Ebay combined postage

[stone cold lead]

A few times recently I've won/bought auctions and when I've tried to submit the request total form (with polite message of course) it's automatically come up 'This seller does not offer combined postage'. Has anybody else had this happen and is this something that sellers can enable or is it some odd Ebay default setting?

I first noticed this a couple of months back and was a bit bummed out by it. Then had it happen again last week and was rather peeved to pay £8 postage on four models. The seller wasn't happy with the feedback I left and said it was my fault for not asking but then I was just going by the automated message (he could have easily refunded part of my over payment though if he'd really wanted ). Got the same message again yesterday on a couple of wins so rather than paying in full I messaged the seller and they weren't aware that the combined postage option was being automatically denied.

 

[Jonas]

I have had the same problem.

I usually write and ask the sellers if this can be true and on all occations they have either send new invoices or made partial refunds.

It seems that if you pay first they only refund if you ask. If not they keep the difference. Maybe because they sell a lot and don't notice, maybe because they want to cheat you. I don't know.

Personally I found that most sellers are quite reasonable and Ebay is messing it up for buyers and sellers alike. You must remember that Ebay owns Paypal too, to they make money on sales and % of paypal payment and all.

 

[Chico]

Yeah I had this a few times, annoying but I tend to either wait for a invoice or message the seller. A few times they still said no and it tends to be on paint sellers.

 

[daddyorchips]

i bought a couple of old WDs from someone just last week and this happened. i wouldn't mind if the p&p was reasonable, i'd just let it go, but when they were charging double costs for each mag i got annoyed. i'll just give them neutral feedback.

 

[Aiteal]

It's a seller option, one that's particular;y annoying when the item descriptions often say they combine p&p, if I buy multiple items from one seller and they then refuse to combine postage I tell them to relist their items then, as I won't be paying.
Had a seller a few months ago try to charge me 9 quid p&p for three miniatures (each a separate auction).

 

[stone cold lead]

It's a seller option

In that case I'm doubly pissed at Mr Eight Quid postage! Guess that's why he didn't respond after I called him out on it.

I wish sellers not offering combined postage had to clearly state so in their listings. I know some do, and they're usually easy to spot by the wall of text explaining their terms of business covering who they will or won't sell to (they're usually American too ). Does Ebay allow buyers to opt out of paying without recrimination if it turns out a seller won't combine shipping?

 

[jprp]

Yep, also been there, always contact the seller before payment and save any answers until it is resolved-they cant make you pay if it has been wrongly listed.
I`m not a seller but i get the impression that if you pay and then they refund you e-bay keeps some of the sellers money but if it is sorted before payment all is golden.

oh, i just remembered i had one case where the seller told me he would get e-bay to sort it out but several days later he said he was getting nowhere so refunded off his own back-so i think there may be genuine cases that were not trying to rip-off the buyer.

 

[stone cold lead]

I wish sellers not offering combined postage had to clearly state so in their listings. I know some do, and they're usually easy to spot by the wall of text explaining their terms of business covering who they will or won't sell to (they're usually American too )

Whilst I think about it I should in all fairness mention that I did see one such seller recently who was UK based and his blurb did make me laugh. He stated in his listings that he didn't offer combined P&P because he had to take time out of his busy day to go to the Post Office plus he had to take into account the cost of the petrol needed to drive there! The BIN prices of his models was quite reasonable but anyone buying half a dozen figures would have been landed with about 20 quid postage. The seller seemed to have missed the point that should someone buy just one model from him that his postage profit wouldn't cover his petrol or his time off to go to the Post Office.

 

[Aiteal]

Does Ebay allow buyers to opt out of paying without recrimination if it turns out a seller won't combine shipping?

I've no idea, it's a civil/small claims court matter afaik, i'd imagine ebay in general consider it covered by the feedback system.
I've been burned a few times by sellers that say things like 'I can't reissue the invoice, i'll refund the difference later' and then never do. I don't sell items on ebay much, so I'm not as concerned about negative feedback as a seller would be.
The level of gouging in the minis section on ebay is disheartening, people trying to charge 4 quid for p&p for a single mini that turns up a week later via 2nd class post in an old envelope that's been reused 5 times.

 

[stone cold lead]

...people trying to charge 4 quid for p&p for a single mini that turns up a week later via 2nd class post in an old envelope that's been reused 5 times.

Oh, that little doozey. Always fun to see the actual cost of postage printed on the stamp with those. I'll always remember my first ever Ebay purchase back around 2001. I won a set of 3 Imperial Guard heavy weapon troopers, postage was perfectly reasonable except they turned up 6 weeks down the line wrapped in a tiny square of bubble wrap and enclosed in a tiny homemade thin yellow card envelope with no stamp on.

 

[daddyorchips]

a while ago i won a half dozen ebay auctions off one guy, who refused to combine his unreasonable shipping charges and tried to charge me over 15 quid for shipping.

i told him to do one.

never reported me or anything, so i guess he didn't want to alert ebay to his price structure.

when you do the feedback you can specify how reasonable p&p charges are. if you get too many low scores as a seller, ebay restrict how much you can charge for shipping to a value determined according to some algorithm for each category. so if someone fucks you around on shipping just give 'em no stars for shipping costs and they'll soon find what they can charge capped!