6th August

[sellingmystuff642]

So 6th August is when everything is supposed to switch to Simple Delivery, even existing listings. Not sure how that will work because I don't have dimensions or weights listed for any of my items. It will also be the day I take down my listings if it becomes mandatory and I can see myself buying very little in the future on ebay becuse the funds won't be there from sales. How to ruin a decent selling platform...

[department28]

'Calling it something more honest than *Simple* Delivery would have avoided adding fuel to the fire as well.'

Yes, I would imagine many of us will never be able to disassociate the word 'Simple' from 'Delivery', for as long as we live... 😬

[edwardian-dreams]

Postcards default to custom postage 

But not in all categories

You  want to use Collectable  postactds and supplies 

[edwardian-dreams]

EBay has hoisted  itself on its own petard as far as I’m concerned 

it’s getting boring but I have time to kill 😈 to say my piece when they’re out of order or  utterly dysfunctional 

I promote what’s good about them so my conscience is clear against people who say I whinge moan criticise 

what particularly detest to the nth degree is eBay sitting there with people watching the forums and them doing  eff all about it for ages 

[3942rick2005]

New workaround - https://community.ebay.co.uk/t5/Seller-Central/How-do-you-list-anything-bigger-than-61cm-Part-two/m-...

[sunflowers4me59]

Well the 10 knitting patterns finished tonight and I was able to relist (as sell similar)  the LL under £10, under 100g as custom postage. Are they an exempt category or what is going on? 

[suelel1968]

Hi Sunflower @sunflowers4me59 . I bit the bullet and asked them what is happening. The answer, which had to be given to me by a supervisor no less was " we are very sorry , but we have not finished the process yet"

Will it take days, weeks, months? "It shouldn't be that long"

How long is a piece of string? 

@edwardian-dreams Hi Ed dreams, you just encouraged me to finally find out what a petard is. Always good to introduce a bit of Shakespeare to the forum I think.

[sunflowers4me59]

I was hoping I would be left alone with the LL, but it's not sounding good is it. 

[goodibags]

Thanks for the update. Will be interested to hear what happens when one sells? Will they magically be opted into SD at the point of sale? Will the buyer be charged for a stamp (as per your listing) while you are charged for an unwanted label?

This infernal 'upgrade' to SD is so tedious.

[sunflowers4me59]

If they did that, I would be selling at a minus figure, if I charge buyer 89p+£1.60, then eBay change it to 89p + £2.70 but still take the £1.60  from buyer, it doesn't  take a genius to figure out the difference to me!!

[goodibags]

I too am hoping that doesn't happen and that existing listings are 'honoured' with only the custom postage charged. But some sellers report having had unwanted SD labels too.

It'll be a one-off should it happen as my other listings will be cancelled.

[foresterdon]

"You want to use Collectable Postcards and Supplies"

But nobody looks in this vast general category.

If you have specialist postcards to sell they need to be listed in the categories where the specialist buyers look. If you do that you are stuck with Simple Delivery and expensive postage -  which, together with Buyer Protection fees puts kills the sale.

[goodibags]

That's a very good point. Ebay can easily target specific categories based on their knowledge of the market for them. Some items may just be opted in to SD because Ebay expects the buyers will accept and swallow the additional postage costs?

Come to think, Ebay also has an advantage over the couriers it's buying services from for SD. They only ever get to see the outside of the packets. Ebay knows what's inside them too.

[theelench]

And also ebay knows exactly what sellers sell, the value of the sales and which categories they get those sales in.  They can target anything they want if it gets them nearer to their revenue target.

Selling is no longer just a game between buyer and seller, ebay is also trying to maximise what it gets out of every sale and they hold ALL the aces.

[goodibags]

Yes, I can see SD postage becoming more 'dynamic' in the future. If Ebay can change SD prices 3 times a year they can do it 30 times.

And when higher value items may be trending and changing hands those can attract higher postage costs too. They can effectively introduce pricing at RM Special Delivery levels or higher but without the same service levels and guarantees.

[suelel1968]

Dynamic and Simple Delivery are not words heard in the same sentence very often!

I had to ring up ebay this morning to cancel a postage defect and as he was an Irish chap i thought I would ask him about SD and the message re the 6th August. They know nothing. In fact the only SD update he knew about was DHL being added. I never got the email either, does that make me a member of CS? Infact, i have only ever read that part about listings being upgraded on the forum, i couldn't find a link to it anywhere. 

[goodibags]

'Dynamic' only in as much as the prices will keep changing. £2.72 for a large letter today and then tomorrow  some completely different amount?

Was the 'defect' a wrong or inappropriate label or a cancellation? SD was supposed to be creating LESS work rather than making more.

You're wise to stick to the forum if you want to keep abreast of what's going on in Ebayland. I've found out so many things. Mind you, you can't trust a word I say as my knowledge is at least 3 days out of date! 😉

[suelel1968]

@goodibags defect was just for late delivery. RM only scanned it into the system on the day it was delivered and i get the late mark. 

[goodibags]

If your package was posted Tracked 48 between Saturday 2nd and Monday 4th you may be in good company, as there could be hundreds/thousands of similar 'late' or unscanned mail.

Under those circumstances it'd be nice if Ebay was more proactive in mopping up the knock-on effects. Aside from the pledge to remove poor feedback after the event.

But it seems more profitable to wait for those sellers affected to come forward and let them self-select themselves, based on how much time they have to deal with all this nonsense.

If only Ebay didn't rate sellers for poor performance for adhering to the systems provided by Ebay?

[foresterdon]

Well my Custom Postage items all relisted themselves automatically as Custom Postage.

Now all I need is a sale to test if they default to SD at the point of sale.

I said: All I need is a SALE....

Oh never mind. Maybe next year. If eBay is still around.

[edwardian-dreams]

Glad to hear it

which means eBay didn’t override custom on items that were legitimately custom under their whole new system 

something many people were worried about  come 6 august