Postage Charges
Much has been done to demonize those miserly sellers who raise shipping prices above the exact amount for sending their items through the mail.
1) END PRICES REMAIN THE SAME: THE BUYER PAYS THE SAME REGARDLESS OF P&P My first objection to this is: total end prices of the item in question tend to reach the same levels, regardless of p&p charges. Buyers are not forced to pay extortionate prices for the goods as a whole, the cost simply becomes split over two areas p&p and the object in question.
2) THE ONLY ONE WHO PROFITS FROM FREE SHIPPING IS EBAY:
The DSR p&p charge rating has become a weapon of eBay. listings really should read as such: if you're not happy with the p&p charge, simply either don't bid, or get in touch with the seller if you have some moral objection over the fee levied.
p&p charges, as I'm sure everyone is aware, aren't subject to the 10% final value fee that eBay takes from each sale. It is no surprise, therefore, that eBay maximises its profits from promoting low shipping charges that often don't cover the shipping of the item itself. - so why does eBay prefer low shipping, or no shipping, costs?
The answer is simple, eBay take a larger cut. Sellers are FORCED to lower shipping prices to maintain a high enough seller rating through the p&p charge - and eBay can maximise their profit margin. 3) -P&P is not just P: postage. say your local post office is a 20min walk.
That's a 40 min round walking trip
Take into account the queue at the post office, the guy who's trying to send an armchair to Guatemala and the woman who's trying to sort out her driving licence and travel insurance.
- This could already be over an hour
- the minimum adult working wage is £5 per hour
- Any p&p charge under £5 could therefore be seen as a bargain.
----- "Hey wait, I hear you cry, what about materials?" Well, yes: jiffy envelopes, sellotape, brown paper, card backing and aren't free. (I was about to remark that they don't grow on trees, but there is an irony in that argument)
SO WHAT DO I GAIN FROM COMPLAINING ABOUT P&P CHARGES?
- well, the people who sit at home listing stuff they haven't used or haven't opened are normally the ones who will start their listings lowest, be the most flexible about sending the item, and the most willing to agree on bargains.
- Effectively, you reduce the market of small private sellers who tend to provide the best bargains - hey, I bought a Dior bag the other day for £31, authenticated on the purse forum from a student saving up for gap year travels.
Therefore.. Complaining results in..
1)the number of flexible bargain-offering private sellers diminish, in favour of corporations offering prices similar to that on any other site.
2)sellers having to offer 'free shipping'/ lower costs than the actual p&p charge, sellers are taxed not only on their item, but on top of their actual shipping costs
3) As a buyer you gain no more - you choose you overall price you want to pay - if you don't, don't bid.
4) eBay profits, the part-time student, mother-of-two saving up suffers.
5) fewer bargains, less variety.
Finally,
Thank you for your time and patience reading this.
If you have serious objections to any of my fees, please do get in contact with me and we'll sort something out.
Else- boycotting has always been viewed as an effective mode of protest.
Kind regards eBay community,
theminimg