I've been eBaying for years, but need a bit of advice here.  We bought something on eBay yesterday and I paid it by paypal and asked the seller if they could send recorded delivery and I would pay the balance into their paypal account (I said that I thought it was 77p, but wasn't sure so she could let me know).  I've just received a message from her saying she had to send by guaranteed post and it cost £22.70 and she could send me the receipt.  Is she expecting me to pay this?  Postage was £5 in her item.  I haven't replied and am at a bit of a loss what to do here.

what!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
what the hell was she sending,a sofa,that is ridiculous,you asked for recorded not guaranteed,so it was her mistake,alos,the post office normally tell you the price before you agree(mine do)i would have thought she would have thought it was a no no.mmmmmm,i think you are going to have to contact her and explain the situation,keep all emails incase it goes to open case at paypal,etc
what was it that you bought,i have never heard of such high postage,
jo

Did you say can you confirm how much it would be before she sent it ? If not and your email said you will pay it without this then unfortunately you maybe liable but it is outside Ebay and between yourselves. The issue here I suppose is the type of delivery so it is upto you to prove that the type of delivery she has sent it on was wrong and she could have sent it via the type of delivery you suggested and prove the costs. Pay that amount and leave it at that.

You asked for recorded delivery which is 77p + weight of the parcel and covers a value of £46.

She sent it special delivery which covers items over that price.

I dare say the item was more than £46 so she has made the decision to post it special, trouble is you didn't ask for that, so your not liable to pay it and the only person that benefitted was the poster so she could claim the money back if the parcel went missing.

It's not as if you did not state the price you did, sorry but you don't pay for someone else's mistake.

Unless she has proof that you asked her to send it special delivery then your fine. (Double check that you used the words recorded only)

Here are the messages:

Me:
Hi
Could you possibly post Recorded Delivery and I will pay the RD charge into your paypal account?  Also, if posting tomorrow could you post to our home address which is ___________. As hopefully it will arrive on Saturday.
Thanks for your help and let me know how much it costs to send Recorded and I will paypal it to you (I think it's an additional 77p but I'm not sure).
Kind regards
Simone

-0-

Seller:
Hi no problem with that. will post recorded delivery .thanks

-0-

Me:
Thanks for that.  Let me know what the RD cost is.

-0-

Seller:
I have just posted the pump but have had to send it guaranteed delivery to ensure that it arrives and is insured for the full value. This has cost £22.70 and I have the receipt with your postcode on it which I can send to you.It will arrive with you on monday before 2pm.
I hope this is okay but I didnt want to take the chance of it not arriving and not being insured.

Meant to say, it's a shower pump we bought and paid £141 plus £5 postage.

Not your problem hun,

Very clear what you wanted, just write back once received and say that you will pay the recorded postage as asked for only.

You never needed the full value covered as you wouldn't receive the money for it only the poster would if lost and then they would have to refund you. The poster was not bothered herself about covering for the product hence only the £5 charge, why she thought you would want it is beyond me?

You also state that hopefully it will arrive Saturday, no way do you indicate that you want next day delivery, though recorded generally is.

Next time don't worry about asking for recorded as it is up to the poster to have proof of purchase and delivery not yourself, it doesn't really benefit you. Most ebay users would automatically have an item of value sent recorded anyway. I always record my items.

Anyhow, I'm waffling, all looks fine to me, she made a mistake, not for you to pay for. :-)

If selling I always send my items recorded at the least, on the one occassion I've sold a more valuable item I sent it special delivery, but I always make sure to put the amount in my listing.

I do feel bad for her though why on earth she would imagine that I would want to pay £22 postage when I'd mentioned 77p is beyond me.  Do you think it would be fair of me to offer to pay her half the balance (i.e. £22 less the £5 paid split between us, equalling £8.50) as I wasn't expecting to pay for this type of delivery?

I've never looked at it that way before Carrington in that it's the sellers responsibility about the postage.  I have seen some products where the seller states that they're not responsible for the item once posted, but I don't know how enforceable this is if it came to it.

Personally, wouldn't do anything until you receive the parcel first, just to make sure everything is ok.

What you have suggested sounds really fair and really lovely of you, but the girl must have been a real numpty to think anyone would jump from 77p - £22 especially when you've already paid £5 p & p at pos, don't commit to anything yet, test the water to see how she reacts when you say how shocked and surprised you are that she sent it special delivery as you would not have paid anything like that amount,  (how many times do we think we'll be nice for it to bite us in the bum, or have I just got too cynical with age. :-) )

If she replies with a load of profanities and threats then just pay what you are supposed to, if she is very nice and you feel sorry for her then by all means be an angel, your a lovely person to do that.

But, wait and see if you get the parcel first (untrusting old bat I've become :-D )

Thanks Carrington, will definitely wait to see what the postman brings (hopefully) in the morning before replying to her and for husband to install it to make sure it works.

From her tone I got the impression she expects me to pay the £22.

She will have been advised by staff at the PO to send by special delivery because of the value of the item.  If she had only sent recorded, the item would not have been adequately covered for loss or damage in transit.  In fact, if she had sent by recorded and had to subsequently make a claim from RM if the item went missing, for example, RM is not obliged to pay a penny (not even the £46 that as that only covers items UP TO that value, not exceeding it) as she didn't send it by the correct method for the value of the item.

So, in ebay terms, she should technically bear the cost of postage as it is her responsibility to post using the appropriate method. However, where there is such a huge discrepancy between the postage she listed and the actual cost, she should have negotiated with you before posting the item  to come to some mutually agreeable arrangement such as sending my courier instead.  If she has actually posted the item now, then she hasn't a leg to stand on as sellers are not allowed to hassle for additional payment (over and above the final price of the item + published postage costs) after the close of the auction.  You are under no obligation to pay more so it's between you, the seller and your conscience to resolve now.

Thanks ShaynLola, so do you think it's fair if I offer to split the difference with her?

I'd wait for it to arrive, test it to make all is in order and then take it from there.  Assuming all is ok and the seller plays nice, I'd probably offer to split the difference as I think that's a reasonable solution for all parties. However, the seller cannot make you pay the difference so it really is up to you.

I have sold items for much more than I predicted they would go for and have sent by special delivery to protect myself but on those occasions I've absorbed the additional cost and wouldn't ask a buyer to pay.  Similarly, I've received items where postage cost a lot more than I paid and, if I'm happy with everything and the seller has been nice and professional and not demanded I pay the extra, then I've paid some or all of the additional cost to their Paypal account.

I do think she was a bit daft in that she thought a jump from 77p to £22.00 warranted no contact with you. Splitting the difference is nice but I don't think you 'have' you do it. As others have said, see how she reacts. If she gets all rude and demanding I think I would waste no time in telling her it was she who made the mistake not you.

Is she a new seller?

ShaynLola is absolutely right, the seller would have been guided by the Post Office and First Class post with Recorded Delivery would not have given her adequate cover in case of loss or damage.  BUT she has made the error of not checking some of this out before she started.  Many experienced sellers would weigh the item and research postal options before listing AND offer buyers the choice of delivery options.

As a seller she has 2 options:  Special Delivery covers her for the value, and gives you a guaranteed delivery day/time.  Alternatively she could have opted for the cheaper Standard Parcel option with enhanced compensation up to the correct value which would be cheaper for you but gives no guarantee of delivery date.  What would you have chosen if she had asked you?  Perhaps this is the right price to pay her?

Strictly speaking she has made the error and should cover the cost, she might argue that she thought you were asking for guaranteed Saturday delivery (much more expensive) but she has made a rookie mistake of not checking first.  I feel sorry for her but it's not your mistake and if she had checked first you would have made an informed buying decision.  Most of us calculate postage in our bidding price so you might have offered a different amount if you had known that postage was going to be so high...

There is a right answer, but no easy solution if you want to be generous.  When the parcel arrives you could check the weight and see what the postal options could have been?

Hi Earl - one thing I would take into consideration is the negative feedback she might give you if you don't pay the postage costs. Not saying that it's right or wrong that  you should bear the costs - but if you buy regularly from ebay are you likely to damage your feedback record by not paying the costs?

£22 is a big difference to pay but I suppose she could argue that the cost of sending it other than by normal post was beyond her control -you didn't want it sent by ordinary post and RM said in that case it couldn't go by recorded delivery and has to be special delivery in order to be insured. Personally I think she should have checked with you prior to posting once she ascertained their was a big difference in price to the one you were expecting to pay.

Sellers can't give buyers negative feedback any longer.  And if a negative comment is left (alongside the little green positive sign) ebay will remove at the buyer's request it as it is considered abuse of the feedback system.

She's not a new seller.  Has a feedback of 500 and has sold quite a lot of things.

Once we've ascertained it's all in working order, do you think it's fair if I offer to split the difference with her?  There's a big difference between 77p and £22 after all.

I've also posted things special or recorded delivery at my cost if I've felt this was the right thing to do.

I think it's more than fair.

>I've also posted things special or recorded delivery at my cost if I've felt this was the right thing to do.

Yes me too.  Sometimes I've estimated postage weight then added extra packaging for my own peace of mind and paid the difference and sometimes I've just decided to upgrade the postage.  Usually however I aim to get it right first time and if I've made a mistake then I live with the consequences.  I would never just take a risk that the buyer was going to reimburse me!

All the eBay help pages make it very clear that the onus is on the seller to accurately price for postage.  Your seller was wrong to increase postage by that amount without your agreement and daft to send it without having the postage paid.  A quick look at shower pumps on eBay suggests she is way above other sellers...

It's not about fair or not fair.  Should she have provided you with delivery options and postage prices?  YES.   Should she have sent the item to you without payment? NO