Packlink 'rip off' postage

[winchesterblue1253]

Buyers/sellers are being totally ripped off by eBay Packlink and costs have rocketed in recent months.

And as for the 'compensation' cover everyone is being stiched up in a blatent rip off and how about this for a classic example. Sell an item for £26 and the quote for full compensation, ie £1 extra cover over the 'free' (ha ha) £25 was, wait for it, £1.42. Ebay will no doubt say the 'real' cover in this case was £6.42 because it includes the £5.42 postage - great so we're now expected to pay for the insurance cost on the postage when Packlink *bleep* up and lose or damage the package. What a real inducement for them to look after the package - don't worry about it, the suckers 'insurance fund' will pay for it all so keep chucking things around and leave things on open doorsteps, not our problem and we'll just stick our hand in the pot and pay them off. 

And it gets worse, they want £1.42 to cover an additional value of £6.42. Appreciateing that they'll be other 'admin' costs running the programme but as a direct ratio its pretty much 1 : 5 - if you double that to allow for the running cost so lets say 1 : 10, to break even they lose/damage one in ten parcels. Really, are they telling us that's the score!! The reality, in my experience having sent hundreds of parcels over the last 2/3 years, is a 1% 'problem' ratio which, to be fair, I view as being not bad so how is it we're being charged ten times what I would say was a break even rate. Ok make a bit of profit, but 90% of the cost??

Ok, the above example is a bit flucky I suspect but its now over £5 to cover a package worth £50/60 so using the same analysis as above £5 is suggesting a one in ten parcel loss claims wise, double that for admin so one in twenty loss when my own experience says the reality is 1%.

And don't forget eBay take a 13% odd cut of any postage charge as well!!  

Frankly this all reaks of an insurance scam but before I write to the Regulator on the question of 'Treating Customers Fairly' I invite comment from others and indeed eBay/Packlink might like to explain themselves. Indeed there are all sorts of issues they'll have to address so lets add what I'll term as secret commissions that you can bet eBay are receing from the couriers.

As to what to do today, I'm just going to see what the additional 'compensation' cost is, not take it, but stick the money in a jar for a rainy day - I can then reduce the cost to the customer and everything is telling me that I'll still be quids in at the end of the year and especially because I'll be able to claim a refund of the postage cost if they fail to deliver.

Chris at winchesterblue

[technthread]

Taking your £26 sale example, I'm assuming you're looking at the Evri compensation of £25. To be fair Evri only insure up to £20 if you buy off them directly. If you used packlink on that one and the parcel was lost you would receive £25 insurance plus £2.94 postage so £27.94 and would only have to refund your buyer £26 so you would profit on the loss. 

With higher value items it makes sense to use another courier but one way or another you're paying the extra whether it's by using Royal Mail tracked, DPD, UPS etc as their prices are higher. 

Personally, rather than get into the weeds over it I just change courier depending on what I'm sending.

[winchesterblue1253]

I accept that ultimately you can just send the parcel yourself but I can just see that causing other issues if there's a loss.

The point here is that eBay laud Packlink as good for sellers, make it easy, good value, etc and fair enough for low value items under £25 it is.

I sell a fair number of Horny locomotives where values typically range between £50 and £150 where so far as I can see the amount they charge for full compensation cover (and check out the T & C's to make sure you use new boxes only, tons of packing etc etc otherwise cover doesn't apply) where the rate for the cover is indicative of a loss ratio far removed from the reality. With my previous 'insure something for £50/60' example I forgot to take into account the 'free' £25 so we're being asked to pay £5 odd for £25 worth of cover - the 'premium' is wildly in excess of the risk and funny how Yodel before the recent eBay postal revamp charged a couple of quid for that level of cover but now its the same across the board no matter which courior you nominate.

So far as I can see, and back to my example, if the parcel loss ratio is 1%, then with one humdred £50 cover parcels sent at £5 a pop eBay have pocket £500 in premium but will pay out only £50 in claims - ok you've got to allow for admin etc so lets double the £50 cost to £100 and hey presto £400 profit from the £500 charge (80%) thank you very much. It's a terrible deal for buyers and sellers and don't forget they're already taking out 13% of the postage up front before the other commissions you can bet they'll be making at the back end.

Sellers and buyers are just a cash cow for eBay. Personally I wish there was an alternative - there isn't but that doesn't mean we have to take it on the chin all the time. And don't kid yourself that it's a case of 'what's the beef the customer pays' because people tend to reflect on postage cost when they're bidding and even if they don't why should they be ripped off any more than the sellers!!

Always good to have other views and thanks for taking the time to contribute.

Chris at winchesterblue

[brownnj100]

I too have had this issue many times. Just today, I have sent a fully insured (for £125) package, with signature, via evri website for £8.63 whereas the equvalent charge on ebay/Packlink was £10.58 !!

I have also done the "self insurance" route, works a charm although to be fair when I did have a customer say that it hadn't arrived (it had but not suffiecient evidence) , I was refunded fairly quickly.

However, am now starting to use the Royal Mail 48 tracked service more as is cheaper for the customer and also compensation up to £150, although I dread to think how dificult it will be when a claim has to be made!!

[winchesterblue1253]

Royal Mail certainly looks an option with £150 of cover with their 48 hour service. 

We're all being ripped off using a system that has constant glitches, 'losing' listings, 'error' and 'can't find page'  messages, etc etc etc- it just goes on and on and my poor wife dreads me having a listing session, so infuriating, and the language gets a ripe sometimes!!

And whoever came up with AI listing is a *bleep* - probably ok for selling new items if you can stand the 🤮 language but I'll never buy from someone selling used using it!!