More likely to stop people avoiding ebay fees by selling an item for cheap but with inflated postage costs.

That definitely used to happen. I remember seeing loads of items for 99p with £50 shipping.

Yep - I remember selling a printer for £199 a good few years ago, ended up with around £170 (possibly less) after p&p. Needless to say, I took that as an offense and avoided selling stuff on there whenever possible.

Yep, have the same thought every time I'm stupid enough to bother. The only time I ever made any useful money was selling my Wii and that was only because it was worth a fair chunk and they paid in cash.

Despite being huge eBay is a long way from what it set out to be and, as you say, definitely not a place for casual buyers and sellers.

Honestly, I haven't had any issues.

Out of all the things I've sold, I may have had a half dozen not sell, and I'd say it was more no one wanted them. I say that because I watch how things go with other sellers who have similar items. When I checked on the other sellers, their items weren't selling either, and many had listed their item for less than mine.

I've also found your selling tends to be affected by your seller rating. The higher your rating, the more likely people will be to buy your item for a bit more. They'd rather do that than risk a bad sale with someone who has a lower rating, and sometimes even a lower price than yours. I understand the logic. I do it myself sometimes. Pay a bit more to deal with a better seller. :)

What's your point?

That's as bad as paying import duty of the value of the good including postage. IMO, postage should be exempt.

He joined the Klan?

I guess I assumed that was pretty much the same thing. I think I'd rather use Amazon anyway, not that I have yet.

Just sold my son's wood turning lathe on eBay - I had weighed it at 28kg and so asked £15 P&P

I miss-weighed it, when all packed and ready to go it weighed 37kg and so cost £18.95

My fault, so I decide to swallow the extra £3.95 (and the £5.40 in packaging)

it sold for £62, and he paid the £15 P&P so I 'grossed' £77

the post and packaging actually totalled £24.35 - so I'm already down to £52.05

but wait, eBay wants £6.20 'final value fee' - oh, and £1.50 FVF on P&P! - now I'm down to £44.35

and there's more, paypal gets a fee too - that's £2.82

so out the £77 total paid I got £41.53 (about 54%)

but it was picked up on time, shipped overnight, delivered next day and signed for at 2:04pm

the buyer even left me positive feedback for a quick delivery... all seemed well...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

today, 48 hours after delivery, the buyer has contacted me saying the box was severely damaged

several parts are missing and some of what is there is badly damaged,
the box was very wet and had a huge hole in it!

he wants to return it and have his money back!!! (all £77 that he paid!)

oh, and eBay says I should pay for the return as there are 'problems with the item'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I actually think he is being genuine, there doesn't seem to be any previous issues showing in his feedback. If it was me, I would be wanting my £77 back too. I have asked him why he signed for such a badly damaged package, to keep all the packaging and take photos of the damaged parts. I have also started contact with the carrier to see what's gone on and suggest a claim against the insurance I paid extra for.

I suspect the answer I will get might be - "well, they signed for it, so it must have been ok on delivery"

fuck, fuck, fuck, I can easily see eBay making me refund him £77 and the carrier leaving me holding the bill :(

It is the carrier's problem, Jon - not yours. Tell the custmer to file a claim with the carrier. I am assuming you did not use a sledgehammer to load the merchandise and didn't load it from the bathtub.

eBay doesn't play that way, if anyone is able to make a claim from the carrier it will be me as I am the one who booked and paid them

[edit] oh, and the tracking info shows he signed for it as being in good  condition ... numpty

I'm pretty sure the 'signed for in good cobdition' stuff is meaningless.

Basically you'll get left with the bill as far as ebay/PayPal are concerned.

I guess he is SOL then, if he signed for it in Good condition. If he did, then it is his problem and he needs to file a carrier claim - but the carrier will likely deny it. Had he signed for the package as damaged, it still would be a carrier claim, but then the carrier would reimburse him for the default amount if no insurance.

Sounds like the receiver is playing you, mate.  ;-)

Don't eBay refund the fees if you refund through eBay and PayPal?

You'll be left with the shipping costs which should be claimable.... But he signed in good condition (fail)

We bought some fireworks for our engagement party years ago and had then delivered to my mother in law's place of work. The boxes were placed neatly up against a wall and looked perfect so were signed for by someone. When we picked them up the boxes were smashed up, all the damage covered by the way they'd been stacked, and the fireworks inside were damaged.

We complained to the company we bought then off who asked why we had signed for them. They sent out replacements but pretty sure they said they wouldn't be able to claim because it was signed for.

I was a shipper/receiver many, many moons ago. One of the things I learned was to NEVER sign for a damaged package where damage is not noted. Carriers train to try to get damaged packages signed for in good condition because otherwise they are open to a claim. Even a small hole or tear can be a problem.

In Jon's case, the receiver is out of luck because by signing with no notation, he agreed that the package was in Good condition. Disputing that after the fact is suspicious and I would lend no credence to the pictures of the "damaged and wet" package. Perhaps he didn't know what he was buying or didn't ask enough questions - or he didn't like what was inside.

I don't know the why, but Jon's responsibility ended with the signature. I haven't sold on eBay here recently, but even if I was a big seller, in this case I'd take the rating hit because it sounds to me like the Buyer is playing games. It will be painful to try to make a claim, but that would be his only option were I the Seller. Sounds like Buyer's remorse.

I think the buyer is/should be the one to contact the shipper.  How does someone not notice a "badly damaged" and "wet" box?  I would be nice but firm with the buyer and make him do the leg work of getting refunded from the shipping company.

I see that differently. A buyer should deal with the seller. The seller picks the shipping company and pays them so should contact them.