Charged $3.95 shipping, seller sent it in an envelope

[Taxel]

I'm so angry right now. I bought a brand new set of stickers from a seller on the 11th and paid on the 12th. They have 824 feedback and its 100% positive. Given that the stickers are old and rare, I assumed they were sending them in a bubble mailer with tracking (which is exactly what I wanted). The stickers were originally released in November 2001, and were re-released in November 2006 so they're hard to find. They know the stickers are rare and have a TON of rare old stationary type items for sale, all with a similar shipping price.

This is what the listing says about shipping, nowhere are normal white envelopes mentioned. The seller's description doesn't actually mention shipping at all, aside from saying that they will ship internationally and combine shipping.

Today my boyfriend checked the mail and handed me a normal white envelope. I'm expecting multiple packages, no envelopes, so I was pretty confused. But as soon as I opened it I realized what it was. The stickers were placed in cardboard and mailed in an envelope with two stamps on it. It was not sent internationally or even from that far away (I'm in Idaho, the seller is in Oklahoma).
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Thankfully the stickers are okay, but I'm pissed. If I remember correctly, eBay does not enforce things related to overcharged shipping? But I'm still contacting the seller and hoping they're give a partial refund to save themselves a bad star rating/feedback, since they obviously seem to care about their feedback (or at least used to). But I don't know how to word it. :/ Does anyone have any advice?

Also, does anyone know if we're allowed to PM Trader Support mods with questions? I have a question I'd rather not post (its about a recent transaction on the Arena).

[Thunderwing]

Well - you knew the shipping costs before you purchased the item, and the item go there safely - so in reality, you don't really have any course to complain or 'ding' their stars. Right?

[Shiromisa]

Well - you knew the shipping costs before you purchased the item, and the item go there safely - so in reality, you don't really have any course to complain or 'ding' their stars. Right?

But isn't shipping cost just supposed to cover shipping, not add profit?

[Thunderwing]

Well, that is the general idea - except that ebay now treats shipping costs as 'profit' because sellers were using it that way. So now... I consider the ebay percent they charge on shipping, AS part of the 'shipping cost'. So my shipping costs were increased accordingly. (And remember, 'shipping' includes postage, handling fees, insurance fees, and the like - not just the postage (stamps). I charge $2 insurance per parcel, across the board, to cover the ones that 'get lost', for example).

[Taxel]

Well - you knew the shipping costs before you purchased the item, and the item go there safely - so in reality, you don't really have any course to complain or 'ding' their stars. Right?

Yes, I do. I paid for the shipping I expected, a bubble mailer with tracking. There was nothing that lead me to believe they'd ship it in a plain envelope for $1. They do not need $3 profit from shipping. I would have been happy to pay the same amount with $3 more for the stickers, and $1 for shipping (I actually would have requested to pay more for a bubble mailer without having an issue with the cost of the stickers).

Charging $4 for shipping and sending an easy damaged collectible in a plain white envelope is incredibly rude and is not okay.

[Sarahlacewing]

Handling fees are different and they are added separately I believe.  In theory the cost would just be the postage.  Anything else (cost of boxes/envelopes/travel time/ mileage/etc) should be added as handling fees.

But Ebay often gives an option for pricing and unless you change it, it automatically sets up a price based on similarly sent items.  Maybe they didn't look at it and they use the same template for everything and just don't change the ebay suggested shipping options.

At the end of the day, I sort of agree with Thunderwing.  You got the item safely, it was packaged to prevent bending or damage to the stickers.  The cardboard insert shows they care.  I don't think a cut down bubble mailer would have added much in the way of protection.  Even a small box probably wouldn't have been the full $4, so I mean you knew it was high.  I get that you're angry because it's like $3 over, but you did know that and agree to it when you bought the item. *shrug*

[Melodia]

That sucks, I would definately contact them about it, or leave them bad feedback. The stickers could have been damaged, and they are basically stealing money.
I have bought Magic the gathering cards on ebay, got charged 5$ shipping, and received something similar. with no tracking number. I was angry too!

[Taxel]

How do people feel this is okay? All of their listing have similar shipping, and the shipping screenshot says "package". This person is very far from a newbie, they obviously know what they're doing. They have over 800 feedback and have been on eBay since 2005.

If the shipping was over by $1 or so, I wouldn't care. I never care about such small "overcharges", but $3 extra and sent in a plain white envelope? That is far from okay. If they'd sent it in a bubble mailer with tracking it would have been around $3, I send small light bubble mailers all the time.

[Unicorn_pops]

I agree, they did overcharge on shipping and that is against ebay rules. Yes you did agree to pay the shipping cost but like you stated, thought you would receive in a bubble mailer (which then wouldn't have been an issue) But when the item arrives in an envelope for the cost of two stamps, that isn't right and you probably wouldn't have agreed to that high shipping cost then. So when you pay around $4 for shipping and see they basically scammed you out of money, it isn't right. I had an issue with a seller about non pony item myself in the past. They overcharged by 3Xs and shipped it with a different service than what was stated. I PM'd them asking for a partial refund since they didn't provide the shipping I paid for. Told me they would refund me then weeks went by with no partical given. I have them a neutral and stated why and very low rating for shipping cost. Also contacted ebay because it's against the rules to overcharge for shipping and not use the correct shipping method that the buyer paid for. When you charge "extra" onto the shipping, It is only for package, paper, tape, printing cost...No to charge for gas to drive it to the PO, not to cover ebay and paypal fees. It's 100% Against ebay policy to do so!
 Personally, I'd send them a PM and politly state you noticed shipping only cost them X amount and you paid X amount and ask what was the reason for overcharge on shipping?  They may just go ahead an issue some money back or give you some excuse about paypal/ebay fees, then  you can report them if they use that. Won't get you your money back but at least they get a warning and might reconsider doing that again.
I don't mind paying the shipping cost when people quote you because I trust they aren't seriously overcharging me...that's the only reason I agree to it but when you get something and basically see you've been scammed out of more money, it is very upsetting and shouldn't be aloud/done.  Good luck!

[banditpony]

I understand why you are upset, as you got overcharged for shipping.

Although I do think that mailing stickers that way is perfectly ok. I get stickers like that a lot, and I am happy enough if they have cardboard surrounding them. I get a little bit annoyed if they are just thrown into an envelope.

As for the package thing. I'm not sure if you sold anything on ebay before, but there is a really annoying drop down list to choose from. There isn't an option for "first class envelope". (maybe standard shipping, or economy shipping.. but those are a bit vague. It was sent first class-- and it would be that option that would give you a better estimate for shipping transit).

[Taxel]

Thanks for being reasonable, Unicorn!

I paid for specific shipping. It wasn't put in a smaller box/bubble mailer/etc to save the seller some money, it was shipped in a completely different way, a way I never would have agreed to! When I pay for a specific shipping method, I expect that method to be used. If I wanted it shipped in a plain envelope I would have messaged them and asked if they'd be willing to ship it that way, but I didn't. How would I go about reporting this to eBay?

Normally I don't even look at what the shipping cost (as in the stickers on the package), unless something jumps out as grabs my attention as it being really wrong. And shipping in a plain white envelope when the listing specifically said "package" and charged $4 is incredibly wrong! I'd love to see how the people defending this seller would feel if the same thing happened to them.

I know shipping materials cost money and personally I always round up shipping cost to the nearest .10 to make it easier (like 2.30 instead of 2.23), both of which I understand and am fine with. But they used a plain white envelope! That envelope cost them close to nothing. They didn't need to charge me for it or the gas it took to theoretically take it to the post office (you can just leave stamped envelopes in your mailbox and have them picked up for free, or at least you can everywhere I've lived).


banditpony - Normally I would be okay getting stickers this way, but this is a very rare and old set. It was my absolute most wanted thing for many months. I would have requested any seller send it to me in a bubble mailer with tracking if I bought it over Tumblr/email/Arena/etc. This set of stickers is very very important to me, which is why I was willing to pay $4 for shipping.

If those are the choices for charging shipping, that is the way they should be shipping them. :/ The fact that eBay does not let you set shipping as a plain envelope says something: you should not be doing it.

[lockette]

I do more or less agree with the majority here. The amount of shipping can be complicated with eBay, apparently, and you did get the package safely, so I don't see a reason to give negative feedback.

HOWEVER you are displeased with the packaging and handling of your merchandise. I would send the seller a note saying that while you got them safely, you expected them to be packaged more securely and perhaps they could take that into consideration in their future transactions. While you're at it, add that you expected, with what you paid for shipping, was for the merchandise to be packaged a certain way, and feel that you were overcharged shipping for just an envelope, and ask if they could explain the higher cost.

Just my 2¢.

[bluerose9978]

I can understand why you are angry. A seller overcharged me shipping by $20. They charged me $25 and it cost them a little over $5 according to the label. It was shipped in a bag and not even in a bubble envelope and when I asked about why they overcharged so much the seller said it was to buy her kids a swing set. WTH! When I requested a partial refund she said OK but never issued the refund. And it turns out she's a scammer and harasser on eBay anyway. EBay won't get you your money back for shipping. Your best option is to contact the seller about it, just don't mention anything about feedback in your correspondence because eBay will be able to remove any feedback you leave in response to this transaction.

[Taxel]

I remember that thread, bluerose! That was absolutely insane.

I'm definitely going to contact the seller tonight, once I'm all calmed down and such. I'm just even more confused and upset because I spoke to them a bit and they were wonderful. Its really stupid, but it feels more personal that they'd do this after I talked to them. :/

[kitkatvintage]

I think contacting them politely about your dissatisfaction is the way to go. Give the seller a chance to make it right. If they don't want to work with you on a refund, I would leave appropriate (low) star ratings. Even if that cost is displayed in the auction, that is not the seller's actual cost of shipping. They charged x3 the actual cost of shipping, and in my opinion, that deserves a low star rating.

As a seller, if I accidentally over charged a buyer by that much, I would refund them as soon as the shipping was paid for. Since this was sent in a plain envelope with stamps, I would say the overcharge was not an accident or mistake.

Best of luck to you on resolving this!