Don't sell your items too cheap!

After taking advantage of eBay's Christmas free listing offer I got another one of those "item removed due to circumvention of fees" alerts.

This seems to happen if you list an item at a very low starting price or "buy now" price (99c) with a high postage cost (for example, $9.30).

Now if I want post an item that weighs over 500g up to 3kg anywhere in Australia then it makes sense to post it in a parcel post satchel which for weights over 500g costs $9.30.

Unfortunately eBay don't seem to see it this way and will remove the item claiming that you are trying to circumvent paying higher commissions.

It appears that the people at eBay who look after this area have no idea about Australia Post charges for parcels.

Of course, if you are outside of Australia then it seems you can charge whatever you like for postage and handling and eBay turn a blind eye. Just look at all those foreign sellers on eBay Australia who have very low prices for electronics with huge postage and handling costs.

Anyway, back to my case. I have had these alerts several times in the past. Last time I tried to plead my case to eBay they first told me that an eBay member must have complained about my postage costs and eBay automatically removed my items. Really? Does this mean I can complain about my competition's postage costs and have them all removed?

After many emails backward and forward eBay eventually removed the suspension that they had given to me from my account that prevented me from listing any further items. They never apologised or admitted any fault, just warned me that I shouldn't do wrong again.

So my advice is, if you are ever selling cheap, heavy items, do not list postage costs. Ask people to contact you for a postage quote.