Ebay And Postage Charges

[mikey4444]

I have received, by Royal Mail, a second-hand book that I bought on Ebay, which cost £2:99, postage-paid. I sent this off to an elderly relative in Cornwall yesterday, by the cheapest way possible, at my local Post Office, and it has cost me £2:82 !

I am not worried overmuch about the £2:82, but I have often wondered how anyone can make any money selling things so cheap on Ebay.

Is there some way that the Ebay seller was able to send it cheaper than the £2:82 I paid ? If not it just doesn't seem possible that the seller is making any money here.

[Peter Pedant]

Hou do surprise me Mikey

I thought they made the money from the lack of cost of postage - but they could be paying industrial postaage rates ....

and yes some books are 0,01 p ( wun punce as a check out clerk once said)

Thing about second hand books and the internet is .....
second hand price has gone UP ! incred I agree
open up a market - and the prices rise ....

[mikey4444]

What I was wondering is exactly that...they must pay Royal Mail considerably less than we do for postage.

But taking that into account, there really can't be much profit in this business, even with the economies of scale.

I have found Ebay wonderful for second hand-books, especially authors that are not as popular as they once were. This book was an early PG Wodehouse, that my Aunt has been trying to find in second-hand bookshops for ages.