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.

[rugbyguy1960]

@archemily2

Welcome to the thread and thank you for the kudos.

[honeymonster007]

Yeah I guess but just thinking out loud I think there's a bigger picture going on

Do understand peoples frustration with it as been there a few months ago but going to stick me head above the parapet and say I quite like it now and find it easier, but do find waiting for your money a little frustrating. Am going to be bold and say you can even make a few extra bob out of it.

[rugbyguy1960]

I hope things work out OK for any seller who is making a go of things.

For me personally there is no incentive to start selling again and no real incentive to buy on here like I used to.

[honeymonster007]

Fair play for standing your ground and doing what you think is the right thing 👍

[rugbyguy1960]

Thank you.

It's not just a case of doing the right thing.

This platform as it is now is not viable for me.

SD just isn't a option, BPF effects me regarding buying, paying to promote a listing isn't for me. Having funds held is not helpful.

I just don't agree with all the changes made that end up costing a private seller more but who then get less in return.

But I do wish sellers all the best for accepting what this platform has become.

[moonlight-rhapsody]

---

In response to sdrummond-uk  "It does come up with the SD if you want to use it but custom postage is there as well"

@moonlight-rhapsody wrote:  "I've tried listing a DVD just now and custom postage wasn't available

---

The plot thickens.  I've just had another look at the draft, which was still showing Simple Delivery only.  I made a small change, re-saved the draft, had a look at it again, and this time it gave me the Custom Delivery option!

The change I made was to add a price, which I hadn't put in before.  So it seems that the system waits to make sure that the item is under £10 before giving you the Custom Delivery option, which I suppose is fair enough, but how are you to know that it's waiting for the price?  It would have been clearer if it had been set up the other way round, ie give all DVDs Custom Postage as the default, and remove it if the item goes over the £10 barrier.

[theelench]

They have all the advantages acquired through long hours of daily usage of this increasingly complicated, convoluted and complex site.  They have learnt the Tricks of the Trade, the short-cuts, work-arounds, the drop down dead-ends, where the hidden menus are etc, etc, etc.  When all else fails they have the boards to fall back on and know who gives reliable advice.  Not so for many private sellers who none of those things.

Not having to use Straight jacket Delivery is an advantage in itself as business sellers can use any carrier they choose, selecting the one with the T&Cs that suit the buyer, seller, the item and its value best and quote for it at cost price if they so choose. 

They don't have to rely on the limited, over priced choice of the two carriers given by ebay where who is insuring or guaranteeing what is still an unanswered question given that ebay seems to be picking which parts of carriers T&Cs it accepts or doesn't.

Yes, SD will probably get better with time, but NOW it's still a mess and it doesn't matter how often you tell private sellers to lap it up, stop moaning and keep selling (if they're lucky), increasingly private sellers are just (quite rightly) sick of ebay and its business bias.

[*maetrix*]

Music magpie are the worst of the worst imho.

Had awful experiences buying off of them years ago so stopped bothering...then gave them another go a few weeks ago - dvd box set,4 discs,supposedly in very good condition..well they turned up,all 4 discs were covered in some sort of sticky fingerprints,tried cleaning them,tried playing them,picture kept freezing,then 1 disc wouldn't eject..the last time I use the likes of them.

As far as i'm concerned,those companies have their own websites for selling and shouldn't be allowed anywhere near ebay - or certainly what ebay "used to be".

[*maetrix*]

Liz Truss?

More likely Rachel Reeves.

[theelench]

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@cobwebcottage wrote:

If I decided not to have business on Ebay, I would still continue to sell as a private seller so I don't see your point. It's no different to other online selling platforms. They all have their T's & C's and you either sell or you don't.

Nothing to do with having a business account apart from time spent on Ebay and the boards. But then again, you are on here just as much as I am and you don't sell on Ebay anymore. You just choose to stir the pot every time you make a comment.

I wonder what your motive is by continuing to berate Ebay while selling on another platform?

---

I didn't expect that you would see my point, you have the same blind spot as other business sellers here.

"Nothing to do with having a business account apart from the time spent on ebay and the boards"

Which is exactly my point.  You have 20 years of daily use and gained experience.  You take that for granted and don't unlearn it when you list on your private account, you still take for granted all your accrued knowledge and make good use of it.  Something private sellers don't have and cannot use. 

Private sellers don't have that and so are at a disadvantage, particularly as fundamental changes now occur regularly and a private seller, selling the occasional item even a few months apart, will find a radically different site every time they come here.  Much to their confusion, as the site continuously becomes more complicated and confusing.

True, I don't sell here any more because the T&Cs of this site have (IMO) become too one sided and just not worth putting-up with in terms of reward to effort needed.  But like thousands of others on this thread alone, I'm keeping a watchful eye on developments and considering my options.  Why do you find that strange or suspicious?  As a seller, business or private, surely you do exactly the same because it's common-sense, not something sinister as you try to imply.

I choose to air my grievances as a disgruntled, long-term, customer of ebay, which I am perfectly entitled to do on a public DISCUSSION board.  Again, why do you try to imply that I have some sinister and ulterior motive merely because I sell on another site.

Don't you sell on other sites ?  If not it's you that's out of step with most other business sellers and probably a growing number of private sellers as well, as so many are disillusioned with ebay these days.  I could ask you the same question about your motives.  But I don't, I counter some of the points you make in your posts,  I don't question what you sell or where or your preferences in doing so.

[roberpalme_236]

It will be interesting to see if SD meets the expectations Ebay had before it was forced on people.

No doubt they expected it to generate funds for them but did they expect it to alienate people to such an extent that it appears to have?

It's also interesting that SD does not appear in any of ebays 'It's free to sell' propaganda advertising. Could that be because they do not see it as a function that will attract newbies to sell on eBay?

[vinylscot]

This argument is utter tosh.

My business account has never been my main source of income. For the past few months, I have had a choice between taking a salary, or buying new stock. I can't have both. I run it as a business account, because that's what it is, even if some, including the deluded Eve Williams, might call it a "side hustle".

Some people posting seem to think business sellers are sitting on piles of cash in their castles, and that their private sales don't matter. I can assure you nothing could be further from the truth. There have been times when my private sales have been critical to my financial survival. My private sales will, more than likely, be reported to HMRC, but I am not concerned about that, as they are so obviously private sales.

All the information to enable private sellers to make the most of SD is there, and is readily available. They are at no disadvantage at all, unless they recklessly press ahead without doing their research first, and it's not as if they don't encounter warnings and pointers along the way. I can accept that those who do that will encounter difficulties (especially those who petulantly refuse to do so), many of which are genuine, and should be addressed by eBay, but also many of which are 100% their own fault.

Smaller business sellers, at least, will often have even less knowledge about eBay than many private sellers. My listings almost always come from a standard template. Yes, I've managed to set that up, but it means I don't need to keep up with changes to the site. If changes need to be made, they will be flagged up when I try to list, or when I save my listings for later posting. Only then do I need to concern myself with stuff like this.

Your silly argument boils down to - private sellers shouldn't need to keep up with developments on the site on which they sell, and it's not fair if some people know what they're doing.

As I always do, I also acknowledge that there is a lot still wrong with SD, but it is undoubtedly improving. You would need to be a fool to deny that. 

[rugbyguy1960]

@cheshirecatswhiskers

Thank you for the kudos.

[rugbyguy1960]

Vinyl, my reply to you was just pointing out that you are wrong to say you have no advantage over genuine private sellers.

So you have 3 sources of income at least including your business and private account.

A lot of genuine private sellers especially those that cannot work have their benefits as a source of income only.

Selling bits and bobs here is their way of gaining a bit of extra income however small.

There is no way that you can sensibly say people like you do not have a advantage.

[moonlight-rhapsody]

"You have 20 years of daily use and gained experience.  You take that for granted and don't unlearn it when you list on your private account, you still take for granted all your accrued knowledge and make good use of it.  Something private sellers don't have and cannot use. 

Private sellers don't have that and so are at a disadvantage, particularly as fundamental changes now occur regularly and a private seller, selling the occasional item even a few months apart, will find a radically different site every time they come here.  Much to their confusion, as the site continuously becomes more complicated and confusing."

Very well put, theelench, and johnwash1 said a similar thing in post 7569 which also hit the nail on the head. Not everybody has the empathy to understand that though.

[vinylscot]

You know absolutely nothing about my personal circumstances, or the personal circumstances of ANY business seller who also has a private account. In my last post, which wasn't addressed to you anyway, I did mention that there have been times when I have needed the private sales to keep the wolf from the door.

Just because I have a business account, it doesn't follow that I am in any way in a better position, financially, than anyone who doesn't. I may be a terrible businessman, or I may be suffering because I chose to follow the rules, or because of the current economic climate, but your reasoning just does not hold water.

[gmij1961]

One of the reason I will be not listing for anytime in the near future  is Ebay has become a shambolic mess as senior management steam roller all the changes that are required for Jamie Iannone's  vision and his promise to investors and stake holders that likes of so called SD deliver the revenue streams he has promised them !

For example given the hot weather I have stayed inside and browsed Ebay , a  consistent problem I have seen in the last couple of days is the item description is being over written by other elements of the process of loading other elements . For any buyers or sellers the Item description is a key part any issues will create issues . 

It looks like the issues is conflict in content caching of cookies as and is an indication of background code changes . I may be wrong but on my normal browser chrome I am lucky if the item description even flashes up momentarily , however if I use Firefox there are no issue as I have no cache content , cookies etc 

I would normally  talk to someone at Ebay but as they think their evasive stubborn  response over SD concerns are acceptable for customers they can work it out for themselves !

Out of interest is SD now enforced across the board or are Ebay still faffing about !

[rugbyguy1960]

I'm not saying your personal circumstances are any of my business.

I'm just stating a fact that anyone with 3 or more incomes at least definitely has a advantage over a seller who for whatever reason cannot or does not work.

These are the sellers who rely on a bit of extra income from selling personal bits and bobs.

[rugbyguy1960]

I believe it is inforced for some but SD is subject to change or amendments on a day to day basis.

It's only taken 3 months so far.

[theelench]

Are you getting a bit worried about being in a tiny (and shrinking) minority on this thread 😀   You usually argue your points fairly without resorting to derogatory asides like 'petulantly' and 'silly'.

What your argument boils down to is private sellers should re-read ebays info. pages before every listing.  

So I ask you what is the point of even doing that ?  

The Help pages are often lagging behind the latest changes.  The latest changes that are often un-announced and only flagged up on the boards as the become apparent to sellers.

It's a case of list with what you can find out and hope that the goal posts haven't moved again should anything go wrong.

I for one will not be doing that.  Private sellers are entitled to T&Cs set in stone and set out in black and white with all changes announced in advance, not on the hoof.

Until they can do that, no more selling on ebay for me.