Free Postage v Saving Buyer Money

[downsizingxs]

I'm torn between these two options since the abominable "Buyer Protection" was introduced.

I've been separating the postage to keep the end total cost down a bit for the buyer .........but on the other hand many people search only for items with free postage.

Anyone got an opinion on the better way to go?

[susapric-68]

Most people search "Lowest + P&P" No good limiting yourself to just free postage when it could cost more

[akemp1]

As a seller I've always considered it better to itemise the postage as it helps the buyer understand how much I am likely to get out of the transaction and stops them making unrealistically low offers. It also aids sensible discussions about combining postage (not that combining will be possible anymore with SD becoming mandatory) as the item's actual value is already known.

SD postage can be expensive so it also helps show that it's ebay that are being excessive/greedy not me.

As a buyer I've never been attracted to items with free postage as they always look too expensive. I'm happier if I see two smaller numbers than one big number. Feels like I am spending less money somehow.

[downsizingxs]

I agree, but thankfully I'm still able to sidestep SD & choose my own postage by clicking on "Switch to advanced options".

[4_bathrooms]

Where eBay is concerned I'm pretty sure the "Free P&P" search filter is rarely used. I would posit most people looking for the lowest price will use the sort filter which takes P&P charges into consideration.

However, that's just my opinion based on my own search habits and selling experiences. I can only remember being asked once in 14 years whether I would consider offering free shipping on an item that was advertised with a separate shipping charge and that was on my website rather than eBay. I have a mix of items on eBay; some are listed as having "free" P&P others are listed with a separate shipping charge. Where eBay is concerned I've only found being the cheapest overall has any effect on whether an item will sell or not. 

[akemp1]

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@downsizingxs wrote:

I agree, but thankfully I'm still able to sidestep SD & choose my own postage by clicking on "Switch to advanced options".

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It sounds like we are in the last few weeks or days of that being possible for some accounts so it's worth making the free/itemised postage decision on the basis of what it will be like when SD does become mandatory on any listings you choose to still have here.

[wyntersemporium]

Me personally I have free postage but thinking I’m losing too much money so probably will charge £2.99 which is tracked  instead of free 

[the-nutwood-collection]

For many years, all my listings on eBay and Etsy were freepost.  Then I grew tired of updating the listing every time RM hiked its prices, so most of them were changed to + shipping.

I have seen no difference in sales volume - even on the lower price items where I thought the shipping charge might be a killer.

My shipping charges are reasonable - just what it costs me.  I think buyers appreciate that shipping costs money and, providing you're not greedy, they don't see it as a barrier to buying.  

[judydoodles]

I used to only offer free p and p: I rarely sold more than one item per buyer and on occasion I'd get FB thanking me for combining postage 😎 which was a bonus.

Didn't ebay used to push freepost listings with a catchy, " why not attract more buyers with free p and p?" phrase or similar?  Now, apparently buyers enjoy a risky game of spot the courier with Sinful Delivery and freepost is not tempting after all!😏

[department28]

As well as all the other problems, Simple Delivery will also make deciding between free postage & 'buyer pays postage' more complicated...

If a seller decides to exclude Evri, the RM up to 2kg parcel will cost £4.27, if the buyer pays. However, if I've got this right, if the seller offers free postage, the same parcel will cost the seller £4.46...! 

So, as well as the BPF, the seller will also have absorb these higher postage prices, if they decide to offer free postage.

[micks-music-and-magazine-emporium]

All my listings are free postage, just the way I have always done it, as easier. I have excluded Evri due to bad experiences with them as a buyer in the past, and have found on some listings that with SD my costs have gone down. For example when I posted an LP over the counter at the post office, tracked 48 was £3.95. Now with SD it is £3.45 for the same service, essentially paying for my packaging materials.

[crn303]

Agree with you posting.

[judydoodles]

If SD offered the buyer a visible choice between Evri and other couriers, RM etc then that would allow buyers who have confidence in their Evri courier to choose that option and those who have serious misgivings about certain couriers local to them, can select the most reliable service locally.  It's the track record and experience at the delivery end which matters to buyers. 

Currently buyers can probably guess which service is RM and Evri but once Yodel and others are in the mix that might be difficult.   As a buyer I'd rather make an informed choice.  As a seller I'd be happy, when a buyer contacts me wanting a specific courier or service to accommodate their request and send via the requested service (though RM tracked 48 was pretty reliable).  There's no way for a seller to stray from the choices dictated by SD once we've all been "on-boarded".

Private sellers could offer a buyer more flexibility than many businesses (not all) - such as delaying posting for a few days.  Buyers have always been appreciative when I can comply with this type of request.  It's customer service!  The way I'd like to be treated by other sellers.   The decision of the seller to opt out of certain courier services could still be an option e.g. where there's no accessible drop off shop nearby.  Buyers happy and sellers happy.

Recent changes are not progress and not for the benefit of buyers or sellers so I wish ebay would stop using ridiculously named "improvements" and be honest and communicate properly.  That doesn't seem too much to ask!  There's no Simple in SD and there's no Protection in BPF!

[akemp1]

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@judydoodles wrote:

If SD offered the buyer a visible choice between Evri and other couriers, RM etc then that would allow buyers who have confidence in their Evri courier to choose that option and those who have serious misgivings about certain couriers local to them, can select the most reliable service locally.  It's the track record and experience at the delivery end which matters to buyers. 

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Someone in Ebay made the choice to deliberately obscure the name of the SD provider as they know that a lot of people would not want to use their unreliable friend Evri and it seems from how harshly they apply penalty rates where seller chose RM-only that Ebay have made some kind of spend / volume commitment and my guess around 75% of items need to go via Evri.

Ebay are probably having to force this SD disaster on us to meet that commitment as there might be a harsh contract clause that says they have to pay for the postage (or some proportion of it) anyway even if they don't send enough items via Evri within certain timescales.

Managed delivery is so much better at the place I recently signed up (the one ebay are doing a lame copy of) as there is no obvious profiteering on the delivery charges (the prices look the same or less than carrier list prices), there is no penalty for a seller removing a few providers they do not want to use and the buyer can see and choose from the names of all the providers that the seller is offering.

Maybe that place is still getting an incentive for reselling the delivery but it's not obvious and there is no stick to beat people with for making informed choices. It's refreshing to buy and sell at a place that seems to genuinely value their buyers and sellers. If ebay think these changes will attract people who have used that place they are very much mistaken.

[department28]

Assuming your item was an up to 1kg parcel, the eBay SD price list from a couple of weeks ago said £3.74 for the RM only service. Maybe they have fiddled around with the pricing since then?

It is all so confusing, especially this vagueness, not really being sure what the prices are, who's paying what, what the buyer is seeing, where the payment is taken from, and if/when it is refunded - and to whom - when it goes wrong... etc etc etc. I don't think I will ever understand it... 😖

We could have been spared all this palaver, if eBay had left things alone.  Surely they could have found a better way of charging some sort of postage fee, without introducing this awful system?!