NO LONGER SELLING DUE TO SIMPLE DELIVERY

[rugbyguy1960]

AS OF 15TH APRIL MY DAYS AS A PRIVATE EBAY SELLER WILL STOP AFTER 19 YEARS.

I AM FED UP OF THE GREED OF EBAY AND I HOPE OTHER EBAY SELLERS DECIDE TO NO LONGER LET THE EBAY CONTROL FREAKS HAVE THIS MUCH CONTROL OVER PRIVATE SELLERS.

[theelench]

Someone on these boards once said that the only way to get a site that's perfect for you is to build your own!

I think the reverse is also true, any site that you haven't built yourself won't ever be perfect for you.  It will always have good bits and not so good bits.  

What ebay has forgotten is that for a site to be popular with buyers and sellers, there should be more good bits than the not so good.  So keep it simple.

Again, going by my experience on ebid, which has several different selling levels and fee structures attached, there are still discussions (sometimes heated) about whether or not fees should be increased to build an advertising budget, which just illustrates the above.

I use one of the lower seller levels in combination with Platinum Listings that costs me 5p per listing and a FVF of 5%.  That gives me some of the advantages of a higher Level but costs me slightly more, but it works for me.  Would I have joined if knew that I'd have to pay a monthly fee towards the cost of advertising?

Only if it was very low, my sales for the first 5/6 years were in single digits, only since Covid lock-downs have they doubled and more.

Perhaps  a better way of levying the monthly fee would be on sales?  0-5 sales = £1.  5-10 sales = £1.50. 10-20 sales = £2.  But even that wouldn't be popular with everyone.  My average sale price is £15 but there are a lot of stamp and postcard sellers on the other site selling items from between a few pennies to £1-£2 .

It might not be as easy as it seems to get fees to suits everyone, but simplicity and honesty up front would go a long way to making your site popular.

[theelench]

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@ja142868 wrote:

Yes in desktop view, on the right hand search list, scroll to bottom and you will see sold tick box, tick and voila here are all the sold items for the last 90 days

In mobile select filter tab - scroll  down -  click on "show more" and its at the bottom.

It's a great tool for researching prices, I use it all the time.

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Are you talking about ebid?  Whatever view I've got I can't find it and I've been there for years!!

[theelench]

Thanks,  neither do I.   Sorry for giving wrong info..  I'll have to investigate!!

[nikolai6]

This move to Simple Delivery has ended my ability to use eBay. after more than 20 years  I live rurally and Evri and RM don't collect.  A drop off to Evri or RM is over an hour round trip (Evri more like 1.5-2 hours) - totally impractical for small sales - and I sell long parcels sometimes which are over the RM limit.  I have no options left.  No idea why they didn't include Parcelforce in this. Thanks for nothing, eBay, and goodbye.

[ja142868]

Not ebid, but ebay. 

[sizzenergy]

Ebay have forgotten that it is the Private sellers, back in the 1990s and 2000s, that made Ebay what it is today

[edwardian-dreams]

Your larger items will still be able to be sent by custom delivery (parcel force)

there you can pick any carrier you want)

click on switch to custom delivery at the bottom of the page with the weights / package size

this is what shows but I have evri disabled ….

[ja142868]

Same here, Ive used interparcel for years and never had a problem. 

Their customer service is uk based and very efficient. 

Unlike rm or evri that are nearly uncontactable

[nikolai6]

I am 99% sure that the custom delivery option will be removed on 15 April - it has been there during the interim before Simple Delivery becomes compulsory...

[edwardian-dreams]

No, it won’t if it’s for exempted items from SD ie

- under 100g and less than £10 Postable size

- heavier than 20kg

- larger than a medium size RM parcel

- over 750£

- prohibited items eg nail varnish paints and other things I believe

see paragraph that says more about what can and can’t be sent with SD

https://community.ebay.co.uk/t5/Announcements/Updates-on-Simple-Delivery-automated-positive-feedback...

[sandandsea]

I also won’t be selling on eBay due to the forced imposition of simple delivery( & seller protection)  and have just delisted my items. It was very nice to have a period of zero fees- but I would much rather go back to the old fee system where I knew where I was and could charge a realistic fee for PACKING & postage costs. The “buyer protection fee” and “ simple delivery” have made it impossible to sell for a sensible price and not worth the effort  to sell clutter from my home.  A couple of car  boot sales a year and then offloading to charity shops will be my way forward!  Rather sad to have to do this and will await developments- maybe eBay will have a rethink when their sales from private sellers fall off a cliff. Or maybe they just don’t want private sellers any more? Can’t see that I will be buying much either- getting too expensive as a buyer with all these extras to pay for. 

[fantailsforme]

Simple Delivery | UK Seller Centre

eBay recommend packing your parcels with bubble wrap, peanuts, foam or paper - all at your own expense though because you cannot charge separately for it.

[moonlight-rhapsody]

^ Yes, and if you add the packaging cost to the price of the item, the buyer thinks you're trying to be greedy, whereas previously the buyer could see a legitimate P&P cost.

[forestfeline62]

Our local Mountain warehouse ,has lidded skips in the carpark  behind the shop and are happy for us to take what card and other packaging we want ,the trainer boxes make really good packages and are a small parcel size and they also bag up their polythene  into sacks ,that we take too because the polythene when scrunched up makes excellent padding ,better than bubble wrap and protect delicate Items really well and it is light  .I recently sold a glass jug and matching glass and the buyer said in his feedback that the item was well packed . It can be worth going into some shops and asking for packaging as it is recycling too and free .Tesco put empty boxes out for customers to take too ,wine boxes and other boxes but we often have to cut them down to make them a small parcel size . 

[nikolai6]

I have been advised that to use Parcelforce I would not be able to upload the tracking to my listing (I would email it to the buyer) and would be paid two weeks after delivery is confirmed.  If there is an issue or dispute then I would not be covered as it's not been sent through SD.

[fantailsforme]

Thank you forestfeline62 for the advice on where to get packaging materials, much appreciate but I don't often go into town as there are hardly any shops there worth making the effort for.  Plus I'm short and my bicycle has only got 24" wheels hence my bicycle basket is only small and is usually packed with groceries.

[edwardian-dreams]

Oh

If true then that’s rather pants at best

 not sure it is though

i will do some reading around

[sumnites]

Just discovered after trying to use Evri for the first time in ages they have 2 'standard' charges, one to deliver to a drop off hub...cheapest...and a second to actually deliver to a home or business address (excluding any extras for more remote postcodes which is another issue)  Has ebay negotiated a home delivery rate or will buyers be faced with another surprise when selecting postage especially as Evri try to make out they are cheap until you see the not so small print. For ebay to penalise sellers for blocking Evri option is disgusting.

[infohelps]

Not sure if you have had a reply or not, but even free delivery listings will come under mandatory simple delivery.  You will get a label or QR code with the postage rate determined by EBay  and that will be deducted from your payment. However, you will need to be careful because eBay will migrate existing listings over using AI to determine how much postage will cost.  So if they underestimate the size or weight of something, you could find that you have underpaid when you get to the post office. No one seems to know what happens then.  

[wiganyankeeron]

What if you don't download or use the Ebay label? Ive read somewhere in the Royal Mail info That if the label isn't used within a certain number of days they will issue a refund to the buyer. If Ebay is the 'buyer' are they obliged to refund you the cost if they have taken it from your payment???