Free Postage eBay Sale - Not Exactly

[Maurice Leakey]

There is a seller on eBay with a 16mm sound film which says Free Postage. However, when you click on the item and scroll down you see the words :-

"Postage is not free, entered free just because of the inflexible eBay listing options. Shipping costs to be agreed on purchase. Insurance for the full amount and to be tracked and be signed for."

I wonder what would happen if a potential buyer clicked on this Buy It Now item. Would it go through onto the PayPal site to confirm purchase. What would happen then with the seller. Would eBay force the sale with free postage as advertised.

I don't sell on eBay so have no idea if this is all kosher. Perhaps members who are eBay sellers can add their comments on this matter.


Maurice

[Joe McAllister]

eBay‘s postal options are as the advert says inflexible. I’d also like to know where they get their prices which are generally less than Those quoted by the post office and curious homes.Resulting in a loss
my solution has been to work out the cost for UK then add that to my opening price. Not a perfect solution as bidders View their bid as the final price. They are often surprised at Final bill as it’s not uncommon for the post to be more than the bid

[Maurice Leakey]

Joe
In this case it's a BUY IT NOW or BEST OFFER.
What would happen if I clicked on BUY NOW?

Maurice

[Joe McAllister]

If it was by now Ebay would send a pay now Page which would not include postage. Complications
Would that arise as the seller. Has given two options. I think he should’ve listed it as for collection only.Which leaves the method and price the responsibility of the buyer
as with any form of contract contradictory stipulations leads to conflict. eBay would probably side with the buyer but there is no way of enforcing it.

[Maurice Leakey]

Joe,
The seller said he preferred collection.
As you say, a buyer would probably be able to buy. An argument would then no doubt arise with the seller.
But eBay usually holds with a buyer.

Maurice

[Nick Regan]

The lister here is in the wrong, If it is listed as free postage then the sales contract is for free postage, Buying it now, ebay would take the money for the item but not charge for any postage, (and subsequently any fee on the for cost of postage), however this is a listing wording fault.

It should have been sold as collection only with a note stating courier can be arranged.

We have brought items with free postage before, but then told after paying that it is in fact collection only.

You do not have to use ebay to post items you can send it via your own courier etc, you just have to advise the buyer of postage costs on the main listing before the sale.

i Would however advise anybody selling on eBay not to use eBay's postage service, they will not even entertain accepting a claim for insurance paid, let alone paying out on one, they wont pay out on an item using an endless list of reasons. Including you cannot use bubble wrap within the carton. We have a missing parcel they claim has been delivered but cant provide any tracking or delivery proof even though the actual courier involved has admitted to loosing it.

This was costing us a fortune until we changed to dealing direct with the courier.

Nick

[Maurice Leakey]

Thank you, Nick,

You appear to agree with my thoughts.

In this particular case the seller also listed that he would post worldwide but would prefer collection. For me this would mean a journey of 170 miles each way. Perhaps the seller is not aware of lockdown conditions that state travel is for specified reasons only.

It's a 400ft spool and can containing a 7 minute colour cartoon. Even before the virus and lockdowns would anybody want to travel to collect such an item. A heavy projector, maybe.


Maurice

[Osi Osgood]

What bugs me further, is I will place an exact shipping, for instance, on my Battlestar Galactica 35mm auction. I put 10.00 shipping, I even looked at when I saw it was different on the auction , but even with my auction stating 10.00 ... the shipping, on the auction, for everyone to see, states 18 dollars and the odd change, grrrrrr!

[Melvin England]

I agree with Nick on this one. The seller is out of order.

There is a bit of "Kidology" (kidding) going on with this. Its obvious that the seller doesn't really want to post it but has failed to mark it as "Collection Only." In this case, I am certain that he would be legally obliged to send the item as post free unless he states in the description that the post will be such and such a price... (it would be interesting if the purchaser turned out to be a lawyer!!)

The second bit of "kidology" is that the situation is deliberately manipulated. By stating a price, then allegedly "post free" the item looks as if it is a more attractive price. Once the unsuspecting person has fallen into the net, he is then hammered with huge post costs too and, not wanting to lose the item, just puts up with it and pays. There is no excuse for this. Joe stated above that Ebay have fixed postage prices that seem to be below those charged by the post office. I cannot comment on this, as I always stipulate the postage rates which are taken from the current list of rates leaflet freely available on the post office counter, then add a little to cover the cost of envelopes. So the Ebay post charge can be overridden! If I can do it, why can't others? Why do people choose to be so messy?

The seller needs to make a decision and stick with it. The correct way to do this would be to either list the item WITH a postal charge, but can also mark that as an alternative it can be a "collection only" (yes you CAN do that), or just make it a "collection only" full stop.