We had feedback from a customer today. He said the book we sent was as good as new but that he thought the postage was expensive. It’s not worth answering, but it may be worth looking at the reality of the situation.
The book is new. It’s a priced catalogue of cigarette cards and there is normally a new one every year. We were quite clear that it is the 2023 catalogue, so why he would think it was going to be second hand I do not know.
Now, the postage. We charged him £3.99. The Post Office charges us £2.70. eBay charges us approximately 20% on top as they charge commission and payment fees. That means it has, so far, cost us 2.70 for stamps and 54p in fees. A padded envelope costs 20p. That’s £3.44. It leaves us with 55p to pack the envelope securely (there is a weak spot at the flap end where a book like this, if dropped by the delivery man, can get damaged). It happened once and we were accused of all sorts of shoddy packing by the recipient. We put an extra bit at that end to stop this happening. I’m paid about 18p a minute. In order for us to make a 1p profit on postage I would have to pack the parcel in three minutes. IT can’t be done. Once again, we make a small loss on postage and packing and are accused of overcharging.
It’s sometimes very difficult not to reply in a sarcastic manner, or to block them from further purchases.
And now I have that off my chest, I am going to have a cup of tea and watch Pointless.
Photos are more of Julia’s cave pictures.
