charged 5 times shipping, ask for rebate bluntly, or ding a star?

[lunar_scythe]

I won a couple of baby ponies on ebay, and the shipping was $6.35, which sadly, is about normal any more.  I pay, and when they arrive, they cost the seller a whole $1.25 to ship first class, so I paid five times the actual shipping cost!  I was irritated, but I wanted to give the seller a chance, so I emailed them.

Hi, I received the ponies yesterday, and was curious why shipping was only $1.25 when I was charged $6.35? I wouldn't ask if it were only a dollar or so difference, but when I'm charged five times the amount, I feel like I have to ask.

and they replied right away:

Dear lunar_scythe,

I could not print my label from ebay. I have trouble with paypal. I ended up shipping first class at the self serve post machine to make sure you got your item.

Is it just me or does it sound like they are trying to say that since they had to ship it at the post office I should be grateful they did?  I'm not sure if their email came off as rude, or maybe it's just abrupt, and I'm over reacting?

I'm trying to decide if I should be more blunt and straight out ask for a partial refund($3, which still leaves them $2.10 over the actual cost), or give it up as a lost cause and leave a positive, but with only 3 or 4 stars for shipping.  I know how important stars are to a seller, but if a seller charges 5 times the shipping cost, I don't feel like I need to do them any favors...

[bluerose9978]

That reminds me exactly of when I contacted a seller about shipping when they charged me $25 for shipping and when it arrived the shipping label showed they paid just over $5 for shipping and I asked why they charged so much and they replied because they wanted to buy a swing set.

Trust me, if you call eBay about it, they won't do a thing. You are best to just leave appropriate feedback and just move on.

[Pony_Mama]

I would ask for a few dollars refund for the shipping overcharge.  Honestly, I would. The worst they can do is tell you no and then you know exactly what kind of feedback you want to leave.

I have asked for partial refunds and gotten them. I've also had buyers ask for it and I've given it to them. No seller wants to risk a couple of bucks at the chance of negative feedback....as least I wouldn't want to.

And I don't think they were trying to be rude with their reply but they certainly didn't want to offer up a refund if you weren't asking.

[bluerose9978]

I tried asking for a partial refund and I am still being harassed to this day through the mail. And this happened in April.

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk

[Shenanigans]

When I over charge for shipping by more than $2 I always send my buyers a refund. I don't want to risk low stars or negative feedback I feel the seller should send you a partial refund, but she may justify the extra shipping by saying she went to the post office and it costs gas.

I tried asking for a partial refund and I am still being harassed to this day through the mail. And this happened in April.

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk

Oh no, the seller is STILL harrassing you??? That's terrible Rose I remember your thread, the seller was absolutely awful!!

[Ringlets]

Hmm.. it dounds to me like the person had to pay the extra at the self service machine because they couldnt print their label ... but I dont know for sure that it would cost that much more (I live in the UK so it works different here)  if the original price sounded about the usual price you pay, then it could be that that is what the seller was charged at the PO, but then again if that was the case, why would the label say a much lower price?  maybe Ponylady can shed some more light on the subject .
If it turns ot that the person has really overcharged you by that much, then it wouldnt hurt to ask for a small refund, or leave it at that and just lower the star rating

[NoDivision]

if the original price sounded about the usual price you pay, then it could be that that is what the seller was charged at the PO, but then again if that was the case, why would the label say a much lower price?

It wouldn't, the label price would be what they paid. I am guessing that the original price quoted was for priority shipping, and that when the person went to use the machine a the PO they used the cheapest option of first class instead. And I think jives with their explanation as well.

[bluerose9978]

When I over charge for shipping by more than $2 I always send my buyers a refund. I don't want to risk low stars or negative feedback I feel the seller should send you a partial refund, but she may justify the extra shipping by saying she went to the post office and it costs gas.

I tried asking for a partial refund and I am still being harassed to this day through the mail. And this happened in April.

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk

Oh no, the seller is STILL harrassing you??? That's terrible Rose I remember your thread, the seller was absolutely awful!!

Unfortunately, we're still receiving magazines and puzzle books. But the good news is it isn't as frequent. Instead of having to cancel several a week, we only have to cancel a couple a month.

So my advice is be careful with your words if you ask for a partial refund and take in what the seller has to say. It sounded as if the seller didn't want to give you the refund in her response because she used that extra money for gas for her trip to the post office and that she felt entitled to the overcharge because of it. Hopefully you don't have an insane seller like I did but if she doesn't offer a refund, just leave the appropriate feedback and move on. It's not worth the fight, trust me.

[lovesbabysquirmy]

If it doesn't go well, please warn us from dealing with this seller! 

*pony hugs*

[ponylady]

if the original price sounded about the usual price you pay, then it could be that that is what the seller was charged at the PO, but then again if that was the case, why would the label say a much lower price?  maybe Ponylady can shed some more light on the subject .

It wouldn't say a lower price and cost more  unless she purchased shipping supplies at the kiosk but that is probably highly unlikely.

If I were in your shoes lunar, I would politely send a message back and say again that while you appreciate getting your ponies quickly and are overall happy with the transaction, you are still a bit confused by the shipping overage. Do not mention feedback or dinging her stars, she can report it for feedback extortion. Just remain polite and play the confused card.

Keep us posted!

[kitkatvintage]

and they replied right away:

Dear lunar_scythe,

I could not print my label from ebay. I have trouble with paypal. I ended up shipping first class at the self serve post machine to make sure you got your item.

Is it just me or does it sound like they are trying to say that since they had to ship it at the post office I should be grateful they did?  I'm not sure if their email came off as rude, or maybe it's just abrupt, and I'm over reacting?

The way I am reading their reply is this: the seller tried to print a shipping label through eBay/Paypal & ran into some kind of problem. eBay/Paypal deducted the shipping amount from their account, but they were not able to print the label. In order to get your item shipped out as quickly as possible, the seller took it to the post office & paid additional money out of their pocket to ship it by a cheaper method.

*IF* that is what happened, first of all the seller could have explained things a little better. Second, the money they were charged for shipping for a non-printed label will eventually be returned to their account (this happened to me once... I think it took something like 14-21 days to get the refund for the messed up label because they have to be sure it never gets scanned through the post office).

As everyone has already suggested, I would recommend continuing polite communication to try to get to the bottom of the matter. I think it's perfectly reasonable to ask for a refund for the overcharge, however if the seller thinks he/she has already lost money on shipping, they may be reluctant to refund you until they are refunded for the messed up label.

Good luck!!

[dashesndots]

I'm currently going through something similar at the moment.  I bought something from eBay and was skeptical about the shipping charges, but a question I sent about them went unanswered so I paid anyways.  I get the box, and the label is already $4 less than what I paid, but then I weighed the box and used the USPS shipping calculator and they overcharged me by about $18 total.  Turns out they had typed in the wrong box dimensions and supposedly it was an honest mistake (which is why I typically do free shipping on eBay, so I don't have to use their stupid calculator).  I contacted them and after some rigamarole (I'm sorry they made a mistake but it was just that, their mistake...)  they offered a $15 refund.  Which I have yet to receive (and this was a week ago).

So good luck.  I hope you are refunded.  I don't know the story behind your comments bluerose, but that sounds awful!

PS - Personally I think rolling extra fees into the postage for "gas and packing material" is underhanded and it really irritates me when I see sellers use this as an excuse for overcharging. 

[NoDivision]

PS - Personally I think rolling extra fees into the postage for "gas and packing material" is underhanded and it really irritates me when I see sellers use this as an excuse for overcharging. 

I actually do not see the harm in adding a little onto the postage cost for supplies. It's called "shipping and handling" and almost all retailers do it. As long as it's not exorbitant it's fine. When I sell on etsy I round my shipping prices up because I buy shipping supplies in large quantities specifically for that purpose, so it legitimately is part of the cost of me shipping an item.

[dashesndots]

I actually do not see the harm in adding a little onto the postage cost for supplies. It's called "shipping and handling" and almost all retailers do it. As long as it's not exorbitant it's fine.

Sure, that's fine.  I'm talking people who abuse it...because you know they're out there.

[LittleKirara]

Seems like more and more people on ebay are doing this (last thing I bought on ebay charged me 10 bucks for shipping when it really only cost them 2:15 to ship ) When I first sold on ebay I messed up on shipping and over charged 2 dollars, the buyer said they didn't care when I contacted them trying to give a refund BUT I still didn't feel right about it so I put 2 dollars cash in a envelope inside the box I shipped the pony in. SO I can't imagine over charging and not refunding but thats just me. 

Personally I would ask for a partial refund in shipping BUT I would not mention or threaten to ding stars (as to avoid getting in trouble with ebay with feedback extortion) just to give them one last chance to do whats right and if they decline I would give them a 3 or 4 in shipping and let it go (maybe not buy from them again).