Sellers refusing to post to the Scottish Highlands

[graymee1234]

Recently I have tried to purchase a few items from businesses but the listing shows Doesn't post to Scottish Highlands. I have contacted individuall businesses and they have ammended their listing to allow me to purchase their goods, others haven't bothered or couldn't work out how to sort this problem and have lost the sale.

Postage to me means using the Royal Mail to send items and as the Royal Mail is mandated by law to charge the same ammount for anywhere in mainland UK the sellers can't say postage is more expensive.

If they dispatch goods via a carrier other than Royal Mail then perhaps they incur higher deliver costs so their argument perhaps has some validity. This does not ring true however for an item I recently tried to purchase. The seller was based in the Newcastle area. They would not post to Scottish Highlands. If this was based on increased delivery cost why is there no restriction on posting to Cornwall? Using Truro as an example, it is 450 miles from the seller and only 280 miles to me. Ebay should clamp down on what is discrimination based on location and also potentially amend the listing template to more accurately say delivery rather than postage.

[arkwebus]

Some sellers will not post to the Isle of Wight!

It's a well known problem and tries to cut out any problems with couriers who do charge extra.  

There is no easy way on eBay to charge differing amounts on the listings for far flung places in UK

@graymee1234 

[bennotbill]

I expect some businesses get a special rate from their designated courier so switching to another may incur a big jump in costs.

I generally post by Evri but when necessary I simply email the buyer saying - due to your location item will be sent by Royal Mail I hope that's acceptable.

[thepillenwerfer]

Until Royal Mail reduced their prices last April I used to use Hermes/Evri and blocked all non-mainland locations as they added about three quid to deliver there.  I discovered that the hard way when somebody in Northern Ireland bought something from me. 

As Arkwebus says, there's no way for a Seller to charge different rates for different locations or use different services to different destinations within the UK.

[douglaspuglas]

Sellers can set a postage delivery rates table for remote areas like Northern Ireland or the Scottish Highlands and choose how much extra to charge per area.

The buyers in those areas should only see the higher postage on the listing.

But it didn't always work when I did it so now I don't bother and I only use RM nowadays anyway.

[graymee1234]

If their refusal to post to the Scottish Highlands is based on cost due to the distances involved then surely they should refuse to sell to Cornwall and Devon. They are substantially further away than me and would logically incur higher delivery charges using a courier or delivery service other than Royal Mail. Even London is further from the seller than I am!

[douglaspuglas]

I think the extra cost is partly down to what network the courier company has.

I haven't used evri for a while but when I sent to the Scottish Highlands and the parcel got to somewhere like the Dundee area a different courier company took over.

Presumably their fees are part of the evri £2.75 remote area surcharge.

[mahsupplies]

I wouldn't refuse to deliver to H&I, that makes no sense to do that at all... but if it is an item that I send by courier and not RM, then I have postage rate table to cover the extra costs charged to me in getting the item to the middle of nowhere. 

Mind you, even this isn't infallible, as not all postcodes are considered H&I by eBay yet they are by couriers.. so I have to lose money by sending it RM.

[fargvs]

This has been going on for years ... Royal Mail GB postage to Highlands and Islands costs exactly the same as throughout the rest of the Mainland and includes Northern Ireland ... Couriers will usually charge a premium for so called 'remote regions'  and is an additional cost which can be avoided using RM which is often cheaper than using Couriers !.

[geosacha007]

Sellers wouldn't be using couriers if they could send cheaper via RM.  So, if they don't use postage tables,  it can be a choice of block outlying areas where couriers charge double, or charge everyone the much higher RM price so they can charge the same everywhere. 

[f130dt]

Postage to the Highlands is what is being talked about. The Highlands is the UK mainland. 

[oddb1ts670]

Sellers should give the choice of postage , I would pick royal mail 100% of the time, even if it was more expensive , How can a courier be cheaper when they charge a fee for highlands and islands .  This is just a rip off .

[geosacha007]

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@oddb1ts670 wrote:

Sellers should give the choice of postage , I would pick royal mail 100% of the time, even if it was more expensive , How can a courier be cheaper when they charge a fee for highlands and islands .  This is just a rip off .

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For example Royal Mail medium parcel under 1kg £4.49  (so  light item but too big for a small parcel).

Evri for the same parcel £2.99 in areas where there is no extra fee for remote location.

So a seller who isn't up to speed on how you can charge different amounts for different locations  would just have Evri postage for £2.99.  It wouldn't work to also offer RM at £4.49 on the listing as a buyer in a remote location could just choose Evri at £2.99 knowing the seller would have to suck up the extra cost.  And why would anyone list with only RM at £4.49 when they would be charging all buyers in non-remote locations a higher cost than necessary.

One way to prevent having to fork out the extra postage for a remote location is just to block those locations.

[islebarra6]

I live in the Scottish islands and come across this time and time again.  As for   ebay sellers who do this,  I have a simple solution, I take my custom to sellers who are happy to deliver to my location and I've never yet had a problem.  They are the ones that I do repeat business with, so they gain from the 'doesn't deliver to Scottish islands' sellers.   One man's loss as the saying goes.

[f130dt]

Yes, that's exactly what they deserve, I try to use RM wherever possible, but sometimes it's not possible. They blame the distance /remoteness but really (probably the couriers) do it because they can. I've priced shipping the exact same thing both ways and it was way cheaper sending south. You couldn't make up the excuse. North is uphill. F M. 🤣Seriously.

Sent from Outlook for Android<>

[geosacha007]

I'm sure the sellers that you don't buy from are not bothered in the slightest.  If they wanted to send to the Highlands they would.

[f130dt]

Precisely the point. Their loss. Through stupidity. 

[adavi01]

Hello, 

I totally agree with your post on Postage to the Highlands. 

This evening I saw a product that I was interested in and the seller had some blurb about having to charge more because of my location.

I pointed out that I lived in the Highland capital (not the moon) just of the A9 served daily by Royal Mail and asked him why I'd incur a higher charge.

So rather than answer my question he  refused to sell me anything.. basically barred because I challenged him. 

Do you know if Ebay are planning on challenging these sellers? 

Kind regards 

Alexander 

[f130dt]

No they won't bother because they don't care. My advice just shop around and try to buy from sellers using RM. If they try charging extra (and some do) report them. Best of luck.

Sent from Outlook for Android<>

[bennotbill]

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@adavi01 wrote:

Do you know if Ebay are planning on challenging these sellers? 

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The challenge eBay should have accepted was the one where they took over Yodel, charged the same for anywhere in the UK, and delivered by their EDD or refund the postage.