Rip off postage prices on Ebay..

[Tintowner]

This practice seems to be on the increase. Postal charges on items that are way over the top.

Many of us buy and sell and we know what it costs to send items. Granted that most modern programmes are big and bulky and will cost more to post, but what about the older thinner stuff from the seventies and earlier that hardly weighs anything.

Theres one seller selling 60s items and wants £1.75 postage and no offer of discounts for multiple purchases. Another is selling an A4 folded sheet prog and wants £2 p&p. One has a pick up in person option but still wants 15p per item handling charge. There was the one that stated that postage was £1.95 per item with no discounts because items may be in different parts of the country and he had to bring them together for sending. Another was charging £1 and offered discounts for multiple buying, I was going to purchase 20 progs from the 60s (thin) and he said he would only charge postage at 75p per item. That worked out at £15 for a bundle that would have cost him about £3.50 (if that) to send.....I declined to buy.

There are many good sellers out there who only charge what it costs, some have been known to make a loss. A few times I have sent money as a gift (using paypal) because some sellers have vastly undercharged for items.

I understand that there are people who charge high p&p but use 'buy it now' at a very low rate to avoid final price costs, we all know when that is the case.

There are some other cases though where people are selling items fo 99p with free p&p....how do they make anything?

Anybody else have any stories to tell regarding p&p charges?

[paulo]

Must admit I always charge between £1.20 and £1.60 for postage for a modern programme and normally make about 40p extra, but I use this to cover paypals charges. I do always discount for multiple items though.

I think if ebay and paypal reduced their charges this practice would almost go away.

Oh and as for the bloke who charges £2.99 per Norwich programme, he will never get any business of me!

[Posh1959]

Its not just ebay where people try and profit on Ebay on here i was once quoted £1.50 postage on a 60s reserves 4 pager.

On ebay you know the dscore before youbid, so if you arent happy with the post costs quoted dont bid its as simple as that.

[Tynie Topics]

Pretty much, I simply dont bid on anything where the postage is way OTT.

What makes me more pissed off is people not sending the items promptly. I won a couple of progs on Wednesday night and paid for them straight away as normal, they have not arrived today, and with it being Bank Holiday I wont get them for another week as I'm off out the country on Tuesday (before the post arrives) until Sunday. Grrrr........

Am I being unreasonable expecting these programmes to be posted the following day or even the next day after that?
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https://www.flickr.com/photos/footballprogrammes/albums

[Tintowner]

I agree that a seller should not be out of pocket in selling an item and must consider the cost of postage, envelope (boardback or normal) plus paypal charges. But it is the blatant p&p profiteers that really get to me.

I received a programme this morning (yes, a delivery by Royal Mail in the morning) and it cost 66p to send in a standard envelope. The seller had quoted 75p p&p in the listing. This , in my opinion, is spot on, he will get more of my custom. The same prog was advertised by another seller with a £1.75 p&p price, thats what riles me.

But, like mentioned, we can see what the Pp&p charges are and we make that decision based maybe on how eager we want the prog.

[Tintowner]

Tynie Topics wrote:

Pretty much, I simply dont bid on anything where the postage is way OTT. What makes me more pissed off is people not sending the items promptly. I won a couple of progs on Wednesday night and paid for them straight away as normal, they have not arrived today, and with it being Bank Holiday I wont get them for another week as I'm off out the country on Tuesday (before the post arrives) until Sunday. Grrrr........ Am I being unreasonable expecting these programmes to be posted the following day or even the next day after that?

I totally agree with you on this, I once waited two weeks for an item to arrive after paying for it within five minutes of the auction ending.

[bisphamseasider]

Tynie Topics wrote:

Am I being unreasonable expecting these programmes to be posted the following day or even the next day after that?

No Tynie, you're certainly not being unreasonable.

If I sell an item on e-bay in an evening and the buyer pays that same evening I feel obliged to post the following morning and I always do. If they pay the following morning I always try and post that same day. Generally if they pay in the afternoon I will post the following day.

The only exception to this is if I have something to post on a Saturday and I'm off very early to a match. I will however explain this to the buyer when sending the invoice.

Perhaps I am lucky that my local post office is close by when some sellers may have to travel a little distance to post and only go once or twice a week, hence what seems like unreasonable delays.

[Rocky]

Tintowner wrote:

One has a pick up in person option but still wants 15p per item handling charge.

Haven't seen that one before.

[Tintowner]

Rocky Boro wrote:

Tintowner wrote: One has a pick up in person option but still wants 15p per item handling charge. Haven't seen that one before.

If you visit ebay and go on "Grimsby Town v QPR 7 May 1966" it is there in all its glory.

Basically, you come to his door, he gives you the prog for the selling price plus an extra 15p.

[goonerboy]

I think the p&p for 1 item can be an issue but is transparent. The thing that gets my blood pressure up is the lack of respectable discount for multiple items. One guy that sells arsenal stuff charges £1 to £1.50 per item but says 50% discount for subsequent items. I once bought 2 teamsheets from him at about £1 each. He charged me 75p extra p&p for the second item yet incurred not a single penny extra for p&p for such a light item and as the item was only £1 the extra paypal fee was only about 3p. That kind of thing is scandalous.

[Wullie]

99 percent of items i buy on ebay , i have know problem whatsover and get excellent service. If i'm buying something i really want, then postage cost is irrelevant. If i want something run off the mill, say a pound or so, then i won't pay excessive postage. The biggest problem i have with sellers is the silly amount of tape they put on an envelope. On a few occasions i have torn a programme trying to open the package. Once i actually gave up and put in the cupboard, then spent 10 minutes on another day, to finally open it.

[thewednesday]

I've just been charged £1.50 p & p for a ticket on ebay. Second Class!

Compare that to 8 or 9 tickets i've bought from MisterGas on here, 50p.

[tcno10]

thewednesday wrote:

I've just been charged £1.50 p & p for a ticket on ebay. Second Class! Compare that to 8 or 9 tickets i've bought from MisterGas on here, 50p.

thats the bit where ebays detailed seller ratings come in,

you score on all aspects of the transaction and judge postage costs & speed accordingly.

However,like posh1959 said earlier , all prices are quoted in advance

[Simon48]

We are all to blame for the high postage charges on ebay becuase even though we moan about it we all, collectively, dont take enough action. I occasionally sell stuff on ebay and charge 80p, 66p for the stamp and the rest for hard backed envelopes. What do I expect for that, the buyer to give me 5/5 for postage charges. So if we ALL gave 0/5 and negative feedback for anyone that made, say more than 40p, on postage and packaging then this process would soon stop. so lets all help each other to resolve an issue which causes bad feeling by comming to an agreement that can be published and here and that we all stick too.

[STEEL_CITY_SMOGGY]

I charge postage to take into account listing fee/final value fee/payment fee/postage fee/packaging. If I didn't do this then it would barely be worth selling any smaller items that go for 99p etc
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MY CURRENT PROGRAMME WANTS:
08/08/1996 Genoa
13/08/2000 Real Madrid

Interested in any boro teamsheets or tickets home/away any comp from 1995-present.

[Dodge]

STEEL_CITY_SMOGGY wrote:

I charge postage to take into account listing fee/final value fee/payment fee/postage fee/packaging. If I didn't do this then it would barely be worth selling any smaller items that go for 99p etc

Shouldn't you factor some of that into your item starting price? How can you say you base psotage on final value fee when the item could go for anythign from £1 to £100?

Myself I think postage charges should be stamp/postage + envelope (and don’t mind if this is rounded up for convenience).

[1980Cossie]

There is a 1924 FA Cup Final currently on ebay, its not enough that seller wants £6500.00 for it, he also wants £25.00 for special delivery postage which can only be insured up to £2500. Why not just offer free postage for such an item. One word GREED.

[STEEL_CITY_SMOGGY]

This only covers my final value fees for anything that sells for 99p, I don't increase postage for anything that sells for more.

I don't mind what people charge for postage when I buy because I factor that into the overall cost. It doesn't really have any effect on the buyer, just saves more fees for the seller.

If I deemed an item to be worth £10 and it had £9 postage I would only bid £1 etc.

The postage system is far from ideal on ebay but if ebay didn't charge such high fees for item listings and final value fees, people wouldn't put more onto the postage side.
_________________
MY CURRENT PROGRAMME WANTS:
08/08/1996 Genoa
13/08/2000 Real Madrid

Interested in any boro teamsheets or tickets home/away any comp from 1995-present.

[Tintowner]

Have just recently purchased six late 80s progs of ebay. Each item sold for 99p and had a £1.02 postage pate. The p&p worked out at £6.12 against £5.94 for the progs. He does advertise discounted postage for multiple purchases and he came back with a total p&p charge of £1.88. Thats very acceptable to me for six bulkyish progs. I have seen and still do see single sheets being quoted at £2 p&p. I steer well clear of these sellers.

[treble99]

i've had a "potential" customer ask me to send an item 2nd class if he won it and reduce the postage by a few pennies.
you guys have also not discussed the price of a hard card envelope.
there are several different quality of card envelope which presumably should be reflected in the price of postage and packing.
also don't forget bulk buying or "on offer" prices for envelopes from certain top stationers.that could make the diffrence of a couple of pence as well.

i also overheard a dealer,who shall remain nameless,calculating with his compatriot what he was prepared to bid at a national auction house for a box of programmes.
he calculated what he might sell them for to start and then went to other side of the page and added on to his potential top bid the dealers commission.that's fair enough but then he added on the cost of bus fare to the auction and possible taxi fare home as it was a big box and he couldn't carry it on the bus.
i thought about mentioning the cost of shoe leather as the auction was on the first floor but decided against it.

you might call me elitist or condescending but i call it bloody pathetic.
if you are a collector and see something you want on ebay and you know the postage price because it is quoted then where is the mystery.
you know what the cost will be.
if the seller is unreasonable, as some clearly are, then let ebay sort it out.
that's part of what they charge daft fees for