up all time spend on posting 10-15 orders it may take 2-3 hours. And now you say my 10-15 customers should complain that I have charged them extra $30-45 in handling in total. Which BTW is not my profit as most of it goes for covering packing material?

Well, I am lucky, most of my customers do not complain about $3 difference and those who are usually told that pick up is free. It does not take any extra time to give the finished product to  time so is no handling fee for picking up.

Some buyers take it for granted that they are buying and getting things without leaving their houses to get their goods. They seem to be ok to pay to Australia Post to deliver them to their homes and paying Australia Post for it. However when it comes to sellers something happens with their minds and they think that sellers should do all shipping steps for free and pay for boxes, labels and packing from their own profit.