Courier booking cost higher than quote

Ditto, they should HAVE TO honour the original quoted price.  This happens on almost all of my sold listings now.

Thanks for posting Peter and Neil. When a courier is booked, the cost is based on the buyer’s delivery address so from time to time it can be a bit higher (or lower!) than the quote given, since their address is unknown when the estimates are generated. 

You can contact us about specific examples of this through email or chat, or you can reach out to the buyer about paying the difference on the basis that the quoted price was an estimate. 

Well mine have never been lower, always higher!   When the buyer chooses their preferred courier option then the price advertised should be the price that is paid when the seller books the courier, otherwise what is the point of having preloaded courier options and prices if they don't really apply and the seller has accepted a payment that doesn't cover their cost to send the item. 

"Reaching out" to the buyer to pay extra than the advertised courier cost they originally chose creates a whole new set of problems doesn't it?.

Sorry Lucy, but that's a bit of an evasive answer. I agree with Neil, asking the buyer to pay the extra is not a friendly, even best practice, option; they're doing exactly as what is stated. When creating an option like this where there are variables at stake, then do state that, make it clear it's not a final estimate; that's transparency and best practice.

However, I also fail to see how an address, apart from 'rural' can create a difference in costs, certainly if there are only 2 options: non-rural and rural. Measurement and/or weight could perhaps, but location?

As for me, after also reading the other posts, I will no longer use the embedded quote option, so sorry TM no commission.

It's just happened to me now. I selected Aramex at auction setup but now I go to ship and I have only courierpost to select at a higher price. Its an Auckland address and I'm in Auckland. Sick and tired of these issues as a seller.

I just sold an item and was about to book a  courier, however the charge was going to be for the item I just sold plus the delivery price, I cannot work out why this has happened?
The buyer has already paid me and I just want to send it on

Those who have posted here are lucky to get any courier to pick up. I can’t get any collection or price anymore. All changed a month ago and now it just says check addresses . Rubbish and really frustrating as I am now having to go into town to post. Either get the courier working or delete the option. Not good service from Trade me. 

Hi Hus, have another go at it and keep going, you will find that you have to pay the delivery amount only.

Hi Daphne, have another go and when it says "Check Address" click on the box and amend the address.  Sometimes it does this for example if the postcode is wrong or the name of the suburb doesn't match etc. etc.

And I would like to report that I have processed four items tonight that I sold today and the delivery amounts have all been correct!!

Here's the thing. TM should label their shipping prices as "Quote" or "Estimate".

It cannot be both as written above in a "Community Team" post.

The difference is "Quotes" are always firm. "Estimates" are just that, a best calculated guess.

TM please take not and act accordingly!

And. while I'm at it. Please TM stop using first names in the header for these posts. User Names are much more acceptable and private.

Hi Ken, in the T's & C's it does say estimate somewhere, but I don't know why the prices were changing even after a day or two after listing an auction.  NZ is a small country and the delivery costs shouldn't change like they were doing.  Let's hope that TM has permanently sorted it out.

OK Neil thanks. Nice quick response.

I have proved that address has nothing to do with the selection availiable after an auction is finished and address recieved from buyer. As I posted I couldn't get Aramex to show no matter what and thats what I selected at time of auction listing.

I ended up going to the "My TradeMe" page and using the "Book a Courer" link and choosing "Something else I want to send"

I selected all the same options as the listing had and put the address in as recived from the buyer and got presented with ALL of the courier options.

Finally I could send, picking the original choice I had used at listing creation for the same price the buyer had paid.

I have been caught by this so many times now. I am so grossly out of pocket, I have lost count at this point. It hurts to pay so much to sell something so cheaply and then get stung again by over inflated and exaggerated shipping costs.
I am extremely generous with my listings but I think once my last few are closed I will be taking a big break from selling.
As for courier... Not their fault that they are overwhelmed.. But seriously, they need to get real and stop accepting jobs if they can't make good on promises made.

Usually the courier costs are the same as the original quote. However, I now have an item which was quoted as $9.45, which the buyer has paid, but the cheapest quote is $18.70 (which uses up most of the selling price). The is completely unreasonable. TradeMe's shpping options on the sale page do not specify the courier company, which means I can't go to either NZ Post or Amamex and says "this was your quote" because there is no evidence of who offered it in the first place. If this can't be resolved I'll have to cancel the sale.

Marty, I read in one of the discussions on here before that you could go to Trade Me to get a refund of the difference between the book a courier quote and the actual courier cost. You don't have to approach the courier companies for that.

Hi Arthur. They've done that in the past but I didn't know whether it was inevitable!

I have also had the same trouble - on getting the 'quote' then actually booking after the sale not only was the price dearer I wasn't even offered the original company that I got the 'quote' from. Now I have a parcel sitting on the doorstep one day after the collection date - but the tracking says it is in transit already!!!!!!!  Tell no lies Aramex - your collection service is disgusting - but your telephone operator was lovely. I intend to hold you to the delivery date which is tomorrow so perhaps you will need to fly my parcel to the South Island!!! Trademe talk to your associated companies and get a better deal for us your customers.

Hi Diane. Sorry to read that. Great that you had a good experience with the courier customer support. If there is a continued delay with that pick up, we can also reach out on your behalf, plus we could look into the pricing discrepancy. Let us know if you need an extra hand with that. 

After experiencing this myself I can’t believe that I have come across this forum post describing the exact issue and the problems it causes only to find that TradeMe not only acknowledges the problem but also refuse to take any ownership and fix it.

Hi Neil, the prices when adding Book a Courier to listings are just estimates. Before the item sells, we don't know where it will be sent ultimately and the cost is dependent on the buyer's location. The estimates provided are ordinarily the same, or only just a little more or less. If you experience that again, let us know.

I think you mean estimates Lucy, not quotes. They are quite different things.

1. Estimates are a rough idea of price. They should be used as an initial GUIDE PRICE ONLY.
2. Quotes are legally binding and should ONLY be used when you are certain of the costs involved.

I'll edit my comment so it is clearer however on the basis that the additional information regarding the buyer's location can (on occasion) understandably and reasonably alter the price (up or down), it isn't entirely incorrect to use the word 'quote'. However, for clarity, yes they are estimates.

As set out above and in other posts, in the event that you encounter this, get in touch and we can look into it for you.

The problem is that the estimate becomes part of a formal offer of sale. Both sides have made a legal agreement which is then breached when the courier company raises the price overnight.

oops typo $18.40

And now I have a very similar problem. I'm selling some skis.  When I used Trademe to display courier estimates, the system allowed me to enter a package length of 168cm and gave a within island quote of $21.18

Now when I come to actually book the courier (after the buyer has paid $21.18 for freight) the Trademe system, while it has pre-loaded the dimensions that the quote was based on, now refuses to allow any package that has a length greater than 150cm.

The buyer expects to use the skis early August - but we seem to be stuck with no way of getting them to her.

TradeMe, you need to sort this problem out.  In the meantime, I cannot, in good faith, continue to use your courier quoting system.

Hi Mark & Kathy, sorry for the hassles there - this is a bug our Tech Team are aware of and are working on getting fixed up

So, what do I do in the mean time?

Will one of your couriers (Aramax) accept the 168cm package that has been paid for?

Or do I have to find an alternative freight company, and charge the buyer the difference?

Hi Mark & Kathy, I believe Aramex do ship larger parcels, but if you are getting an error when trying to make the booking through Book a Courier, then that would be due to the system's 150cm maximum and you'd need to contact the courier company directly to book the freight

I’ve just had an item sell with a Trade Me estimate of $10.71 for shipping and the actual shipping cost now shows as a bit over $17 - this is ridiculously inaccurate and begs the question; even as a rough estimate this is totally unacceptable. I will be taking this up with Trade Me (and this is common to almost every auction I’ve run regarding shipping ‘estimates’ - they have always left me out of pocket)