Royal Mail - Ebay metrics have not been relaxed due to RM's poor performance

[stockingsworld]

I am a business seller and 90% of my items sold are large letter size and low value items. I post using RM second class large letter. I have a franking machine and I get proof of postage for EVERY item sent. My items not delivered metric is now VERY HIGH and I'm getting loads of disputes with regards to items not delivered. Because my mail is franked it has to be posted on the day of franking and this shows  the date posted clearly (I also take pictures of every item sent). I'm getting lots of feedback from customers that items are arriving upto 3 WEEKS late! With many items taking upto 10 days. This is costing me a substantial amount of time and money and ruining my business model, there was a Panorama on 26.2.24 which highlighted how *bleep* poor Royal Mail are at the moment. I can't use another courier as RM have the monoply on large letter post. Ebay are not helping by changing the service metrics offered by the *bleep* Royal Mail service. I get stupid advice like use a tracked service instead (no one will pay £3.50 for a tracked service on a £5 item). Is anyone else experiencing similar issues? And what pressure are Ebay putting on Royal Mail and are Ebay going to relax delivery standard to reflect what's going on with the shambles at Royal Mail?

Thanks

[susapric-68]

Have you thought about getting an online business account with Royal mail (ignore the 1000 parcels to qualify)? low cost and you get tracking number on each item sent even 2nd class LL. I sell low cost items like youself and send 2nd LL and eBay normally removes any late defects from my account due to tracking always uploaded from Royal Mail

[stockingsworld]

Hi,

I have a Royal Mail business account, but then I wouldn't get the reduced prices that I do on my franking machine. How much are you paying for a standard (less than 100g) 2nd class large letter on the RM business account site?

Thanks

[susapric-68]

£1.20 a LL under 100g but that comes with a tracking number. How much do you pay?

[stockingsworld]

I pay £1.13 2nd class LL

[stockingsworld]

I have a click and drop account - Is the business account you are taking about different? Does it integrate with Ebay and pull the orders through?

[susapric-68]

Depends if you think the 7p is worth it. I get all mail supplies for free plus i get all the tracking numbers uploaded automatically when I manifest the days postage so have little to do. My late defects stands at 0 and anytime I do get a late defect eBay normaly removes it within a few days as tracking shows it was posted on time. Proof of postage is ok but it's proof of delivery that counts.

[susapric-68]

If your click and drop is linked to your OBA then yes you use that. You link the C&D account with eBay and all orders are downloaded to that. When you send them all tracking numbers are uploaded by C&D to eBay. If your C&D is linked to your OBA make sure you're registered withthe Royal Mail shop so you can get all supplies for free, you normally have to request that.

 

[stockingsworld]

Hi,

This is the odd thing  - I have a RM business account to get all my supplies for free (Franked mail bags, tracked labels etc). My click and drop account doesn't show the prices you mention or show that 2nd class LL can be tracked? How do I get this? 

Thanks for your help!

[stockingsworld]

My C&D account is linked to my ebay account and pulls through the orders. 

[stockingsworld]

I would happily pay an extra 7p to get tracking. Also, my farnking machine requires me to top up once an month in advance, so I need to top up £600 each month in advance. Do yoiu have to do this with the OBA? Thanks

[susapric-68]

If you have an OBA with C&D linked to it then they will bill you. You set up a DD with them and they bill you a week before they take the payment. I get billed weekly but you can get monthly. You will get a Royal Mail Finance login to see the ebills. The tracking on everything really is worth the 7p

[susapric-68]

BTW when i say tracking it's more a delivery confirmation number, you won't be able to see where an item is until they have delivered it but eBay will remove defects if late.

[nigel_paul_wright7557]

Royal Mail are giving less priority to none signed for items.

I have had one lost parcel in 15 years.

I have had a few late.

When I first started on ebay I just sent second class and found a few items going missing.

I changed over to signed for and only lost one parcel in 15 years.

So either RM are more careful with signed for or some buyers were trying it on.

[a-touch-of-sparkle]

I have definitely had a lot of "I have checked my orders, and noticed that I never received  x", sometimes up to a year after postage!    so the buyers are seeing that the items are not marked as delivered on Ebay, and chancing it, as they presumably realise that with letters there is no proof of delivery. I use RM business account with C&D for large letters and parcels now, as it is cheaper, but Ebay postage for letters, as they are 4p cheaper than on my RM business account, and are usually sub £3.50 orders. 

If an item is over £4, I use large letter regardless of the size, and post in a bubble wrap envelope, to get the scan on delivery.  Signed for isn't a viable option on low value items. 

Unfortunately the downside of letters/ large letters and RM is the ridiculous EDDs generated by Ebay's wonderful "working as intended" algorithm. It doesn't take into account RMs poor performance at all, and expects 2nd class delivery to be next day. But that is another argument. 🙄