EBay postage prices.. what's your view?

Voxman

Maybe its just me but I believe in fair postage prices for auctions. I have an inherrent dislike of being ripped off and treated as if I'm stupid with sellers lowering their start prices to get attention and attract bidders, but then adding excessive postage costs. 

I was just browsing EBay for Zoom G5n and 3nx units. Postage for the bigger heavier G5n is typically £6-7 even with insurance from Royal Mail. For the 4lb 3xn it's about £4-5.  Yet one seller is charging £13.80 to post the 3xn which is around £9-10 more than what it should cost and coincidentally his start price is £9 lower than a competing auction.

Maybe I'm being unkind, overly sensitive/suspicious, and perhaps he's a straight guy who's just gone to a more expensive courier or something (and if so I hold my hand-up and apologise unreservedly).  But I've seen this so often and It's beginning to grate.  Is it a technique to cut EBay fees and make your item look cheaper than it is? 

What do you guys think about this type of pricing tactic?

Octafish

Voxman said:

What do you guys think about this type of pricing tactic?

I always check postage costs so I'm kind of shocked that anyone wouldn't notice the over-inflated cost in the first place. It's not just ebay though. Seems to be quite a few websites have expensive postage particularly when it's comes to small items.

ICBM

I have no interest in anything other than the combined price - that's what it costs you, so why does it matter?

Voxman

ICBM said:

I have no interest in anything other than the combined price - that's what it costs you, so why does it matter?

I hear you and of course that did occur to me. But it just feels wrong. Is it a way to reduce EBay fees?

ICBM

Voxman said:

I hear you and of course that did occur to me. But it just feels wrong. Is it a way to reduce EBay fees?

Probably, but since I no longer sell on Ebay or care what they do with their fees, I don't even think about it. It makes no difference even in a dispute since you get your postage back as well, so it can't be a way of avoiding refunding that.

Moe_Zambeek

Postage is on the up these days. A well-packed pedal with special delivery (for the insurance) is a minimum of 8.25 IME. A larger pedal like one of my fuzzes that went in for warranty was nearly 10 quid SD. That’s before you count the cost of the bubble wrap, tape, box, envelope or whatever and of course getting it to the post office to post. If you can afford the potential loss regular first class signed for would be around a fiver.

Plus ebay take their 10% of the declared p&p too. 

mort

EBay and PayPal now charge their FVF on final price including postage.

It was introduced to stop the old “£1 for the item, £100 postage” trick when fees were only charged on the item sale price.

SteveRobinson

Voxman said:

ICBM said:

I have no interest in anything other than the combined price - that's what it costs you, so why does it matter?

I hear you and of course that did occur to me. But it just feels wrong. Is it a way to reduce EBay fees?

Nope, you pay fees on the postage these days.

Flink_Poyd

It pissed me off, had an issue not long ago.

 Guy had a listing I was interested in with £10 other 48 hr courier, I'm guessing roughly £8, only one on eBay so worth a punt. Parcel gets here and it's Royal Mail 2nd class, cost about £4. Messaged him to say I wasn't happy and he comes out with "you're paying for my time to go and post it" which I pointed out you aren't allowed to do. He flatly refused to refund anything so I returned it, got a refund and left negative feedback as he was being a twat on other things as well. He notices I left negative feedback and starts sending abusive messages. This is all over around £5. I barely use ebay anymore but some things just dont pop up anywhere else. 

UnclePsychosis

Apart from agreeing with the other guys about fees and total cost I'm not convinced that I believe your costs. 

It costs £4 to send an MXR sized pedal second class recorded (I know because I posted one today). The 3XN is way bigger and much heavier.

Factor in packing materials, more insurance, and a faster postal method and I wouldn't expect much change from that £13. 

Chalky

Maybe the £13.80 is a 24 hour courier?

FreddieVanHalen

I'm not saying this about you @voxman but people being overly snarky about postage prices on eBay is another thing that's put me off selling and posting stuff on there.

Folks seem to look at the size and weight and do their own sums on the very cheapest service available without adding in all the extra cost of finding and buying packing materials (cardboard boxes, foam/bubbles and tape), let alone the prices for a decent tracked and insured service that is needed for higher value items.

If I'm buying I just look at the total price for the item and make a decision on if it's worth it...I have seen some people putting too much for the postage. I'll either ask them for a better price or just move onto the next seller in the search list...

Voxman

Some good points guys and fair do's that with insurance costs will be a bit higher.  

Danny1969

Anything bigger than 25mm in height or depth has to go as a small parcel, which is £2.80 2nd class or £3.40 1st class ... that's untracked and unsigned for. My Lion Tamer is 23mm but once in packaging it's over 25mm which puts it into the small parcel price bracket, which is annoying as that 3 or 4mm puts another £2 on the postage

I earn naff all out of postage as Ebay get a cut and the postage has to cover the cost of the packaging, the printing and THE TIME is takes to pack the item and post it ..... that time isn't free, it needs to be paid for like the time taken to build an item or repair an item etc

guitarfishbay

ICBM said:

I have no interest in anything other than the combined price - that's what it costs you, so why does it matter?

Absolutely this.

When I’m selling I’ve found the best strategy is to incorporate postage into the price and list as free shipping. It’s the clearest way to do it and I’d rather ship as it’s more convenient and I’m less likely to be scammed.

guitarfishbay

SteveRobinson said:

Voxman said:

ICBM said:

I have no interest in anything other than the combined price - that's what it costs you, so why does it matter?

I hear you and of course that did occur to me. But it just feels wrong. Is it a way to reduce EBay fees?

Nope, you pay fees on the postage these days.

Exactly why it’s pointless to charge for shipping unless you intend to offer local collection.

Free shipping looks better on a listing and it costs you the same either way. I just build in the appropriate postage costs into the listing... it’s in the seller’s interests to properly insure and have appropriate packing materials, but buyers often dislike seeing added postage costs in double digit numbers. I guess people are so used to shipping being free or at most about a £5r from most shops.

jpfamps

The problem is often to get full buyer protection on eBay you have to send with some form of recorced and track delievery which is more of course more expensive than regular delivery, so some sellers insist on this type of delivery even on relatively inexpensive items.

bgmartinsbridge

I've sent a couple of small items recently and both time lost cash on postage.

Ebay suggests what you should charge - you get to the post office and its more.

Ebay charge 10% plus PayPal 3.4% on postage - so you lose even more on that too.


You also then get into - should have sent it Hermes or a different courier, as it's cheaper but then who do you trust, where is the courier, do I need to wait in all day or drop it off at some random shop.  Another debate.

I expect to pay there or there abouts and if it's
 way cheaper I'll actually refund the difference.


Tend to only have an issue with cheaper stuff.
 
I remember selling some D&G trousers for the missus. Sold for £3 auction and charged £4 postage - obv visible to the person before they bought them and paid. 
They kicked off after they arrived as the postage was only cost £2.76 or something. 
Still niggles me after five years and the only negative feedback in twelve years. 
Seriously!!! £1.25. Some people lol. 

Gagaryn

Could be SD. I always use SD for things I'm not prepared to lose! I believe that RM only actually care about SD stuff - it's the only delivery method that is properly trackable and insured. Signed For might be useful to prove that something has been delivered but not much help if it goes missing.

mikeyrob73

It’s postage and packaging, now if you have to buy a Jiffy bag or a roll of bubble wrap etc then surely you include that? Or am I just being pissed ?

andrewaward

1st class recorded covers up to a max of £50 insurance..........so technically if you post something more expensive than £50 you need to use SD if you want complete cover.