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

[iarichardso-10]

Yes same here,I sell lots of small items 2nd class letter  was 80p now large letter at £2+ it's ridiculous. 

[mle_drones]

Just search for Big AL (not AI) on YouTube

[mle_drones]

Big AL, not Artificial Intelligence

[glov_edwa]

Agree that this poor upgrade is only a benefit to eBay.

Limited or no options is not simple to seller or buyer

I have taken all listings off and wasted 40 minutes trying to get a sensible answer , Was told they are still working on improving it,!

Why degrade something that worked for buyer and seller?

Best solution seems to be  was to list increase price by postage cost and offer freepost

But even this is flawed if eBay will not accept tracking of eternal generated labels.

after 10 years selling perhaps time to save ebay by not using a work in progress post trial and take down all my listing  

Pleas eBay reinstate old system until you have a clue as to what you have done.

T

[beauty557]

Totally agree.Nothing wrong with old system 2024.Quite happy with fortnightly fvf discounts to give eBay an income.They are just too greedy now and their schemes have lost them a lot of business.

[beauty557]

Ebay now offering £15 coupon to selected Sellers who sell an item for £10 or more before end of August. They have finally seen the light and must have lost so many sellers that they have to tempt them back somehow.Just like the "GOOD OLD DAYS" when they would give a discounted FVF every fortnight or so.Why must they learn the lesson the hard way?? IF ITS NOT BROKE,DON'T FIX IT !!!

[catescoot74]

I honestly couldn’t agree more!

[lucy_farmer]

'They have finally seen the light and must have lost so many sellers that they have to tempt them back somehow.'

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I believe ebay took a bit of a gamble on Simple Del (which was a good money-making idea). But forcing it onto sellers when it was so very not ready, may have come back to bite ebay on the rear harder that they anticipated.

If S.D. was ready and usable in respect of : the over-size problem, the under-size category problem, the combining postage problem, the getting refunds for unused labels problem, the having to use Evri at all problem(!)., the continuing changes of rules , CS not knowing their bum from their elbow about it, etc etc..... If this little lot was fixed, then I'm pretty sure a fair amount of sellers would be reasonably happy to use it.

Because *when* it works it can be fairly Simple.

But when it doesn't, which is a lot of the time, it's a complete dog's breakfast.

But it doesn't matter how bad it is at the moment : they can't get rid of S.D.  ☹️ Ebay will have gone into allsorts of business/legal/contractual stuff with Evri and R.M. which would make going back to how it used to be, impossible.

Ebay have been 'rowing back' on a few things - the time it takes to get your money,  the buyers fee % etc.  But these are things that are under ebay's (and only ebay's) control.  So they can 'listen to sellers' and make changes there.

Ebay may well be trying to attract sellers back with coupons etc, but they won't be able to change the BIG problem, because S.D. is not just ebay's baby.

There is definitely a drop in seller numbers (my saved seller lists alone are telling me that...)  and the only chance ebay have to stop the slide, is to make S.D. work properly...... because they can't get rid of it, much as I want them to 😢

[catescoot74]

I agree with the SD thing completely, but it’s more than that. I’ve actually turned away from buying because of the imposed buyer protection fee.
What other companies charge for protection of your purchases? It’s an actual racket and there are several sellers out there that have lost sales from me because I refuse to pay that much just to have eBay protect my purchases.
They have been too greedy this time. Hurt buyers and sellers and they are going to regret it. You can only make money eBay if people are buying and selling?!

[steve66brubay]

Very interesting assessment of what eBay have done and why. I think 'Simple Delivery' could be a good thing in some cases where item size is compatible. My biggest problem is that it's just not possible to to post items by letter or large letter where the weight is well under 1 kg, but that's what a lot of the things I am selling (CDs, DVDs, cables, etc.) are. I'm not sure who wants to pay expensive 1 kg postage for a very thin, very light screen protector (for instance) which could easily be posted in an 87p letter.

[department28]

'But it doesn't matter how bad it is at the moment : they can't get rid of S.D. Ebay will have gone into allsorts of business/legal/contractual stuff with Evri and R.M. which would make going back to how it used to be, impossible.'

It is a pity we can't sabotage SD, like Mrs. Doyle & the despised, automatic tea-making gift from Father Ted... then we could all go back to posting normally again... 😂 🍵

[catescoot74]

I’ve just stopped using eBay to sell. I’m using Facebook marketplace and gumtree now.

[mle_drones]

They'd get rid of SD if seller levels drop too low. And they probably will. The T.V add they are running every 2nd add, does not seem to be working. Everybody I know who, didn't use eBay before, still don't use it now.

Then there's the big shiny V of vinted, I'm selling more on vinted than I am on eBay, despite only having a quarter of my stock on vinted. I guess we know where all the ex eBay buyers have gone

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[catescoot74]

Ooooh! VINTED!! I forgot about Vinted! Thank you!

[mle_drones]

I tried some products on gumtree and other than my car, nothing sold.

And Facebook is like the wild west, too many scammers.

Vinted have added many of the groups that eBay have, so I'm selling my products there until eBay see the light or go bust

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[catescoot74]

That is actually great! I just looked at vinted and it will be perfect! Awesome call there. Thank you

[iarichardso-10]

Exactly the problem I have. If you are selling collectable cards or small
items. It is nit good.

[lucy_farmer]

'What other companies charge for protection of your purchases? '

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I'd say all of them.

It's just folded in to the overall price of whatever we're buying, so we don't see it. Likewise the cost of keeping payments secure, or replacing stuff that gets lost or squashed in the post etc.

Just like the old 'FREEpost'  idea. 

Eveybody knows that nothing is ever truly free: we're all paying for everything, somewhere or other.

But putting charges for something up front and centre, looking the buyer right in the face, is a really bad idea. (especially, if up until that point they'd been hidden. In ebays case, all the BPF stuff was hidden in the private seller's fees)

We humans are a funny lot, and we don't like seeing it.

Ebay's psychology dept made a blooper there....

@mle_drones   'They'd get rid of S.D. if seller levels drop too low'

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Oh I hope you're right!

But my point is I don't think they can.  Enormous businesses like ebay, R.M. and Evri contractually and legally getting into bed with each other, is going to make dropping the idea really difficult, if not impossible ☹️

[mle_drones]

I don't think it would be impossible, eBay are just doing this as their latest attempt to get everybody to open a business account.

SD is only implemented on private accounts.

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[esoterica_mail]

I'd love to be a fly on the wall of eBay's psychology department, working full-time on how far by a mixture of algorithms and human influence they can push people into accepting higher charges and handing over control of more and more of the transaction process, while marketing eBay as an apparently innocent, helpful, user-friendly platform that just is trying to please everyone.

It's funny how big multinational companies that use technological advances to expand, take things over and change them for the worse are always apparently powerless to change them back, while we mere individuals are 'empowered' to bend over backwards to adapt to them. Well, until the sales fall below a certain point, anyway. Then - as with the exorbitant fees they recently tried to pass off as 'buyer protection' - suddenly they've 'listened' and are able to find solutions.

If Simple Delivery (itself legally dubious, as mentioned above) is contractually impossible for eBay to get out of, then it looks like eBay has irreversibly alienated its core sellers/buyers and is finished. I haven't listed anything on here for 6 months. I've sold hundreds of low-price items and I've got hundreds more ready to go, but if selling them on eBay leaves me out of pocket and makes me feel like an employee with no autonomy I won't be using the platform. I'll go to another site or give the stuff to charity shops or recycle it and save myself a load of time and hassle. 

If this restrictive and exploitative arrangement is a result of a contract eBay has got into with Evri and Royal Mail, I suggest they get themselves out of it (as I'm sure they can, I mean they're a vicious corporate machine but they're not stupid) as soon as possible. Otherwise it's bye bye for good eBay.

This story on its own is of no consequence to eBay of course; but multiplied by a few thousand it might be enough to register on the eBay psychology department's algorithm and give them something to puzzle over before they get laid off themselves.