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Over charging on shipping and handling to cover sellers fees?
Summary: love2shoppe4me raised concerns about being overcharged for shipping by eBay sellers, who justified the extra charges as covering their seller fees. They noted that this practice seemed against eBay policy, as shipping charges should only cover actual shipping costs and supplies. flipistics and reallynicestamps provided insights, highlighting that while sellers can charge more for shipping, upgrading shipping services without permission is permissible, but not downgrades. reallynicestamps agreed with love2shoppe4me that seller fees should be included in the item's price, not shipping. mcrlmn questioned why love2shoppe4me paid such costs initially. rocketscollectibles argued that love2shoppe4me broke rules by requesting a refund, believing the purchase was a fair agreement. peclem38 countered, suggesting it might violate eBay's rules on fee avoidance. Finally, mrdutch1001 explained eBay's final value fees include the total transaction amount, which includes shipping, thus there is no fee avoidance. The thread was closed due to its age by kh-phdan.
Over the past two weeks, oddly from two different sellers, I have been over charged as much as triple the cost for shipping. The last one saying its Canadian Expedited parcel and arriving Registered Letter. When inquiring at the over charging they say its to cover their seller fees. Its their handling costs. ?!?
They then said, because I went ahead and paid the shipping when purchasing the item, they don't have to reimburse me. Also saying they can charge what they want, nothing I can do about it.
Actually there is a lot I can do. 😉 ....Especially since ebay can see their replies to my queries.
Just curious if anyone else is having this lately?
Don't they realize that if they want to cover the cost of their seller fees, they can just up the price of their item?
mrdutch1001
·2 years agoZOMBIE THREAD FROM 2023!
However, for those who are unaware- SELLER fees are charged on the TOTAL of the transaction, item price and shipping so there is no " avoiding Ebay fees"...
as per eBay statement regarding fees:
"We charge one final value fee when your item sells, and you don't have to worry about third-party payment processing fees. This fee is calculated as a percentage of the total amount of the sale, plus a per order fee. For orders $10.00 or less the per order fee is $0.30, for orders over $10.00 the per order fee is $0.40.
The total amount of the sale includes the item price, any handling charges, the shipping service the buyer selects, sales tax, and any other applicable fees. If you offer 1-day or international shipping as well as a cheaper or free option (like domestic shipping), the total amount of the sale is calculated based on the cheapest domestic option you offer. If you only offer 1-day or international shipping but no cheaper option like domestic shipping, the total amount of the sale is calculated based on the service the buyer chooses."
kh-phdan
·2 years agopeclem38
·2 years agoActually, it could well be against the rules. Ebay would be unhappy about sellers charging more than cost for shipping as it may be seen as avoiding Ebay fees. If sellers are recouping their fees by charging extra for shipping then that is very much against the rules.
You report an item by reporting listing practices - avoiding ebay fees.
It is up to Ebay then.
rocketscollectibles
·3 years agoEverything they told you is indeed true. When you purchase something you agree to the price. This is shipping and handling, not shipping only. A seller can add the amount he want, to cover what he want (time, packing, supply, gaz, etc, etc). eBay won't do anything. You agree to that price by purchasing.
A others said there is no downgrade from expedited to registered mail. And i checked from the feedback you left, the seller listings are 'standard shipping' and not 'expedited' too. Its not even stated expedited parcel.
You're the one breaking rules by requesting refund here. And on a false statement. The way you say there is 'a lot you can do' and everything, you seems to do straight extortion here.
I hope the seller know how ebay works as your feedback would be 100% removed if requested.
mcrlmn
·3 years agoWhy are you paying those ridiculous costs to begin with?
reallynicestamps
·3 years agoThe buyer rarely knows what the seller actually paid for postage.
We get discounts when we buy labels through eBay and have available services that are not on the regular Canada Post website.
Those discounts are usually used to cover the costs of packaging, something buyers don't think about until something is poorly packed and gets damaged.
The cost of a 200gr Large Envelope on CPO's rate page is $13.59 Registered.
The same Envelope would cost $43.89 ExpressPost with bubble envelope.
Oddly at 480gr the shipping would be $15.98 Registered and $27.25 ExpressPost.
https://www.canadapost-postescanada.ca/cpc/en/tools/find-a-rate.page
Sellers are allowed to upgrade shipping services without asking, but not downgrade. The faster promise (which I am cynical about) would not make it a downgrade, just cheaper.
Most sellers will discount on combined shipping. Some will discount on downgraded shipping. Some will obfuscate the shipping service they plan to use which is hidden when we use Flat Rates, but open information when we use Calculated Shipping.
love2shoppe4me
OP3 years agoreallynicestamps
·3 years agoYou are right. Our selling fees are supposed to be included in our asking price. In the end, the seller was an idiot not only for messing about with the shipping method, but also for telling you why. Reminds me of a former US president, who can't help telling everyone that he did the illegal thing and thinking that won't back fire.
Was the total payment reasonable for what you purchased, when all was said and done?
flipistics
·3 years agoIt's really bad form to do that and not refund (imo), but from a technical perspective I'm not sure they're wrong. Expedited Parcel is 2-8 days nationally and registered mail is supposed to be 2-4 days with both being tracked. In some respects, they're offering a potentially better shipping service. Sellers ARE allowed to charge more for shipping than what it costs them. It'll probably cost them sales and could lead to angry customers, but it isn't against the rules.
Personally, when I ship something, if it costs more than a dollar or two less than what the seller paid, I refund the difference. Since I subsidize the shipping a bit though, this rarely happens. Usually it costs me more.
I don't think eBay will back you up on this (although I could be wrong). You can definitely mention it in the feedback though, and as long as the feedback you provide is factual and doesn't break any of the rules, I doubt the seller will be able to get it removed.
love2shoppe4me
OP3 years ago