Marketplace
Yesterday I was the winning bidder on an eBay item.
While requesting the total from the I seller, I added a polite message asking if the the item could be posted in an AP Prepaid Satchel. The postage figure in the listing was $30 for standard postage + tracking, however the item only weighs 1kg and could easily fit into a 3kg satchel, which is still tracked.
Anyway, the seller later sends through the total without replying to my message, and the shipping is still $30.
Perhaps they didn't see my message, so I re-request the total, but also send a separate message mentioning the original note in the "total request", and adding that the shipping amount requested is double what it should cost, and suggesting $20 as more reasonable (which is still well over what it should cost, packaging included).
Seller sends through total again, postage is still $30, and they still haven't replied to anything I've written to them.
So I use the "contact seller" option, and write, "Do you always ignore messages from your buyers?"
Soon after I get two abusive messages from the the seller. The first describes me (and other buyers like me) as "so bloody difficult" and that postage was clearly stated so "bloody pay for it and if not ill file an unpaid item for on you and that's that"
The second says I'm a "pain in the ass with your fn rudeness"
Now I've bought and sold hundreds of items on eBay over more than a decade, I'm a good eBay citizen and only bid on items I intend to actually purchase, and if they'd replied with some reasonable explanation for the significantly higher postage (e.g. "I'm sending in a big strong box with lots of padding so it arrives safely") I'd happily pay and move on.
However to receive these sorts of messages from someone I'm now guessing is actually just trying to gouge some extra profit, I'm actually tempted to just not pay and take an unpaid item strike (my first!), just on principal.
Perhaps I'm overreacting though - would others here just pay up, or this unreasonable behaviour from the seller?
Cheers,
DM.
EDIT:
I seem to have not explained myself too well.
It's not the inflated postage cost I object to here - my maximum bid took the $30 postage figure into account, and I still won the auction for less than I was willing to pay.
I object to a seller first not bothering to reply to a polite request, and then abusing me when pulled up about it and being challenged about the postage fee.
Many private sellers I've purchased from have quoted a nominal "round figure" postage fee to cover all bases, and then adjust that depending on the postcode of the buyer's shipping address. Often I'll message before an auction to clarify this, sometimes it's after I've won an item that I've asked "could you update the shipping total for postcode XXXX". It's a fairly normal question for me to ask, and to the best of my recollection I've never had a seller a) ignore me or b) abuse me about it - this guy is the first.
I stumbled onto this auction a few minutes before it was due to end, and there wasn't time to check this details, so I put in a slightly lower bid in case the $30 was what he expected to be paid, but also mindful that this might be another case where a figure closer to the actual postage charge might be charged, as would be in keeping in line with eBay's policy on these things.
So don't go judging me for wanting to renege on a sale because of a high postage charge…no no no…I'm considering reneging on the sale because the seller has acted like an a** to a buyer trying to make a reasonable request and being ignored then abused in reply. There's a difference…
@StewBalls: Yep, I agree. Unfortunately a lot of people on this site are just plain morons. Quite a sad reflection of the Australian public but there it is.