Beyond Stupid

[foresterdon]

Simple delivery!

Won't let me post small paper items in an ordinary letter. Insists I have to choose Large Letter and charge accordingly.

Have no choice but to end all my small items.

How much longer do we have to put up with this?

Ebay will not survive this mismanagement.

Shame.

[ruby*ryan]

You should get the option for Custom if your item is less than £10.
I was playing around with it yesterday. I made a listing for an item for £3, I had the Custom option, but if I changed the price to £12 and clicked out, a little note came up at the bottom of the screen, 'Postage options updated' and Custom had gone. Switched it back to £3, got the note and Custom was back!
It may have been a test, but if so, I hope they keep it as it worked well for low value items that can be sent with a stamp.

[foresterdon]

Nope.

Even at £1 or less it won't give me Standard letter option and absolutely no Custom Option.

They seem to be going through seller by seller and forcibly changing postage terms with no consent or notification. Must surely be illegal?

[zoomingmouse]

If you manage to get the page in the screenshots below you seem to be able to get the custom option so you can charge any amount for postage & add either 2nd or 1st class letter options under primary service <this was in the stamp cat>.

I've not posted a test live, only saved as a draft so not fully tested, but the whole SD is a total mess - change one thing break another. 

If you can't get the option try clicking on collection only & then back to postage - I sometimes have to do this to get the desired option.

I'm using a desktop, Windows & Firefox if it makes a difference

[xyz307xyz]

Is the item in one of the Opting Out categories?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/selling/posting-items/setting-postage-options/simple-delivery?id=5575#se...

[xenavsbuffy1]

Is it Android or Laptop you are using, if laptop you will get the option, if your using your Android I'm assuming there are a lot of differences this could be one of them 

[marco@ebay]

Hi foresterdon, thanks for your post.

I was checking for you there, and the option seems to be coming up. What kind of item are you trying to list, and could you please take a screenshot of what you see, so I can take a further look for you?

Thank you,

Marco

[foresterdon]

No.

Typical collectable postcard, as I said.

Listed at £1.50.

"Buyer Protection " jacks it up to £2.28 (Itself a deal killer- no sales now.)

Only SImple Delivery available.

Lowest post category (Royal Mail - refuse to deal with Evri due past experience) is Large Letter.

Just tried to relist - still the same.

Had to end all postcard listings because no prospect of sale in present circumstances.

[foresterdon]

Further to the above:

I have ended all listings other than those still permitting Custom postage.

I fully expect these to be unilaterally turned over to Simple Delivery without my consent at which time I will end these too. This has already happened to one item, which I ended as soon as I uncovered what you'd done.

THIS ACTION IS ILLEGAL.

Ebay is perfectly entitled to end my listings and invite me to relist under new Terms and Conditions.

It is not entitled to change what I am charging for postage on a live listing.

Just think about it. It is the equivalent to Ebay saying " you can't sell those boots fo £10, we've decided you are going to sell them for £5 or £15". 

If ebay changes its T@C it is required to NOTIFY members and INVITE them to continue under new terms.

#######  PLEASE FORWARD THIS MESSAGE TO EVE WILLIAMS GM EBAY UK. 

Assuming she hasn't packed her bags for destroying the goodwill of all Buyers with cost of " Buyer Protection" and that of all sellers with compulsory Simple Delivery.

[marco@ebay]

Hi foresterdon, thanks for your reply.

Please note that we are unable to replicate the issue from our end, so in order to assist you further, we'd need you to upload a screenshot, so we can have a better look and assist you further. If you don't wish to do so, that's completely ok. If you wish, you can contact our customer support team, and they will be able to report the issue in question if they manage to replicate it from their end.

Please note that this is the highest point of escalation, so we wouldn't be passing this on to someone specifically. However, I will be happy to pass on your feedback/thoughts on this.

Thank you,

Marco

[foresterdon]

What do you mean you are unable to replicate?

Screenshot  won't upload.

Relisting ended Flying Scotsman postcard listing:

Basically it says: 

         Post or Collection in person     Postage Only    Collection Only

Package size:       Up to 1Kg Large letter  >  (arrow increases to parcel sizes but no arrow to reduce to Letter)

Domestic Postage:

Ebay     Simple Delivery

No other options on screen

[ruby*ryan]

If it's below a tenner, you should have the option to use custom postage. I think the reason there is no Letter size in SD is that sent by RMtracked (which is what SD uses) Letter and Large Letter sizes are both £2.70, so maybe it should say 'Letter & Large Letter up to 1kg'.

This is a postcard listing for £2:

This is the same listing changed to £12:

[foresterdon]

Nope.

Either Relist or Sell Similar, selecting Postage or Collection in Person or any other option, nothing brings up Custom Postage.

Suspect you are correct that eBay has now banned Standard Postage and demands tracking.

So a £1 postcard posted RM totalling £1.95 will actually cost the buyer £1 plus £0.79 BP plus £2.70 postage

equals £4.49 !!!!

Item price almost Doubled by Buyer Premium and QUADRUPLED by Simple Delivery requirements!

And eBay cannot see that no Buyer will pay this amount.

[zoomingmouse]

I think that the initial large letter option is a red herring & only applies if using Simple Delivery.

I've not looked at all your ended postcards, but noticed those I did were in the Collectibles & Art cat, which is different to the one I used.

Might be worth trying out different cats to see if any work, unless it's something else, which is entirely possible.....

[foresterdon]

No.

I have other items in other categories which I deleted because None would permit Custom Postage and there is simply no prospect of selling now as SD and BP have killed the market.

I notice Marco has run away. I guess they don't know what is going on either.

As for Marco being unable/unwilling to escalate up the management chain, I've been here long enough to remember other eBay crises, such as when they forced sellers to use paypal and jacked up selling fees - all made worse because the Community and Customer Support teams kept the lid on all the discontent.

Still, if eBay folds it's their jobs gone not mine. 

[ruby*ryan]

Have a look at the categories that DO have the Custom postage available.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sellercentre/postage/simple-delivery

Go to the FAQs at the bottom of the page and open " Which listings aren't required to use Simple Delivery?"

If you list in the postcards category you should get it - but if you try and list it in Arts, you won't (unless it's a photograph).

[xyz307xyz]

Already mentioned in my message #5.

The ended Flying Scotsman mentioned, was listed in:

Collectables & Art- Transportation Collectables- Railwayana- Paper Railwayana- Postcards

[foresterdon]

I'll say it again:

I do not get Custom Postage in any category. I do not get Custom Postage in any category.........

[fotherbale]

Simple Delivery goes hand-in-hand with ebays buyer/seller protection requirement for delivery confirmation.

The reason why SD does not give any options for less than 2nd class Large Letter is because that is the lowest postage available from Royal Mail that includes a scan on delivery (and that requires the Horizon label 2d bar code, it doesn't apply to a large letter where stamps are used instead of a label). 

Basic First and Second Class letter post do not include any delivery confirmation scan, even if they have been bought as a Horizon label with a 2d bar code.  Ebay will therefore not include basic 1st and 2nd class letter post in SD.

Ebay Simple Delivery is a one size fits all policy, which simply doesn't fit with a great many very low value items that get sold on ebay, but the ebay categories that are included in the exemption from SD don't always cover the items that would be better sent as on ordinary letter by the seller.  It is poorly thought through, but it is what it is and so far ebay have shown no sign of taking any notice of people complaining about it, much less any inclination to change it. 

[fotherbale]

I have just done a trial listing for the same post card, and when listing in the Collectables/Postcards&Supplies/Postcards category the 'Custom Postage' option appears when I enter the £2.49 BIN price. 

However, if I change the category to the same as you had used - Collectables/Transportation Collectables/Railwayana/Paper Railwayana/Postcards, the custom postage button vanishes again.

It seems that the general postcards category is included in the SD exemption for items priced at under £10, but the Railwayana category is not, and for some peculiar reason, ebay have not included (or are unable to include) the Paper Railwayana sub-category within the exemption. 

Perhaps marco@ebay  could come back and perhaps make some enquiries higher up as to whether this is an oversight/ebay mess-up, or whether there is a reason why postcards are not able to be included in the exemption if they are within the Railayana sub-category?