Thoughts on ebay experience ...

apirate

OzCardTrader
Messages
236
Location
Sydney
Real Name
Jules
Hi

Atfer thoughts.

Contacted a guy about an auto I wanted (from US), original listing was silent on international shipping.

He confirmed that he would ship to Australia but it would be extra, maybe $10-$15.

I replied immediately saying I usually pay between $3-$5 for standard international shipping on ebay and could he let me know. No response.

This was 2 hours before the auction. Anyway I decided to bid and won. After requesting the total he's added $15.

I've sent off an email asking why he's gone this the $15 with a few examples of listings with more reasonable postage.

Part of me says fair enough (he did previously mention $10-$15), other part thinks he's being unreasonable and could probably double check on the postage.

I'd say I'll end up copping it. Any thoughts?
 
Seems to me that he's preferring to send it via Registered seeing as it's international postage?
If it is registered I don't really see an issue, as it was his listing and he did say it would be $10-$15.
Of course, if it is standard shipping, completely unreasonable. :D
 
yeah, its always a tough call on whether you should bid without knowing exact details of shipping...ive learnt just not to.
from a personal point of view, hes well within his rights. you can feel ripped off on the postage, but he can charge what he wants. to be entirely honest, the fact that he quoted you a price and you put a bid in anyway, kinda puts the responsiblity on you...just my opinion.
 
If it's registered no problem, If not you can see on the parcel how much he paid for postage and leave feedback to suit, nothing you can do about the cost up front because that's what he quoted and you had the decision to bid or not :)
Hope this helps!
 
It's standard shipping ...

Last one that came in from the US had a stamp of $1.22 on it. I know I took the decision to bid, I just hoped he'd be more reasonable.

Lucky I got the card cheap. Fingers crossed it actually turns up now.
 
No probs if it gets to you registered with the appropriate cost but if it doesnt and comes standard different story.
 
I think it needs to be registered post to be covered by paypal if it gets lost doesn't it? The seller needs some sort of proof of sending otherwise paypal always side with the buyer. I'd say he has been burnt before. See what happens when it arrives
 
If it is $15 for standard then leave the appropriate feedback for postage prices - but he did quote that original price to you so I guess the onus is on you if he didn't reply to your later message.
 
Almost any registered shipping from US costs about $14.95 to get to NZ. Most sellers WILL NOT ship internationally unless they send it registered (thesedays), so depending on the price of the card just deal with it. If the actual postage cost is considerably less than what he charged then you can take appropriate action with feedback etc
 
If the card arrives safely but he charged you excess postage, message him and ask for a refund of the difference. If he agrees, all is good, leave positive feedback. If he doesn't agree, then negative feedback is fair.
 
seller must be playing safe assuming he'll do registered, if he goes standard then that's a different story... postage (first class parcel) from the US to aus/nz is usually between $2-3 for a small bubble mailer with 1-3 regular-sized cards in it...
 
but he can charge what he wants for postage?!?! nothing saying you cant over-charge. he gave a quote, and our member here still put the bid in. i see no reason (unless the card dont show obviously) why he should get negative feedback...?
 
but he can charge what he wants for postage?!?! nothing saying you cant over-charge. he gave a quote, and our member here still put the bid in. i see no reason (unless the card dont show obviously) why he should get negative feedback...?

Thanks for the comments guys. At the end of the day he did give an estimate, and I did bid, so I doubt I'd be going negative if the card arrives. I guess I just hoped he'd be able to adjust it down once he looked into it (it's definitely standard postage btw) ... trouble is he hasn't responded to my email following up on the postage so now I'm even more concerned the card won't ever arrive. Lesson learned I guess.
 
this has some similarities to a transaction i just finished over the bay... buyer asked me if i have a max on shipping (i charge an extra dollar per card) and politely said none... buyer wins more than 10 items and demands that i send the package overnight since i'm charging so and so amount... told the buyer (again in a polite manner) that all terms were clear on the auction details and even made clearer when he asked and i answered... point is, as a buyer, if you do not agree to any of the terms of the seller, then don't bid in the first place to avoid any incovenience for both parties... with regards to shipping, some people just look at the price of postage on the envelope and completely ignore the other expenses the seller incurs throughout the process (bubble mailer, team bag, sleeve, tape, gas going to the post, etc) and rashly concludes that the other party is "overcharging"...

@ apirate - anyways, now that my rant is over, hope everything works out fine for you...
 
but he can charge what he wants for postage?!?! nothing saying you cant over-charge.

Ummmm no he can't. I think you better read eBay's rules again because it DOES say you cannot charge excessive postage charges; even if it didn't say that I wouldn't agree with it. You are paying for POSTAGE for the card... not postage + whatever the seller feels like charging you just for the hell of it.

this has some similarities to a transaction i just finished over the bay... buyer asked me if i have a max on shipping (i charge an extra dollar per card) and politely said none... buyer wins more than 10 items and demands that i send the package overnight since i'm charging so and so amount... told the buyer (again in a polite manner) that all terms were clear on the auction details and even made clearer when he asked and i answered... point is, as a buyer, if you do not agree to any of the terms of the seller, then don't bid in the first place to avoid any incovenience for both parties... with regards to shipping, some people just look at the price of postage on the envelope and completely ignore the other expenses the seller incurs throughout the process (bubble mailer, team bag, sleeve, tape, gas going to the post, etc) and rashly concludes that the other party is "overcharging"...

@ apirate - anyways, now that my rant is over, hope everything works out fine for you...

LMAO..... Man I hate it when people mention stuff like gas & tape. :lol: Are you gonna factor in the extra tread you lose off the bottom off your shoes cause you had to walk to the post office.... what happens if you step in dirt & trample it inside? Gonna send the buyer an invoice to have to carpet cleaned too!? :lol:
 
The issue with postage is big, not just on cards on anything you buy on eBay.

Remember the extra charge is for 'Postage and Handling" so if the selling charges $15, then you recieve the item and the stamps reads $10, you could ask the seller for a $5 refund, his response to that could simply be. $10 Postage and $5 Handling.

A tough pill to swallow but really the seller always wins in that situation.

The other thing is ebay doesnt charge thier commisson on the postage, that why u see alot of people selling things for .99 cents and charging $20 postage, for an item that would only cost $3 to post.
 
He's agreed to refund any excess postage. Thanks BigD for the suggestion. I think at the end of the day he was just trying to cover himself and it looks like everything worked out for both parties (fingers crossed the card turns up).
 
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