talkmagic.co.uk

So sorry if this has been asked before but I tapped in ebay to the search and I didn't find what I was after.

Anyway, For the first time I've been selling things on ebay including some magic DVDs, as I've never done selling before I put it as UK buyers only etc and I set the price and postage etc.

One guy in Germany has won 4 of my items and asked that I post all the items for a reduced postage as they are combined.

Now I have no intention of reducing the postage because a) I never offered combined postage and b) he's in germany for goodness sake. Now I didn't want to be posting items to Germany or out side the Uk so what can I do in this case?

Also am I right not to offer a discount on the postage? The amount if I'd sold just the one item doesn't cover the listing fee, ebay final fee, envelope cost and postage in the first place but that's my problem I know and not something I will repeat.

What are other peoples experiences?

Agecroft wrote:Now I have no intention of reducing the postage because a) I never offered combined postage and b) he's in germany for goodness sake. Now I didn't want to be posting items to Germany or out side the Uk so what can I do in this case?

If you didn't offer the option of combined postage in the listing, you're under no obligation to give a discount.

Same with postage. If you didn't offer the option of European delivery, again no reason to send stuff to Germany. You could quite easily refuse the sale. He may leave a negative, but eBay *should* remove it based on the above.

Alternatively, the total postage cost should cover the price of sending it to Germany? So just send it (no discount) and save the hassle of relisting.

Many eBayers try it on with things like this, but back off when told "No".

Don't combine postage if you don't want to - you should certainly cover your costs. There's no reason you should ever make a loss on eBay.

Why don't you want to send to Germany? It takes just as long to queue up in the post office to send to somewhere in the UK as it does to send it to Germany. If he's covering the postage, it really shouldn't bother you.

Common courtesy is to combine the postage costs, but that's not a rule, just something nice to keep people sweet, especially if you're a repeat seller. You have no obligation to do so, its just asking a favour and normally its the decent thing to do, but that said most of the time this would be for small items that don't weigh much and are going in the same envelope to a UK address.

Sending things abroad is totally different, so I personally wouldn't combine them anyway, and that's saying that I'd listed them as available outside the UK. If you put UK only and put a postage cost down, that cost is to send to a UK mainland address, as they're in Germany they either didn't read this, or don't care. You're fully within your rights to message them informing them the quoted cost is for UK only and will be much higher for Germany. Offer them the postage price and if they don't want to pay it, cancel the deal and go your separate ways. Bit of a pain and you'll have to re-list but you wont get stung for posting things to Germany when you didn't want to in the first place

Just work out the cost of shipping to Germany + the cost of the box and envelope and charge him that. Like BradH said, you should always cover your costs. If the buyer complains you've upped the price then you have every right to tell him he bid on a UK only auction and you're not charging him UK only rate.

However, my own personal feeling on shipping is that you should never profiteer from the postage. If putting everything in the same box makes it cheaper then do that and charge that rate. If they receive the package and they were overcharged for postage they have every right to leave negative feedback.

Why are you against sending it to Germany? You'll be going to the post office anyway, won't you?

It's not about profiteering from the postage, If I was to post the item to the UK I put the postage down as £3.00 on a few of the DVDs and £2.00 on one of them. The cost of posting 2nd class recorded to the UK i just discovered this morning is £1.69 plus the cost of the envelope which was a quid (padded) I've not made anything before you even take off the listing fees and the sale fees. To be honest I don't mind relisting them because the 4 DVDs in questions were watched by over 10 people each and attacted multiple bids. I'm in no rush to sell to be honest I'm just clearing space.

I am prepared to put all 4 into the one package and send for the total cost of the postage as he bid on the item (so the UK costs) I might make a little doing it this way but does recorded delivery even work to Germany?

Just out of interest why should they mark you negative feedback for high postage costs when it's clear what they are bidding on at the time? When ever I've bought things I've assumed the postage is high for example so that they can do a cheap starting price and not pay ebay more than they have to? When ever I bid on anything I combine the 2 costs displayed to see if I'm willing to pay that.

Agecroft wrote:Just out of interest why should they mark you negative feedback for high postage costs when it's clear what they are bidding on at the time? When ever I've bought things I've assumed the postage is high for example so that they can do a cheap starting price and not pay ebay more than they have to?

For that very reason. In addition to it being dishonest, the point of postage and packing if you're paying for just that. If I bought something off ebay and someone said the postage was £10 and then on receiving the item there was a £2 stamp on it I think I have a right to be ticked off. The unwritten rule is that you quote honest amounts with postage and people accept those amounts on the understanding that's its cost. If you later find out there was creaming off on top then I think you have a right to complain. That's why on the feedback side ebay has now introduced rating people on their postage as well.

If people are trying to avoid the ebay listing fees, in addition to violating ebay T&Cs they're also dishonest and people like that is why fees always increase. If you use a service - pay for it. Don't like the fees? Don't use it. I don't use ebay as much as I used to for that reason. Too many cowboys!

But back to your case... I'd just tell the guy you'll send it airmail and if he wants tracking then it'll cost him a lot more. Offer him the chance of cancelling the sale though. I've had people agree to that in the past. But I feel your pain! It's so annoying when ebay sales become more complicated than they needed to be!

I have given people a bad score for postage when they've obviously sent it by a cheaper method than advertised. When you've paid £5 for recorded mail I expect it to come that way not second class. But in this case you have listed it as within the UK then it is your right to say no. It is the buyers responsibility to read the description. I've made the mistake with magic items of failing to notice "no instructions included". But that is my fault I didn't rate them lower as a result.

If it's going to cost more to send to Germany, then tell him, but... I wouldn't bother re-listing them if the sale price is what you were expecting, because you've got rid of them, and it's pretty safe to send things to Germany - shouldn't get lost.

OK just for an update, He's come back and offered to pay a combined postage of £5.

So..... I took the trouble of weighing the package and calculating the postage, for postage alone it's £9.21 not including the cost of the packaging etc.

I've gone back and said the postage will be £14.21 is that fair? that wouldn't cover the cost of packagin, listing fees and final fees (the packaging is £3)

I actually think the DVDS went for too little money but that's my problem, I put them for ending at 10 AM monday or something and I have no doubt I could relist and sell them at a higher price or the same but with less hassle.

ebay... pah, I wish I could sell them another way

He sounds a bit annoying!

Postage fees aren't negotiable in my book so I think him offering £5 is a bit rich. If it was me, I'd be charing £12.50 (if that's postage + packing +rounding). But as I said before, if he thinks the postage is too high, offer him the chance of voiding the sale.

As you can end up £5 to post a combined parcel within the UK it's well with your rights to ask for more.

The thing is, he won the items that you'd put on eBay as UK only. surely the sale is null an void?

Thanks for the replies people.

How do I null and void the bids in that case? I'm very new to selling on there. And even if I'd got a cracking price he has been rather annoying to deal with

You can't do it now. I think you have to report it as a case where both buyer and seller agree not to proceed. God knows where they put that option now though, they seem to change things every week.