Ebay's new buyer protection scam

[wayne15071965]

So I have been a seller on and off her since June 2001, Over the years I have sent items recorded delivery that either never turn up , or arrive with no notification of delivery.  Now someone wants to charge a buyer a fee for safe delivery, when they would have been charged that in the P&P cost.  Frankly it sounds more like a scam than customer service and Ebay are also trying to force us to use their shipping option, So much for free enterprise, sound like trying to get the monopoly on delivery as well.  As for hanging on the sellers cash til 2 days after delivery, really so post office goes on strike and you don't get paid, Think I may start looking to leave. So much for eBay's loyalty to us .

[newsgood2]

Good points. Well made!

[edwardian-dreams]

They could combine shipping costs without combining the bpf

forcing people to pay multiple postage costs when there is no need is pathetic at best

[knightinarmour]

Couple of thoughts:

combining postage: you could still do that after the fact by refunding a portion or the difference- I’ve done that in the past (before all this). 

obligation to have certain postage’s namely their own: maybe, but I think not as Vinted doesn’t insist on it and they seem to be copying them. Vinted control the price which are set (small, medium or large - but every one tracked) but you are allowed a large range of courier types which you can select and deselect in your settings. I prefer to use ones where the service lets you print labels in a post shop (Evri) as I don’t have a printer. I think eBay will lose a lot of business if they insist on one and only one postal service. 

[kath3735_wxmjn]

if you could be bothered to look (press on listings under my name) you would see that yes i have sold stuff (actually for me the past two months have been better than last year!) and you would also see that the majority of my items are clothes.  I sell for my family as i am retired, enjoy doing it and they are busy and do not like e baying or car booting.  A match made in heaven except until the tax man gets involved.....  Anything else you want to know???

[kath3735_wxmjn]

its actually simple (although a nuisance) you can still post your own stuff.   When the four boxes come up, press one of the others and then go back and press the 'postage only' box and underneath you will find the custom delivery one and the RM options.

[chababachababa]

Thank you.
Sent from my iPhone

[newsgood2]

Apologies, I have never noticed the view listings tab before. I only asked a question and did not need a snarky reply. Good luck with your sales.

[dcmr-99]

Since the introduction of this new "Buyer's Protection Fee", I have reduced the price of some of my items, but this doesn't appear to solve the problem anyway, because no matter what the price is reduced to, the buyer is still asked to pay this fee anyway, so they feel like they're being conned. I know this, because when I tried to buy something recently on ebay, as soon as I realised that there would be an additional fee (and there was also mention of VAT added on for this particular item, although again this wasn't very clear), I quickly retracted my offer as the item in question was actually about £10 cheaper on Amazon including delivery, so needless to say I ended up buying it from there. In my opinion, considering that my sales have not improved at all even after lowering some of the prices, I would say that the lack of clarity in the actual total price paid, due to this fee, and in some cases due to VAT that is not included in the initilal price, combined with the all the postage problems reported on this thread, have lead to total chaos and ebay really need to get their act together if they have any interest in retaining private sellers, and buyers of course!

[chababachababa]

Yes total chaos- I agree.
I am expecting my buyers not to have received my items due to them being sent via Evri as I didn’t find the option to send with Royal Mail as I have done for years.
Why change something that was working for years ?
I think they want to make MORE money and cheapen their service and reputation.

Sent from my iPhone

[madeat136]

There is a drop down box for custom postage that includes Royal Mail.Alternatively purchase your postage via the Royal mail app ?Sent from my Galaxy

[newsgood2]

If you go to your name top left in My eBay: Active, drop down menu >  account settings> near bottom Postage preferences > simple delivery > edit and take out Evri, then all things you sell will go Royal Mail.

Took me time talking to eBay a couple of times to suss it all out over a sale where the buyer had to pay postage and I think under simple delivery it chooses cheapest route.

So simple remedy and no more Evri! on Simple Delivery.

[newsgood2]

On Simple Delivery I'm not sure they give the buyer a choice. I may be wrong, however, I sold something last night and spent forever trying to sort out postage to Royal Mail, but once the item is paid that's it. I asked if there was a choice and buyer said no, it just took the money and Evri had a prepaid label. It was needed fairly quickly so, I cancelled sale, messaged buyer a few times back and forth, then sent Royal Mail Tracked 48 to this morning and got eBay to credit me the Evri shipping and re-entered tracking information when refusing cancellation.

All worked out fine and I learnt how to edit the preferences on Simple delivery and I spent only an extra 40 pence getting item shifted in a timely fashion.

[andha-21]

Simple delivery is only opt out at the moment. Going by announcements from the CEO they want it mandatory and it sounds like Q2, so the next few months.

eBay also left themselves a get out of jail card for the seller choice on couriers. If they decide to use Evri they can override any settings you have saying you don't want to use it.

What you did won't necessarily work every time.

[martinwh1]

I haven't looked in detail at simple delivery but I get the impression that it is going to wipe out sales of my items which are mainly eligible for the 85p (soon to be 87p) and even large letters are £2.70 regardless of weight up to 750gm.

[chababachababa]

I can’t find the drop down box anymore.
Sent from my iPhone

[chababachababa]

I too have been speaking to EBay most days of the week. 😂
Sent from my iPhone

[andha-21]

Price will obviously be a factor but it's the AI system that is potentially worse. If that starts deciding what package parameters you have to use to send items that could wipe out entire markets.

Warhammer models in the vast majority weigh almost nothing but even the smaller ones are bigger than large letter sizing, especially if you allow for padding. So they are small, fragile and needs to be packed certain ways to survive sorting and shipping. Will the AI allow for any of that? I seriously doubt it. So anyone that deals in fragile objects could be in real trouble with this.

[chababachababa]

Well done.
I’m not so sure I’m as confident as you to sort all this out.
I’m getting rid of what I have and then I won’t be selling anymore.
Bye.
Sent from my iPhone

[f3speech]

Very much hoping that they don't force everything through Evri as there is no drop off where I'm moving to. The only service we have here is Royal Mail. I'm not going to be driving 200 miles down the road to post stuff! 

[newsgood2]

What to sort out one thing in Account settings and remove Evri? It's not exactly taxing is it.

I have to drive 30 mile round trip to drop off at an Evri collection point, hence one reason to do that. I don't mind Evri delivering to me if I have no hurry for something, however, they are a perfect  for Ebay as they are very untogether and unfocussed, whilst imagining that they are great!  🙂