Topic: Beautiful opalescent cameo - arrived in pieces :(

[Pip]

But this is the point Nic - if the postage shown were high, I'd query it before I bought the item - not afterwards.  And whilst I agree that there are some sellers on eBay using the postage to fee evade and profiteer I don't attempt to justify their actions - what I'm talking about are instances where, for example, my postage costs were shown as £4.50 - this figure was arrived at by the actual postage cost of £3.75 plus 75p to cover new (and abundant) packing materials and my time in packing and handling.  The customer complained bitterly when they received the parcel that the postage spent was only £3.75  .  These are the instances I'm talking about and they're not rare.  I no longer sell on eBay, I'm a buyer only and when I wish to buy an item I look at the postage cost and the item price together before I decide to buy.  If the postage seems excessive I'll query it with the seller before buying and make my decision based on their reply.  But I wouldn't buy first, look at the stamp and then start complaining about being 'over-charged'. 

This is one of the main reasons that my website offers free postage to all UK addresses - to avoid this sort of hassle!

[Pinkspoons]

The couple of times I've complained about postage costs have been when the item I've bought has been so expensive and weighty that sending it insured would be the only sensible option, so I didn't really ponder it too much before bidding.

The last instance was a 3kg glass vase with a £175 pricetag and £23 for shipping. Special delivery for that item would run to a little over £20, so the shipping cost didn't really raise any alarms as I'm fully used to paying that kind of sum. Then it arrived with an £8 Standard Parcels label and I wasn't too chuffed. I don't mind paying for things posted well, but I do take exception to dealers like that.

But less than £3 difference I wouldn't really even register, never mind grumble over. Thankfully I've not had any buyers quite like that. Although I did have one buyer through my website (with free shipping, like yours) who bought a handful of items and then tried to demand a discount because the shipping was built into the cost and it would cost me less to ship them all together than if several people had bought them. 

I guess there's no avoiding such folk.

[Littleblackhen]

I don't complain often about postage charges, but one where I have was buying silver jewellery, which had a 75p postage charge per item, which added up to over £12 in total as I bought a lot.  I did ask if they would combine it, and they reduced it to £10.  The whole lot arrived together in a small jiffy envelope with £1.20 postage paid.  I gave them positive feedback but commented that I thought their combined postage charge was high - the next time I went to buy I found they had blocked me from buying from them - even though I had bought hundreds of pounds worth from them over a year.  Their choice, I now get it cheaper from elsewhere.

[Pinkspoons]

Thankfully I've not had any buyers quite like that.

Well I think that tempted the fates - someone just gave me a really low eBay rating on P&P costs over 54p I added, breaking my perfect 5/5 score.  But then they also rated me low on other aspects, without reason or cause.

[Littleblackhen]

That's a shame Nic

I am happy with the seller of the Cameo comport, although he hasn't offered a refund he has instigated a claim with the post office on my behalf, but he says it usually takes weeks, so he obviously has some prior knowledge

[Littleblackhen]

To update on this saga, I received full compensation from the seller, with a bit added for the inconvenience, so I am very happy with this.

Unfortunately I now have a lovely little Thomas Webb bowl, clear glass with vaseline glass feet which also arrived in shards last week, and the seller is not answering my emails   I guess some you win, some you lose.