Topcat on Shipping

Shipping is an emotive subject and this page is not taking one side or the other merely an attempt to set out the way things are

Taken from Ebays own help pages

• The seller is charging too much postage. The seller insists that I pay in advance or unhide my feedback before accepting my bid.
  
  If the seller has a stated policy concerning postage and payment terms on the item listing or shopfront, then you as a potential buyer must clear any exceptions to this before actually entering into the transaction.
  
  http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/tp/programs-investigations.html#whatnotinvestigates
  

Shipping is postage and packing not just the price of a stamp

Ebay allows a reasonable handling charge to get the item safely from the seller to you

When you bid deduct the postage from the maximum you are willing to pay and make that your final bid

If the postage isn’t stated ask before bidding and if you are unhappy with the postage or don't get a reply  to your email don’t bid

if you would like to collect in person same applies

Ask before bidding . some sellers do not like callers for safety reasons and you must abide by their decision and not bid

If you are buying more than one item from the seller ask about combining postage before bidding and if not happy don’t bid

Do a rough mental calculation on the item weight and think what the approximate postage will be and if what is asked is reasonable. Links to postage charts below where you can work things out

There is no shortage of auctions on Ebay and nobody forces you to bid so think before you bid its too late afterwards

While you keep bidding they will keep ripping you off

Hit these guys who overcharge charge in the pocket and don’t buy

Remember too, in the event you have to do an Ebay Standard Protection Claim you cannot claim back the postage

if you go for a high postage item and pay by cheque etc if the item is below £15 you will get nothing back and let the seller off the hook as well

topcat83    2007

These pages written to help others take a lot of time writing and maintaining with regular policy updates
I an happy for people to use these pages appropriately when making responses its what they were designed for but respectfully request that you post the link direct on AC and refrain from posting the links on your own pages
Most people use sensibly but as usual the few take advantage