Excessive shipping charge

L

Lene-mor

Member
Jun 7, 2009
96
0
#1
I won an auction for something from the UK for less than £6 ($10).

I checked the royal mail website and the package shouldn't cost more than £1,82($3) to send or £5,52($9,5) with signature confirmation.

I email the seller befor bidding to check if they would ship internationally,
I even included a link to royal mail prices,
and the answer was "sure, but unsure about the shipping cost".

More than 36 hours after the auction ended and after requesting an invoice and yet again reffering to the royal mail website so they could check the price,
I finally get a invoice from the seller,
and they want £40($68) :wtf:for shipping the item by DHL express!!

What to do?
I want this item and would happily pay the shipping cost + a reasonable handling fee, but £40 is just insane.
 
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#3
That's the reason why I always make sure to get the exact shipping costs BEFORE bidding on an item. Just because the national shipping costs are low doesn't mean the international ones will be too. And some sellers want you to pay ridiculously high charges like the one you bought from so I can well imagine your shock AND probably anger :rant:.

Unfortunately I have no clue what you might do now :shrugs:!
I'd ask to send it by standard mail, but I have no idea whether the seller will agree to this. It sounds a bit like they want to get more money out of the whole thing by blowing shipping costs out of proportion.
 
#4
Lene-mor said:
I finally get a invoice from the seller,
and they want £40($68) :wtf:for shipping the item by DHL express!!
Click to expand...


Good grief! £40 for a £6 item? :wtf:

Tell them that, in no part of the auction, or in your correspondence with them, was it stated that international shipping would only be undertaken by courier and that £40 is clearly utterly disproportionate to the value of the item.

So, unless they are willing to ship it via Royal Mail International Signed-For, for a far more reasonable price (perhaps £7 or £8, to cover postage and materials [depending on the size of the item]?), you will just have to, very reluctantly, consider the transaction cancelled.
 
#6
You have to be sooo specific with what you say regarding Royal Mail delivery, e.g. did you know that 'recorded' delivery is cheaper and it requires signature but isn't insured, whereas 'special' delivery is more expensive, it's next day delivery and it includes insurance and tracking. Nightmare. Totally irrelevant to you so apologies for going off on one.

My other half said that it's expensive to send internationally but depending on the size and weight of your package £40 sounds excessive. You really can't judge the cost of shipping until these questions are answered.

Personally I would cancel this transaction if they're not willing to renegotiate price
 
#7
danaan said:
That's the reason why I always make sure to get the
exact shipping costs BEFORE bidding on an item.
Click to expand...

Yep, you're absolutly right. So far I have been lucky with sellers who don't tell
me the exact shipping cost when I ask about shipping internationally.
So far they have been very reasonable.

noshoepolish said:
How much would it be Royal Post Express Mail or whatever it is called?
Click to expand...

cookie888 said:
You have to be sooo specific with what you say regarding Royal Mail delivery,
e.g. did you know that 'recorded' delivery is cheaper and it requires signature but isn't insured,
whereas 'special' delivery is more expensive, it's next day delivery and it includes insurance and
tracking. Nightmare.
Totally irrelevant to you so apologies for going off on one.
My other half said that it's expensive to send internationally but depending on the size and weight
of your package £40 sounds excessive. You really can't judge the cost of shipping until these
questions are answered.
Personally I would cancel this transaction if they're not willing to renegotiate price
Click to expand...

When I use the postage calculator I can't find any options containing the words express, recorded or special.

This is a item weighing no more than 200gr(7 ounces), but just to sure to included package material

lets say 300gr (10,5oz). Size should be 30,5x25,5x7,7cm(12x10x3inches) so it doesn't exceed the dimensions
for beeing shipped as a small package.

When entering the weight and destination(Norway) into the calculator I get 4 options

Airmail small packets £2,44
Internationally signed for small packets £6,14
Surface mail small packets £2,14
International signed for surface mail small packets £5,84

The item is not fragile, heavy or exspensive, it's a cushion for a babychair.

I wrote the seller after I recived the invoice saying I thought the shipping charge was "somewhat" excessive
and shipping by royal mail would cost a lot less. Still waiting to here back from him.

chloehandbags said:
So, unless they are willing to ship it via Royal Mail International Signed-For,
for a far more reasonable price (perhaps £7 or £8, to cover postage and materials
[depending on the size of the item]?), you will just have to, very reluctantly,
consider the transaction cancelled.
Click to expand...

This is what I'm planning on telling the seller if he doesn't change his mind.
I would hate having to cancel and would happily pay up to £10 for shipping,
but £40 is just insane.

Thanks for all the replys, if I misssed something or got something wrong please let me know.:flowers:
 
#8
^^I can understand if it was a bag or item over £250 - the only way to send from the UK with full tracking and signature confirmation is to use a courier - i was once quoted £70 to use Parcelforce. Whenever i have shipped Internationally i always use International Signed for - it's the best service whatever you are sending - it only tracks within the UK (though depending on which postal service picks it up in the country it's going to it can sometimes be tracked further), but includes signature and £500 insurance. Hopefully the seller is just inexperienced and will accept the amount is ridiculous.

The only other thing i can think is that for some reason she's now decided she actually doesn't want to ship abroad and is hoping to put you off - because quite frankly otherwise, i'd be embarrassed to ask for that much for shipping such a low value and lightweight item....
 
#9
danaan said:
That's the reason why I always make sure to get the exact shipping costs BEFORE bidding on an item. Just because the national shipping costs are low doesn't mean the international ones will be too. And some sellers want you to pay ridiculously high charges like the one you bought from so I can well imagine your shock AND probably anger :rant:.

Unfortunately I have no clue what you might do now :shrugs:!
I'd ask to send it by standard mail, but I have no idea whether the seller will agree to this. It sounds a bit like they want to get more money out of the whole thing by blowing shipping costs out of proportion.
Click to expand...
i don't think ebay allows for making up costs by charging excessive shipping anymore. This was hugely abused by some sellers and now there are standard maximum rates. Check the international ebay rates on ebay site or call Ebay.
 
#10
mmmsc said:
i don't think ebay allows for making up costs by charging excessive shipping anymore. This was hugely abused by some sellers and now there are standard maximum rates. Check the international ebay rates on ebay site or call Ebay.
Click to expand...

Ebay have only set a maximum shipping charge for Books, Comics and
Magazines, DVDs, Film and TV, Music, Video Games and Mobile and Home
Phones, and they only apply when shipped domestic.

I think my only option is to report the seller for breaching the excessive
postage policy, if he dosen't come up with a cheaper shipping option.
Don't know how much that would help do thou...
 
#12
Tell the seller to send by a method other than DHL. DHL shipping starts at a very high price, even for lightweight items, because it's a private shipping company (a lot like UPS but WAY more expensive). You'll also likely be charged an additional fee by the shipping company once the item arrives.
 
#13
If I understood correctly, you had to ask if they would ship to an international location. This implies to me that they did not have your country checked as "ship to" so I am not sure eBay would get involved.

If they do not ship international on a normal basis, they may not know the least expensive, so I would not be too quick to judge them as "padding" the shipping cost. I agree that DHL Express is expensive so they may be just passing the expense not inflating.

A little patience and communication should work this out.
 
#14
eBayguy said:
If they do not ship international on a normal basis, they may not know the least expensive, so I would not be too quick to judge them as "padding" the shipping cost. I agree that DHL Express is expensive so they may be just passing the expense not inflating.

A little patience and communication should work this out.
Click to expand...

I don't think he's padding the shipping charge, I know shipping by courrier is
exspensive. I just don't get why he chose DHL express instead of royal mail.
I have mentioned royal mail in all of my messages to the seller, and didn't have a clue he would use DHL untill I recived the invoice.

I'm still waiting to here back from him. It's been 3 days since the auction endend, and no communication from the seller beside the invoice.

My patiences is running a bit low at the moment...
 
#15
eBayguy said:
If I understood correctly, you had to ask if they would ship to an international location. This implies to me that they did not have your country checked as "ship to" so I am not sure eBay would get involved.

If they do not ship international on a normal basis, they may not know the least expensive, so I would not be too quick to judge them as "padding" the shipping cost. I agree that DHL Express is expensive so they may be just passing the expense not inflating.

A little patience and communication should work this out.
Click to expand...


Trust me, they'll know there's a post office and that, the chances are, the Royal Mail is considerably cheaper than DHL. :yes:

Going to DHL first, is like going shopping for bargain-basement clothing and starting at Chanel.

But, if I'm wrong and they don't know they'll, presumably, welcome the International Signed-For suggestion! :biggrin:
 
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