Q on Ebay.
So ... I finally have an Ebay account and I won a bid on Monday ... should I be concerned that the seller hasn't contacted me since then? I have sent two e-mails asking for total price (item+s/h) ... the first one I did via the Ebay thing "Contact Ebay member" or whatever it's called ... the second one I did via e-mail (I noticed his e-mail addresse in the Ebay "item won" e-mail they sent me). In my second one I kind of excused myself saying that I wasn't sure if my first attempt had gone through.
Anyways ... should I be concerned? Or is it a fairly regular behaviour of sellers to not contact bidders/winners (gosh, I feel special) until some time later?
Skarpo
:)
Anyways ... should I be concerned? Or is it a fairly regular behaviour of sellers to not contact bidders/winners (gosh, I feel special) until some time later?
Skarpo
:)
Post edited by Skarpo on
Comments
Incidently, what feedback rating does the seller have?
Erm ... hmmm ... "Positive Feedback: 100%"
Skarpo
:)
Its better than the opposite situation where you get a guy emailing you 10 minutes after the close of auction wondering where your payment is. On a Sunday when the bank is closed I might add.
Like others have said i think the basic rule is at least a week, i've had a fair few people in the past away for a long weekend or on holiday . Bit stupid when people list things and they end when theyre away etc but happens a fair bit.
Give it a week and then see what happens. With 100% feedback i doubt if the seller would want you p*ssed off so i wouldnt worry.
The seller contacted me this afternoon (your evening).
But now I have another question:
A couple of days ago I got a book in the mail from the UK ... the postage was less than 4GBP, that's what the stamp said
but
this person *wants* close to 7GBP for shipping (and yes, it's a book).
Should I contact the seller asking for a *cheaper* mailing method? Or is that not proper Ebay etiquette?
Skarpo
:)
Its up to you, books are often rather heavy and consequently cost a lot to send. ?7 does seem like a lot, but in my own experience sending a moderately heavy book cost ?5 to post just to somebody else in the UK and did not make me a penny on postage.
If its a crappy little paperback, thats another matter.
I have the experience that some UK sellers want much more than the actual stamp cost. I assume they include paypal, wrapping, etc costs to shipping and some just want to cash extra.
Timppa
Did you order to identical, or very similar books? If it was heavier, it might cost more to post.
You can get a reduced postage rate, if you send books or printed matter, and not everyone knows about it.
Some sellers send everything International Signed for, regardless, and that adds ?3.50
Some just guess.
Some, offer International postage, but put the price up, to discourage people winning, particualrly when there is a reduced/free listing day for International Sellers.
[ This Message was edited by: thx1138 on 2005-04-28 11:57 ]
Sometimes you find you paid ?5 for p&p and cost ?2.50 when you get it. It's quite annoying, but you should try and guestimate the cost before bidding, and add the difference onto what you'd be willing to pay for the actual item you're bidding for.
End of the day if the seller is making additional profit above and beyond a 'reasonable' amount for p&p, then you either don't bid, or do as above and factor it into the cost of the item.
The method above is actually called Fee Avoidance, and eBay have proceedure to report this behaviour.
Then only problem is that you can end up with neg feedback as a result of questioning a seller.
It get's more complicated when you win multiple items and they knock off 20p per item instead of something reasonable. But what is reasonable to them may not be to you.
I've been stung by it before.
Best thing is to ask in advance, get all the information before you go ahead and bid.
Cheers
Andy
At the end of the day if i sell an item and it has a stupid price of 40 quid for postage people know up front and its not a surprise when they win the item and its 40 quid for postage.
Yes in a perfect world the postage costs would be exactly what the stamps are but i might put a rough idea for postage because i cant be bothered to trek all the way into town to weigh it up to get the exact cost. I could try scales at home i suppose but sod that, if i put 6 quid then people know its 6 quid.
Used to spend way too much time before weighing every item exactly then going back home, listing the item, going back to the post office and sending the item etc. Complete pain and one of the worst things about ebay all the post office crap etc ! Plus with only 30 mins lunch its a nightmare.
But when you know up front what the postage is i cant see the problem. Sometimes even emailing the seller before the item ends to ask about 2nd class postage etc works. But when someone wins an item, clearly says 4 quid postage then they want to haggle over the postage sod that.
I buy a ton of sports stuff from American on ebay or from private sellers, the postage is always high but at least i know up front. When theres no 'hidden' prices how can u moan ?
[ This Message was edited by: psj3809 on 2005-04-28 13:03 ]
For international buyers, I always add "Email me for a shipping quote before bidding" to the auction, rather than finding out the price in advance. That way, if they don't bother emailing me, they can't complain when the cost turns out to be ?40! Mind you, touch wood, I haven't had any problems with any international buyers yet - none of them have tried to pay me a dollar amount rather than pounds, or pay for domestic UK postage instead of international.
I'm going to pay what he said ... but when I recieve the package and it says 2GBP would it be kosher for me to write that discrepancy under the User Comments ???
Skarpo
:)
Skarpo
:)
I've left good feedback in the past only for the other person to then leave neutral or negative whinging about some tiny thing they never mentioned before.
If theyre not happy with an item i will offer a refund or part of their money back till they are happy. However if they leave neg or neutral feedback then moan to me sod that.
On the whole if the transaction was decent then leave positive. I cant see how you can think about commentating about the post charge when you knew what it was before you bought it.
Thing though is that I didn't know what the postage was before I bought it. I didn't get the postage quote until afterwards.
But it's a moot point right now seeing as I have already decided to pay whatever he said and I will just wait until I get it. If the stamp says what he said (give or take a little bit for the envelope/method of enclosure) then of course I will leave a positive reply. If the stamp says 1.50GBP I will probably leave a short + feedback and just leave it at that.
The only reason why I questioned the postage he quoted me is because I know that it could/should be cheaper. But right now it doesn't really matter seeing as I don't have the book. This thread of mine has become more bloated than I intended it to be (not that I have absolute power over it ;) )
More later when I receive the book.
EDIT
I'm just over-analyzing my first Ebay transaction.
EDIT DONE
Skarpo
:)
[ This Message was edited by: Skarpo on 2005-04-28 21:23 ]
What I've never been given an answer for really, is what about multiple combined p&p items. You can really get stuffed on this, and I've had a few sellers go ape sh1t with me because I asked. This was BEFORE even bidding.
Best policy is ALWAYS ask how much it will be for combined and decide based on that.
People costs differ, and some pepole get a single jiffy for 90p instead of 10p or what have you. It can differ with little goods such as tapes.
What does peev me is cost vs quality of service and materials used.
I once stated on eBay that sellers should state how much their p&p costs are (rounded to maybe the nearest 10p) and then what their handling fee was. No-one liked the idea, probably cos their handling fee might have been ?2.
I think it's just one of those topics where there's no right and wrong answers and you either live with it, or risk dodgy feedback. It's a hard learning curve.
Cheers
Andy
When should one leave the feedback, right after paying or upon receiving the item?
Skarpo
:)
If you feel something is wrong with the item contact the seller and talk about the situation before leaving feedback, be that posative, negative or neutral.
Before leaving negative feedback make sure you have exhausted all the options, feedback can be good leverage.
ADJB
Skarpo
:)
To me postage costs also mean the time and hassle to go down the post office during your lunch to send it. I know the postage up front and like i say i dont care if its a 25 year old jiffy bag as long as i get it in one piece.
I'd recommend sending a polite reminder first, before a threatening one.
Mind you, I wasn't aware you could be reported for not giving feedback.
That could well have backfired quite spectacularly, and you were lucky to have received positive feedback. There may well be good reasons for a seller not leaving feedback straight away. Many large traders leave all feedback for recent transactions all in one go, every week or two weeks so it's just a matter of patience. But I'd rather receive no feedback rather than negative (or neutral)!
I both buy and sell regularly on ebay. As a buyer, I'll leave positive feedback for the buyer as soon as I receive the item and am happy with the deal. If I'm not particulary happy, I may be inclined to withhold feedback. As a seller, I wait until I know that the buyer has received the item and is happy, before leaving feedback (wait until the transaction is complete). That way I reduce the risk of people leaving negative feedback out of the blue without informing me of any problems first.
I am happier than a free roaming wookie! I got my books today and now I will go jump headfirst into the deep end of Speccy machine coding.
Skarpo
:)