Courier booking cost higher than quote

Last time this happened to me I found that the buyer was rural but had paid a non-rural price. I contacted them and they provided a different address.

Hi Marty, yes that appears to be the case... contacting the purchaser, will hopefully sort it, thanks for your comment :)

The issue I keep coming across is if you select Aramex as the courier quote and then the buyers purchases the item, they can end up paying more than the original quote. This is because Aramex have changed the rural borders. Properties that used to be non-rural are now rural -  TM appears rely on the purchaser to select rural. With the change in boundaries many don't realise or consider themselves rural and the system doesn't adjust the quote to the address. 

I totally agree with the last post from Hugh. I am trying the Trade Me courier service for the first time and was quoted $5.71 for shipping. The item has now sold and the cheapest actual shipping price is $10.71 - pretty much double! Not impressed! I suggest these estimates are looked at and brought in line with realistic costs. I certainly won't be using this service again.

Similar problem. I was paid the quoted price. Them when I put the order for shipping through, the option was there, but when I paid it came up with an error that the courier is currently unavailable and try again later. As I needed to send it that day as per trademe requirements to send it as soon as paid, I had to pay a higher courier fee to another courier. This is misleading and needs to be fixed.

My turn. Courier quoted and paid was $38.46, actual cost is $45.62 so I'm out of pocket for a further $7.16. I'm swallowing the cost rather than go back to the buyer and ask for more money. Not a good experience either way.

This is a very serious issue when a quote for shipping is $4.87 and the final cost is $12.40!!
This “estimate “ is 3 x higher which is unacceptable. Your solution is for me to ask the buyer to pay 3 x what I quoted them? I want trademe to own this issue instead of passing it on as not their fault

As in previous cases this looks like the difference between city and rural. Did the buyer choose a general quote but give a rural address? You can check that with the company. If that is the case, the buyer needs to pay the higher amount or provide a non-rural address. It would be helpful if the couriers clarified this

No it was a city address in the Nelson CBD.

Best to create you're own accounts with NZ Post, Aramex, Pass the Parcel etc, then you can have a reliable quote every time. However they do change their pricing more often with 'fuel allowances' etc.

NZ Post biz account is sometimes cheaper then via TM.
Aramex needs a $50 credit preloaded & is usually more then via TM.
Pass the Parcel are pay as you go & consistent on pricing.

As for the Book a courier service, sometimes you have to keep repeating the booking at intervals to get the quoted service to appear. If it takes more then a couple of hours, I'll email the buyer to say why I have a delay & now I offer to use a different courier.

Just thought I would mention re courier fees.

I made two sales just last week (early Feb 2023).

One freight quote was actually lower by about .50cents however the other was under-quoted by $3.50.  The reason for that was the BUYER!!!

Her profile shows her location as North Shore and this was the location that the courier fees automatically calculated however she lives in WARWORTH which is NOT North Shore.

So I think it is reasonable to expect a buyer who does not have the correct location in their profile to be asked to pay additional courier fees once the auction completes.  To cover myself for future sales I will be noting in my auctions that the courier fees are an estimate only and subject to the final cost charged to me. 

And also in my 'success email' I have noted that if there is any under-payment for the courier costs, I will notify the buyer and the item will not be dispatched until the balance is paid.

It may sound inflexible but I feel that most sellers list at good prices and for small items, a shortfall of $3.50 and paying sucess fees on top of any listing costs, cost of packaging etc can make it not worth the effort to list an item.

Hope this information helps other sellers and buyers too :)

I have had this happen to me just today.
Aramex courier fees when listing showed small parcel at $3.94 (lower than ever!) and has sold within the 1 week from when it was listed and now back to the standard $4.07 to book - I am out of pocket as buyer has paid already. I can't ask them to supply the difference. Another auction the same has just happened. I am going back to edit all auctions with the $3.94 from that day and they are all re-estimating at a higher than before amount now $4.48
What is going on????

So now all ones that are sitting there with $4.07 I am going to need to urgently edit as well or will be out of pocket on all of those too?

And once again the courier price yesterday was $5.62, today it has gone up to $7.57 - a difference of $1.95 of which I will have to pay for on an item that was sold for $5.50.  What is the point!!!!!!

I checked all my Aramex pricing last night & upon booking, I got all the same prices I've had since the last price adjustment. So does seem strange.

So I wonder if you are getting quotes from the casual listing page (which is usually wrong) or getting the signature required option only on the actual booking page.

Yes, you are correct Robert, for the last few days I have been getting quotes for the "signature required" option and the prices seemed to stay the same except for this morning.  Why should getting the signature option mean that the prices can change whenever they like?

I haven't had time to check this morning, but last night it was quoting me for sig & non sig for both Aramex and NZ Post. Sig req is usually a little more, but still a set price, not willy-nilly. Haven't had any 'we have problems' emails from either courier either this week.

So really don't know what else to suggest to check on your end.

Just tried to book a courier now - no aramex options at all now. Must be issues

There is a note on the Trade Me site. This was not notified via our email box and one week to change prices is really unacceptable. 

I got a quote yesterday with the buyers address and exact size and weight of the package so that they payed the correct fee. Less than 24 hours later, with the exact same details, Aramex is not coming up as an option and the cost is over $6 more expensive on a $15 sale! And I'm not going back to the buyer after confirming a price and then saying it has changed! HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN?

Kia Ora Toby,

Give it a little while and check back - when the courier quotas are at full capacity they don't appear until this clears - usually they come back up within the hour - Cheers.

Yes thanks, got grumpy, looked at alternative options and then when I went back it was there again at the agreed price. Glad I didn't just pay the more expensive option!

Cheers

I have just sold an auction with a Aramex shipping quote. Now when I book the courier it is $6.05 above the quoted amount. Nothing changed from the quote to the actual booking - all exactly the same dimensions, same weight, and the buyer is not rural How can I ensure I get the correct quote for my auctions.