The Stupidity Of Ebay

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steptoe

of course Im wrong, ask my wife™
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ok, now, this is the second time this has happened to me,

the first time was a few years back and the seller only had 2 feedback, so maybe he was worried about bad 'karma' or something, I dunno,

this time, an experienced seller with a couple of hundred feedback,

I bid on something, starting price - 99p and £10 p+p

no-one else bid,

I won it for 99p + £10 p+p , grand total payable by me = £10.99 , 

that was Monday evening,

it arrived yesterday, sent Royal Mail 2nd class signed for,

speedy delivery , ?

it should be,

postage cost to the seller ----  £20.75  :eek:

:C :C :C :C :C

the mind boggles  :shakehead

 
I think steps is point is that it cost twice as much to post it as the total cost of the item including the sellers postage charge, then there is the ebay fees on top

Just clarifying
exactly,

why do some people read what they think they see and not what is actually written?

my wife has the same habit of answering a question,

she replies as to what she thought the question was and not what i asked,

example, what time will supper be ready,

answer - its gammon and chips  

WTF ?!?!   :shakehead

 
Same with CPC. buy online, free postage and no minimum order.  So your £2 order gets sent Parcelforce 24 which costs more than the value of the item you have just bought.

What an earth was it that cost £20 to post?  Anything up to 30Kg can be sent parcelforce 48 for £13.10

 
exactly,

why do some people read what they think they see and not what is actually written?

my wife has the same habit of answering a question,

she replies as to what she thought the question was and not what i asked,

example, what time will supper be ready,

answer - its gammon and chips  

WTF ?!?!   :shakehead

Don't forget she is a woman and if a man could understand them them he would be very rich person

 
we have won items for their opening bids - like 99p only for the sellers to contact us and sat they made a mistake and didnt mean to list it for 99p. Usually people with low transaction numbners so if you make a fuss they will just disappear anyway but it annoys me that its an auction site and people dont play by the rules.

 
exactly,

why do some people read what they think they see and not what is actually written?

my wife has the same habit of answering a question,

she replies as to what she thought the question was and not what i asked,

example, what time will supper be ready,

answer - its gammon and chips  

WTF ?!?!   :shakehead
That made me chuckle!   our lass is exactly the same.   What it is,  is we should know how long it takes to make gammon and chips and then do the calculation ourselves like a Sherlock Holmes puzzle

 
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ok, now, this is the second time this has happened to me,

the first time was a few years back and the seller only had 2 feedback, so maybe he was worried about bad 'karma' or something, I dunno,

this time, an experienced seller with a couple of hundred feedback,

I bid on something, starting price - 99p and £10 p+p

no-one else bid,

I won it for 99p + £10 p+p , grand total payable by me = £10.99 , 

that was Monday evening,

it arrived yesterday, sent Royal Mail 2nd class signed for,

speedy delivery , ?

it should be,

postage cost to the seller ----  £20.75  :eek:

:C :C :C :C :C

the mind boggles  :shakehead
I think the £20.75 was a typo right? £2.75 is nearer the 2nd class parcel rate... ;)

Did you by any chance buy an Aico Heat alarm? As I found a chap selling a couple with £10 postage listed as well.

I pulled them up on it, asking if they'd consider using a cheaper service than a courier (who are often around the tenner mark).

Their response? "High postage cause there's no reserve"!!

So by starting at 99p they were hoping to entice lots if bidders but didn't want to lose money and aimed to get it back from the "p&p" amount. I was shocked and refused to bid. I noticed his two items had little interest and went for less than the ebay average. (about £20) Serves him right!

You bid so you agree to the terms. Some sellers do it to entice you to bid and save ebay fees.
I agree with the first part. Although some sellers' terms aren't in the spirit of ebay, a buyer doesn't have to buy from them.

Ebay cottoned on to the fee 'cheating' a while back and charge 10% fees on postage as well as selling price now.

I think steps is point is that it cost twice as much to post it as the total cost of the item including the sellers postage charge, then there is the ebay fees on top

Just clarifying
It is a sadly common practice that sellers overcharge for postage. If you're a private seller trying to get rid of stuff and maybe make a bit of money I think it's fair enough to charge a little bit more to cover all the costs. But if you're a business then it's not on to charge a 'postage' fee above what postage actually costs. In all cases it's the sellers choice to put things up for sale, if they don't want to accept the fees they can sell elsewhere..

My father has been selling on ebay since 2001 and has passed on the strong belief that postage and packing / shipping charges should be fair and part of good customer service. He takes great efforts to refund postage paid if it's over the actual price at the post office, and often charge £3.95 rather than £4.10 for signed for as it looks better on sales.

Every business has a different model, and as also mentioned, some companies take the hit on small items charging way under the actual postage cost.

Ebay's trying to become Amazon (and vice versa) so the rules are more confusing, especially as they appear to not want individuals much anymore..

pardon the long reply, rant over.!

Hope you're happy with your purchase steps, even with the delayed delivery :D

 
BrummyDave, it's not a typo, it was £20.75,!!

Heavyish, but not overly, prob 7kg-ish, quite why it was sent 2nd class royal mail and not courier boggles me,   :|  

 
I got caught out once, sold a surfboard but forgot to say I'd only post to mainland and not Highlands and Islands.

Guess what? Someone from Thurso bought it! Luckily I managed to find a decent priced and reliable courier but some of the big company's prices jumped from about £30 to £120,

You live and learn,

 
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