I'm a bit concerned about the new Simple Delivery service. I sell mostly postcards under £2 -

[ricnoa_38]

As a retirement hobby I sell postcards, mostly under £2. At the moment I charge £1 for postage and packing.  

None of my customers will pay £2.70 for such items weighing 25 - 50 grams. (Mind you the buyer protection charge has killed a lot of these off anyway).  Anyone else in the same boat? And have you resolved the problem please?

[kat@ebay]

Hi @ricnoa_38 ,

Thank you for your post.

Simple delivery will be optional for items that are priced £10 or under and lightweight( 100g or under) so if your postcards are in this range then you should be able to continue with your own postage.

Thank you,

Kat

[ricnoa_38]

Thank you for your reply.  The proof of the pudding will be apparent very soon, so let's hope for the best.

It must be noted too that I will be selling far fewer items in the near future, because of the buyer protection fee which has wiped out the majority of my items (mostly under £2). Perhaps a sliding scale could be introduced?

Regards

[kat@ebay]

Hi @ricnoa_38 ,

We welcome all feedback on the the new service which will be regularly evaluated as it starts being mandated. I will include your suggestion of a sliding scale. While we cannot guarantee it being implemented we will share it for review.

Thank you,

Kat

[john1297576]

As said, items under £10 will avoid the dreadful simple postage, but I see you list as auction.

I know it is rare now to get one bid let alone competitive bidding, but if that should happen and bidding takes item over £10 I have seen no comment on how this would be dealt with.

I have no wish to get involved in any ebay inspired postal system, going to post office frequently  is not convenient, and infrequent use of a printer is not practical, and only way I can see to continue is to use BINs to ensure prices no more than £10.

[ricnoa_38]

Buy It Nows cost a bit more to both buyer and seller (initial prices have to be lowered to achieve a saleable price), which when added to Buyer Protection would probably mean even fewer sales in the under-£2 price range. I have suggested a sliding scale of Buyer Protection charges on the cheaper end of the market.I too don't relish the thought of the 'Simple' delivery system on offer. Looks more complicated to me than my current system on bulkier/costlier items.However, systems can be changed when ebay sees how things are going  -  frankly I think it will be necessary for at least part of it.

[ricnoa_38]

Hello again,Now that new systems are operating I would like to share my experience so far.1)  The Buyer Protection  charge has more or less wiped out the majority of my cheaper sales. No one is going to pay £1.79 for a £1 postcard, and reducing the price by more than a few pence at my end is untenable  -  a waste of time putting these items online in the first place. Whereas I was selling up to 20 cheap postcards a week, I have now been reduced to 2 or 3.2)  The new delivery scheme. I am still managing to send postcards at the basic 2nd Class Royal Mail rate, but now I am listing other bits and pieces, I cannot choose the delivery that suits both me and regular customers. For example, I have just listed a couple of UK versions of Marvel comics. These normally would be sent Royal Mail Large Letter (currently £1,55), as they weigh in at about 60g. Again customers will not be willing to pay nearly double that sum plus the Buyer Protection increase. I.e. an item costing £3 + £1.55 (total £4.55) will now cost them a total of  £6.60.3)  On top of all that I have to pay for the Postage nearly two weeks before I get paid for it.I think one has to wonder if Ebay is trying to get rid of the cheaper end of the market. I have had 5 years of a happy retirement hobby (and as I don't receive a full pension the money has been useful), but these measures you have introduced smack of Trumponomics. Tariffs won't work for him (except his own personal gain) and the equivalents  certainly are failing me.Incidentally QR codes are of no use to me either  -  my trusty printer is all I need, and can afford.I would like to think Ebay can reconsider some of its innovations, to the mutual benefit of buyers, sellers and Ebay itself.Regards