URGENT ebay Simple Delivery is missing the 'small parcel' size, the most used size for clothing

[angelline-kimono]

I truly hope eBay look at these posts and can fix this very basic and I believe major problem. The simple delivery size and weight options are missing the size of Royal Mail small packet which is the most used size of packet clothing and small goods.

Royal Mail, small packet is size 45x35x16 and with Tracked 48 mail it goes up to 2kg and costs £3.39.

SURELY YOU MUST INCLUDE THIS OPTION, AS IT THE MOST USED PACKET SIZE FOR CLOTHING!!!!

I have used this size packet for pretty much all of sales of clothing over the last few years.

Now the only size, I can chose for my clothing sales is "up to 1kg, 61x45x45"  or up to "2kg, 61x45 x45". This equates to Royal Mail medium packet and costs £3.74.

Why do I need to send my small packets as medium packets at extra cost to myself and my customers?

The simple delivery options need to include the small packet size "1kg 45x35x16" and "2kg 45 x35 x16". 

I saw this morning that the new simple delivery  format is becoming mandatory on 15th April so this needs fixing URGENTLY. 

Surely it is untenable for ebay to make it mandatory for sellers and customers to pay more for bigger parcels than they are actually using?

PLEASE PLEASE FIX THIS. THANK YOU.

[mking007]

same,  this simply delivery option, should not be forced onto sellers without it working 100% correctly in the first place.

If its not broke, don't fix it... comes to mind !

[sugar.n.spikes]

I have spoken to Customer Service about this and they are just saying that they are waiting for feedback and it may than be changed, so everyone get in touch with CS and you never know they may see sense!!!!

[angelline-kimono]

Hi thanks, yes I spoke to customer service this morning before posting here. They said they will pass it on but I don't know if anyone gives a damn. I raised the question about the lack of postal options way back when simple delivery first started and they haven't done anything about it yet. I was ok using the custom postage but if they are going to make the simple delivery mandatory, then we have no choice and they really need to change it. 

[andrew713_buckle713]

Same problem. Just got a prepaid label for a book, over 1kg (1400g) but clearly a small parcel. The label generated was for a medium parcel. The amount was £3.56, according to the RM website it should be more like £7 ... surely the post office will reject this at some point in the system and the buyer will be charged another £4 or more ??? Who thought this was a good idea of a system? Editing all my entries but perhaps I will just ditch all items over about 900g and go with those as that is the correct weight / label of small parcel. 

Ebay please fix before the 7th ??? (I doubt it)

[brainuk]

Why should it be more like £7.00? RM small parcel upto 2kg is £3.39.

[andrew713_buckle713]

medium is about £7 on the RM site, Small parcels are 3.39 for 2Kg or less in the custom delivery. Now there appears to be no option buy to go with the 2kg and less and that generates a medium parcel label ... it should be a small parcel.  Seems to take no account of height etc which is small. 

[millymolly399]

I believe they have done away with the Royal Mail small parcel deliberately. Royal Mail parcel dimensions are a lot smaller than Evri’s. In the old system you could choose small parcel Evri and still send parcels up to 1 KG  way larger than the shoebox size Royal Mail insist upon. This caused huge issues when the buyer lives in Scotland, Northern Ireland etc where Evri impose huge supplements. I had a parcel just this morning ( old system not simple delivery) that the customer paid £2.94 for Evri, but I’ve had to pay for royal Mails £3.35 and make a box as it was very close to 16cm square all round. 
in simple delivery world, I don’t know how a 1KG parcel for Evri and Royal Mail will be interchangeable when the size restrictions are so different! My personal belief is that eBay have decided to switch to medium parcels so both sizes can be sent with the same cost.

[edwardian-dreams]

It says medium parcel but it means small parcel if the weight is under 2kg

They’ve  put small and medium together 

difficult to explain 

thing is if your parcel is actually medium and under 2kg eBay will foot the bill over and above small parcel price that you’re quoted 

The system isn’t to know what size your item actually is 

told you was hard to explain lol

the 3.56 price is odd though or was that a typo for 3.45 ?

SORRY JUST REALISED REPLIED TO AN OLDER POST as I was scrolling the page 

[andrew713_buckle713]

I am never sure about the pricing any more for any of the items, I keep seeing different values ranging from 2.56 to 3.74 to 3.44 to 4.37 to ... for medium / small etc, I am holding off on to much ebay stuff until this all settles down and we get an actual working system that I am happy to post stuff with, also sales have been super quiet since buyer protection etc anyway

[clearingmyshelves2025]

95% of my sales were Small Parcel size. 

I'm so glad I'm not having to faff around with all this anymore. I wouldn't want to have to keep second guessing what Ebay are trying to do with postage.

[edwardian-dreams]

So are mine

you click on up to 2kg and it should be fine 

if you have Royal Mail it will be 3.45

its true you have to check what they have on your listings if any are under sd 

some of mine said 5.15 which is a medium size parcel cost

I had to click and revise it they magically changed to 3.44 when I went into the listing 

3.44 by the way changes to 3.45 when you click buy for some reason anyway 

lord knows what is going on

actually bet he doesn’t either 

don’t blame  those posters here who say they’re cancelling all listings till everyone knows what’s what 

[dch2112011]

The small or medium parcel issue is simply a perk of business account postal services where a business with a credit account with Royal Mail has the perk of medium parcel size up to 2kg for the same price as a small parcel  - it has been like this for years  - the weights of the parcels are added together to ascertain the cost of each parcel daily - which cannot be passed on for resale - they go up and down daily

The problem genuine private account members seem to be having is a simple lack of understanding of the terms of business RM  business account holders enjoy - Why would they when they generally would not qualify for business account rates

Some of the basics are

No compensation for lost or damaged packages - hence the pledge by ebay to cover any financial loss for lost or damaged packages in transit

Treating small and medium parcels up to 2kg as the same entity (larger size same weight band) hence the lack of a small parcel option - it does not exist for business account customers 

Volume related discounts / averaging of prices - allows ebay to charge a fixed rate across a larger size and weight range 

There are many more differences and I am sure ebay will have negotiated the label printing in post offices  which seems to be causing problems.

All of this will be alien to personal item sellers - I have no idea why it is not simply explained if for no other reason than to allow private sellers the courtesy of understanding why Simple Delivery is structured the way it is - the wishy washy answers given by CS seem to fuel misunderstanding rather than help individuals understand  !

[edwardian-dreams]

Basically a failure of eBay to explain all the shenanigans to the great unwashed  of how their daily listing and selling will go (all buyers to an extent)

of course 

just let people fret worry vent spleens get confused etc 

fine and dandy 

[dch2112011]

Indeed ebay always seem to be very conservative with information - a policy of openness and honesty would not only inform members but also bring more loyalty.

I suppose they just count members as disposable assets that are replaceable and as new members come on board they simply accept the system without question as they know no different.

The genuine loyal private members are the ones being left bemused and confused - maybe there is a call for a nother selling level where these genuine loyal members could be informed and helped to maintain their account -

I am sure ebay will claim they do that already with workshops mentoring etc - but is this a realistic choice for many private members ?

[edwardian-dreams]

Sorry but I don’t believe  ebay have any  regard whatsoever in any way shape or form for loyal customers (part from customer agents havin to say thank you for that  before anything else when you contact them) 

their concern is only for $$$$$$
I’ve seen nothing to counteract that notion 

the lack of clear and explanatory  communication re simple delivery, a MAJOR change,  has been the PITS at best I might add 

pit will be worse for new sellers 

[clearingmyshelves2025]

I used to love change at work, the dynamics of new ways of doing things. But now, re Ebay & SD, it's like a never ending puzzle that you may, or many not, have completed correctly.

For the time being...

[brainuk]

I will be honest here. I don't seem to understand what all the problem is, unless I am doing something VERY wrong. I have listed 15 items today on my PC. I had the option of SD or the other Custom postage which doesn't seem to do much right now. Most of my items (approx 85%) would fall into the RM small parcel category. All 15 items listed this evening were all the same size. I used to pay £3.45 under the old RM small parcel rules (up to 2kg). Now..... On SD I can choose my sizes and weights and for the 2kg (up to medium parcel size which is obviously bigger), it's only costing me £3.44 and I get to choose whether the buyer or the seller pays. As I advertise everything with Free Postage, then I click Seller pays. Job Done. I haven't tried listing anything as a large letter yet (I don't sell anything smaller than a DVD) but it seems for now, I am actually paying a penny less for my postage, and as I opted out of using those amateur peasants at Evri (Evri parcel gets lost or smashed), I am using RM. Am I wrong? Or just lucky?

[sml192]

The prices for Simple Delivery have now been updated so that the price for parcels up to 2Kg is now in line with the Royal Mail online price for small parcels up to 2Kg (£3.44 compared to Royal Mail online price of £3.45).

For items sold between £0-100

Item weight & size	Both couriers selected	EVRi only	Royal Mail only
750g large letter	£2.70	£2.94	£2.73
0-1kg parcel	£2.94	£2.97	£3.44
1-2kg parcel	£3.44	£4.06	£3.44
2-10kg parcel	£5.36	£5.64	£6.65
10-15kg parcel	£7.19	£7.26	£10.55
15-20kg parcel	£10.55		£10.66

[angelline-kimono · Accepted solution]

Hi. I can see why brainuk was confused by the post and couldn't see what the problem was.

This is because Ebay have now lowered the price they were charging through the simple delivery system for the parcels. On April 15th they lowered the price they were charging to be in line with the latest small parcel price of £3.45 (they charge £3.44).  So the issue is no longer a problem.

When I opened this thread on the 31st March, the simple delivery postage was being charged at £3.74 which was the current cost of medium parcels at the time (Royal Mail prices went up on 1st April) and at that time there was no way to get the small parcel price on ebay for my items.

That is why I opened the thread. 

Now that ebay have lowered the price to be in line with small packet prices, the issue has been sorted. 

And as some of the last few posts have said, this is actually good if you have medium parcels because you are getting the postage cheaper than you would normally.

So sorry for the confusion but the issue was a problem when I raised it a few weeks ago.

I am glad ebay lowered the price.

I do think that ebay could communicate a bit better about what they are doing, then there would be less annoyance and angst on the part of sellers.

all the best to my fellow ebayers