Ebay Postage seems so high............

(69 Posts)
anniebear Sun 29-Oct-06 18:39:46

anyone else notice how high the postage seems on clothes?

I have been looking at dresses for a 5 year old and the p&P for quite a lot are between £2.50 and £3.50

It would probably only cost £1 to send then the padded envelope if needed

I started looking on E Bay a while ago now and people didn't seem to try and make money on postage then

Just my waffling thoughts lol

twinklemegan Sun 29-Oct-06 18:45:36

Yes I've noticed this as well when I've been looking a nappy covers. But I've also noticed there are generally fewer bids on items where the postage cost is excessive - it certainly puts me off bidding. It annoys me because when I sell things I try to be fair and usually end up underestimating the cost.

mustcackleorsuckbloodmore Sun 29-Oct-06 18:51:57

Yes, it often is. But because you just consider the total cost, who cares which bit is buying price and which bit is postage? It all evens out in the end.

I sold some play things a while ago and over estimated the postage by £7 . But to be fair, the buyer sent me an extra 2.50 on top of my charged amount too, because he thought it'd be even more than I thought! I did send him the £7 back BTW.

3andnomore Sun 29-Oct-06 18:57:35

I think that is where you really have to look out wiht E-bay and really have to look at the total cost and see if the item would still be a bargain and therefore worth it, iykwim!
E-bay can be fab for Bargains, but you really have to keep a cool head and consider many factors like, how easily available is a item elsewhere and how much would it cost, etc.....!

misdee Sun 29-Oct-06 19:11:39

since the new pricing it has become more expensive to post things.

anniebear Sun 29-Oct-06 19:25:09

never thought of that Misdee

but I did notice before that that the prices werer way ott

flack Sun 29-Oct-06 19:27:33

Ebay doesn't charge commission on postage, it's a way to make a little more profit. Sellers can charge anything they like as long as it isn't obviously excessive on postage. So most sellers pad it up at least a little.

Skribble Sun 29-Oct-06 19:42:37

Postage for a item of clothing at cheapest would be £1 first class but only if it is under 100g.

Ive just weighed a long sleeve t-shirt plus packaging and it would cost £1.27, plus price of packaging 30p, trip to PO, etc etc.

I always put it a little bit over to cover these hidden costs. Ebay charge commision as do paypal so seller loses quite a bit in fees, so it can help to soften the effect of that.

I find I over estimate some and under estimate other things so it evens out in the end.

anniebear Sun 29-Oct-06 21:03:07

I know sellers can charge what they want

when ever I sell anything I just charged for P&P and no extra

it puts me off bidding when a dess has a P&P of £3.50!

notasheep Sun 29-Oct-06 21:04:31

greedy buggers

sorrell Sun 29-Oct-06 21:06:01

Postage is really, really expensive now. I sold a few bits and charged that for postage, and with the cost of a padded envelope, I made a loss on the postage.

LadyDooM Sun 29-Oct-06 21:06:24

I can never seem to win anything, because people seem to only want to bid in the last 15 seconds :S

SoMuchToBats Sun 29-Oct-06 21:11:52

I sell stuff on eBay from time to time. I charge the correct weight (having weighed the item), then add a bit to cover:- Packaging, Ebay fees, Paypal fees. I still think what I charge for poatage is reasonable, and I will always combine postage for multiple wins, even though it is not necessarily beneficial to me. No one has queried my postage costs so far. Basically, I am not out to rip anyone off, but do need to consider my own costs when I list items. I think this is quite fair.

twinklemegan Sun 29-Oct-06 22:54:08

That is the way to do it though, LadyDoom. The people who bid hours or even days before the auction closes just drive up the eventual selling price for themselves or whoever else wins the item. I witnessed one recently where two people were bidding against each other for three hours before the auction ended!

We can no longer add on a bit for Paypal fees which are exhorbitant so you have to include all your fees in the postage. I buy sticky address labels, printed labels with my return address on and the plastic bags I send out in cost about 20p each.

I know some people do go mad on the postage as they dont't have to pay Ebay commission on it so it's better value to sell something for 99p with £3.00 postage than the other way round.

melpomene Sun 29-Oct-06 23:06:43

Another way of thinking about it is that if you buy something online from a company (outside of eBay) you're likely to be paying £3.95 absolute minimum for postage and packing (usually more).

anniebear Mon 30-Oct-06 08:23:32

twinklemegan, were you bored that day lol lol

Skribble Mon 30-Oct-06 09:33:24

I think what I add on is reasonable, well it is Postage and Packing after all . It something to check before you bid as I have seen some with crazy P&P, so make sure you are happy to pay what they quote first.

izzybiz Mon 30-Oct-06 11:14:26

I bought a thin cotton summer dress for Dd age 2, and was charged £6.00 postage!
When it arrived the postage label said £1 odd.
The dress itself only cost 99p though and it was from GAP and like new so was probably still a bagain, but even so!

As a regular seller on Ebay I do charge more for postage. I got caught out initally as by the time I'd paid Ebay and Paypal fees I'd be making a loss so charging postage is sometimes the only viable way of breaking even or making a small profit. As long as the seller is up front about the costs then buyers don't have to bid if they think it's too much. I buy things too and don't mind paying more postage for having something delivered direct to my door instead of having to get in the car to go and trawl through the shops

Flamebat Mon 30-Oct-06 11:26:28

You can report extortionate postage charges because it is against the seller rules. I have always tried to be very very fair with mine (even to the extent of refunding anything over 50p that I feel was too much).

I remember Psychomum being charged silly amounts for ballet costume postage (and refusing to combine for multiple items) and the woman actually TELLING her that she charges really high postage because she sells things so cheap it isn't worth her while otherwise, which IMO is wrong.

Maybe I'm just too soft

anniebear Mon 30-Oct-06 13:16:26

I sometimes wqonder do the clothes particulary not always sell for as much anymore so they whack the P&P up instead

tissy Mon 30-Oct-06 13:25:16

Voluptua, I think what you're doing is rather underhand...you know about the Ebay and Paypal fees before you list the item- the Ebay fees equate to paying for advertising, and Paypal means that you can see the money going into your account, you don't have to travel to the bank to pay in a cheque or wait for it to clear. You seem to be expecting that both of these services should be free! Why not start your item at a higher price to account for the fees then? Because you know that people will bid if they see a low starting price and oftentimes not check the postage till after the auction is closed. I for one will not bid for an item if I think the postage is too high (unless the item is a one- off, it's easy to check back on completed listings to see what other people have charged.

When I have received items where the postage has been obviously higher than is reasonable, I have left a message to that effect in the feedback- it's only fair to other buyers- you can still leave positive feedback-(item as described arrived quickly) so as not to get into a feedback wrangle with the seller.

twinklemegan Mon 30-Oct-06 13:44:02

Thanks for that Anniebear - I'm not that sad! I checked the bid history cos I really wanted the item (and I won it in the end).

FIMBOnABroomstick Mon 30-Oct-06 13:53:44

I bought a shrug from Ebay for 99p for my dd, it was bnwt from Gap and I honestly never expected to win it for 99p but I did. The postage quoted was £3.50 which was fair enough but when the parcel arrived it only cost 37p. I gave positive feedback but said I was ripped off over postage. I received a really venomous email from the seller with lots of nasty personal insults. The whole experience left a nasty taste in my mouth and I am very wary about what I buy now.

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