I have been a seller for over 5 years and always keep postage costs as low as i can. I have seen some sellers on here charging £50 for postage on a dvd! This is to avoid paying final fees on items, they get away with selling the item for 99p and making the rest of the money on postal charges which im sure is NOT allowed on ebay.

Then there are small fish who dont care about final value fees they just charge the buyer EVERYTHING. They claim the costs include their time, petrol to get to the post office, their clothes they wear to get there (no not a joke - one seller did tell me that ) , stamps and packaging AND hidden paypal fees which alone is an ebay offence.

My Rule of thumb for buying is NEVER pay more than double for what the stamp charges are. If a dvd costs 74p normal post then you shouldnt be charged more than 1.50 postage. A dvd jiffy costs between 15 - 20p (most sellers recycle old material in my experiences and I DO AS A SELLER), NO paypal fees should be included and things like petrol should NOT be passed to you...that would come under handling. So 74p + 15p means there is 61p left which would include everything else WITHOUT giving the seller a POSTAL profit. NOW if recorded delivery is used then obviously the seller justifies why they are charging a little more.

BUT BEWARE . I have been charged for 1st class recorded before and the item sent 2nd class (half the price). This is a money making scam and is an offence that should be reported to ebay. If you pay for 1st class recorded then you should get that.

YOU SHOULD CERTAINLY NOT BE PAYING OVER £3 (at a MAXIMUM) for a dvd sent normal post. Other items should use the same rules except when they get heavier as stamp charges are obviously higher...

The most important thing is NOT TO BID if you see a silly postal charge as once you've bid you MUST pay the charge that is specified. IF IN DOUBT ALWAYS ASK THE SELLER. and dont bid if you see a silly postal charge. I got this guide off someone else but the more copies of it submitted, the more people will see it.

If this guide has helped you please rate. Thank You.