Postage price inflation and shipping variable fees. Should ebay share their profits with sellers?

[epizo369]

Hi all, 

With regards to shipping costs increasing, I'm curious as to why ebay does not give sellers dicounts on the fees taken on our set postage prices. 

I am an individual seller, a small business operating at reduced sales volumes as it is. With the trend in dropping sales for some, and increasing operational costs for everyone, I'd like to think it's fair that ebay does not profit further from courier price increases. For example, current price for Royal Mail large letter is up to £1.55, from £1.05 a short while back, that's a 50p increase, of which ebay will continue to add 12.8% (6p extra revenue on every large letter item) onto this new increase. That's a whopping income stream across the board, and I believe it is not acceptable and not justified to charge sellers extra on these increases. ebay should give back by either reducing the variablle fee on shipping, or negotiating better shipping rates with the couriers via Packlink. When the costs infalte again, ebay will contiune to profit massively on this, so maybe it's time for them to share the profits to support it's community. Without us, there is no ebay model, we are it's backbone.

What are your thoughts on this subject?

[tommystrezures]

I am sorry thats really not good enough.

If you have no items listed for charity you are misleading buyers and you need remove it altogether.

If I come along as a buyer and saw this quote;

"If you prefer the donation to be donated to a charity of your choice, we can make this happen. Please send a message with the organisation's name prior to purchase, buyer's receive a reply to confirm the change. Let's give back together." 

Oh epizo I want to buy that item please donate 10% to Headway charity as my mother had a stroke and relies on them for support would you do that? A single worded yes or no answer will suffice.

[plpmr]

Indeed your revision log shows that you removed returns not accepted after my post on this thread.

[susapric-68]

Oh the donkey postcard that your mention the charity number in the title, you do donate some of that to that charity don't you? it's against the chairty act 2011 and also the consumer protection from unfair trading regulations 2008 if you're trying to let them believe you do donate

[epizo369]

Okay, thank you for that feedback. The item has no charity logo in the title, the title description states what is written on the postcard as a key word for collectors. 

[susapric-68]

No need for it to be in the title, you're misleading and that is illegal. You might want to phone ebay CS and ask them if your allowed incase the charity commision gets in touch with you. BTW anyone can report this person. you take a screen shot and contact them

[papso22]

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@plpmr wrote:

Indeed your revision log shows that you removed returns not accepted after my post on this thread.

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And it takes no longer to upgrade an account and trade legally

[epizo369]

I bulk ammeneded my listings incase there was a couple of items which missed this during the listing process. ebay has all my returns history so all is good on that front. 

[susapric-68]

Not everyone that comes to this site knows how the charity part works, you mentioning it in your profile but offering zero listing with a charity logo is misleading and illegal. I would remove the part in your profile then update your account to business as the HMRC won't listen to eBay CS told me i could be a private account. 

[papso22]

Sorry, but all is not good on any front as long as you continue to trade illegally from a private account. 

EBay having your returns history has nothing to do with that.

[epizo369]

I understand your point and there is no intent to mislead, hence the profile explaining items with a 'charity logo' in the title (the ribbon ebay adds) are eligble for donations. All was good, with clear instructions about what the eligible items were in the paragraph. I've decided to remove this paragraph now because it has stirred up confusion with regards to this thread.

[tommystrezures]

There was never any confusion on our part here, and I had noted that after I had posted your original quote you had changed it to mention the ribbon/logo. 

But you having decided to remove it was the correct decision.

[epizo369]

Yes I've had to change it now because of what has gone on in this thread. And appreciate the tough feedback I'm receiving. When you posted my original quote it did state clearly that the listings with the logo appliued. This is what you posted of my profile (it mentions the logo):

Would you like to see a charity benefit from your purchase? EPIZO donates 10% on all sales listed with the charity logo in their title. Details of the charities supported can be found in the about this item section. If you prefer the donation to be donated to a charity of your choice, we can make this happen. Please send a message with the organisation's name prior to purchase, buyer's receive a reply to confirm the change. Let's give back together."

[sagr2519]

The bigger problem here is Ebay CS giving bad advice. Why should the OP believe fellow sellers more than an Ebay employee? The policy should also have a better name e.g. business and private accounts policy. A seller who thinks "I'm a private seller" and has a lot of policies to look through would probably skip the business seller policy thinking "this doesn't apply to me, I don't need to read this one."

Now the title of this discussion doesn't represent the discussion itself. Maybe a moderator can split this discussion.

While I'm all for discounts, inflation probably affects Ebay staff as much as courier staff, so if both increase by the same percentage then it isn't intrinsically unfair.

[epizo369]

Okay everyone who's contributed to this post, I appreciate the bombardment of messages and need to look into the registration, incase I am doing things incorrectly. I take this all as constructive critism and will act accordingly, to ensure I'm making no mistakes. 

I even attended ebay's business convention last year and attended the one to one interview with the ebay representatives. We discussed upgrading to business account, in the full knowledge of operating as a sole trader. So maybe I need to re-address this, if the consensus here is saying the opposite. You've been a tough bunch to say the least! Maybe thats a good thing. 

[epizo369]

I totally see your point there, and I have acted on your advice. 

[sagr2519]

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We discussed upgrading to business account, in the full knowledge of operating as a sole trader. 

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Could it be that Ebay staff have a different understanding of the policy than many of us here? Or is there a different policy that contradicts the oft-quoted one?

[epizo369]

Hello, yes that was my situation when contacting ebay. We discussed the options after I expalined my reason for opening an account, so I did not look into the registered ebay business policy, thinking that was for those who wnated to pay for the business rates and perks, etc

[epizo369]

This post has turned out as a very helpul source of advice, the ebay engagers and mentors have helped point out I have been given the wrong advice from ebay CS. I will uprade as per the advice received from all your input. Thanks again for contributing to this and supporting the community. 

[tommystrezures]

@epizo369  The fact that you have come back here and said thank you and that we are tough bunch shows a lot about you. Yes we will give you "tough Love" to not just you but others, but ultimately we are all here to help and guide you, in the right direction.

I do wish you personally well in your adventure on ebay, and if you ever need more tough love you know where to find us!!

[litp*records]

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@epizo369 wrote:

That is incorrect. ebay allows sole traders to sell on private accounts, providing consumer laws are ahered to. I spoke at length with customer service during account registration. 

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Whoever told you that is 100% incorrect.  Sole traders MUST have a business account with all business info displayed.  It seems they just told you whatever you wanted to hear