Am I being a bad ebay seller?

I recently sold the contents of my sons nursery. One buyer is apparently upset that I didn't describe the items properly. She has apparently found holes in his sleeping bag (it was checked - there weren't any) and complained that the items (all bedding) have bobbling from being washed. This was also stated in the adverts!!
I have offered a refund of the sale price, but not postage. She is also complaining that she paid too much as it cost me 2.82 to send the parcel and charged 11.90. I have pointed out that I offered a discount that she ignored (it would have been 5.95 for one item). I also had to buy the packaging, tape etc as a new seller and pay to get to a post office cover sellers fees etc.

Am I being unreasonable??
Additional Details
Yes of course shipping costs were stated before she bid, and it was stated in the advert that there would be a discount available on mulitple items - 5.95 had I had to send each seperately would have been fair, together it cost less - which I sent a discounted invoice for. She chose to ignore said invoice and use the automatic one instead, despite me emailing her about my intentions before I sent it!!

No your not. As for the sleeping bag there is no way to prove that so offering a refund is a good idea but ask for it back maybe? If you said there was bobbing then the item was as described and you did nothing wrong. If she has an issue with the shipping tell her it was for the packaging and materials because they can get pricy. So no if you offered combined shipping and she still is angry she is being unreasonable.

I think she's very angry at being charged too much postage and that's why she's being so picky.

Postage and packaging should cover what it says... Postage (Â£2.82) and packaging (which in your eyes would be Â£9.08 - did you really spend this much on packaging? I seriously doubt it. She should not be charged for the tape you used, unless you used the whole roll!). Transport to the post office has nothing to do with postage and packing, and it has nothing to do with the buyer.

On the other hand, she must have known what you were charging for postage before she bid so she shouldn't have bid for your items. I avoid high postage prices like the plague!... it's easy to tell when people are taking advantage

If you charged her 12 quid for postage and packing then only spent 3 quid on postage (the most expensive part of the P+P) then yes, you are a bad seller.

One of the things I have discovered is you can't have enough pictures -- even if they aren't all included in the auction. That way at least I have some "proof" of the condition of the item prior to shipping -- which can also be very helpful in case there is damage in shipping.

As for shipping, there are two ways to view this: The Righteous, and The Realistic.

The Righteous: Yes, the shipping was excessive. The fact you had to buy materials for shipping or get it to the post office simply is not the responsibility of the buyer, but the responsibility of the seller -- it comes out of your profits. Tough noogies, live with it.

The Realistic: Damn, between auction and PayPal fees, packing costs -- suddenly your profit is nil-to-minus nil. It is not unusual for a seller to add a small "handling fee" to help covers such incidentals.

However, $11.90 when it only cost you $2.82? Were shipping fees stated in advance? If not, then I would be upset too, discount or not. If you used eBay's shipping calculator (which you really should if you're not) you can always add in a small sum to cover your handling (I add $1, $2, or $4 depending on the item), and the shipping costs will show up for the buyer so they can factor that into their bid. Currently, there are many sellers on eBay that are actually gaining their profit from shipping -- They are listing a $10 item that costs $5 to ship for $0.99 with shipping costs of $15.00 or more. They are trying to get around insertion and final value fees to maximize their profit. While this is tempting, these sellers are viewed as -- well, not very nice -- and are reported to eBay for their practice. You do not want to be perceived as one of these sellers. You could lose your account.

Then there "are those people" that are simply nasty, complain about everything. Check her feedback to see.

And, that is the bottom line -- your feedback. This transaction could hurt it, so if it were me, I would just bite the bullet on this one and refund her $8 shipping with the auction price and have learned a lesson, be done with it, and agree that neither of you leave any feedback for each other. Unless a seller specifically blocks a bidder, a seller doesn't have a lot of alternatives selling, but a buyer can just ignore a seller and move on to the next one. Your reputation as a seller is paramount.

I tend to think that this is a tug of war -- I think you are in the right if the description detailed the "flaws" in the merchandise. I also think the seller is in the right about the shipping, albeit she should have been more responsible and gotten clear on shipping fees prior to bidding.

Yes. I don't charge for my packaging. That's my business expense. But she did not read the description. So my suggestion is to offer her send the stuff back. Refund what she paid and consider it a lost. She'll have to pay to send it back and of course she won't do that. So there you win!

Buyer beware . . . not your problem. She knew the cost of postage before bidding and had the ability to ask you any question about the merchandise before making an offer. Would she have told you if she had found a gold bracelet in the parcel . . . . NO she wouldn't, so forget about the whinging woman.

I think you are taking the pee - Â£11.90 p&p - what did you wrap it in - gold plated paper and send it by Red Arrows.

Let me know your Ebay ID so that I can avoid you on there

If anything, I would say it should be the other way round. What I mean is that that is quite a massive difference between postage costs, and I can see how someone would be really annoyed by that. I'm annoyed when I'm a pound or two overcharged!
Also, if you stated clearly in the listing, then you shouldn't have to refund her. Not sure about the sleeping bag, there's no real way to prove that either way...
So, in a way you are being unreasonable, but then so is she really.

no some people want it all for nothing

Not at all. The person that bought your stuff is being unreasonable. Tell her to go jump in a lake or something.

I agree with Jamand and Duke 75. You really are takin' da p*ss with the postage...I would avoid you! You should be kicked off Ebay...and to think they hung Dick Turpin!!!

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