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.

[kath3735_wxmjn]

I have relisted some items since the 7th when i delisted everything, was put on to SD last week but apart from two i am experimenting with i have still managed to get them listed on custom postage!!

[vinylscot]

The "weight-guessing" software is not supposed to be particularly accurate. It's only meant to be a guide, and they have allowed for the majority of their errors in their contracts with the delivery companies.

There will be teething problems, as there always are with something new, but give it time, and see if it settles down.

I think it's telling that there really have been very few complaints on here of weight errors actually causing real problems, in the real world. What we have, is loads of folk extrapolating what they think might happen, and almost invariably assuming the worst.

[*mercator*]

Just spent 25 minutes trying to get round simple delivery  on one item

think I will stop listing after 20 years

[akemp1]

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@vinylscot wrote:

The "weight-guessing" software is not supposed to be particularly accurate. It's only meant to be a guide, and they have allowed for the majority of their errors in their contracts with the delivery companies.

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Yeah it's just an enabler to ebay making money on the postage.

Like the AI descriptions it doesn't matter if it's guff as nobody at ebay cares.

[sunflowers4me59]

Have you tried clicking on the oblong box with postage weights on. Scroll right to bottom and custom delivery should come up.  Then click on + primary options or services, then choose what you want.

[*mercator*]

Did try but when clicking package size option the whole page just kept freezing 

[the_book_seekers]

I think it's telling that there really have been very few complaints on here of weight errors actually causing real problems, in the real world. What we have, is loads of folk extrapolating what they think might happen, and almost invariably assuming the worst.

I agree with trying it before deciding you don't like it, but as for what problems are being caused in the real world - we have no idea one way or the other. There will be those who take their problems to customer services and never come here. There will be those who come here, find out what they want to know and never post a thing. 

[gmij1961]

Yes but to compensate for Ebays weight guessing software customers are being charged more for service they would have been if they had been allowed to measure things accurately  .  In light of that some people would be entitled to think they are being ripped off

And despite what you say there seems to enough evidence on this post to substantiate  that . In the real world not everyone sell flat 12 inch vinyl disks  do they   🙂 

It could work if they allowed customers to specify weight and size ,  so to blunt that is the only way it will only ever work properly . !

[ruby*ryan]

I have had 2 sales now with SD. Both look fine so far (won't actually be going anywhere until tomorrow). One, as I reported earlier saved the buyer the extra 'remote location' cost on Evri, as they were only charged the standard rate, the other was the same price as I would have paid if buying directly from RM.  The weight labels were correct for both items.

[wiganyankeeron]

The problem occurs when IT DOES GO WRONG. Take your parcel to the Post
Office they weigh it and tell you the cost. 100% correct. Use SD you can't
be 100% sure that the estimated weight size/weight will be correct. As it
appears all the Post Office delivery centres aren't all "Singing from the
same Hymn Sheet" Who stands the cost when the Postie asks for the extra
delivery costs from the buyer?????

RON,

[ruby*ryan]

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@wiganyankeeron wrote:
The problem occurs when IT DOES GO WRONG. Take your parcel to the Post
Office they weigh it and tell you the cost. 100% correct. Use SD you can't
be 100% sure that the estimated weight size/weight will be correct. As it
appears all the Post Office delivery centres aren't all "Singing from the
same Hymn Sheet" Who stands the cost when the Postie asks for the extra
delivery costs from the buyer?????

RON,

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Haven't set foot in a PO for years, and have no intention of ever doing so again anytime soon!
I weigh my items at home, and pre-SD used to just buy the correct label via eBay/Evri/RM. With SD I still weigh my item, make sure I have selected the correct button - Large Letter, parcel etc and, as I said, both labels I have had so far are correct.

Are you saying that you never weigh your items before listing? How do you know how much postage to charge?

[judydoodles]

Warning: <<Incoherent Waffle Warning>>

Regarding the guess-the-weight-of-a-parcel: ebay/Royal Mail/Evri etc could have negotiated a very simple ebay-platform-only payment structure, distinct from the current weight and sizes available to all classes of sender in the UK.  Simple as in small (eg 1kg any size and large (any size over 1 kg - possibly a middle tier would work too).  When the label is printed and includes the word "Market Place Seller" then there's no need for the post office counter to read and check the actual size and weight - they just accept it and it goes into the delivery system.   Let the AI guess and underwrite any mistakes it makes.....now that could have been a possible simplification sellers might have found tempting had SD been presented in that way before the start of the wavy roll-out 🌊.

The problem with using different companies' cannibalized existing measurements, is that they have tweaked the size and weight rules but the communication with sellers and the third parties (post office counters and corner shops) is the usual confusing drip-fed nonsense.  

I won't be "helping" by adding size and weights to my listings, particularly if that means I'll be liable for any underpayments.  Let the AI decide because then the seller isn't picking up the tab for shortfalls. 

Ebay could remove from the label any info about weight and amount charged to the buyer for shipping which then removes from the post office staff the temptation to check the weight and measurements are correct IRL.  PO staff are conditioned to check size and weight against the label on the package and it's a hard habit to break.  I bet there'll still be staff querying parcels for months to come.

Ebay must have a vague idea what is the estimated difference between overpayments and underpayments when they were negotiating with RM, Evri etc?  Or maybe not?

At the delivery end maybe there isn't going to be any shortfall billed to ebay; maybe the "simple" agreement would be accepting these vague labels in the hope that the overpayments cancel out the underpaid labels...

Long and rambling for which I apologise - in the vacuum of reliable explanation my mind tends to wander and you'll never get back the minutes you spent reading this.

It's crushingly disappointed that a giant like ebay hasn't considered all the kinks that posters have been questioning since the first announcements; that they don't spend enough time contingency planning or hiring staff to write simple, unequivocal, easy to follow procedures which have sufficient built-in certainty and resilience from day one.

[wiganyankeeron]

Most of my items are letter or large letter. Only the odd one i.e. a large
book I've weighed. When I have stuck the equivalent postage stamps on and
sent it tracked. However I get FREE POSTAGE for 99% of my items courtesy
of my friend who posts A LOT of items a week from his company. A couple more
aint gong to bankrupt him He does it as a THANK YOU for all the help I
give him
You only have to look at what some of the large book sellers sell their
books for with FREE POSTAGE.. Less than "Joe Public" has to pay for the
postage cost alone, for the equivalent book. They pay "Peanuts" for their
postage.

RON,

[gmij1961]

"The "weight-guessing" software is not supposed to be particularly accurate. " is  a laughable  thing to say  from someone who is quite  often overtly critical of other peoples posts ! 

If you are selling a service that is primarily based on dimensions and weight then there is very probably  ( almost definitely ) a legal requirement that say's it has to be accurate  and Ebay simply can't pass that buck back to the seller when Ebay get it wrong as their software is not fit for purpose . 

[sml192]

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@gmij1961 wrote:

"The "weight-guessing" software is not supposed to be particularly accurate. " is  a laughable  thing to say  from someone who is quite  often overtly critical of other peoples posts ! 

If you are selling a service that is primarily based on dimensions and weight then there is very probably  ( almost definitely ) a legal requirement that say's it has to be accurate  and Ebay simply can't pass that buck back to the seller when Ebay get it wrong as their software is not fit for purpose . 

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Business contracts work on averages (average size, average weight, and average price) so no it doesn't need to be accurate. 

[recordz12]

Just sold my first listing with SD.......not sure if I made a mistake when listing or eBay changed it, but I meant to use custom delivery and now I feel violated!! I then went to my printer to print off the label and it decides to print irregular with everything offset and unreadable....It was so simple for me to get RM to collect from my home when I had things to go, but now I have a dodgy printer and a trip to the post office now.....How difficult can you possibly make things Ebay......I'm almost done with you!!!!!!!

[werew_16]

I switched everything early April to SD but have since changed back to custom. I much prefer it that way and hope it continues. We'll see if I'm forced into SD later.

[closetothedee]

Last night after someone said that if sellers didn’t move with the times they could be cutting their nose off to spite their face I was tempted to relist one of the items I took off when simple delivery started. Everything was as it used to be until I reached the postage - my account was one of those moved over to Simple Delivery at the beginning of April and I had opted not to use Evri, meaning that all my sales would be despatched with Royal Mail.
When the recommended package size for my item was shown it was way bigger than Royal Mail’s small parcel size and far larger than I needed. What I was selling definitely wouldn’t fit into a large letter so with no custom sizing option available for me there was no choice but to accept what eBay offered.
In packing terms this didn’t matter, but the statement that the buyer would pay a minimum of £3.44 left me wondering what was meant by this. Does anyone know?
Bearing in mind that prior to special delivery I would have charged the buyer £3.45 for Royal Mail’s Tracked 48 service eBay’s 1p cheaper price difference fell way short of the 20% postage saving that was promised as benefit of simple delivery.
If I offered free postage it was clear I would pay the £3.44 quoted (which I would off set by upping the asking price) but again the promised 20% postage saving was nowhere to be seen.
It seems to me that eBay sees nothing wrong in selling something on the basis of false promises, yet if we as sellers did the same and buyers complained they’d find in their favour?straightaway.
Although it seems that I could make special delivery work for me I’m still not convinced about eBay’s motives for implementing it or indeed their honesty about the service being offered. I feel they are being very economical with the truth

Sent from my iPhone

[parsley2003]

The buyer can't choose courier if there is a choice of 2 on the listing but they can choose standard or express. If they chose Express the cost would be more than the £3.44. They say that the seller does not have to post quicker than their stated time but express would get there sooner. However i feel that the buyer would expect it to be posted same or next day and can see problems with this

[theelench]

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@vinylscot wrote:

I think it's telling that there really have been very few complaints on here of weight errors actually causing real problems, in the real world. What we have, is loads of folk extrapolating what they think might happen, and almost invariably assuming the worst.

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I think it's more likely that there are few complaints on here because no-one on here is using it.

I think of all the thousands of comments just on this thread I remember about six who had no qualms and they were because they were below some magic number of grams and sold for less than £10, so exempt.  They were only happy because they were exempt, not because they thought SD was a good idea. 

Are any of the business sellers who keep telling us, as though they are insignificant, that there will inevitably be teething problems, they'll eventually be sorted and when they are SD will actually be easier for private sellers ?

Would you be so calm and un-concerned if ebay announced that, as at least some of the problems had been sorted, from next Monday ebay would start migrating business sellers to SD ?  So you too could take advantage of this great opportunity to simplify your delivery arrangements.