eBay will never admit that they have got this wrong (SD).
At the moment, they seem to have paused the rollout, and made it simpler for those NOT already on SD to continue listing using custom postage. I listed a few items on my private account last night, and I don't need to actively choose custom postage in any of them - it was the default setting, whereas, SD had been the default setting for a few weeks, although I could over-ride it then.
The new "Deadline" of 20th May allows them time to make adjustments, if they so wish. Scrapping SD is a non-starter. It does actually work for a great many sellers and buyers. Besides ironing out some of the teething troubles, like combined postage, large letters, etc, I think eBay have one ace up their sleeve which would make SD much more attractive.
It's been widely reported that eBay will make an enormous amount of profit from SD, certainly well over a pound (nearer two) for every large letter sent, probably considerably more than that (over 50% on parcels). Although some price points are a little cheaper under SD, many are not, and there is a general feeling that this is far more about profit than service (some may argue that's how it should be, but there is a balance to be had)
What if eBay made SD optional BUT cancelled the fixed element of the Buyers Prevention Fee which buyers currently pay to any private seller, applying it only to those who did not use SD? That 72p wouldn't make much difference to eBay.
This would give sellers (certainly small private sellers) an incentive to use SD, and give buyers an incentive to buy from sellers who offer it.
This would have the bonus of reducing the grumbling about the BPF, as well as reducing end prices for those willing to use SD. It may be the incentive some buyers/sellers need.
At the moment we are only being told by eBay that SD is great. We are seeing little to demonstrate that it is.
Looking simply at prices, the prices aren't any lower than an average buyer could access himself, and he would often also choose a better service. That means eBay is retaining 100% of the massive amount of profit they are making with this RM/PO/Evri deal.
If they don't want to drop BPF, they certainly have plenty headroom to drop prices. As stated above, even on large letters, they're making well over a pound on every single package. As the price goes up, so does their profit.
Eliminating part of the BPF, and/or reducing SD prices across the board (not to "Giveaway" prices, just to something a little fairer to your buyers and sellers) would each go a long way to making SD much more palatable.
