Has Custom Postage Now Gone ?

[jactac7]

Please can someone offer some advice.

I've read that we can opt out of the Simple Delivery and still use Custom postage but I cant see the Custom Postage option anymore when adding a listing ?

I've tried this on new listings, revising a listing, listing a similar item, and on listings under £10.

Is there still a way of using Custom Postage or has it completely gone ?

Any advice appreciated.

Thanks.

[sk79.bay]

From what I gathered, eBay will cover your package from damage or loss for its full value when you use the appropriate Simple Postage service, i.e. according to the weight and size of the item. So if you had a small item that you would have normally sent Royal Mail Special Delivery for £6+, it would cost about £3 via Simple Postage and eBay would cover its full value. I have no idea how the claims process will be though.

[dougbat20]

For whatever reason I cannot seem to even find the option that lets you choose the item being over 20kg! (I.e. oversized)

If it was over 20kg then you could select a custom postage option but I cannot, for the life of me, see where this option has now gone...

I'm certainly not using Simple Delivery. If I have to, I'll just set everything to collection only until I can work out how to resolve this mess!

[dawniecat]

I have found a work around

 you need to change your item category

you need to change it to stamps - thematic

this will allow you to quote ANY custom postage !

I explain clearly in the item description that I have listed as category - "stamps - thematic" because there is currently a bug in e-bay that prevents sellers from selecting their custom postage without doing this

most buyers do not look at the item category the item is listed under

the reason it works with stamps-thematics is that -bay thinks you are  sending a small letter, and thus allows seller to quote a smaller postal charge than in Simple  Delivery. But it ALSO allows you to quote any postal service and price, just like the good old days 😀

[soniaandpaul]

Hi. I've just contacted ebay and have been told that for private sellers, you have to use simple delivery. We have lost the custom postage option. Evri and Royal Mail are the only options and the price is set. Your only choice is who pays. There are a couple of exceptions, like overweight parcels. Very frustrating as I used to use Yodel which was cheaper than Evri & Royal Mail. 

[tressygirl]

@dawniecat   wrote:   I have found a work around

 you need to change your item category

you need to change it to stamps - thematic

this will allow you to quote ANY custom postage !

This may be a workaround to use again Custom Postage,  if you don't mind waiting a minimum of 14 days for your payout .  If you can't change the tracking, you will not have any to show delivery,  and hence the wait for the payout.

[suelel1968]

Thats Ebay customer Service for you. Rule number one "tell them anything to get them off the phone" rule number 2 "tell them the same thing again after pretending to speak to a manager" rule 3 "repeat"

Jewellery is exempt for now and clothing accessories are optional. No idea why, but i like it. 

[tintin5467]

Won't work with my some of my items 😞 

Fed up of Ebay.

[tressygirl]

I didn't offer that workaround just repeating another poster's suggestion of that workaround,   and my answer was,  IF it works,  seems it doesn't,   there's then also a long wait for the payout,  as the tracking will not correspond to SD tracking.

There's no successful workaround for skipping SD , it's mandatory,  and here to stay .😑

@tintin5467 

[dougbat20]

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@soniaandpaul wrote:

Hi. I've just contacted ebay and have been told that for private sellers, you have to use simple delivery. We have lost the custom postage option. Evri and Royal Mail are the only options and the price is set. Your only choice is who pays. There are a couple of exceptions, like overweight parcels. Very frustrating as I used to use Yodel which was cheaper than Evri & Royal Mail. 

---

There used to be an option  where you could select over 20kg and it reverted back to custom postage. Why is that option no longer there - what happens if your item is over 20kg?! Someone hasn't thought this through!!

At least Yodel isn't part of Simple Delivery, because they have caused me nothing but problems. They don't know when my storage rental is open and they don't know when my work place is open, with a work colleague having to drive to the nearest depot to pick it up !!

I still want custom postage, mainly so I can use InPost due to their price advantage. Let us choose on a per listing basis between Simple Delivery and Custom Postage, to see which is cheaper for the seller.

It's not even like eBay are doing this well (like Vinted) because, unlike Vinted, the buyer can't choose (from the available options) which service they prefer, it's just "standard tracked delivery" and whatever eBay choose is what you get!! Big regression!!!!

[neovass0]

Sorry, can anyone confirm if you send out and don't use the paid for simple delivery label, you will still get paid for your item after 14 days ? My biggest concern was if you ignored the label and it wasn't used, tracking would show no movement and ebay would assume no delivery, then automatically refund the buyer, leaving the seller out of pocket!

[tressygirl]

You will be paid,  it's a minimum of 14 days,  as other factors come into play ,  such as if you are a new or returning seller ,  if it's an item say a little different from the usual that you are selling,  or one of greater value than usual, then your payout could be held longer, 30 days, but you will be paid !

@neovass0 

[ilovecollectables]

They are only offering me Simple Delivery - and its not simple as theyll only give me a QR code and I want labels

[dougbat20]

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@ilovecollectables wrote:

They are only offering me Simple Delivery - and its not simple as theyll only give me a QR code and I want labels

---

There is a documented work-around, which I used yesterday with success!

Set your item price to above £750 (which then isn't eligible for SD)

Then choose the dimensions as 21kg and 62x47x47cm (just larger than a medium parcel)

Then you can select a custom postage option (I.e. Other 48 hour courier)

Once your custom postage is selected, go back and change the price to what you want

It should still recognize as oversize for SD and keep your custom postage option!

Important for me as I have used InPost before and also occasionally FedEx (as we have a FedEx collection daily at work).

[soniaandpaul]

Well done! I’m going to try that. No doubt they’ll close that loop hole eventually. 

[bluezard]

I have the same problem - they have taken away the choice, despite previously stating that it would be remain for items under £10 and so on - I have rang them and messaged their customer service, but the agents don't seem to know much more than the users and they don't take any action to reinstate the option that allows you to decide how you post off your own stuff!

I've been a private seller for 20 years and have been able to cope with sending my sold items for that long (it's hardly rocket science) - I like choice, but apparently that is now no longer a possibility??? All I am doing now is stopping selling smaller, lighter cheaper items, as well as any heavier, large items I want to sell, owing to the unnecessarily highly restrictive and  higher costs Ebay impose on such things! - For example I sold an old bathroom sink the other day (on my wife's account and managed to use a parcel service that only cost me £7.19 for 25kg for the package  - There are no options on so called 'simple delivery' to even post such things. The closest option (Royal Mail 20kg parcel) which would have cost about two times as much!  

I guess Ebay corporate are making some money out of the postage in some deal with Royal Mail and Evri - that's all I can guess is going on? 

[superyagi-antennas]

cant do that i tried once you select  your carrier   collect plus and then go back and change the price it goes back to simple delivery again

[3942rick2005]

You have to follow my steps exactly for it to work.  

https://community.ebay.co.uk/t5/Seller-Central/how-do-you-list-anything-bigger-than-61cm/td-p/788244...

[edwardian-dreams]

They can only close it once they provide the service they are supposed to provide 

besides it’s not really a loophole 

you’re doing nothing wrong in selecting large parcel for a large item which doesn’t exist in ebays universe at the moment for many things that ARE large

Eg a 2m sofa gives me a large letter and no custom option 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

[thefootyflogger]

Does anyone have the answer? 👇👇

I know that:

Simple delivery is becoming the only option for PRIVATE SELLERS. (Those who sell a little now and then). 

So how can I start using Custom postage again? 

I know:

I'll have to become a paying seller (upgrade to a business seller) and possibly start paying fees on my listings in order to use custom postage.

What should my next step be if I want to use custom postage but pay as little as I can to do so? 

I used to have a couple of items listed up which I would use for drop shipping only.  I could sell a few now and then but only via Custom Postage as I didn't physically have the item. 

I don't sell a tone of these items each month so I'd like to know how much it will costs to be a business seller on eBay. Is it monthly costs + fees? Or just fees added to each listing? 

If any current Business Sellers can let me know that would be highly appreciated as I'm currently completely off eBay due to this implementation by eBay. 

#freetosell more like #toogoodtobetrue

[3942rick2005]

"Does anyone have the answer? 

I know that:

Simple delivery is becoming the only option for PRIVATE SELLERS. (Those who sell a little now and then). 

So how can I start using Custom postage again? "

I have already given the answer.