Help Ebay Postage

[Kegsy]

Have been listing some stuff on Ebay.COM (not Ebay.co.uk).

(Ebay.com offered me loads of free listings so I thought I'd take advantage)

However, no matter which options I choose, I dont seem to be able to enter

the correct shipping costs to the U.S.A. as it seems to assume the lister is in the U.S.A.

This is causing silly/petty arguments with buyers over a few dollars in shipping

costs.Even though I also put the shipping costs for all countries in the item description.

Have tried "Flat rate" but that only allows a $4 maximun to U.S. which is too low.

Have tried various other shipping methods but it usuallycomplains about the Zip code being incorrect.

Anybody out there know how to put the correct info in ?????

Cheers

Kegsy

[Guest MissHongkongfuey]

I'm having the same trouble but for here in ebay uk. It won't let me increase the postage above £4. Don't know if i'm just being daft and missing the info online but I can't work it out at all.

[JOE TORQUAY]

just type THE POSTAGE COSTS in where you give a discription of the record,

tell people to wait for an invoice, insist on it ,

or just have a look at the sites of main dealers and copy them, this is the Easiest method

[Pete S]

I'm having the same trouble but for here in ebay uk. It won't let me increase the postage above £4. Don't know if i'm just being daft and missing the info online but I can't work it out at all.

No you're not being daft, despite special delivery costing a minimum of £5.90 in the Uk, they will only allow you to charge £4. It's a joke.

Edited February 7, 2012 by Pete S

[davidwapples]

cant you just add the special delivery to the starting price when you list it and say postage included?

[Guest MrC]

No you're not being daft, despite special delivery costing a minimum of £5.90 in the Uk, they will only allow you to charge £4. It's a joke.

But if you print your labels from within ebay, that's the amount they charge you. You then just take the item with delivery/bar coded labels already attached, and tell the nice people at the post office you need to send a parcel as an account item. - They have to weigh it or whatever, but if they ask you how much you paid, don't tell them, because they'll tell you it should have cost you more and you need to pay the full amount, just quietly repeat they just have to treat it as an ACCOUNT item... theres even a square for them to press on their little touchscreen till thingys!

Printing the labels and paying the postage through paypal works out about 25/30% cheaper than actually taking the stuff to the post office and buying your postage 'over the counter'

[Guest julesp1905]

Buying Royal mail postage online is exactly the same price as buying from the post office, paypal does allow you to keep the cost paid private on the print out, however the barcode has information of whats been paid, if you are underpaying, eventually you will get caught by revenue protection, your customer will be surcharged for insignificant postage paid, the shortfall and a handling fee. suppose the risk is on the sender, however paypal labels do have the weight on and what service has been paid for, so not sure how your getting away with it at your post office, the only way i can see it working is for 1st and 2nd class items that fit in a pillar box.

Regarding Ebay postage, my understanding is your location defaults to site country, regardless of where your account is registered.

regarding pete's problem, best way of getting around it is to list a standard recorded delivery option, which would cost less than the £4 max, then include a special delivery price in the more options.

In your listing state that items over £46 will be required to be sent special delivery and the cost.

[boba]

I don't sell on ebay so I don't understand how they do it, but some sellers within the US and outside the US are able to have a number different than $4 show up for me (in the US).

If you are going to say "wait for invoice", I would also list shipping costs, otherwise people will get pissed when they get a random number that they think is too high (they might even go onto message boards and call the seller a "greedy bastard"). Unless you figure out a way to adjust the number that shows up, I don't know how you can deal with the difficult buyers though.

Edited February 8, 2012 by boba

[Guest MrC]

Buying Royal mail postage online is exactly the same price as buying from the post office, paypal does allow you to keep the cost paid private on the print out, however the barcode has information of whats been paid, if you are underpaying, eventually you will get caught by revenue protection, your customer will be surcharged for insignificant postage paid, the shortfall and a handling fee. suppose the risk is on the sender, however paypal labels do have the weight on and what service has been paid for, so not sure how your getting away with it at your post office, the only way i can see it working is for 1st and 2nd class items that fit in a pillar box.

Regarding Ebay postage, my understanding is your location defaults to site country, regardless of where your account is registered.

regarding pete's problem, best way of getting around it is to list a standard recorded delivery option, which would cost less than the £4 max, then include a special delivery price in the more options.

In your listing state that items over £46 will be required to be sent special delivery and the cost.

Might just work with Parcelforce option items - I obviously hadn't thought it through properly.

Ebay/Paypal have an account with Parcelforce/Post Office Services and have negotiated much lower rates due to the high volume of business, the same as any big company that uses their services (in the UK) - so I haven't actually been "getting away" with anything at my post office.

[Guest julesp1905]

Ebay/paypal do not have an account, they have an agreement, one that defaults them as the prefered carrier, their is no discount for ebay account holders using Royal Mail services.

Royal Mail universal service products are regulated, there is no negoitation on price, the price is fixed by the regulator, yes you are right that large buisness users get a cheaper price. If EBAY have an account as you say why are we not offered mailsort, next day tracked and tracked as delivery options? these are buisness products after all.

Further evidence can be found here which states for ebay users the terms are between you and Royal Mail

https://www.royalmail.com/solutions/small-medium-business/smart/ebay-users/royal-mail-online-postage-terms-and-conditions

please do not mislead people into thinking there is a 25-30% discount to be had as it simply isn't there.

[Guest MrC]

Ebay/paypal do not have an account, they have an agreement, one that defaults them as the prefered carrier, their is no discount for ebay account holders using Royal Mail services.

Royal Mail universal service products are regulated, there is no negoitation on price, the price is fixed by the regulator, yes you are right that large buisness users get a cheaper price. If EBAY have an account as you say why are we not offered mailsort, next day tracked and tracked as delivery options? these are buisness products after all.

Further evidence can be found here which states for ebay users the terms are between you and Royal Mail

https://www.royalmail...-and-conditions

please do not mislead people into thinking there is a 25-30% discount to be had as it simply isn't there.

I'm not trying to mislead anybody, and can only repeat that with any of the Parcel force options, printing your labels out through e-bay, and paying via paypal is cheaper than taking the same parcel to the post office and paying for it over the counter.

I said that was due to Ebay having an account, I stand corrected, they have an "Agreement"

I sent a lot of bulky/heavy parcels via the parcelforce option with labels i printed out from within e-bay after the sale completed. I did have some problems at 1st with all of my local post offices weighing the item (which they have to do), but then insisting on knowing the charges I'd paid, checking that with their instore rates, and telling me their was aq differnce and I'd have to pay the amount they had "on their sheet" - which was always around 25% MORE than I'd been charged and paid through e-bay.

After emails/calls to both ebay AND parcelforce, I was told the amount charged online by ebay was correct, and to tell the post office they had to treat my parcel as a normal "account" parcel.

Off I went to the post office, they weighed my items (which actually weighed LESS than I'd entered when buying/printing my postage labels), I then told them it was to be treated as a standard "account" package, to which they replied, "ok no problem, thanks"

And I've never had any trouble since.

So please don't infer that I'm making it all up and misleading people, because I'm not.

I don't pretend to know the ins and outs of "the agreement" and why you're not offered mailsort, tracked, and other "business" options.

But, again, I will say this is how it's been for ME WITH PARCEL FORCE OPTIONS, and there is a tracking number you can pass on to the customer!

I

Thanks

Paul

[Kegsy]

quote name='JOE TORQUAY' timestamp='1328614756' post='1699934']

just type THE POSTAGE COSTS in where you give a discription of the record,

I always do this but the buggers just pay and expect

it to be sent for nowt.

kegsy

[JOE TORQUAY]

I WONDER IF IT'S ONLY THIS COUNTRY THAT HAS A £4 LIMIT ON POSTAGE,

I BUY FROM THE USA AND POSTAGE GOES FROM SAY $4 TO $30+ FOR SINGLES AND I DON'T MEAN THE ONES THAT ADD INSURANCE, HOW DO THEY GET AWAY WITH IT ? , JUST RIP OFF BRITON I GUESS,