New postage policy seems a bit dodgy...

[lord.ford]

Anyone else find the ‘new’ postage process for sellers frustrating and a bit suspicious?

Specifically:

• Ebay now require sellers to select the postage service during the listing and only allow them to use that postage service once the item has sold. 

• This would not be too bad but they do not display the costs for the various services at the point of selection (as they used to when selecting after sale) and so buyers are committing to buying a postage service without knowing the price - as such this is not technically a valid contract (under UK law at least).  

• Ebay also no longer allow sellers to insert tracking numbers for items they have posted themselves (i.e. sellers who did not buy postage from eBay directly). This is bad for buyers but also disastrous for sellers as eBay also now only releases funds 2 days after delivery has been confirmed - in the absence of the ability to add tracking numbers or for buyers to confirm receipt, it means sellers not buying postage from eBay now have to wait up to 2 weeks(!) for funds to be issued. 

I’ve been an eBayer for 18 years and never once posted on these forums but these changes seem a bit ‘dodgy’ at best. 

OK, so eBay are trying to reduce seller fees and recoup it by selling postage services, I get it. But at least allow sellers the choice of not buying postage through eBay and at the VERY least give us an idea of what the postage service we are buying through eBay will cost.

Questions to eBay: why are you to forcing sellers to confirm delivery service at point of listing with no way of changing it afterwards? Why do you not list the prices for the deliver services at the point when the seller is forced to select? Why do you not allow sellers to add their own tracking numbers? Why do you not allow buyer’s to confirm receipt (same way as you can for collections)?

In the hope of getting some response from eBay, I’m not even sure forcing sellers to choose postage without knowing the price is legal in the UK - said it.

LF

[ann7105chang]

I have just been forced to let an item that cannot be replaced go with Evri , not my choice wanted Royal Mail . Somehow it has not gone on the listing , so now I have the worry of its safety as it is going to an island not inland . Also eBay are making items look more expensive adding the buyers protection on price which goes to them. Plus the long wait to get the money that is yours is all profit making for them as it sits making interest for days in eBay’s account. It seeems they want to make it as difficult as possible for small sellers .

[beauty557]

Hello,Unfortunately Ebay couldn't care less and seem to think that any Hair brained scheme they think up(or their AI robots think up) will be accepted without question by their Ebayers like you and me.They take no notice of our responses,do not even bother to read them,and probably do not even try to implement them in some other countries,although not too sure if so or not.They totally ignore any reports I send them about sellers offering fake silver bars (my speciality is silver) and several sellers in India openly sell fake gemstones described as genuine,and Ebay do NOTHING.My only advice is to stop using them and if enough of us do,they might rethink their DAFT policies.Their so called EXPERTS who they say REVIEW complaints,are,in my opinion,NON Existent.Basil the Baboon at Edinburgh Zoo would be more sensible.At least you know you are not alone.

[robmuir_78]

Hi there,
We are all in the same boat, experiencing the same problems and
frustrations. There is an active Petition which to date, well over 700 ebay
Sellers have signed. The louder our voices, the more they will listen.

[vinylscot]

If you really want to make eBay sit up and take notice, a petition signed by approximately 0.0175% of their UK users, approximately one in every 5,700 users, is going to have no effect at all. (Put another way, around 99.9825% of eBay UK users have not signed the petition, so are presumably quite happy.)

Hitting them in the pocket may have an effect, but, by their nature, private sellers who are affected by this, tend to be (and should be) small and insignificant in the big picture. Added to that, even among those who claim they are leaving, we have seen that many don't actually do so, and, eBay will be banking on many of them returning in time, as most of them won't find a better venue for their selling.

I think the best we can hope for now (and I do have a private account too), is that they iron out the problems associated with Simple Delivery. Sadly, they don't seem to be making much progress in that direction, but they're not going to U-turn based on a tiny majority on a forum.

[beauty557]

Be interesting to know their year end Profit/Loss figures for Ebay.UK. compared to previous year.I guess there are quite a few disgruntled Ebayers who do not bother to voice their grievances.If they did,might help??

[vinylscot]

obviously, the last line should read "a tiny minority on a forum".

I may need to sack my proof-reader.

[department28]

'I have just been forced to let an item that cannot be replaced go with Evri , not my choice wanted Royal Mail . Somehow it has not gone on the listing , so now I have the worry of its safety as it is going to an island not inland.' 

I hope your item arrives safely.

If the item was listed with free p&p, I think I would have ignored the Simple Delivery label and purchased the postage directly from Royal Mail. You could then have applied for a refund for the unused Simple Delivery label. 

If the buyer paid the postage, they would get the refund, so you would be out of pocket if you purchased your own postage. It would depend if it was worth doing that for the peace of mind/not having to send with Evri...

[floydy_68]

100% agree this format of postage is disastrous for occasional sellers like myself, I was unable to change the postage reference number the item had been delivered still waiting for any funds after been made to basically pay postage twice...my post office told me ebay uses evri and they didn't. 

[mulv12366]

Now stopped selling after 15 yrs plus. To confusing, no control over postage ect

[catescoot74]

It’s really awful isn’t it? This is this “too big to fail” attitude. I myself have actually turned away from bidding on things because this buyer protection charge they were slapping on was just too much. Their greed is going to get them this time. Back to the good old days of the freeads (now online) and gumtree! I’m hoping the Amazon seller thing is easy too. That would be good.
I seriously cannot wrap my head around what eBay are thinking or doing! Whomever came up with this idea, wants sacking.
Cate
Sent from my iPhone

[beauty557]

My thoughts exactly the same yet they keep advertising Selling For Free which is a blatant LIE !!!

[catescoot74]

Oh no, they’ve got that worded just right. They are offering no selling fees. They just tripled the charge and forced it onto the buyer and not the seller. They are making 3 times more money this way. But no one is able to sell anything now. So we are just screwed over in a different way. Awful. Just awful. Actually, Facebook marketplace is working quite well. I didn’t bother with social media before (yuck!) but after all this with eBay on the grab, I got myself a Facebook account to try the market place and it’s pretty good! Bye bye EBay. You did it to yourself with greed.
Cate x
Sent from my iPhone

[pollythepink]

Here, Here,

Thoroughly angry with Ebay now, will not be adding anything new to my listing and already deleted a lot.

Would rather give it to charity, than let EBAY rip us off anymore.

They have brought this on themselves. 

Shame on you Ebay

[ancillotti]

I despair now, I was selling lots of cheap records between £4 -£10. It’s completely dried up now, everything just looks too expensive to the buyer, sales have dropped from £100 per week to zero……..

[beauty557]

Not a single response from Ebay themselves.Do they ever bother to read about our concerns.In almost 20 years of being an Ebayer,I don't think I have ever received a phone call back when I have submitted a concern to them. Once or twice the odd email but rarely.Have started using Freeads now.

[trustrade1]

It is now.

[poolmustang]

I am currently reporting ebay to Citizens advice under the consumer rights act 2015 and the Fair trades Act 1973, for breaching UK law and limiting users choices with the sole intention of forcing users into ebay's ecosystem with paid for partnerships in conjunction with Royal Mail (RM) and EVRI, lack of choice for postal services and options therein,

I have also sent information to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) stating that ebay, RM and EVRI are forcing and limiting users interactions with third party companies again by limiting the users choice with the intention of monopolizing the market and forcing users into ebay's ecosystem.

[sin-6737]

Well done, sounds very sensible. Hopefully something will come of it.
Sent from my iPhone

[lucy08010]

I've been with ebay for 23 years and never experienced anything like it! You're correct - it should be an opt in / opt out. Advisor this morning confirmed they're keeping in line with Vinted - I pointed out to her that many who use Ebay would not get on well with the Vinted system either. I know it's personal choice, but I am very disappointed. So many issues.

[beauty557]

I have never used Vinted,but obviously Ebay feel obliged to follow the Vinted system rather than apply their own common sense to this stupid system. Was the ADVISOR who confirmed this a real person or an Ai robot??