Postage Prices - Am I being unreasonable for asking for a discount?

[Pangel]

Hi guys! Would appreciate a little help with an issue I'm having. 



I bought two small lots of ponies on eBay. One was marked at £7.50 P+P, the other was £13.00.

I asked the seller for a combined total, and she just quoted me the added total of the two with no discount. I assumed it was a mistake, and sent her a message to ask if there was any discount, as £20.50 was really too much money for approx. 30 ponies in total.

I help my parent's run their own online business, so I know how much things cost to post, as well as allowing a reasonable amount for packaging materials. The response I got was, well... Pretty obnoxious!

She said they were already pre-packed, and she hadn't anticipated the same person would buy both lots (not a problem on my end). But if I wanted them sending together she'd have to BUY a box (erm... What? Boxes are free if you look in the right places!) to send them out to me, but with the added dimenions and weight of the box, it would weigh more than the items sent seperately and therefore not much in the way of discount (I'm not even going to point out the obvious fobbing off in that statement).

It's just really frustrating to deal with people like this. She can tape the boxes together and wrap them up in brown paper for all I care, or indeed just send them seperately. But a 5kg parcel sent via Royal Mail 1st Class Recorded will cost approx. £15 to post from the Post Office. This one will probably weigh half that ;___; Hell, even a courier company will be cheaper!

So, I haven't responded to her message because I'm not really sure what to say! Do I:

1. Point out to her that the P/O prints the cost to send the item on the box and that I will be aware how much it cost
2. Ask her to weigh the parcels that are already pre-packaged so I can quote her an accurate price from the Royal Mail website
3. Not say anything, pay for the items, and leave her appropriate feedback about her P+P costs when the packages arrive


I just want a bit of advice really what you would do in this situation. Do you think it's me that's being unreasonable for wanting a fair postage price, and that it's just tough luck? ;___; I'm doubting myself!

[fiwen30]

If she's already packaged the lots, I doubt she'll be willing to redo them and discount . Personally I'd pay, wait till they arrive, find out from the labels how much it really cost then take it up officially with eBay if there's a massive difference. Maybe others have different advice though?

[Pangel]

If she's already packaged the lots, I doubt she'll be willing to redo them and discount . Personally I'd pay, wait till they arrive, find out from the labels how much it really cost then take it up officially with eBay if there's a massive difference. Maybe others have different advice though?

Thanks for your reply and taking the time to read over this, I really appreciate it!

I think that is what I am planning to do at the moment. Sometimes it's just reassuring to know that someone else would do the same! <3

[Unicorn_pops]

I once had a seller that wouldn't combine because they were already prepackaged seperatly. So I paid shipping for both and then when they came in the mail, they were combined! I was so mad! I didn't mind paying seperatly but straight out lying to me was horrible! I contacted seller and pointed out what they done and they refunded me the overcharge. Just pay attention when they come, how much it actually cost them to ship. If it's to much, email them...but don't mention the word "feedback" Good Luck!

[Sarahlacewing]

I always try to negotiate before purchase when i can.  Do they have a poor rating for similar instances?  I would say pay and then take it up with ebay to get the partial refund.  Take pictures of the boxes.  She cannot charge extra for shipping just because, or for packaging materials (that is what a handling fee is for).  However, she is not obligated to combine them.  So, if she significantly overcharges you for the two packages you can contact ebay but it will end up costing more than it had to since she wont combine.

[babystarz]

 

If she's already packaged the lots, I doubt she'll be willing to redo them and discount . Personally I'd pay, wait till they arrive, find out from the labels how much it really cost then take it up officially with eBay if there's a massive difference. Maybe others have different advice though?

Nope, eBay will not do a thing about this, found it out the hard way. And I have run into situations where shipping two items separately is cheaper than together because once together they are pushed into the next weight category. I have no idea how the U.K. postage system works, but in the U.S. it's tiered pricing, not continuous. But since you're both apparently in the U.K. those prices do sound extremely high. Does the seller say she combines shipping anywhere in the auctions? If not unfortunately you'll have to pay for them separately, although if you are sure the prices are incorrect I would call eBay and find out if you have to pay. If  you do pay and it turns out that you have overpaid for shipping in the end, file a case with Paypal over it and see if they will find in your favor.

[Ringlets]

Those prices sound crazy high     I think personally  I would pay for the items , wait for them to arrive and check how much it actually cost her to send them both seperately. It will almost certainly cost less than what she quoted you , and then you can message her again, see what she has to say, and take it from there    Let us know how it goes

[Maniah]

I personally wouldn't pay if she was insuring on over hargig for postage. I would explain to her that the cost of shipping was a set amount and that eBay TOS states that you cannot massively overcharge for shipping. Tell her you are perfectly happy with her taping the boxes together and wrapping it in brown paper, but that you would appreciate it if she would please do what ever it takes to provide a combined shipping quote.

I hate so much when sellers over charge shipping more than $1. Grr!

[Pangel]

Hi all,

I decided to pay for the items. I just sent her a message to say that although I have paid, I was fairly confident that it wouldn't cost £20.50 to post, and to be aware that the post office now print the cost of sending the item on their own stamp.

Hopefully she will be more reasonable when I have proof she has overcharged me. And if she ignores me, then I will just have to take the hit on my wallet, and post feedback to reflect the transaction. It's a shame. She has 100% positive feedback so I bought with confidence

[lovesbabysquirmy]

Good thing you are prepared to leave honest feedback!  Hope that all goes well for you and that you can claim the shipping overcharge from Paypal. 

[RockinPrettyBeats]

If  you do pay and it turns out that you have overpaid for shipping in the end, file a case with Paypal over it and see if they will find in your favor.

I find it very disturbing that I frequently see people saying to file a claim with paypal for overcharging on shipping.

First off, you can't file a claim for that reason. If you do file a claim then you are filing a not as described claim which is straight up lying. If you do this you are committing fraud.

Paypal AND Ebay will never ever refund the buyer for whatever handling fee the seller is charging.

The best advice is if you don't like the shipping cost for an item don't bid. If you bid on multiple items read the auction to make sure they combine shipping. If they do combine shipping and they take off very little (like you know, a $1 or something) then try to reason with the seller. If the combined shipping amount is really that nutty don't continue with the transaction. If you do continue with the transaction, leave appropriate feedback.

But don't file claims with Paypal or Ebay for overcharging on shipping. That is not what they are there for.

[Pangel]

I agree with you RockinPrettyBeats. I'll just have to wait and see what happens.

I won't be opening an eBay case unless I have a genuine reason to i.e. the ponies aren't as described. I just wanted to bounce some ideas around here first before I communicated with the seller further, and wondered what others thought of the situation.

I've paid for them because I want them, and it's unfortunate about the high postage. She hadn't mentioned in her descriptions whether she would or would not combine postage, I had just assumed that she would, and that's my fault.

[babystarz]

If  you do pay and it turns out that you have overpaid for shipping in the end, file a case with Paypal over it and see if they will find in your favor.

I find it very disturbing that I frequently see people saying to file a claim with paypal for overcharging on shipping.

First off, you can't file a claim for that reason. If you do file a claim then you are filing a not as described claim which is straight up lying. If you do this you are committing fraud.

Paypal AND Ebay will never ever refund the buyer for whatever handling fee the seller is charging.

The best advice is if you don't like the shipping cost for an item don't bid. If you bid on multiple items read the auction to make sure they combine shipping. If they do combine shipping and they take off very little (like you know, a $1 or something) then try to reason with the seller. If the combined shipping amount is really that nutty don't continue with the transaction. If you do continue with the transaction, leave appropriate feedback.

But don't file claims with Paypal or Ebay for overcharging on shipping. That is not what they are there for.

I've never filed a case with Paypal before, so I have no idea what the categories there are. I just know that it's not possible with eBay. If it's not possible with Paypal either, then the only option is to not pay upfront. It's sad that there's no recourse after the fact :/

[lovesbabysquirmy]

I was pretty sure there was a way to report them to Ebay if the shipping charge on all the invoices says something different from the parcel's shipping label. 

If not, well, most sellers are pocketing the difference in combined shipping price which is unreported profit, though Ebay makes their fees, so you're right, they don't care.

But most of us in the community find that kind of behavior annoying or questionable, so I do keep track of sellers who think that "shipping" or "handling" should somehow be an extra reward for them for doing their jobs as merchants.  It's supposed to be "the cost of business" - built into the prices, so you're not being gouged when the $10 item sold for $0.99 and now they have to pay $5 to ship it... they should NOT be charging $10 for S&H so they make extra profit on an auction they SHOULD have started at $9.99. 

But on the other hand...  if the shipping prices were stated at the time of the auction and you still bid knowing the charges, you did accept the contract as presented.    Sometimes it's better to ask questions before and then you can still walk away feeling satisfied that you didn't get tangled up in something!  *pony hugs*

[NoDivision]

I believe there is a way to report it (through here http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/selling-practices.html ) but there's no way to take any action and ebay does jack all about it.