That EBay Postage Rip-off Just Happened To Me

[TheDutchman92]

In an unprofessional manner he has not left any feedback even though I paid instantly so everything on my part is done. He also seems to have a sketchy grip on English and types everything in caps lock (so annoying lol). I think some people are missing the point here, irrespective of the postage price change he did not contact me to give me the option (which I would have paid) nor did he keep himself informed of postage prices, which is the seller's responsibility and no one else's. It's a point of principle mainly. those sunnies had been on eBay for months so I thought I was doing him a favour by purchasing them.

 

[Oakley_Sight]

If it were me i just wouldn't leave feedback. I doubt there is little that ebay would do if you receive the goods. It appears the seller had no idea as to the postage cost & has made the error. Yes he should have contacted you to advise you so you could decide what to do. At the end of the day it's just a lack of communication to you from the seller. He isn't bothered as he has your money & has shipped the goods to you so as i said previous i doubt whether ebay would get involved. I'd just put it down to experience, once i had the glasses that is.

 

[Herbsley]

So if I leave negative feedback will he in turn give me negative feedback?

Buyers cannot be left Negative Feedback (which is ridiculous and unfair of course) so all he could do is leave you positive, but word it negatively and in CAPS for folks to see.

 

[Uluahunter]

So if I leave negative feedback will he in turn give me negative feedback?

Sellers can't give negative feedback anymore. The best he can do is not leave any feedback.

 

[TheDutchman92]

Sellers can't give negative feedback anymore. The best he can do is not leave any feedback.

Good to know Uluahunter, I won't be so polite from now on, I've let way too much slip. Anyone else get pissed off when you nominate express postage yet they take 5 days to actually send the item?

 

[Herbsley]

Yeah, but then that's Ebay sometimes. From what you've said, it sounds like an error and poor comms. But you're dealing with Joe Public, not a shop. And sometimes mistakes happen.

If he hasn't ripped you off money-wise and the item is fine when you receive it, I'd be tempted to just not leave any feedback.

I feel your pain though.
Waiting sux.

 

[Oakster]

As a Canadian, shipping is expensive to anywhere. I've had a few people ask about shipping costs and I've just done a screen shot of the shipping cost. Has solved any problem I've ever had.

 

[jk-27]

In an unprofessional manner he has not left any feedback even though I paid instantly so everything on my part is done. He also seems to have a sketchy grip on English and types everything in caps lock (so annoying lol). I think some people are missing the point here, irrespective of the postage price change he did not contact me to give me the option (which I would have paid) nor did he keep himself informed of postage prices, which is the seller's responsibility and no one else's. It's a point of principle mainly. those sunnies had been on eBay for months so I thought I was doing him a favour by purchasing them.

I understand that you are frustrated but I don't agree with everything you say. As others have pointed out, you're not dealing (I assume) with a shop or professional business, you're dealing with a member of the public who is selling stuff they own. Therefore, even though they could have handled this differently and in a more professional manner I don't think it should be expected. As they aren't a business it's not that easy to keep yourself up to date with changes in postage charges when you also have to hold down a job and what ever else is going on his life. As an eBay seller I myself know how hard it is to keep yourself up to date with all the policy changes from eBay, postage charges etc, it's not easy to do if it is not the focus of your life. That's why there are business solely dedicated to selling on eBay, because it needs that kind of dedication sometimes. There has definitely been a cultural shift from eBay being a site where people sold second hand goods (when it started out) to businesses now using it as shop front and the public have shifted their expectations from dealing with 'Joe Public' to dealing with a professional business/store, even though the seller base is still predominantly 'Joe Public' and that is who you are likely dealing with.

Re: feedback, it is at discretion, he doesn't have to or need to leave you feedback. I myself do leave feedback for buyers once they've paid but I know other sellers wait until they have received feedback before leaving feedback for a buyer. There is no right and wrong way for when feedback should be left, if at all, it is at discretion, there's nothing unprofessional about that.

If you want to leave him a negative that's up to you.

 

[jfiori]

So if you as the seller charged me $34 for Priority shipping and when you went to print the label found out it only cost you $20 you would just send a refund I'm assuming? I've been burned on this kind of thing to many times, sellers don't pay attention to the prices for shipping and only guess what it cost. Then when you pay the price they quote you don't get the speed of service you requested. I've never been undercharged for an item on shipping, I always look to see what the postage paid was and leave feedback on shipping accordingly. A real business with a store front can't just guess at things like these sellers on ebay do and if they did everybody would take exception to that. I once won 2 separate auctions with the same seller, when I asked him about combining shipping after because I threw in last second bids he said sorry no combined shipping. I couldn't complain I didn't ask before I bid, but when I received the items they were packaged in one little envelope with postage paid of $3.55 and I paid $10 for each item to ship. I gave him a chance to right this and asked him for a partial refund on shipping as he clearly ripped me off, he said no he didn't rip me off and got a big red X for his actions.

 

[jfiori]

I understand that you are frustrated but I don't agree with everything you say. As others have pointed out, you're not dealing (I assume) with a shop or professional business, you're dealing with a member of the public who is selling stuff they own. Therefore, even though they could have handled this differently and in a more professional manner I don't think it should be expected. As they aren't a business it's not that easy to keep yourself up to date with changes in postage charges when you also have to hold down a job and what ever else is going on his life. As an eBay seller I myself know how hard it is to keep yourself up to date with all the policy changes from eBay, postage charges etc, it's not easy to do if it is not the focus of your life. That's why there are business solely dedicated to selling on eBay, because it needs that kind of dedication sometimes. There has definitely been a cultural shift from eBay being a site where people sold second hand goods (when it started out) to businesses now using it as shop front and the public have shifted their expectations from dealing with 'Joe Public' to dealing with a professional business/store, even though the seller base is still predominantly 'Joe Public' and that is who you are likely dealing with.

Re: feedback, it is at discretion, he doesn't have to or need to leave you feedback. I myself do leave feedback for buyers once they've paid but I know other sellers wait until they have received feedback before leaving feedback for a buyer. There is no right and wrong way for when feedback should be left, if at all, it is at discretion, there's nothing unprofessional about that.

If you want to leave him a negative that's up to you.

With all due respect JK but as you said these sellers don't do this as a fulltime job then then they probably only have a couple items up for sale and checking the shipping prices wouldn't be a lengthy process. I'm in Canada and as such most items are sold out of the USA, lots of times it says contact seller for quote, put that on there. If you have the box your going to pack the item in around you already have the dimensions of the box, jump online ind in 30 seconds you've got you prices. Hell I just quoted a guy a shipping price for a rear disc wheel for a bicycle the other day using the Canada post app on my iPhone, how can one do that? I had the box, I had the wheel and I had a measuring tape. The best part is the price I was quoted using the iPhone app was the price he paid and was the price I paid at the post office, to the penny.