A seller offered me a number of items for a certain amount, shipping included.
I accepted the offer on the basis that the total price more or less matched what I thought the items were worth TO ME, and paid the agreed amount using Paypal, plus a little extra to cover buyer protection fees.
The seller shipped the items and provided a tracking number. I tracked the shipment from day to day.
When the shipment had entered my country, the seller sent me a message asking if I would please send him some more money, on the basis that the cost of shipping had been higher than expected.
I have received the shipment, all is in order. I have not yet replied.
I can see from the label that the cost of shipping via USPS was an eye-watering 65% of the total amount he received from me. I have checked on international shipping comparison sites and I find that I could have shipped it for about 40% of the total using FedEx (air) including collection, and for about 26% using surface mail.
Furthermore, nearly half a kilo of the 1.73 kilo (3lb 13oz) package was a heavy linen towel in which the items were wrapped. If chips or bubblewrap had been used instead the cost would have been even less.
If the seller had asked for the total amount he would now like I would have turned down the offer. If the seller had turned away before he was screwed by USPS and come back to me for discussion of alternative shipping options I’m sure we could have worked something out, and if he had used light-weight packing it would have been even better.
I can see that the seller is aggrieved by the way the deal has turned out for him, and I don’t like to be in a situation where one of the parties is unhappy, but is their request reasonable under the circumstances I have outlined? How would you reply?
