Confusion as to Choosing a Carrier

[stwestbro0]

Hello, everyone. I am wondering who, as a general rule,  the best carrier is in regards to mailing buyers their items.

I often notice strict weight and size restrictions with Royal Mail and if those are not met, postage starts becoming pricy. Yodel seems to be the cheapest, but I've had a couple of complaints from buyers in having used them because of delayed delivery  (though they gave me, the seller, a positive review at the same time). 

I am rather new at selling at Ebay in having made just ten sales  in the past year. Thus, any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[stwestbro0]

I also want to add that I had a set postage in regards to an item that recently sold, yet the buyer seemed able to still choose his preferred carrier (with tracking available) which had a higher shipping rate. However, he only paid for the amount of postage relevant to the specific mailing service I opted for, which is around £5.00 less. 

Because we live in the same county and he's fairly close-by, I'm tempted to just deliver it myself. At this rate, I'm concerned it still won't make it by the maximum delivery date.

A package I sent to a buyer last Monday was supposed to have been delivered no later than Wednesday and, as of Thursday, it's still sitting in a national hub.  

I pride myself on shipping things securely and speedily. However, the confusion I have over postage, carriers, delayed deliveries, etc., etc. is cramping my style. I also don't want/need an irate buyer giving me negative feedback because of it. 

[douglaspuglas]

One thing you need to watch out for is that most couriers, except Royal Mail, have what they call a remote area surcharge.

For example anyone sending to or from a remote area postcode with evri will be charged around an extra £2.75.

It may vary slightly depending on whether you bought the label from evri directly or through eBay/packlink or another 3rd party broker like P2go.

Looking at your location on your listings I think you may be in an evri remote location area, so that may explain the extra cost if it was an evri label you bought.

Check this page to see the affected postcodes.

https://www.evri.com/location-charge-postcodes 

You could also set yourself a longer dispatch time.

It takes the pressure off a bit for buyers opening not received cases too soon.

Also if you are buying labels through eBay  it helps not to buy them too early because eBay marks items as dispatched as soon as you pay for the label.

[sagr2519]

With all the common couriers you'll find that sometimes they're perfect and sometimes they're really bad. Just search the  forums for any of their names.

Evri is cheaper than RM for parcels 2.5-3 cm thick if they're less than 35 by 23. RM is cheaper for 1-2 kg. 

Customers can only choose from the options available to them. Take a look at your postage policies https://www.bizpolicy.ebay.co.uk/businesspolicy/manage?profileType=SHIPPING&pageNumber=1&totalPages=... and make changes as needed. Ebay-generated titles can be misleading so make your own policies, move the listings over and delete the automatic policies. In my case I now have 8 policies: CIP only, large letter, parcel, heavier parcel, borderline, fragile borderline, and two that are specific to certain products.

Measure and weigh your products (easier said than done) and check the prices to see what makes sense for you.

[stwestbro0]

Thank you for the response and information. Yes, I have turned up as being in a remote location so that explains a bit.

Uh, if you please, how do I set up a longer dispatch time? That would be helpful as well rather than my having to always scramble to get things sent off in a day, or two with, therefore, a faster delivery date expected. 

[douglaspuglas]

You can edit your dispatch time in your live listings by using the revise link next to the item.

Look in the preferences section.

If you are using a browser preferences is below the postage section.

There should be a pencil icon that brings up the menu.

Dispatch time is at the top, just choose timeframe you want.

I have mine set to 5 days.

If you are using the app delivery time preferences is below the delivery section.

[douglaspuglas]

Delivery time preferences looks like this on a browser.

And this on the app.

[douglaspuglas]

You can also bulk edit your listings if you are using the selling hub.

This thread should tell you how to do it.

https://community.ebay.co.uk/t5/Member-To-Member-Support/Dispatch-Time-Change-in-Bulk/td-p/7496503 

[moldosgifts]

Had a quick look at what your selling, i would use royal mail for most of it. Just make sure you pack well, also check prices on the comparrison sites such as interparcel or pacel2go, there are allot more but just 2 examples get a delivery confirmation dont require a signature at price bracket your at to defend a case.

[stwestbro0]

Thank you for the information and that link you provided me with is especially helpful. I appreciate it!

[m25jet]

If you choose to sell quite a bulky/heavy item that is not going to be easy to wrap up and post out, and/or items that are at a greater risk of getting damaged in transit, then it may be best to list such items as Collection In Person Only, without offering a postage option on the listing.  That way it becomes the buyer's responsibility for collecting the item and ensuring that it makes it home without getting damaged in transit.

If you do decide to do this with any of the items that you end up listing for sale and the item does end up becoming damaged in transit after the buyer has collected it from you, the buyer cannot open a case against you relating to damage in transit as in this kind of situation the responsibility for getting the item home undamaged rests with the buyer, and not with you.