Paying too much postage??!!

[hotgolf]

HI all, just a quick question to you all, even though I think it's been covered a few times already(sorry).

Just bought a buggy from a seller on e-bay.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...item=3124666548

As I live in the uk and the car was in the states I agreed to pay the $69 postage to ship it to me as he said it had cost that amount to send an identical item to the UK a week before.

It arrived nearly 2 weeks later, with a £28 pound payment for vat and import tax which I was expecting. No probs I thought.

That was until I saw the the price of the shipping on the front of the parcel. $46!!

I e-mailed the bloke saying I was happy with the car but a little disappointed with the shipping cost as I paid an extra 1/3rd on top for nothing and asked if there was any chance of a reimbersment.

No reply!!

Do you think I have the right to a refund? I know its only a third of $69 but it sounds alot if the shipping cost was $1 and you'd paid $24.

Your response would be appreciated. Cheers.

[Shodog]

That's what the feedback is for. Ask the guy nicely again to refund the money. If he doesn't then leave a neutral feedback like " Happy with the product, not happy in being overcharged for shipping."

[BalmyBaldwin]

I had the same experience.

Today I received a titanium screw set for the Avante, with only £3.50 worth of stamps on it, yet the guy charged me £9![!] I thought it was a bit much when I paid it, but I thought the screw set may have been bigger than it actually was.

[Dazmeister]

This really annoys me as I hate being ripped off on postage. There was a guy in the UK who I bought some 959 parts from on ebay. I won two auctions and he calculated £3.00 postage but the stamps came to 82p ! I sent him a cheeky mail saying that it was a nice mark up and would leave appropriate feedback once he had left mine but no feedback has been left yet and no reply [!]

I got a new engine for my T-Maxx from USA on eBay and the guy stated that international shipping would be at cost. After the auction he came back with $27.50 but when the engine came it only cost $12.50. Before looking at the cost of postage I had already left him positive feedback so I sent him a mail requesting a $15 refund and guess what - nothing [!]

If I overcharge I send back the difference, why cant all sellers be like me []

Daz

[mr_lister999.]

That guy in hotgolfs post that sold it is a member of squaretrade. Does that cover postage related problems? I have no idea about squaretrade but someone may know.

[Bibbo]

quote:

Originally posted by BalmyBaldwin

I had the same experience.

Today I received a titanium screw set for the Avante, with only £3.50 worth of stamps on it, yet the guy charged me £9![

!] I thought it was a bit much when I paid it, but I thought the screw set may have been bigger than it actually was.

---

id="quote">id="quote">

I know who you are talking about and he does this all the time. Just have to put it down to a "live and learn" experience[V]

[Shodog]

I have been on both ends of the spectrum here. As a Buyer I have been charged some outrageous shipping and *handeling* charges before. Sometimes the seller ends up paying more than what he charged me. As a seller I have underestimated and over estimated charges to my buyer. It's hard to give an acurate guestimate what shipping will cost until the postal person weighes it on their scale. If there is a big difference between what it cost and what I charged I usually refund. But what is the overage cut off? Is $3, $4 or $5 the magical amount to prompt a refund?

Unless a seller states a *handeling* charge then really he should charge close to what ever it truly costs to ship. I hate sellers that nab you on handeling charges when the price of their item didn't go as high as they expected. On guy tried to charge me $7.50 for handeling on a fairly small part. When I balked he changed it to $3.00 which was still a rip off. I think that the packing and boxing and standing in line at the post office is just part of playing the ebay game.

Jim

[TWO STAR]

i cant stand when sellers explian "well the reason its so high is because i have to buy tape & box,drive to my local post office,,pay for gas...etc"...there are some cheapskates out there..... sanja.

[Not2Night]

I too have been on both sides of this coin. Now, when I sell, I state an appoximate weight (using bathroom scale and arounding up) and the zip code I ship from. Along with link to postage rate calculator. Anyone (in the states) can look up what thier shiping charge wil be. If they bid, they are agreeing to pay that amount to ship.

But, if I over charge shipping by $1.37 ( .37 is the cost of a stamp), then I mail a refund in cash in $1.00 increments. That is my magical amount to prompt a refund. []

[WhiteVanMan]

Interesting subject this. Form what I can read here, most of the postage charges are from overseas, hence the high charges. I personally quote postage on all of my auctions so that everyone knows how much they are going to pay for an item in total, including postage when the bid is placed. I'm with Daz on this one, I also send a refund if i've got the postage wrong, but again, not being tight, but jiffybags do cost money for small parts (if used) so I would have thought say 50p-£1 to cover packaging is fair. When I bid, I always check the postage charges before going for an item, you can always ask the seller to quote on postage before bidding.

[hotgolf]

Thanks for all your replys. I e-mailed the seller but had no response what-so-ever. Looks like its live and learn time. Shame that things like this can spoil the experience of buying on ebay.

Cheers all.

[WillyChang]

Guys, if you were happy paying $X all up when you finalised the transaction, then why worry about how much the seller actually pays for the postage??!

That's like worrying about the price of your cake after you've bought & eaten it... []

Heck, why not worry instead about how much the fella originally paid for the auctioned item?? He probably paid $2 for something you've just bid $100 for.

The time to discuss "fairness" in postage costs is before you've paid the $$$, or better still before the auction ends. By all means check the market rate, but after you've paid up you'd best realise you have no bargaining power left.

[DJTheo]

quote:Anyone (in the states) can look up what thier shiping charge wil be.

id="quote">id="quote">

Also from abroad you can check it thanks to internet, I always do it and and last week saved me $15 from the sellers first "guess" [] and still he overcharged me $4 or something... [][!]

[Bill Wessels(2)]

I sell lots of my eBaY items to countries out of the USA where I'm located. I use a USPS approved scale, pack package, weigh parcel, and determine shipping cost thru US Postal website. Right (or wrong [])

that's the BEST I can do. I have often experienced an over-charged estimate when shipping to Canada, despite all of my efforts. When I feel "guilty" for such, I often discount customer's next purchase shipping, automatically refund Paypal over-payment, or make up on customer's next "deal".[] I seldom, if ever, hear any complaints, directly or indirectly. BUT..... on the "other hand".... I've never attempted to collect any underpayments, due to error in calculation.

I know dealers who pack-up item to ship, take to Post Office to "check" shipping charges, return to computer to advise shipping cost, and later ship item. In a "perfect world" this would be the way to do it.[)][)][)] It's unlikely many sellers have the time to do all of this.[] My suggestion to all who feel they've been overcharged, by anyone, should 1st eMAIL them and ask. If they get no reply, then utilize eBaY's feedback accordingly. OR don't bid on the offending seller's auctions anymore. [:0][:0][:0] I have a related topic to "start", so adios![]

[TamiyaMan]

If the Seller simply says "buyer to pay shipping charges" - it is the BUYERS responsibility to get a quote on what they will be before bidding.

If you were happy enough with the amount you paid to then place a bid, it is irrelevant what the Sellers actual shipping cost was unless he specifically stated in his auction "buyer to pay ACTUAL shipping charges".

Sounds to me like he got a generous handling charge from you to be sure. But if you negotiated with him ahead of time and agreed to the shipping charges before bidding - then the Seller is entitled to keep the full amount you paid.

Remember - You hold all the cards BEFORE bidding.

[hotgolf]

Fair comments from all of you. But, when a seller says it cost him $69 one week and then $45 the next for the same item packaged the same then something smells fishy.

As said to me, that the same item was sent to the Uk only the week before and cost $69, and when it turns up it costs only $46, then I'm sorry to say that it seems like a blatant lie! Don't get me wrong, i'm not saying that the seller in question is,( that would be slanderous) but something ain't right.

Cheers all.