OVERCHARGING ON POSTAGE ON EBAY

[LDR]

ok, so i bought something off ebay recently, didnt notice till after i won that postage for this item was £10. The item was a plastic model kit.

The item eventually arrived, particularly slow posting, and was sent standard parcels at £4.41.
The box it was in was a re-cycled box with the address scrubbed out, and mine written on. Packing was screwed up newspaper.

I asked for a refund on the postage difference, as even with packing fees it would never have cost £10, so this guy is making money through the postage.

His response is that postage cant be negotiated after a sale, and that also i didnt take into account in my sums, that he has to drive to the post office as hes on holiday. So hes basically saying i had to pay for his pertrol as he decided to list an item whilst on holiday in the middle of nowhere.

So, what do you guys think? Am i wrong in asking for a refund? Should i leave negative feedback now? Is it my fault he listed items that finish while hes on holiday, and the post office is miles away? Should i be paying for his petrol?


Any suggestions?




LDR

[Jimbobx]

That's all balls in my opinion.
Postage is how much it costs to send the thing and thats it.
All this crap about driving to the post office and then buying a parking ticket for the local car park and then I bought an ice lolly cos it was a hot day and a drink cos there was a long queue. They are the sellers costs and are an unavoidable part of ebaying. And if you can't cover your costs on sales then don't bother.
Deliberately skimming off the top on postage by more than 50p-£1 max is just wrong whatever the attempted justifications are.
Saying that. I don't normally leave a neg. I just give them a 1 on the postage star rating and pout for a couple of hours.

[LDR]

lol.....pout for a couple of hours. lol.

yeah its does piss me off. I know i saw the postage costs in the first place, but i was happy to pay that price if that was the actuall cost....which it obviously isnt.

Alot of sellers will work with you on resolve, but this one isnt.

I think i might do what you said, pos feedback but mention OVERCHARGED SHIPPING, and give him 1 star ratings.

and learn a lesson.

[Red Laser]

He's talking through his arse quite frankly, so what he had to go and drive to post it it doesn't mean he should add that to the cost.

[LDR]

exactly..and why list if you are on holiday, and its going to be a problem?

[Red Laser]

That would be like me or someone else not living in the mainland UK charging for the cost of getting to the post office and back and cost for the plane's fuel and its crew. I try to at least find out how much it will cost for a parcel instead of charging too much.

[Lady Jaye]

This guys is talking rubbish full stop, but I agree that:

postage cant be negotiated after a sale

You either (1) inquire beforehand or (2) you withdraw the sale. The moment you pay, you agree with the seller's terms.

BTW: you can drop charges at eBay that seller is overcharging on shipping.

[LDR]

But i was happy to pay £10 in postage....IF it did cost £10 to post and pack, which it obviously didnt.

I might look into the charges part, but probably not worth going that far.

Thanks for the input guys.

[Red Baron]

Unfortunately an all too common problem.

Definitely raise it with eBay and when you leave feedback leave the appropriate star rating for postage and packaging and also add a comment when you write - make it factual and there is no problem.

It's a real shame eBay don't do more to stop sellers over-charging on postage, but I guess it is a hard one to crack down on when the range of things being sold is so wide. They are using maximum postage for some categories, but for toys there is no limit.

Hope it works out in some way for you.

[LDR]

Yes i agree, it is hard to police this.

Thanks for the kind words.