Handling charges in ebay

LeperKing

I bought a camera from the states and postage and packing was 32.90 dollars.

When I got the package it says on the postage that is cost 14 dollars.

The 'packaging' was some brown paper. Is it generally accepted for sellers to demand so much for 'handling'?

real_ate

from what i believe yes! i'm in no way premoting what they do when it comes to that but its a way for them to keep all their bases covered. generally when people are selling things on ebay they don't check and see exactly how much postage was until after the item is sold. with the high price for postage they make sure that they won't be left out of pocket.....
or it could just be one big scam otherwise :rolleyes:

i71jskz5xu42pb

LeperKing wrote:

I bought a camera from the states and postage and packing was 32.90 dollars.

When I got the package it says on the postage that is cost 14 dollars.

The 'packaging' was some brown paper. Is it generally accepted for sellers to demand so much for 'handling'?

eBay have a policy against inflating the postage charge (because they only charge final value percentage on the amount as opposed to the amount+S&H).

That said it was presumably very clear to you prior to bidding that the seller was going to charge 32.90 so while it's not the nicest you didn't end up paying any more than your we prepared to pay.

LeperKing

Is it enough to give negative feedback?

real_ate

well you could do that, and it might set off a chain reaction... ie. new buyers will look at your comment and check if they were ripped off aswell and may post their own negitive feedback. whatever you do i think its a good thing to either email him about it and consider giving negitive feedback or just going ahead with it!

i71jskz5xu42pb

LeperKing wrote:

Is it enough to give negative feedback?

That's about all you can do.

In the interest of fairness I'd register your complaint (not threat) with the seller prior to leaving any negative feedback. Just to see what they say/do.

LeperKing

This is his reply.....

Hi,

I'm glad you got the camera. Well, when it comes to the shipping, you
paid for both shipping AND handling. In addition to that I first had
to have the camera sent to me, then sent to you. The only charge for
shipping that you see is the shipping to you. I hope you enjoy the
camera. Please keep me in mind if you need more cameras.

Best regards,

There was no information given in the ebay description about paying his delivery costs.

Anyone else think this is ridiculous?

LK

i71jskz5xu42pb

LeperKing wrote:

Anyone else think this is ridiculous?

Yes. He told you he was going to charge you 32.90 S&H. You paid 32.90 S&H. You got the camera you wanted. He may be totally above board with his explanation. At this stage you should just get over it.

rubadub

LeperKing wrote:

Is it enough to give negative feedback?

No way!

Why did you buy the camera from him? did you think the all in price was good?

I have paid $50 on items that had $6.50 paid. I was delighted to pay that, the higher the shipping costs the better IMO.

Say you have 1 person offering the exact same item in 2 buy it now auctions, yet one auction charges $100 more for post than the other, if the seller wants to make the exact same profit on both auctions then he can charge me, the buyer, less for the item with high postage. He pays ebay no % on postage therefore has made a saving that he can pass directly on to me, and make the same profit for himself in both sales.

The other reason for high postage is that if you do a sort by price for buy it now items you will find many, say mp3 players for 99cent top of the list, with $80 postage costs. This way they appear the cheapest.

Bluehair

PaschalNee wrote:

He told you he was going to charge you 32.90 S&H. You paid 32.90 S&H.

Agreed. I don't really think $18 odd bucks was over the odds anyway for the time involved in packaging, bringing to the post office etc.

He told you the price up front and you were happy with it. It'd be a different thing if he tried to up the price subsequent to the auction and he can't predict a bang on amount for every country covered under 'international'.

Having said that i've seen a lot of auctions where people are selling something for a cent and then upping the P&P costs. Always check P&P before bidding. No real grounds for complaint afterwards.

A Dub in Glasgo

I include a proportion of my fees in the S&H price. If somebody does not pay with Paypal, I offer them a discount.

Are you happy that you recieved the item in good time for the price you paid or would you prefer the seller to have spent $30 on shipping?

LeperKing

A Dub in Glasgo wrote:

or would you prefer the seller to have spent $30 on shipping?

Yes, in a nutshell thats what I would have wanted the seller to do. This item was a 'buy it now' item, if he wants to make a profit he should reflect that in the bidding price not by overinflated shipping&handling charges.

LK

satworld

Hi guys everyone on eBay overcharges on postage

bbbbb

PaschalNee wrote:

Yes. He told you he was going to charge you 32.90 S&H. You paid 32.90 S&H. You got the camera you wanted. He may be totally above board with his explanation. At this stage you should just get over it.

Agree with this. You knew what the postage was before you bought the item. You'll look stupid if you leave negative feedback.

SouperComputer

The process of overcharging grossly for postage is viewed as fee evasion in ebay's eyes and they dont take kindly to it.

You could take it up with them. They do allow a "reasonable" increase in cost to allow for labour packing etc etc but a lot of sellers take the pi$$.

I won an auction and was charged €6 for shipping which was advertised as insured and tracked. The item arrrived uninsured with no tracking and it cost 85c to send. I left neutral FB and they left neg, and in the process lying about when I paid. I didnt realise until much later that ebay refer to this as fee evasion.

By all means, the price you pay for shipping as per the auction is fine, but its when sellers grossly overcharge that I have an issue.

rubadub

LeperKing wrote:

This item was a 'buy it now' item, if he wants to make a profit he should reflect that in the bidding price not by overinflated shipping&handling charges.

If he had done that then it would have costed you more. As I explained above.

There is no way this would be classed as fee evasion.