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.

[podlingsmum2007]

Royal Mail price hike from 6th October including slashing tracked compensation in half may make simple delivery look like a better deal. Unless ebay hike their prices as a result. Which they probably will.

[blacksea213]

Our local convenience stores take just about everything apart from Royal
Mail.

[kath3735_wxmjn]

same here, never used V before but since i started selling there i have bought a number of items already!    Certainly more than i have on here.  I would still rather decide on my own postage but their system is definitely much better than the farce they have going on here.

[sml192]

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@podlingsmum2007 wrote:

Royal Mail price hike from 6th October including slashing tracked compensation in half may make simple delivery look like a better deal. Unless ebay hike their prices as a result. Which they probably will.

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It will certainly make the higher Simple Delivery prices for items over £100 look better. 

[theelench]

I agree with you and IMO it's all part and parcel of the same problem.  Ebay has been moving away from increasing sales to generate its "massive revenue" from FVF's to a model of progressively increasing the "percentage take" from every sale.  Mainly through listing Sponsorship which has been about the only growth area of ebay's income for some years.

Managed Payments transferred paypal's fees to ebay.  "Tinkering with categories and search functions" making listings harder to find, pressurised sellers to Sponsor to gain visibility.  Now the BPF and skimming revenue from delivery costs.  Each step has contributed to ebay's revenue but made the site and the user experience, both for buying and selling more tortuous, long winded and unreliable. 

With each step (and others I didn't mention), ebay has lost sellers and frustrated buyers to other sites.

"Exiting" and "reliable" are simply no longer words that I associate with ebay.  Along with others such as convenient, transparent, or rewarding (in any sense of the word). 

When the CEO goes on record to report to shareholders that ebay's 'Take' on each transaction has increased (again) or that the increased percentage of revenue from Sponsorship fees is a success, but falling GMV, sales and buyers are dismissed as 'difficult head-winds' I can't help but think that ebay is being steered in the wrong direction and would be better off if it got back on the course that leads to more sales and less underhand fees.

[akemp1]

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@kath3735_wxmjn wrote:

same here, never used V before but since i started selling there i have bought a number of items already!    Certainly more than i have on here.  I would still rather decide on my own postage but their system is definitely much better than the farce they have going on here.

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Just some of the things that place do better than ebay:

1) they give the buyers a choice of named carriers that the seller has agreed to use - no obscuring the name behind standard / express options.

2) many sellers offer automatic % discounts on buying a bundle of a few items which can be enough to fully cover the buyer fee. 

3) when buying a bundle it doesn't double up the fixed element of the buyer fee - the buyer fee seems to be applied across the whole order value as if only buying one listing. They should both rename it to something better like a marketplace or platform fee.

4) when buying a bundle it doesn't increase the postage (although this was a problem for me when a buyer bought a few items and I was given a Yodel label that I couldn't use so had to apologise to the buyer and relist as combined listing). They both need a system when a buyer does a combined postage for the seller to confirm the required postage.

[*maetrix*]

My spending on ebay has been zero since August 1st..used to make half a dozen purchases & more a week but since they decided to give me a 28 day ban on here during August for basically sticking up for another poster who I thought was being bullied (think we all know who i'm refering to) i've shopped elsewhere....needless to say amazon & hmv have done very well out of me over the last 6 weeks.

ebay need to take a long hard look in the mirror,their policies ,customer relations and lack of principles seem to be in the gutter.

I'll screenshot this as it'll probably get taken down (again)...the ball's in your court ebay,keep on banning and i'll keep on spending my cash elsewhere.

[akemp1]

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@sml192 wrote:

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@podlingsmum2007 wrote:

Royal Mail price hike from 6th October including slashing tracked compensation in half may make simple delivery look like a better deal. Unless ebay hike their prices as a result. Which they probably will.

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It will certainly make the higher Simple Delivery prices for items over £100 look better. 

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Maybe ebay will respond and drop the level at which the SD price increases to £75.

While that wouldn't be great it is the alignment to the RM tariff that we have been asking for.

I see why RM have done this as it does help them compete with Evri etc who only provide £20 as standard.

[podlingsmum2007]

There is a big jump between tracked 48 cover of up to £75 and special delivery cover of up to £750. My highest price item would jump to over £14 shipping when it currently is £5.15.

[kevin*cedar]

According to Google  AI  overview  quoted as the following

An eBay "Simple Delivery" disaster refers to widespread issues and frustration among UK sellers

and buyers following the mandatory rollout of this new simplified shipping system, which has led to higher

costs, unreliable courier services like Evri causing damage or loss, and sellers losing control over postage choices ,resulting in negative experiences and lost profits The system is particularly problematic as

it forces users into specific courier options, removes the ability to choose shipping services like 

Royal Mail 24/48, and can lead to incorrect postage costs for items when the actual weight or size is miscalculated during listing if you want to read more impute From Google AI just type in "Simple delivery Disaster" Amazing  isn't it that AI has full grasped what we all know but eBay cannot grasp the knowledge

[jonatjonatjonat]

You do understand how AI works right?

[lucy_farmer]

'According to Google  AI  overview  quoted as the following..'

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I wouldn't trust the google A.I. 'overview' on anything!

Several weeks ago I asked google a question about S.D.

( I couldn't be bothered to go back through many many posts and ebay staff replies to find the answer, so I just typed my question into google!)

I asked if things on Evri's 'excluded from compensation list' would be covered under S.D. 

A.I answered me with *NO*.

Another contributor here then asked the same question, worded fractionally differently.

A.I. then said *YES*.

***************************************************************************************************************

I think one of the things about A.I. that hasn't been fully drummed into all our heads , is that A.I. is inherently flattering to the person talking to it, and will often give questioners an answer they'd like to hear.

Everything you do or write on t'internet is there for A.I. to use, and I've been an S.D. sceptic since day one (still am, by the way....) and have written my doubts about it, at length on here. 

I believe A.I. gave me what it worked out I'd agree with.

The other contributor who asked the same question, had been far more 'pro' S.D. on these forums than I ever was, and I think A.I. gave them an answer *they'd* be more likely to agree with.

********************************************************************************************************************

Okay, T.L: D.R.   A.I. sometimes spouts a load of old cobblers!

[theelench]

I think ebay does grasp the nature of the disaster but is still willing to keep its experiment on UK Private sellers running.  

The point of which is to find out how much (or little) back-pedalling and concessions are required for ebay to get to the point where its increased revenue from over-charging buyers / kick-backs from delivery companies outweighs the losses in other income from sellers who refuse to use SD and stop selling, either totally or by restricting what they list to categories /weights / sizes etc. that haven't (yet?) been conscripted into ebay's latest crutch to support its profits.

It must be hoping that private sellers will listen to the small minority on here who tell anyone who will listen to 'Stop Complaining',  'Forget whatever you did that worked so well before, knuckle down and embrace the New', 'Close your eyes and ignore ebay over-charging your buyers.  You might get some flack but at least you get a sale' etc. , etc.  In other words, don't fight it, just give-in and allow ebay to walk all over you and your buyers again.  Pushing up prices to buyers from UK private sellers.

Don't do it.  Find a way round the Cash Grab, if you can.  Stop buying.  Stop selling.  Keep on hurting ebay.

[goodibags]

"one of the things about A.I. that hasn't been fully drummed into all our heads , is that A.I. is inherently flattering to the person talking to it, and will often give questioners an answer they'd like to hear."

That sounds like it's attained the level of Ebay customer service staff. So already 4 years more advanced than Ebay senior execs?

[suelel1968]

Have you seen the latest comments frombthe CEO? He is obviously not on the same page as the forums on either side of the Atlantic.

Jamie Iannone, CEO of EBay, has 10 billion reasons to be bullish 

Iannone says eBay's collectibles operation is now "massive," ringing up $10 billion in business annually.The used and refurbished market is roaring at eBay, representing 40% of its platform, according to Iannone.

“When you're trying to make your dollars last and you can get an almost like-new product for 40% less and it's

More consumers also look for ways to make money in times of economic uncertainty.

“The other thing we see is that when consumers are stretched, they start selling stuff that they have around the house,” he said. “So it's a great time for us to acquire new consumer sellers to the platform.”

The company has rolled out some features to assist collectors and sellers alike in connecting to one another, including a streamlined experience for buyers and a robust toolkit for sellers.

If SD is assisting and streamlining and he's bullish about it, heaven help us. And if he know that a robust toolkit is not exempt whatever the weight or size. 

[sunflowers4me59]

I had a sale this morning, SD, don't normally go out Thursday afternoons, but hubby needed to go past a post office so I rushed to pack up as eBay wants it done quick! Pressed to get prepaid qr code and got this (see screenshot)!!!! Now ebay want fast turnaround, then we can't comply.

[lucy_farmer]

'....is that A.I. is inherently flattering to the person talking to it, and will often give questioners an answer they'd like to hear."  '

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I may have overstated that a little bit!

Perhaps it's better to say  how  you frame your question to an A.I. thingy, is reflected back at you in how the answer from the A.I 🤖 is framed...

[I do know that chatGPT and it's ilk are programmed to keep their questioners 'engaged' . (the more 'engaged', the more time people spend there, therefore the more ads can be sold etc etc)

The most obvious way of doing this is for the A.I. to 'agree' with the questioner and reflect back similar opinions etc.]

So if you were to ask google a.i. a question linking  the words 'S.D.' and 'disaster',  it'd just scrape the internet for anything linking those words and condense and stitch it all together into something that reads like a proper bunch of info.

(just a larger and more complicated version of ebay's A.I. description writing pile of carp 💩)

So it isn't going to come back with an answer that S.D. is wonderful!   

On the other hand, if you asked if S.D. was a good thing, likewise it wouldn't come back saying 'no it's a disaster'.

(mmmmm...sorry. I'm doing my own head in here thinking about how A.I. does stuff... I'd better shut up now 🤐 before my head explodes💥)

[kevin*cedar]

I am well aware on how AI works the strange thing was I had only typed into google NO LONGER SELLING ON EBAY DUE TO SIMPLE DELIVERY  to get to this thread and it was at the top of the web page with all the results and low and behold were the google AI comments showing the results including this thread further down the list

[blacksea213]

Probably his job performance assessment is due!!

[moonlight-rhapsody]

"On the other hand, if you asked if S.D. was a good thing, likewise it wouldn't come back saying 'no it's a disaster'."

I asked Google an unweighted question - "Is ebay's Simple Delivery successful" - and I got slightly different results according to Chrome (clean cookies) and Firefox (normal browser) but both said it wasn't successful:

Chrome:

No, eBay's Simple Delivery system appears largely unsuccessful, with widespread reports from UK sellers detailing issues such as incorrect package dimensions and weights, limited carrier options (including the less reliable Evri), a lack of flexibility in postage choices, more expensive shipping for buyers, and an overall lack of clarity and control for sellers. Many sellers feel it is not "fit for purpose" and is causing them to leave the platform.

Firefox:

No, eBay's Simple Delivery has not been a success in the UK, with numerous private sellers reporting it as a negative experience due to high costs, rigid carrier options (including the use of Evri), slower payouts, and operational issues like QR code glitches and lack of printer access. Many sellers feel it harms their profit margins and have expressed frustration to the point of closing their accounts, with widespread outrage on eBay forums and Reddit communities regarding the mandatory changes. 

Of course AI doesn't define how it interprets "successful".  Ebay may consider it successful if it has resulted in increased profits, whereas AI only picks up the comments around the internet from users, specifically this forum and Reddit, and has identified that most of them are negative.