How to deal with eBay and spiteful buyers?

[alexh]

If I buy something from Ebay and the advert says £3.99 P&P. I expect the P&P to cost the vendor approx £3.99.

If my item arrives and has simply been wrapped in £0.10p's worth of brown paper and has postage stamps that total £1.50 then the seller will get a low star rating feedback for P&P (after I have first voiced my complaint to the vendor to see if they care).

IMHO P&P is not a way for vendors to make additional money.

It should precisely cover the cost of postage + postage materials + average cost of travelling to the post office.

At the same time I agree that the P&P feedback should not be a place for buyers to air their negative feelings towards the general rising cost of postage in this world.

[alexh]

If the vendor cannot be arsed to calculate a realistic P&P charge, and cannot explain the difference satisfactorily when asked, then it's tough if they get low P&P feedback ratings.

(I mentioned above, I accept the P&P is not just the postage fee, but also the packaging and the cost to the vendor in preparation and travelling to the post office)

The PIV example is not a very realistic example though. It's against eBay policy for the vendor to hide the true cost of an item in the P&P and avoid paying eBay fees. If I was to buy it, wait for it to arrive and then complain to Ebay and PayPal chances are I'd get a partial refund (effectively getting the item for $15) and the vendor would loose their P&P fee and their item.

[alexh]

If I sold 100 PIV boards like stated above, alexh would be the only one complaining.

A pointless argument as it wouldn't happen.

At that moment it didn't seem petty at all.

But you explained it to him and I bet once you did he agreed with you and left positive feedback or cancelled neutral/negative feedback? Perhaps even bought more items?

[alexh]

weirdami wrote:
If you know what you're going to be charged up front, you have no reason to complain when you are actually charged that much.

Sure. There are no grounds for complaint just because the P&P price is too high as you knew how much it was going to be.

BUT at the same time the buyer expects a certain level of quality associated with P&P and if it is not met then it is grounds for complaint.

It is 100% upto the buyer to choose whether or not they felt they got value for money with the P&P amount.