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]

I agree, I've just looked at one of my Saved Searches, the first time in about a month.  A few more items for sale than I remember, it was about 180 last time but now just over 200.  Only 1 or 2 items selling each day, sometimes with a day or 2 between sales.  It never used to be like that, hardly ever a day went by without some sales.

Add on a few new items a each week and the un-solds begin to mount up.  It also looks like prices are dropping, a pair of Angelfish candle holders going for less than £100 (usually £120 +).  Two types of flower frogs sold for £10 and an amazingly low £7.50 (both getting near to half their usual price), just a few I remember.

I can't see myself starting to sell again, too much hassle and as I've just been reading elsewhere ebay still giving sellers grief by still telling buyers their purchase will arrive in two days as soon as the label is purchased when the seller has 2 days to get the item to the post office/drop off shop.

Life is so much more pleasant without the constant nagging from ebay, even if sales are harder to come by.  But at least Paypal doesn't make me wait up to 30 days for my money when they do happen. 

[suelel1968]

Hi @mintsource3000 . I had some magazines and rather than take them down i changed the category to a collectables "other" which is free from SD. Really, I was hoping for the October announcements to include another "we are listening" U-turn , but I find it a bit like talking to my deaf dad. He asks if i want a cup of tea, i say "yes" and 5 minutes later whilst he's drinking his tea he says "I thought you said you didn't want one!" So If they are listening they also need some new batteries for their hearing aid.

[mintsource3000]

Thanks, looks promising.

[gmij1961]

Another thing that annoys me about SD is that as soon as you download the label/QR code it automatically marks the item as "despatched".

That issue/feature/bug  actually predates SD as it would happen every time you paid postage via the Ebay site  but still high lights issues with Ebay's  design logic . However what the buyer should get is a message from the courier once its entered into their system , it also updates Ebay's tracking ! It would be far better if Ebay used the same trigger to mark the item as dispatched. 

A part from annoying a lot of long term regular sellers , SD has major credibility issues little fixes like the above would be a very small step in the right direction .

I really don't like SD but there are so many things Ebay could do to improve its credibility etc  . Its almost if they didn't want SD to succeed 

I should be down to the users to work out how they make SD work for themselves as that is just  a testament to how monumentally flawed SD is in the 1st place 

[fatbob*ian]

Totally agree with you regarding SD being made optional for sellers, I would love to get back to selling again (last sale April 4th) but with all the problems sellers appear to be suffering with and constant tinkering I just can't be bothered with the hassle that comes with it. Maybe one day but certainly not any time now.

[1956glyn]

I am finding that members are currently often  trying to scam me .............this never ever used to happen.    This in itself is enough for me to stop listing anything.   I refuse to send decent items (as described) to be sent back something else !!

[gmij1961]

Having not sold since February , I have spent some more time recently  looking at postage prices when browsing listing.  I am still buying as Ebay is one of the best places to buy obscure and unique items in my own field.  There is definitely less being sold and also because I can sell on items easily I don't want I am more careful with what I buy .

Looking at postal prices it really is all over the place , there are what I think a lot of sellers overriding the SD A1 suggested postage .  There are still sellers being able to select custom postage within the same categories ! . Its not difficult to work out with SD what the actual courier is if you compare it to the current SD price list , that really isn't a simple task but then not that difficult

To me there are too many items that I can clearly see that Ebay are over charging the buyer and the most common issue seems to be items judged as medium parcels for RM  or the weight being wrong for Evri .

You could argue with the sellers specifying their own postage costs then overcharging has always been an issue , However the seller has other costs and can justify a surcharge .  These are costs that Ebay  don't have so this really needs to be accurate to acceptable level.

Ebay do state that if you accept the  AI recommendation then the seller will not face a surcharge if its wrong ( The buyer is still overcharged ! ) . However Ebay do say that if the seller does not agree with they can change this based on the sellers own measuring etc then the seller can adjust .  So while canny sellers can accept an under priced recommendation Ebay have created a caveat that means they could start surcharging in the future

The other thing I am interested in is how Ebay adjust postage to cope with compensation on increasing  auction sale prices and what I have seen is the postage price quoted on the lists does not match the postage price quoted the bidding history . Not having experienced this yet a as a buyer  I can only assume the final postage price  quoted will adjusted to match the eventual sale price , which could cause issues with the buyer . This will be become more of an issue now RM have reduced compensation  to £75 

My conclusion as an experienced seller is I could still do a better job with arranging postage than Ebays SD  will ever do .  Which is precisely why I stopped selling in the 1st place. For SD to be remotely attractive it really does need to be so much better !

[infohelps]

I think this is a huge problem judging by Trustpilot reviews.  One I remember was a lady who sold a designer bag for £500.  The buyer claimed it was fake, so eBay refunded her without quibble, issuing a returns label.  The buyer kept the genuine bag and sent the fake one back to the seller.  The seller's account is now frozen and nobody at eBay will speak to her. 

As we know, there was always protection for buyers if they bought from private sellers, but this may not have been common knowledge to people who hadn't been using eBay regularly for years.  I fear that the 'loud trumpeting' of the 'benefits' of the BPF may have attracted those buyers whose sole purpose for using eBay is to exploit it.  

AI appears to be making the decisions about refunds etc and does not take into account the track record of the seller.  Selling for 20 years with 100% feedback is of no relevance to AI it would seem.    eBay appears to more often than not come down in favour of the buyer with no recourse for complaint.  Sellers report their accounts - and money - being frozen if they try to kick up a fuss.

Not only is Simple Delivery a nightmare, but there are now too many other issues that put me off selling.   If i ever do sell again it will only be my vintage knitting patterns because I don't think they are subject to  Simple Delivery (at least I don't think so!) that I scan before I post, and which I can afford to write off.  (Also I don't think knitting patterns are that attractive to the average scammer!)

In my opinion eBay selling is no longer worth the stress as we are being potentially 'scammed' from all sides.  I would never use Evri and so if I was selling again, and forced to use SD, I would have to exclude them and, from what I have read on this very useful thread, get ripped off by paying more for  Simple Delivery Royal Mail postage than if I went direct to the PO.    And then you run the risk of being scammed by your buyers, knowing that eBay will more than likely not have your back despite decades of loyalty, and thousands spent on the platform. 

I just don't think it's a safe place to sell any more. 

[marla_3725]

I think eBay's algorithms are deliberately suppressing demand if you don't "promote" your listing.

When I reluctantly (and hopefully briefly) returned to selling a week or so ago four items sold straight off.

But now nothing has sold for a week, views are down and I keep getting emails and messages asking me to promote my listings... make of that what you will!

Given that I'm making less per item anyway, because I reduce the price to allow for the extra fee the buyer has to pay, I'm not going to give eBay an extra 12% to "promote" the listing!

[blacksea213]

I agree. I have sold 2 items since April. But get constant emails about
promoting. And of course this costs!

[ja142868]

I'm selling obscure collectables and some are unique, no point in promoting these . So yes the algorithm is hiding listiings

[gmij1961]

As a buyer of unique collectables I always search under either "newly listed" or "ending soonest" under a high level category heading , so my search string can not be twisted etc 

Ebay searches always default to best match which just hides the genuine goodies  out their.  For "discerning" buyers like me promoted items get no preference  and are just a waste of money for the seller. 

Over promotion is actually a deterrent for buyers especially when it overrides a specific search string like AMZ  does . 

unfortunately most organisations are monumentally over influenced my "Marketing Experts"  or  in reality "failed" sales people   🙂