refunding for overpayment of shipping, ethical or just plain dumb?

[keziak]

Someone bought 4 things from me and paid instead of waiting for an invoice with combined shipping. It's always been my policy to determine the actual shipping cost and refund for the overage. My husband thinks I'm dumb as a stump for doing that. Surely if they paid they are satisfied with the shipping. But it just bothers me to accept a payment for way more than the actual shipping cost. Any thoughts? I'll add that when I refund and let them know why they virtually never acknowledge this or say thanks. 

[mam98031]

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@aggrkat-0 wrote:

If I want to purchase multiple items from a seller I contact them and ask if they will combine shipping.  If not, I move on to another listing.

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On items that have free shipping??

[aggrkat-0]

I purchase a lot of vintage toys marked .25 even .10 or .5.  Of course I don't expect the seller to sell it for that amount.  I am not referring to the price of the item. 

[mam98031]

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@aggrkat-0 wrote:

Why would the buyer pay $14 under that circumstance, unless ebay has another glitch and charges them the higher amount.  So yes the buyer is owed the $4 difference based on the listing.

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They just made a mistake in their math on that post.

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Nope that would be me that made a mistake in their math.  I don't know what I was thinking.  Oh wait, I wasn't thinking.  That's it.

[mam98031]

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@aggrkat-0 wrote:

I purchase a lot of vintage toys marked .25 even .10 or .5.  Of course I don't expect the seller to sell it for that amount.  I am not referring to the price of the item. 

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Then when you referred to the price on the label, what label are you talking about?

[aggrkat-0]

Not true at all.  But I also look at what I think the cost of the item should be and how much shipping cost should be and if their listing is way over that, I move on.

[domin-tomas]

I used to do it, my daughter would tell me not to but I felt obligated. I should have listened to her. I went ahead one day and refunded for overcharging a postage by a few bucks, when I did this I accidentally refunded the whole $85.00 and the lowlife never gave it back. Should have listened to my daughter. I haven't refunded postage since then.

[aggrkat-0]

Of course not.  Why would I ask them to combine shipping on free shipping.  This is a posting ID but I am far from being new to ebay.

[keziak]

You may be reacting to a comment in my post that was not precise. 

"But it just bothers me to accept a payment for way more than the actual shipping cost."

By actual shipping cost I didn't mean actual postage. I charge somewhat more than postage to offset fees and packaging supplies a bit.

When I combine shipping I get the weight of the order and charge what I normally do for that weight and unless the books are all  heavy that amount is less than what they have paid by not waiting for me to combine. Sometimes it's significantly less.  In that case I am nagged by the Golden Rule and issue a partial refund. Even if they don't "get it" or care, apparently.

[moo*cow*corner]

@keziak 

My comment was not directed to you personally. My apologies if you felt attacked. I had no such intention.

It's the buyer entitlement that annoys me. No one fills their cart at Walmart and demands a combined discount. There are very few places left on the net where a customer can even negotiate shipping.

I need whatever it is that I need in order to get a customer's order to them safely and in a timely fashion. If I don't cover all my expenses and still show a profit, I won't be in business very long. That's the simple truth.

See, to me the Golden Rule applies a bit differently than commonly interpreted. I prefer to find out what someone values, and then do those things. Even if it's something I don't value much at all. Doing something unto someone who doesn't appreciate that thing does nothing.

But if you feel better, I see no harm in it. Just understand that if no thanks are even offered, then that particular person did not value the refund in the same way that you might. To me, that's OK too!  It's when these things become entitlements (AKA owed to someone) that I get annoyed.

All that being said, I do offer a combined discount set as a percentage of additional purchases (50%). If a buyer buys more than 3 lots, sometimes I do refund a bit. Shipping charges above 3 purchases tend to appear to be somewhat inflated, especially if a buyer in in a near zone to me.

[upgradedendmills]

They should be thankful for finding an honest seller. No need to express it, but I am certain a lot of them remember it when they make future purchases.

[sin-n-dex]

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@keziak wrote:

Someone bought 4 things from me and paid instead of waiting for an invoice with combined shipping. It's always been my policy to determine the actual shipping cost and refund for the overage. My husband thinks I'm dumb as a stump for doing that. Surely if they paid they are satisfied with the shipping. But it just bothers me to accept a payment for way more than the actual shipping cost. Any thoughts? I'll add that when I refund and let them know why they virtually never acknowledge this or say thanks. 

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Many of my customers say thanks, but I send them an eBay message to explain the refund before doing it (one time someone got upset because he didn't read and thought I was cancelling his order).

Customers like this, it makes you look like you have integrity. I have combined shipping on most of my coins (with an attractive flat rate less than actual cost to encourage buying multiple items), but when I send offers to accept best offer, it doesn't calculate the combined shipping promo. Just tonight I had to refund someone the second shipping charge because she bought two tokens and eBay calculated two costs instead of my flat rate.

If it's a minor amount of money, like less than $1, I wouldn't bother. I have shipping related costs that need to be covered (customs paperwork and cross border courier charges) that need to be factored in, plus eBay keeping 6.15% of my shipping from coins (which most people who only buy would never know).

If you sell in a genre that attracts a lot of repeat business you'll find customers remember you because of little things you do to show them they are important to your business.

C.

[upgradedendmills]

I want all of my customers to be convinced that I will do the right thing 100% of the time. I don't expect a thank you, but I think they remember the small details for later purchases. It's a free sales tool for me.

[inhawaii]

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@aggrkat-0 wrote:

If I want to purchase multiple items from a seller I contact them and ask if they will combine shipping.  If not, I move on to another listing.

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Sorry, yeah my math was off. 

So if the listing is $5 for the first item and $1 for each additional ... and you want to buy 10 ... you still message the seller for combined shipping?

[sin-n-dex]

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@aggrkat-0 wrote:

Why would the buyer pay $14 under that circumstance, unless ebay has another glitch and charges them the higher amount.  So yes the buyer is owed the $4 difference based on the listing.

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They just made a mistake in their math on that post.

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Not a math error.

"$5 for the first widget, $1 each for additional widgets, total 10 widgets"

$5+($1x9)=14

C.

[upgradedendmills]

I think the poster is referring to the shipping label. We will never know what a customer honestly thinks about what they were charged for shipping unless they mention it. I will continue to give my customers every break possible simply because I feel it is good business.