Ebay Rant

Sometimes on this group someone points out an item on ebay going for silly money, but one thing that really bugs me off is being ripped off for postage.

I've just bought a (rather nice) Bachhy HEA and I've no complaints with that, but I was charged £1.21 for P&P. The model was in it's original box and had an outer wrapper of corrugated cardboard made up into a home-made box. No extra foam chippings, no bubble-wrap - just the cardboard (oh - and a bit of parcel tape too!). The postage was 60p so that bit of cardboard (13"x9") cost me 61p - if my maths are correct, (forgetting the actual postage costs), that's almost an extra 15% on the cost of the model.

Am I being unfair complaining about this? Their feedback depends on any replies :-)

Reply to
Dave Potter
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Argument #1: It took the vendor 10 minutes to pack it and 20 minutes to take it to the post office and come back, so they're charging you less than minimum wage for their time. A palpable bargain.

Argument #2: 61p for a poxy bit of cardboard? You're getting fleeced, sirrah.

Reply to
Richard

Argument #1: It took the vendor 10 minutes to pack it and 20 minutes to

Reply to
Rob K

"Richard" wrote

LOL - and if the retail trade charged the time cost involved with mail order there would be no mail order.

John.

Reply to
John Turner

However, I just spent $10 at Office Depot for bubble wrap, peanuts and cardboard tubes to send out 3 items.

Reply to
Rob K

"Rob K" wrote

Bubble wrap is cheap - a large 4'0" high roll (maybe 2'6" in girth) costs me around GBP15.00 - enough to do several hundred parcels. It's the time that's expensive - I reckon to pack a loco adequately takes 15 minutes, but in no way would I try to pass that cost on to my customers.

John.

Reply to
John Turner
61p !?!?!?!?

get a life and stop moaning about a poxy 61p, it isn't 1945 anymore. There's no pockets in a shroud!

Reply to
UncleWobbly

I think we seem to be missing the point.

You buy something from ebay you should:

1) Expect it to be wrapped to a standard that will protect the item. 2) You can see the postage costs before you bid. If you not happy with them dont bid.

If you recieved the parcel and it was not wrapped in a safe enough manner and something was damaged then complain to the seller and ask what he/she would like to do about it.

If it was in good nick when it arrived then what are you worrying about??

As for 61p for packing, Bargain is what I say. It costs me £1 park near my local postoffice.

I also agree with Mr Turners points about not passing on mail order processing costs at the point of retail, but I dont think that shop mail order and private selling mail order can be compared as, generally in a shop you are working on margins which is where the profit comes from. I know there are people on ebay selling goods purchased at cost, but in general there are a lot of private sellers out there.

With regards feedback, my suggestion would be to give positve feedback, but make a comment that packing could have been better.

OK Think im done now.

Reply to
Jon

At least he got some postage stamps on his parcel -which was more than I got on the last video tape I bought (not through the trade). Not such a bargain as I thought after I paid the excess postage. The seller assured me that she would reimburse me -but I'm still waiting! As always, the motto should be "semper caveat emptor"

Reply to
Glanville Carleton

"Jon" wrote

general there are a lot of private sellers out there.

Yes and I know there are (supposedly private) sellers on eBay who are buying goods expressly to resell at a profit, and a very handsome profit (far in excess of what any regular retailer could hope to make) and still wanting to screw the buyer for post & packing costs.

John.

Reply to
John Turner

In message , Jon writes

I know this is not the same thing, but iIf you want to read about how an ebay scammer got scammed himself, look at

formatting link

Reply to
John Sullivan

Amusing

Reply to
Jon

Thanks for all the input guys, some of it has been most amusing.

Just for the record, the item was packed ok and was not damaged in any way. However, after a brief email to the seller, I have been offered a couple of stamps in recompense, and with that I'm happy.

As a foot note, when I've recently sold some locos on ebay I charged a flat £2 for p and p - in all cases the postage alone was more than that. I was quite happy to pay for the bubble wrap etc. etc. because as much as I don't like to be ripped off, I don't like ripping off others either.

Thanks again, Dave.

Reply to
Dave Potter

I'm sure not all eBayers are so altruistic.

Reply to
MartinS

Postage on Locos on ebay should typically be around £4.50. Thats well packed and Specially Delivered. Not too much to ask eh for a minature masterpeice. Some buggers charge £10 and thats just daft!

Reply to
Old Man

it's a common fiddle... I ALWAYS check the postage before I bid... £4.50 for a well-packed, recorded delivery item is OK.

I had a long train journey to do a while back and found a suitable ticket (1st as well!) going for a song... £50 postage! I refuse to buy anything under those circumstances out of principal, same as the £10 for a loco you mention above

masterpeice.

Reply to
UncleWobbly

In news: snipped-for-privacy@yddraiggoch.demon.co.uk, John Sullivan blithered:

Like it!

Reply to
GbH

I have recently sold some Lima O gauge Mk1 coaches and I'm preparing to post them on. I intend to wrap them a couple of times with bubble wrap and then put an outer layer of brown parcel wrapping. Being only a coach and fairly light I think this should suffice. I'm charging £4 for the postage, given the size and I looked at a number of other similar items being sold and picked the average price for postage!

James

Reply to
James S

I tend to charge flat rates for postage based on roughly what I know to be the correct cost (from experience). I do this because it's quicker for both seller and buyer; sometimes I gain a bit, sometimes I lose a bit but I do try to be fair. Ripping people off just results in bad feedback, so pretty daft really!

Cheers, Ian

Reply to
Ian Bartlett

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