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.

[goodibags]

" if a seller let Ebay step in then they used to get a defect."

Yup, it's completely UNintuitive. How are buyers expected to hassle Ebay? Goodness knows what Ebay is 'managing' with Ebay Managed Delivery?

In the case of lost items it feels like a seller will almost invariably have to contact C.S. Either to give them a nudge on behalf of a buyer waiting for a refund, or to persuade them remove a seller defect for Ebay failing to provide the service the buyer has paid them for? Or, even worse, begging for a buyer refund to be refunded to them?

It does a feel a bit lose-lose with SD.

[joandgray]

Just another seller here venting their frustration at eBay's 'simple delivery' for not providing an option for posting items as 'letter' sized, and forcing an oversized, and overpriced 'large letter' option for my listings.

I've generally been happy with, or at least put up with, eBay over the last 20+ years of selling, but with this simple delivery fiasco, I will finally be shifting my items to other platforms to offer my customers better value for their money.

[jonatjonatjonat]

Why not become a Business Seller?

[prelovedtreasures-3]

Yeah this thread is really making me change my mind about selling with collection in person only. 
simple delivery sounds fantastic. Can’t wait to not use it 

[vinylscot]

I can see that eBay's SD is very unintuitive, but when it comes to refunds, etc., nothing has changed with regard to the first step.

You ask your buyer to raise a return request, or an INR.

Then, depending on the reason given for the request, eBay may step in, and sellers will only need to deal with INADs. Damaged items and INRs will be dealt with by eBay.

As always, if you just refund voluntarily, outside eBay's set-down procedure, you're just opening yourself up to all sorts of complications. That was the case pre-SD, and nothing has changed now.

[inpoughkeepsie]

Absolute disgrace, are they going to hike the prices on the evri service if you only select those as a courier? Not a chance in hell. It won’t affect my judgement if and when I choose to buy/sell again, RM only.

[punzel9072]

As always, if you just refund voluntarily, outside eBay's set-down procedure, you're just opening yourself up to all sorts of complications. That was the case pre-SD, and nothing has changed now.

Not really the same as pre-SD at all. If, in the past, an item was lost in the post, I would refund the buyer and I would make my claim to Royal Mail. Buyer gets refund quickly and I eventually get reimbursed by Royal Mail. Everybody happy and no complications. Fortunately I have only had to do this on a tiny handful of occasions over the last 20 years of selling on eBay.

Now, apparently, you're saying "You ask your buyer to raise a return request, or an INR (?)". And then "depending on the reason given for the request, eBay may step in, and sellers will only need to deal with INADs (?). Damaged items and INRs (?) will be dealt with by eBay." Sounds a lot more different, and complicated for everybody involved.

[goodibags]

" if you just refund voluntarily, outside eBay's set-down procedure, you're just opening yourself up to all sorts of complications. That was the case pre-SD, and nothing has changed now"

That's not true. Previously, the SELLER bought the postage and therefore could claim from and be refunded by the courier when an item got lost. Now Ebay is doing the buying, therefore it can ONLY be Ebay that gets to claim back the cost of the item. It definitely HAS changed, quite significantly. I'm surprised you haven't noticed. 

Also, what is the mechanism by which Ebay refund? Marco seemed to be suggesting that the buyer is expected to wait another 3 days before asking Ebay to step in. There doesn't seem to be much proactive managing going on. How does Ebay ensure that the seller is not pressured into acting?

I guess we won't know until it happens to us. We'll just have to remember not to fall for the obvious mistake.

[vinylscot]

It wouldn't be the first time someone posted on these boards, saying they refunded a buyer voluntarily, only to have an INR case raised against them too.

and to @punzel9072 - how often have you seen posts with sellers moaning that RM have only given them  book of stamps, or even nothing?

Usually, it gets sorted out eventually, but it's really a lot easier just to stick to the procedures which are laid down. Just tell the buyer that eBay will deal with it, and move on. If you need to do anything, eBay will let you know.

And, please, tell me how it makes it any worse for the seller when eBay makes the refund. The seller keeps the payment, so is no worse off than they would have been if the item had been delivered, and hasn't had all the hassle of chasing up RM, etc.

I get that people don't like change, but this is one of the few aspects of SD which is clearly much better than what went before.

[goodibags]

I don't understand why a seller would refund a buyer if there was no problem whatsoever? Does that really  come up on the boards regularly? I've never seen a case like that. Can you remember the circumstances, why they felt they needed to do that and what happened next?

As you say, the SD procedures ARE new (so not at all the same as pre-SD then) while sellers and buyers need to be made better aware of them. So each knows when the ball is in the other's court, as it were. That was my point too. And RM do not pay out in books of stamps (I've received a cheque) and I'm pretty certain that Ebay would not accept them as payment even if they did.

Yes, seller keeps funds would seem to be a good outcome under SD, saving the hassle of having to make a courier claim. Possibly even save a bit of time? But given the various hurdles and conditions that now seem to be attached, I also wonder how rare it may become too?

[garrand9ad]

It's never affecting me at all.

[wellingnorth]

In the past if a buyer had contacted me regarding a missing item and had been patient I would more often than not have just issued a refund without getting them to open a case which was easier for the buyer and refunded fees as well. Obviously I know not to do that with Simple Delivery but it seems like an another area where more work is needed on the implementation. Ebay are aware if an item is sold through simple delivery so they should really intervene if you're making a refund and warn you not to if it relates to an item lost or damaged in transit. 

Regarding delivery claims in general If I understand it correctly I think one of the undersold benefits of Simple Delivery is that there's no longer the discrepancy where ebay's deadline for considering an item lost was shorter than Royal Mail's - so you'd have to refund before you could claim, and then depend on the buyer's goodwill if it arrived in the interim. That should be avoided now I think. 

[goodibags]

Yes, it feels counter-intuitive in that you now do the opposite of what you may have done before, like having to wait instead of taking action to provide better customer service. I haven't had an item not received case for a while but the timescales often felt wrong to me (case opened after just a few days?) so I'd probably  have been flirting with some kind of defect from Ebay for asking a buyer to wait a reasonable time. 

It'd be nice to think Ebay would provide better management of the process should problems arise but it probably won't be in their interest to do so. As you say, Ebay's deadlines were often tighter than the couriers' anyway, so the waiting period will probably have to grow to close it. That may be good in some ways but may also put more pressure on the seller to actually do something.

[wellingnorth]

In my messages now I sometimes see 'Your buyer has reached out about their order. Since you used Simple Delivery, we'll work with your buyer directly on any delivery related questions.' 

I'm not sure under what circumstances that is shown or what messages they're sending to buyers, but you would think that they would be getting involved in any messages suggesting damage in transit or loss, directing the buyer to open a case. 

[goodibags]

Or its' just standard text that appears alongside any buyer/seller communication, like 'I'll post this tomorrow' and 'Thank you for letting me know'?

[podlingsmum2007]

I might be wrong in my thinking that the buyer protection fee collected by ebay is for covering these refunds where the buyer and seller both get their money. I suspect ebay will not be claiming against the couriers due to the fact they've struck a deal to get postage labels for peanuts. Most transactions will complete successfully so they are very much up on the deal.

[wellingnorth]

It's hard to say, I had one exchange with a buyer post sale where this message appeared and it also seemed like there was a missing message in the conversation. When I got in touch with customer services they told me that the buyer had asked 'when will it arrive' but who knows if that was really the case. The phrasing is ambiguous for sure. 

[podlingsmum2007]

Perhaps the messaging is all ai

[punzel9072]

and to @punzel9072 - how often have you seen posts with sellers moaning that RM have only given them  book of stamps, or even nothing?

I've no idea what other sellers have encountered when claiming from Royal Mail as I can only speak from personal experience. I have always received compensation from Royal Mail when an item has not been delivered (as I always have a proof of posting) - either books of stamps for low-value items such as my bus maps, or in the case of claims for lost eBay items, a cheque including the cost of postage.

And, please, tell me how it makes it any worse for the seller when eBay makes the refund. The seller keeps the payment, so is no worse off than they would have been if the item had been delivered, and hasn't had all the hassle of chasing up RM, etc.

If eBay aren't prompt in refunding the buyer, or the buyer has to 'complain' to eBay because they've not been able to converse with the seller, it will be the seller that gets poor feedback or ratings because the buyer may not necessarily know or understand the convoluted 3-way transaction between eBay/seller/buyer, and the buyer may end up dissatisfied with the transaction.

In how many other businesses does a buyer have to go to a third party to get a refund in the event of a problem? In my experience, you go to the company that you bought the item from - now that's SIMPLE!

[goodibags]

"In how many other businesses does a buyer have to go to a third party to get a refund in the event of a problem? In my experience, you go to the company that you bought the item from - now that's SIMPLE!"

This is also counterintuitive. If the buyer has been made to wait despite nudging the seller then it'll be the seller that gets poor feedback, not Ebay. 

It's the same as sellers being rated on the cost of postage. With SD this has absolutely nothing to do with them.

It'd be nice if buyers' feedback included ratings for Ebay's performance too.