Ebay postage costs

[boingboing]

Hi, this may have already been answered on a previous thread, apologies if this is the case. I sell regularly on Ebay and buy occasionally on Ebay. As a seller I try to be as honest and upfront as possible with postal charges (most of my items I send post free anyway). I am getting really cheesed off with sellers who list items with free postage but then add (at the end of the item description) postage for this item will cost £5.99 (or whatever) due to the weight of the items. If I was selling anything heavy and was not prepared to offer free postage I would feel obliged to declare upfront the postage costs. If sellers would simply add the postage to the auction price then that would be fine, am I being unreasonable? Why can't some sellers be more honest? Any thoughts appreciated, I realise that I should probably check thge item description more thoroughly before bidding. These sellers obviously do this to get their items up to the top of the list of items listed with p+p included lowest first (which I search on a regular basis). Thanks for any input!

[boxtops]

Hi boing, I buy and sell on eBay and I am always up front with my postage costs, I rarely sell anything with free postage these days. If I have charged say £4 for postage and when I mail it, it's cost a lot less, I will make a refund, this keeps customers happier than outrageous postage & packing costs. I haven't spotted one like you describe with a free postage advertised then stuff in the text about costs, that's poor practice - but on items with a fixed postal ceiling eg books, I will put in the text that "the book weighs 600g unwrapped and the additional cost of postage is reflected in the starting price." I think all you can do is leave weak feedback ratings for people whose postage and packing rates aren't up to scratch - I must admit I tend to look at the scores before I bid for something, particularly if a number of sellers are offering the same thing. I never used the search facility you mention re costs because I've found that lowest price doesn't always mean best value on delivery etc. This is my viewpoint anyway!

[alavahalf]

Free Post...are great words for attracting buyers to an auction.....It worked with you.!
...and yes...check the whole listing before bidding.

I often offer ''Free Post '' with... Buy IT Now...
But once it turns into an auction, postage will be charged at whatever it is..but this should be stated at the outset.

[Mr Veritas]

When Elsie & I used to buy on EBay,we would not bid on anything that did not list the postage already(or if it didn't I would email the seller to ask what the postage was).
Too many friends of mine have been caught by excessive postal charges because they didn't follow the above.

[boingboing]

Thanks everyone for your opinions, I admit to being slightly naive by not checking the entire listing first before bidding. I have so far only sold cds and dvds on ebay and until recently was not allowed by ebay to charge postage for these items (policy recently changed). I certainly won't use the price inc P+P lowest first search function any more. Just wish, as you all say, that some people were more upfront with their costs. Cheers!

[smurfchops]

I would report these people to ebay boingboing. If I overcharge for postage, I always give a refund. How can they say postage free and then charge ? Report them !