Sudden increase in shipping prices from the Netherlands? Or a liar-pants?

[amazonarabian]

So, on 5/16/13 I purchased several ponies from an ebay seller from the Netherlands named mlpvalley.

Now, before the collective uncomfortable intakes of breath, I knew she had had a shady history several, several years ago on the Arena and is a banned member.  I read up on her shenanigans and saw that she was 13 years old when she was originally banned, hasn't had issues lately, and seemed to be pretty ashamed of her previous self, and claimed to have attempted to right all her wrongs.  I, too, was a d**k of a kid, and turned out a pretty decent adult, so I walked the Disney Path and was all, Second Chances!

Anyway, I purchased 2 adults and 4 babies.  She shipped them in bubble envelopes that fit 2 adults or 4 babies.  I was okay with this, as we had agreed upon it beforehand.  I paid $15 total for the shipping of both envelopes ($7.50 each envelope).

I received the 2 adults on June 04.  I immediately dropped her a message to let her know they arrived safely and I thought the other envelope was probably a day or so behind.

No answer.  Which is fine.  People get busy.  I'm not terribly needy.  It didn't really require a response.

However, on Jun 12th, I get a message on ebay from her that says this:

Dear buyer,

Unfortunately I've stumbled on a huge problem.
Apparently the shipping rules of my postal service has changed (without them telling me), and therefor may packages have returned.
And the only way for me to reship them, is the new way our postal system wants them...and that's by package post. Pretty much anything thicker then 3cm is going to have to go through the package system.
This means for my US/Canada/Australia buyers 25$ shipping (so an additional $17.50 for who paid $7.50 shipping or an additional 10$ for all buyers that paid 15$)
And for my European buyers 13$ (so for the one who paid $7.50 an additional $5.50)
Normally I would take it as a loss on my end and just pay the shipping, but with 20 packages, I just can't afford it.
So as you've received this mail, it means your package was one of the unlucky ones. And my question becomes; do you wish to pay the additional shipping, or do you wish a full refund?
Again my apologies, I wish I could do more

I messaged her back and explained that I was a little confused and would like more clarification.  The packages were sent out at the same time, after all.  How did one get the green light and the other get sent back?

She replied back,

to be honest i don't know either. I'm using the information I got. I already reshipped twice at me expense bit they've returned again.
I'm sorry, I just don't know.

- mlpvalley

I've never had to deal with anything like this.  I also don't know anything about postage in the Netherlands.  Anyone have any insight into this?  I have a hard time imagining that this is some big, elaborate hoax she's arranged to steal everybody's money AND ponies, since she offers a full refund (and used a frowny-face emoticon, of course).  It seems like a lot of effort to go through.  And if she's lying, wouldn't it show up on the envelope/box exactly how much shipping costs vs how much she charged?  But why this sudden drastic price increase in postage?  Is that real or am I being bent over a barrel?  Anyone here live in the Netherlands??

I don't really want to give up my ponies, and am feeling a little scrunchy-faced about that, but I also don't want to shell out an extra $17.50 just to ship them, especially since I'm not sure I got *that* much of a deal on the group of them.

Here's what envelope contained:

NM UK Baby Mischief    $11.99
UK Baby Susie             $13.99
UK Baby Moondream   $13.99
UK Baby Schoolbag     $11.99

See?  If you can't help me solve the Dutch postal issues, you can still tell me to stop being silly and pay the nice lady or good God those prices are astronomical, and for THOSE ponies- why would you even consider that offer??

You could also offer me appropriate Feedback suggestions.  I've never left Negative feedback before, and the thought kind of makes me a little sad.  And then kind of excited and trepidatious at the thought of everyone's horror stories with vengeful ebayers and their Feedback woes, which in turn makes me wonder what MY horror story could possibly be by the bitter, bitter end, which then, for some reason, makes me crave movie theater popcorn and an obscenely large soda.  I'm sure I'm not the only one.

Suggestions encouraged!  Especially Dutch ones!

[Eldarwen]

Im not from Netherlands.. but.. Everytime I've bought ponies from there, its been the same rule. Over 3cm is considered as a package. I cant remember the prices though. 

[Moonbreeze]

Sending packages outside Europe is insanely expensive from the Netherlands. I always warn buyers that if it doesn't go in a padded envelope (so through a regular mailbox or cannot be thicker than 3,2 cm.) it has to go by package and that is very expensive, €17,50 at its minimum for outside Europe. We have 0-2 KG as only option  It annoys me to no end...

BUT this has been the case for quite some time now, so I don't know why it is a sudden problem for her....

[kellyponyfeathers]

Oh wow, she's a banned member?!  I didn't know that!!  She's actually one of my favorite Ebay sellers.  Her prices are usually on the low end, she has nice ponies, and her descriptions are accurate.  I've bought from her several times and never had any problems at all.

Yes, Dutch shipping prices are normally very high, about $17 even for a very small package.  I'm in the US, but I've bought from the Netherlands enough times to know that I have to expect high shipping prices.

One of the things I've liked about mlpvalley is that she still manages to get decent shipping prices for her items, like no more than $10 for one pony, which I can handle.  I asked her about it once, and she told me (via email, of course) that she used to work for the Dutch post and knew a trick to send small packages for more reasonable rates.  But I don't know what she did; that's all I know.

So my tendency is to think that maybe the Dutch post got wise to the loophole that she was using and just changed their rules.  Even if she has a bad past here, I want to believe her story.  And if she was only 13 when she was banned here, I'd like to think that she grew out of her issues, as you said.

By the way, she once mentioned some health problems to me as well.  Again, I've never met her in person, of course, but my gut tells me she was being honest.  She had a difficult pregnancy, and she and/or her child was/were in and out of the hospital for a while.  I think one of them (can't remember if it was her or her child) continues to have some health issues, though it's gotten better.  Anyway, she had to take a short break from selling a while back, but she still got my ponies sent out.

So I hope her customers will give her the benefit of the doubt and not bite her head off as long as she sends refunds.  I feel bad for her; if this Dutch post price raise is true, then she's going to have a much harder time selling ponies, and it's sort of a part-time, work-form-home-so-she-can-raise-her-kid job for her.

Hope everything works out on your end too!

[HawaiianRain]

Shouldn't matter if they got returned or not. It's up to the seller to be current on rates and what can ship and what can't in what. You shouldn't have to pay anything to get the ponies you already paid for. Ebay states you can not ask for additional shipping for an item.

[Fransponies]

How long ago was she banned? I had trouble with that seller a little over a year ago. I never received a package and she was really rude to me about it. I had to get a refund. I haven't bought anything from her since. I don't know anything about netherlands post though. I hope everything works out for you.

[Siiri]

I send her a message about shipping costs etc a couple months ago and I didn't hear anything from her ever

Doesn't give a good and honest picture 

[BlueyBirdy]

Yes, it's dishonest to suddenly turn around and say that you need more money for shipping. It's a seller's responsibility to ensure they are charging the correct amount and to keep track of changes.

This happened to me in the past with one parcel. It was about a centimetre or two over Royal Mail's international parcel restrictions so it had to go via Parcelforce. This was more expensive and it would take longer than anticipated. But it was my fault entirely for not double-checking the restrictions so I ate the extra cost for postage and apologised to the buyer. It wasn't fun for my wallet but it was my responsibility.

[NoDivision]

I agree that it's her responsibility to know shipping policies and, as someone else mentioned, per ebay rules she can't ask you for more money for shipping after the fact. That shipping policy is not new in the netherlands.

As for her saying she can't afford to ship the items if you don't give her more money, the way I see it, what that really means is she won't make a profit if you don't give her more money. After all, you paid her for the ponies. She should have plenty of money to pay shipping out of what the ponies sold for. She just doesn't want to take the loss, but that's what she's going to have to do. None of us LIKE having to take a loss on shipping, but as a seller that's your responsibility, not the buyers.

[hokuspokus]

But.. when was it allowed to send adult ponies as (bubble) envelope??? They are far over 3,2 cm wide so they'd consider it package, even if it comes in an envelope.


The seller is totally honest, shipping from Netherlands is extreme expensive... i'm always ashamed to ask so much, because i can totally understand it must feel like someone is lying when you hear that high amount... Unfortunately it's true :/
Since januari this year the shipping went up to €18,05 for packages outside Europe. No matter if there's only 1 pony in there.

[kellyponyfeathers]

Hey, everyone--

Regarding mlpvalley, can I point out that I named her in that "good Ebay sellers" thread we had a month ago, and rybett seconded me, so at least one other person here has vouched for her reputation.
http://mlparena.com/index.php/topic,329622.0.html

I've had enough friendly chats with her via Ebay messaging that I asked what was going on with this situation.  She confirmed that the Dutch post has indeed closed the loophole she had been using to send small packages for much less money than they normally charged.  She is of course very upset and frustrated by it, and understands that her customers are too.  She asked me very nicely to post an explanation of her problem here.

She knows that it's the seller's responsibility to be aware of shipping regulations and prices.  She said that under normal circumstances, if this were only about a few packages, she would indeed just pay the extra shipping costs herself and count it as a learning experience.  But instead she is dealing with 20 packages, not just a few, and the difference in shipping costs that she would have to pay herself comes to $500.  And some of the packages only contained one or two very inexpensive ponies (under $5 each), so it would cost her much more to ship than the ponies were worth.

She said that she's very sorry, but she just can't afford to pay that out of pocket.  She hopes that her customers will understand and accept a full refund.  Even so, keep in mind that she is still losing her Ebay fees, and that total will add up to a lot of money too, though it will still be less than the total difference in shipping costs.

So, you know, I don't mean to take her side against yours, but c'mon guys, can't we give her a break and the benefit of the doubt?  We all run into unexpected problems sometimes.  As long as she's offering full refunds, I don't think it's fair to be too critical of her.  I know it's disappointing if you can't buy the ponies you want at this time, but we're not talking about super rare ponies here; there will be other opportunities to buy them. 

[NovelNerd]

She offered I refund everyone, so I would let it go. She made a mistake and cannot afford to pay it out of pocket. I can understand that, not everyone can simply pay the extra a the time especially if she has that many packages. I would just take the refund and find them somewhere else later on. She shouldn't ask for more money, but I kind of read it as her trying to accommodate buyers that really didn't want to lose the ponies. I dunno I wouldn't be upset about it if I was in that situation I think.

[kellyponyfeathers]

*nods*  Yeah, I really think that's the situation.  She's trying to accommodate the customers that really want the ponies in spite of the shipping cost increase, and offering a full refund for those that don't.  I can definitely understand how some people could suspect a scam, but I can vouch that her former shipping prices were *EXTRA LOW* for Dutch mail, and she kept them low for at least a couple of years.  So I'm not super surprised to hear the situation has changed and she can no longer take advantage of the shipping loophole that she was using before.

[BerryMouse]

She offered I refund everyone, so I would let it go. She made a mistake and cannot afford to pay it out of pocket. I can understand that, not everyone can simply pay the extra a the time especially if she has that many packages. I would just take the refund and find them somewhere else later on. She shouldn't ask for more money, but I kind of read it as her trying to accommodate buyers that really didn't want to lose the ponies. I dunno I wouldn't be upset about it if I was in that situation I think.

Totally this!!

[mercynova]

Since januari this year the shipping went up to €18,05 for packages outside Europe. No matter if there's only 1 pony in there.

Oh wow, that's absolutely crazy! and I thought the recent Royal Mail postage changes over here were ludicrous!