Custom Postage - No Size Or Weight

[barry.110]

I've just made a listing and for the first time I came across the Simple Delivery option. Well I'm not an idiot and I can work out my own postage and arrange my own labels so I selected Custom Postage.

One thing I did notice is when you select Custom Postage there is nowhere to add the size or weight of the parcel. Now I always filled that bit out, not so much for the potential buyers in the UK but just in case I got a buyer abroad using GSP. I always assumed that EBay used that information to work out how much shipping to charge the buyer, as obviously a parcel that is 40x30x20cm and 3kg is going to cost more to ship than a parcel that is 20x15x10cm and 1kg. So how will Ebay work out how much they need to charge a buyer using GSP if they haven't got the size and weight of the parcel.

[ruby*ryan]

The question was raised on the weekly chat a fortnight ago. We are still waiting to hear back whether it is a change or a glitch 😞

[barry.110]

So basically what you are saying is don't hold your breath. 

[wyntersemporium]

Always the same with eBay on a lot of things. I have a large heavy parcel going out but I bypass eBay’s postage altogether and do Royal Mail instead. 

[whitemercury]

Thanks to a suggestion on the Business Seller Board, you can workaround this issue by entering the weight and dimensions using the Bulk Editor.  I tried it on some draft listings before I submitted them, and they're all correctly showing GSP shipping costs.  I assume it would also work for live listings but I've not tried.  Note: if you've only got a single listing for a particular weight/size, you'll need to create a 2nd 'dummy' listing to be able to use the Bulk Editor (just make sure you delete the 'dummy' listing so you don't accidentally submit it!).  

[m25jet]

One option that you could use in order to get around the problem would be to opt out of the Global Shipping Programme, then relist the item again as a UK only listing.  If you are prepared to sell the item to overseas buyers then put something in the item description along the lines of "Overseas buyers - please message me for a postage quote, stating which country you live in" so that if an overseas buyer is interested in purchasing the item they can contact you for a quote and you can then do some research into the price of posting the item to the buyer's country based on the size and weight of the parcel.

If you do get any interest from overseas buyers then once you have done some research into the cost to post it to the buyer's country send a reply back with the postage costs, ideally in the buyer's own currency so that they can see immediately how much it is going to cost them without having to first translate the cost using an online currency converter.  Make sure you also say that if they decide to proceed with the sale you will revise the listing and add an international postage option so that they can purchase the item, then once that has been done and the overseas buyer can see the international postage option then if the buyer is serious about proceeding with the sale he or she may well make payment for the item.

Although it might seem like a bit of a pain in the neck to have to do this just so that international buyers can buy the items that you list for sale, it may well result in you receiving some sales that may otherwise never have come to fruition as a result of this problem that eBay have created.

[barry.110]

I just tried as you suggested on a listing I have scheduled, as this is the first and only listing that I’ve ran into this problem with, and I created a second scheduled listing so I could bulk edit and it let me add the size and weight. However when I went into the listing and tried to change the location to post to to the USA or Poland both times it said contact seller for postage options, or words to that effect. Also after changing it in bulk edit I went into edit as normal and the size and weight still wasn’t anywhere to be found.

I guess I’ll have to wait until the item goes live tomorrow to see if it has really worked, but thanks for the tip anyway.

[whitemercury]

Just to clarify how I used the Bulk Editor to do this:

1. Within the Seller Hub, select Drafts, tick the listings you want to update , and select 'Resume Drafts'.  Note: you must select at least 2 listings otherwise it won't open the Bulk Editor.
2. Now tick all the listings that have the same weight/size, and then select 'Package Details' from the 'Bulk edit' drop-down.
3. Select the 'Change to' buttons, enter the weight and dimensions, and 'Apply'.  Note: You can't see the stored values, but they do appear to be getting stored.
4. 'Submit' the listings (or if you've had to create a 'dummy' listing, select 'Save for later' so you can then delete the dummy and just submit the real listing).

One thing I got wrong in my previous post, is that you only need to create a 'dummy' listing if you literally only have 1 listing.  If you've got multiple listings with different weights/sizes, it appears that you can update a single listing with a particular weight/size once you're within the Bulk Editor.

[whitemercury]

You can't see the values you've entered, but it does appear to be storing them.  At least for Drafts it is, maybe it won't work for Scheduled listings, but as you say, you'll find out tomorrow.  Fingers crossed.

[barry.110]

Yes if I wanted I could turn off GSP and just add my own international postage options. But my problem at the moment is the custom postage not giving you the option to add the package size and weight. Though it might be linked with a problem of GPS not showing up on my item. If GSP is broken I might have to go back to offering my own international postage but I liked GSP as I only had to send the item to Lichfield and they did all the customsvstuff

[ile136yz]

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@barry.110 wrote:

I've just made a listing and for the first time I came across the Simple Delivery option. Well I'm not an idiot and I can work out my own postage and arrange my own labels so I selected Custom Postage.

One thing I did notice is when you select Custom Postage there is nowhere to add the size or weight of the parcel. Now I always filled that bit out, not so much for the potential buyers in the UK but just in case I got a buyer abroad using GSP. I always assumed that EBay used that information to work out how much shipping to charge the buyer, as obviously a parcel that is 40x30x20cm and 3kg is going to cost more to ship than a parcel that is 20x15x10cm and 1kg. So how will Ebay work out how much they need to charge a buyer using GSP if they haven't got the size and weight of the parcel.

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My Sister asked me to set up her Private Account with Postage Policies like I use.

As she likes Royal Mail postage, I set up three Postage Policies Titles (the Titles make it easy to remember) as follows:

Policies Titles

A   100gram Letter 2nd Class 85p etc.

B   100gram Large Letter 2nd £1.55 etc.

C   250gram Large Letter 2nd £1.90 etc.

She tried it out last night & found it very easy to use.

When the choices of 'Simple Delivery' or 'Customs' postage came up.

She pressed 'Customs'

then

For the postage section she chose the 'A' Postage Policy' title from the drop-down menu, 

'A 100gram Letter 2nd Class 85p'.

Checked out the listing advert & everything was correct, the item's Basic Price had the Sellers fees added & the Postage was showing 'RM 2nd Class 85p'.

If International postage is required in the future, this can be added to the original postage policy.