Legally..where do we stand with regards to all this?

[*maetrix*]

Supposing as of next week I sell an item on ebay & decide to write out my own address label,take it to the post office as i've done for the last 16 years and send it "Royal Mail signed for"...the buyer gets the parcel delivered,I get a notification from Royal Mail to say it's been delivered.....

..then what happens?

 Do ebay refuse to release my funds because I haven't used their silly little "simple delivery" rules?...are they legally allowed to do that if the seller has carried out his/her obligation of getting the sold item to the buyer?

[buffster1963]

You would probably get paid after 14 days but would be paying the postage out of your own pocket. 

[jigosawrus]

Hi buffster1963

This is something that I've been wondering too, especially as I currently offer free postage on all my listings.

Love your reply - except for the word "probably".

Maybe it's worth a test case.

[buffster1963]

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@jigosawrus wrote:

Hi buffster1963

This is something that I've been wondering too, especially as I currently offer free postage on all my listings.

Love your reply - except for the word "probably".

Maybe it's worth a test case.

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You can use free postage with simple delivery but then the postage is taken from your sae payment to send you the label. 

[jigosawrus]

Duh..... silly me - of course! Just goes to show how much all this nonsense has addled my brain!

[akemp1]

I think the more interesting question is "Legally.. where do ebay stand with regards to all this?" as they are clearly leveraging their position as the dominant second hand marketplace to force their unwanted and overpriced postage service onto buyers (and sellers who offer free postage). Is it legal or market abuse? That's the question I have been pondering today.

[department28]

I'm not sure if eBay will even let you see the buyer's postal address with Silly Simple... you'll get to see it if you opt for a printed label as opposed to a QR code, but by then it's a fait accompli, as the postage will have been paid for - either by you, or the buyer.

I don't think I've ever been so confused by anything...😕

[podlingsmum2007]

I dropped off an item today using the QR code. No idea the address or even the buyers name as post office staff stuck the label on and dropped it into a sack.

[department28]

I've never liked the idea of QR codes. I don't trust them, and I want to see the buyer's address, so I can make sure there are no errors etc - and I like to see where the parcel is going.

[podlingsmum2007]

Yes I agree. There is no option to correct an address which is wrong in some way. 

[andha-21]

I think you've seen some of my trap posts.

The EDD and 3 days turnaround definitely is.

The SD postage labels look like they could be too.

Well what I'm seeing now is this;

eBay are creating specific terms of sale with the buyer

So if the sellers don't realise those terms they are making eBay liable for claims.

Now they sanction are accounts for late delivery and other similar things anyway.

What would they do if we made them liable?

If we deliver late, they are open for claims.

If we don't use the label the buyer bought from eBay that creates a scenario where eBay are in breach of sales contract.

I'm not certain, obviously, but that looks like the whole trap.

All the components of SD almost guarantee we cannot fulfill their contract with the buyer, at least not all the time so what have they got planned for that?

[werew_16]

The email I get from eBay with any QR code also details the address further down. You can also follow the print label option to see it I think. 

[akemp1]

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@andha-21 wrote:

I think you've seen some of my trap posts.

---

There's not much I can add other than I share the view that ebay seem to have been offering buyers unrealistically quick delivery dates.

It's clearly a statement to induce the buyer to enter into a contract for the purchase. Now the challenge may be that a future delivery date is not a statement of fact it would probably be considered a statement of opinion or future intention. However if it could be shown that the opinion was not genuinely held at the time it was made then a claim of misrepresentation may be upheld.

[waytogo2]

Yup, the unrealistic delivery dates has been a thing for some time. It's to draw the buyers in, but causes no end of issues when item doesn't arrive within that date. It's been my main bugbear with Ebay. This is why when I send a standard mail item, I message every single buyer to state that the delivery date shown is usually inaccurate and down to Ebay, not me, the Seller. I ask them to be patient and give it a little extra time before making contact.

[daleswoman1]

I think the simple answer is that what the buyer has paid in postage doesn't come to you.  Ebay takes it in order to buy the shipping label and makes a 25p profit on top.

[*maetrix*]

I ordered a blu ray from an ebay seller this morning - about 30 minutes later I got a message from the seller (a business company btw) telling me that they've got to order the item in which may take 12 days - if i'm not happy with that then they're willing to cancel & refund - So there are we busting our guts to get items delivered on time whilst the above nonsense is being allowed.

As for postage fees etc etc i'm about as confused as you can get now as to who's paying how much or what - anyhow,my sales are going on hold as of the 6th to see how this pans out.

Thankyou ebay for truly making something which has been so so simple now as confusing as hell.

[vinylscot]

If you think eBay is only making 25p in profit, I think you are sadly mistaken.

With the volume of projected business, the deals eBay will have struck with RM and Evri will probably give them a profit of well over £1.00 for every single parcel sent. 

They missed an opportunity for some decent publicity - they could have priced SD a little lower than RM/Evri prices, and still made an enormous profit, but they've been too greedy, assuming they had a captive market. 

[daleswoman1]

Agreed.  They also missed an opportunity by not being up front with us the sellers as to what their intentions were instead of fobbing off worries about not being able to send combined invoices etc.  They have potentially lost many private sellers through treating us this way.  With simple delivery we probably won't even know who our customers are, where they are located etc.  I have made lots of connections through ebay, had lots of interesting conversations about my hobby but that is all now lost.