Charged too much for ebay shipping, seller not responding

[daffodil101]

I agree with Cupidstar and Aadra-- to be able to sell on ebay and just break even can be really difficult.  They don't just charge you fees on items anymore, they charge you a fee on the postage itself.  I think that's a bit greedy of ebay personally, but I guess they can charge whatever they want as for a lot of items there's not much alternative places to sell things.  A lot of time and work goes into selling, it's not a walk in the park.

Real-world retailers are the same.  They have to pay rent on their premises, staff wages, lots of other expenses and that gets passed on to the consumer.  I think it's fair-- BUT I also think it's of utmost importance to be upfront with the cost from the beginning.
Sometimes (like when you're buying overseas) you do need to go and ask the seller what the cost will be.  It often says on an item that it will ship to other countries but not display a price.  Etsy you can display different countries do that but I'm not totally sure if you even can on ebay (I've only sold overseas a couple of times though).

As a buyer I always ask the seller what the postage will cost ahead of time.  There are all sorts of sellers out there, good and bad, and there have been many times I've chosen not to bid on an item because postage is too high for me.

I think the seller was within their rights.  Some sellers will write in the item description asking buyers to contact them BEFORE bidding, to sort out postage specifically to avoid this kind of problem.  I understand from a buyer's point of view it's annoying, but since it's only a couple of dollars I'd say it's best to just chalk it up to experience and remember to ask about postage well before the auction ends in the future to avoid paying more than you expect.

On a side note-- a lot of sellers use the Global international shipping program, which is heaps more expensive.  It's calcutated automatically by ebay and the seller just sends the package to a local ebay depot, and they handle the international shipping from there.  You can get around it, if the seller is willing to do so (it requires a bit more work for the seller so sometimes it's just not convenient for them) and pay only the actual shipping cost.  But again-- a lot of these items I choose not to buy because postage is too much for me.

Hope that helped    

[gazzy90]

The seller didn't have an international shipping cost and they invoiced me after I had bid. They said ebay global shipping handles the cost, but Greece is not included in that, I've checked! I paid the shipping cost they specified even though it did seem a bit much.

What bothers me is that they ignored my messages about the overcharge I noticed and then after I messaged them again, they lied about paying insurance at the post office! And they never replied to me again. And the difference of 2.75GBP is not little to me, it's 4 euros! And I live in Greece guys 

I've been overcharged before and every seller has sent me a refund or explained politely that the extra charge was for shipping materials etc. And for small amounts it's ok. Even for this amount I wouldn't have left negative feedback. This is probably the first negative feedback I left and it's mostly because I was ignored and lied to.

"Even if you bend over backwards you can never make every buyer happy" - Tribble79 they didn't do anything to make me happy! And another buyer has just left them negative feedback as well cos they didn't care about her complaint either!

[flying_narwhal]

The seller may not have been lying to you about the insurance. Ebay offers both insurance through the PO as well as third-party insurance through ShipCover. If the seller purchased ShipCover insurance it will not show the package as being insured on the label. I have purchased ShipCover insurance several times and it never shows "insured" on the label. The label will also not reflect the cost of the added insurance, just the postage cost through the PO.

[silverdawn]

Fyi, when I buy insurance on items, it is NOT added into postage costs on the label.  Ebay does this to me all the time with international transactions and I am forever contacting my buyers to let them know with screen shots of the shipping purchase page and the paypal transaction. Excessive? Probably.  But it's the extremes I go to in order to protect my seller feedback.  I see you're starting to sell too.  Welcome to the world of endless paranoia! Lol!

[BabySunnybunch]

I'm sorry, but this seller should have never been left a negative and I wouldn't have even left a neutral. I maybe would have dinged them a few stars, but they are well within their right to charge for packaging and expenses related to shipping the item. $4USD is not at all an excessive amount to cover those costs. It is not overcharging.

With situations like this, I thank goodness I am not a seller on eBay. They did not deserve a negative at all.

[shimmlight]

Somebody was charging £3 postage for their ponies on eBay. I bought two, and they upped the postage to £5. I knew immediately the postage was going to stay the same, but I couldn't be bothered to make a fuss about it - it seemed petty. Besides, the ponies themselves were great, so I just mentioned it was expensive in the feedback.

Maybe I'm just too nice on eBay though, I've never left negative feedback, only one neutral for something that was completely inaccurately described xD

[LadyMoondancer]

The seller didn't have an international shipping cost and they invoiced me after I had bid. They said ebay global shipping handles the cost, but Greece is not included in that, I've checked! I paid the shipping cost they specified even though it did seem a bit much.

Wait--are you saying this item was shipped through the Global Shipping Program?  (Which does include Greece.)

[banditpony]

If it was done through global shipping program the extra money could of been for the domestic shipping cost...

[LittleSpiffy]

The seller can have the feedback removed if they did, in fact, use the Global Shipping program...or used the ShipSure insurance eBay offers (and does not show on the postage label, btw).

I'm not in the habit of overcharging on shipping, but I normally choose to have what I paid not printed on the label.

The seller should have responded sooner, but I don't think they were lying about the S&H costs.

Just because someone else left a negative feedback doesn't mean the seller deserved it, or another one.

This situation frustrates me :/ 

[Sebby6]

Don't think it would have been through GSP as it sounds like the seller is in the UK

[silverdawn]

Oh, the UK definitely has global shipping lol!  I've bit the bullet a few times and shelled out for it when the UK sellers have something I want really badly!

[banditpony]

Don't think it would have been through GSP as it sounds like the seller is in the UK

I've seen GSP from the UK to the US! <__<; At least, I am 95% sure I did. It confused the heck out of me-- I remember telling my husband it was reverse GSP since I thought the US was the only one that had it.

[silverdawn]

I'm 100% sure.  I've paid UK Global Shipping to the US on 5 separate occasions.   Better yet, here's some proof

*edit to remove live auction link* PL

Hope no one minds an open auction link.  The pony is overpriced, common, and you'll be paying over $20.00 for shipping.

[banditpony]

I don't think we can post a live auction, unless it's your own. But yes, the GSP is there (although I don't see greece as an option, hum....)

[silverdawn]

Yep, Greece is included.  You can see them in the list on the link that lady Moondancer posted

http://www.webpronews.com/ebay-adds-more-countries-to-global-shipping-program-2014-03

They are a destination ship to country for the GSP.