Any discussion about Compulsory Payment Holds or Use of Ebay Delivery, if so Where?

[theelench]

I saw a couple of comments on both in related threads, but now can't find them.

As both of these are soon (next February?) to become compulsory for all private sellers I would have thought there might be at least one thread started by private sellers on the topic, but apparently not?

Don't they know ?

Don't they have any opinions?

Are there any private sellers here?

[theelench]

Exactly.  But once ebay puts it on their list, buyers will be free to use it with no regard for anything that sellers might know from painful experience about the drawbacks.

e.g.  ebay is still pushing its favoured delivery company despite my never seeing anything but criticism of them on here since they went into partnership.

ebay doesn't care about buyers or sellers, all it's interested in is how much ebay will make out of any deal.

[kath3735_wxmjn]

You may well like it and that is fine but it should remain how it is - optional.  I am selling items and i select the method i want to use to post, if a buyer does not want it via that method then they are free to buy elsewhere.  I am not messing around with here there and everywhere just so e bay can screw a few bob extra from me.  I was 'happy' to pay the fees, i never asked them to stop charging them but to get money out of me in this backhanded fashion is not going to work for me.   What do i have to wait and see for, i either will be able to continue using RM in the way i am now or i will not be e baying anymore.

[lighting_signs_and_vintage]

Yep I once opened a locker to find someone else's parcel inside, assume outgoing looking at the label. Lovely iPhone though.

Joking aside hard to know what to do for the best, my parcel was worth £15 so I just left both in same compartment. Wasn't an issue.

After that was when they started getting very busy and were always either full, or big ones not available. Since then, they have doubled the size of that bank and introduced many, many more in our area, but I'm still better off with RM collection from my door.

[*devils.advocate*]

Shutl was very successful, Packlink even more so! Advancing forward, eBay will know that Simple Delivery will hit the heights of success!

Let’s face it. Everything eBay associates with, or becomes involved with, they believe they have the Midas Touch.

Regretfully, they couldn’t turn lead into gold even if they knew how.

IMHO, this’ll be just as successful as before!

[lighting_signs_and_vintage]

😂LOL

(And for my 10 character limit...)

[crg_music]

Thats not to say you have to choose InPost lockers. Evri, Yodel, DPD, Royal Mail and 1 other are on the list also and are all shops not lockers except Inpost. You literally tick which you wish to offer so nobody is forcing you to use lockers its just convenient personally. I'm sure some accept all but you'd never get anything else done running around dropping parcels all day.

[crg_music]

Use another option that doesnt involve a locker. Just because its an option it doesnt mean the sellers need to allow it or buyers have to choose for delivery. Any sane seller will have an option to deliver to door as well as collect so all will be catered for.

[crg_music]

I guess its a situation where they are willing to say tough to the few for an overall safer and more controlled system, after all they will never please everyone. My point is more lets give it till it happens before we decide its the end of the world.

As above Ebay need to allow the seller to choose which options they allow, one delivery and one collection is more than enough. I dont know how it works at present, Vinted literally has a tick box to choose which you wish to offer.

From buying I bought 7 items off 1 seller weighing 12kg for £2.49 postage which is crazy. Even if ebay are making a bit having huge buying power will mean being able to offer lower prices at the back end. Its only really Royal Mail that care about the weight of a parcel, most of the others charge relatively flat rates and rarely weigh anything as it just slows the flow.

[theelench]

I wasn't trying to say that I would have to use InPost, just reporting what I've seen but know nothing more about.  I don't think even ebay would be stupid enough to give private sellers just one option.

But I've been selling glass for about ten years and on two different sites.  I've tried offering multiple options on both, 99% still chose RM 2nd Class and the few that didn't mostly didn't tick an alternative box.  They message me and ask if I would send by an alternative method.  Making me think that they didn't read the alternatives anyway.

I tried "Freepost" when ebay was pushing it by suggesting buyers "love" it, but it turned out that my sales went down when I tried it.  

I learnt the lesson and stopped offering alternatives and just offered what most buyers are happy with.  (I still very occasionally get a buyer who asks for something different and will oblige them if they're willing to pay for what they want.

So basically the only box I want to tick is the one I know buyers like because it's a compromise between  relatively quick, relatively cheap and relatively safe?

But then we come to what ebay has been twisting my arm to do since it invented its Fantasy Delivery Dates, where it tells buyers RM 2nd Class will arrive the day after purchase.  I wonder will RM 2nd Class be even shown as a choice?  Or will they be shown only services which ebay hopes will deliver next day.  If that is what is in the pipe-line, with buyers expected to pay for more expensive express delivery that they don't need or want, what would that do to my (already nearly non-existent) sales?

Ebay also wants Tracking.  How many times have I paid for delivery for RM 2nd Class, only to find a parcel left on the door-step of my flat marked "delivered" by evri?  How many were damaged in transit?  It's one of the reasons I stopped buying glass on ebay.   Simple Post might be great for clothes, but for fragile items I want rather more control over who gets to deliver my parcels, both as a buyer or seller.  So will all ebay's options be tracked, again adding unwanted expense to the purchase?

[crg_music]

Yeah I get it, even with records im not keen on certain couriers, any saving on cost has to be compensated with more expensive packaging.

If big changes are coming they might do away with all the time thing, its silly and most sellers have just ended up using long dispatch times to try and avoid getting caught out. I think if the shipping becomes more uniform then there will be less need to emphasise the delivery date, buyer will get a tracking immediately after payment and seller will be expected to post fast and actually will do so because of the psychological feeling of not having to pay for postage.

[kath3735_wxmjn]

well having read through some of the stuff about Simple Delivery (e bay stuff not just on the forum) I will still not be using it.  The whole point is that e bay are not allowing the seller to choose delivery, i quote 'e bay selects the delivery service for you, arranges buyer payments and provides you with a prepaid, tracked and fully protected label or QR code'.   I want control over my deliveries, ie i choose the courier and the cost not e bay.  I also do not have a modern phone either and so will not be able to flash a QR code to the po counter if my printer broke down.  Not to mention my other important point, i would rather keep my local post office going than give more money to e bay.   Not so sure it is only a few of us either who are not happy with the new changes.  Between this and the possible up to two weeks wait for you money i think a lot will be seriously thinking of going.

[kath3735_wxmjn]

you are pretty optimistic about your last sentence.  I doubt if it will make any difference to sellers.  If they post quickly now they will still do so and the reverse for those who do not.  No such thing a 'psychological feeling of not having to pay for postage' it will not happen.   I have a couple of days on my postage but i always take them in the morning after i have e bay notification of the payment.  I just want them posted and out of the way.

[crg_music]

Oh I dunno, if ive sold something for £200 and want that money urgently then im going to be dropping the parcel straight off to get the funds released asap. Theres definitely going to more urgency for some to get it sent fast even going out of their way where as before they might have left it a few days. For every 1 person that posts same day there is another that will only bother weekly and those are the ones that will post faster. Coming from experience having ebay on your case and pushing you to ship faster is needed for some of us, some of us need a boot up the rear. Notice I say us, us meaning me and there are a lot of us out there. The sourcing, listing, selling is fun but the packing and posting is a pain.

[bittyboy101]

I couldn't resist this one being an 80's music  fan !

Here's Midnight Star - Midas Touch (1988)

[trishthedish.0199]

I so agree with you! I am 70, but do have a laptop and printer (computer savvy during my working life) and print off barcode labels at present, then take to local post office counter within village shop. I have a smart phone, but have yet to get to grips with QR codes. I will not be able to take to an Evri collection point though, if they specify that option. The nearest is only 11.45 miles away, but living in Scottish highlands, that is the other side of loch and 2 bus rides/a whole day away there and back, unless can get a lift. There is no Evri collection in the village, a subcontractor collects all courier parcels, from Evri, DVD, etc once a week and dumps them on doorstep, on a random day, no notice, but at least we get them. John Lewis returns now changed to downloading a label for returns, using Evri, which meant I could not return item. Their customer services are in South Africa now, delay on line, clicking, could not understand each others accents, it was awful, so John Lewis online, gone as an option for me too now.