Pre paid label shambles

[0131jojo34]

I clicked on the thing to get a pre-paid label, which I won't use as I always post 1st Class door to door. 

The system then told me I have posted the item (I haven't) and I cannot see how to add first class postal tacking number when I do post the item tomorrow,  Clicking on the pre-paid label thing  was the only way to get a full address.

Next time (if there is a next time - Interest in my sales have dropped to one a fortnight since Buyers Protection fee has been introduced.) I'll just PM the buyer and ask them for their address.

The simple art of listing is now so complicated I've given up.  I just want to post 1st Class door to door and my buyers  have always been happy. (see feedback)

What loose brain cell came up with this new system. It was working perfectly.  They have screwed things up.

[edwardian-dreams]

Why won’t you use it? It’s tracked 48 door to door and charged at the same price as y get buying independently 

cheaper than 1st class too

just curious 

in the new system only the buyer has the choice to ask for tracked 24

[0131jojo34]

Thank You for replying

I charge a 2nd class postage fee, but have always posted 1st class, never had a problem in all the years I've been doing this.  

Also if the buyer is local  I ask if I can deliver in person and refund their postage in cash. This has always been accepted. Why is someone being asked to pay for a label or a buyer protection fee in this instance. (that B.P.F is chasing away buyers.)

Why do I have to click on and access the pre-paid label screen to get the full address.  As soon as I did it

the E-Bay system told me item was posted tomorrow. (A Saturday - I never post on a Saturday, the parcel

lays around a depot on a Sunday and gets kicked about.)  Now I'll have to message the Buyer and tell them it is has not been posted. 

All you get now when you click on the 'Copy Full Address to Clipboard' button is the first name. You are forced to go to the Pre-Paid Label screen to get the full address (where it automatically tells the system the item has been posted - it's a joke.)

Who pays for this pre-paid label Me? am I getting charged to find out where to send an item.

My buyer.  Are they getting charged to tell me where to send the item.  The whole thing stinks of a con job.

This whole shambles has not been thought out and should be binned. There should be a revert to how things were option.

Everything was working, it did not need fixing, the worse thing you can do is try to fix something that was working perfectly. Some clot has tried to justify their existence at E-Bay and come up with this...shambles.

[edwardian-dreams]

They decided to try  and take control without knowing how to to benefit everyone as the y CLAIM they doing

bottom line is you use the system where it suits you and you work around the system when it doesn’t 

and if you can’t just ditch it if it’s more hassle than it’s worth 

the only obvious reason they’ve changed everything is to enhance their profits at others expense but then again they should have left things alone as normal seller fees gave them what they now  claim left right and centre plus the aggro confusion they caused which is a total omnishambles by miles never to be repeated by any company I’m sure lol 

poor eBay you didn’t need this bad reputation did you 

[buffster1963]

Your buyer will have paid for the label direct to ebay. If you buy your own postage i do not think you will be able to change the tracking so you will have to wait longer to get paid. 

[a45heaven]

I do the same with only First Class Post. For me, i truly value my customers and Offer them 'First Class' all round, be it postage, packaging, communications and accurately graded items. 

ebay design a 'Simple' process - which projects zero to the customers in my mind - well apart from no combined postage , which turns the process into negative ground all round, apart from ebay who make extra monies.

[0131jojo34]

Hi All, Thank You for your comments.

So my customers are paying for a label I do not use. I too only post 1st Class.  Buyers should have the option not to use 'Far From Simple Delivery' or because I only use Royal Mail door to door as an option they should not be charged. 

I was at the Post Office today to post the item E-Bay insisted that was  posted yesterday.  (see above)

Long queue of students and punters collecting items from the Post Office. Chaos. They cannot cope. I found a way to add Royal Mail tracking number to the sale. I do not mind waiting a few more days to collect what ever is due to me after E-Bay have taken their cut. This is just a hobby.

Now after 17 hassle free years I am seriously considering quitting and am already looking around for a more user friendly site. What a mess they have made of things.  Along with the Buyers Protection Fee E-Bay I'm thinking have been taken over by the Mafia.

[department28]

Yes, it's a complete shambles... many sellers are still not aware Simple Delivery has been forced onto their existing listings, so when an item sells, they are finding they've been sent a pre-paid label that they may well not be able to use - for a price they weren't expecting to pay...

Simple Delivery is also causing all sorts of problems for those offering combined postage. If eBay were determined to take over the postage system, they should have ensured everything was going to work properly - instead, it would appear they have rushed the whole thing, keeping fingers crossed that it would more or less work ok...

As a result of eBay's cavalier approach, many are finding themselves in all sorts of stressful, exasperating, embarrassing situations, as they try to sort out these problems - none of which would be happening, if eBay had left things alone... 😠

[papso22]

"So my customers are paying for a label I do not use."

Your customers will get a refund for the unused label in about 30 days.

[0131jojo34]

Yes. I have been i touch witha  human E-Bay bod via CHAT.

I tried to cancel the label but was told, despite an option being available this cannot be done.

Was told "The buyer paid £2.87 for the prepaid label and if it's not used it will be cancelled automatically and the buyer will be refunded within 30-40 days."

Does that mean the buyer was charged my postage fee + £2.87 (which they are getting back) or were they

only charged £2.87 for an unused label which they are getting refunded.  Somebody must have paid for the

parcel I posted today and it looks like me.  Fantastic!

The work around appears to be make  whatever you listing non-eligible

Me: "And there is no way to stop this. Someone has to buy a label before a sale can go through. I cannot remove it from my listing."

E-Bay Human: "Only if the listing isn't eligible, then simple delivery won't be used and the old method comes in."

Me:  "Define 'eligible' please."

E-Bay Human: "For a Royal Mail parcel shop drop-off or collection - dimensions should be up to 61cm x 46cm x 46cm For locker drop-off - dimensions should not exceed 66cm x 41cm x 38cm £750 or less (Buy It Now price, auction starting price or reserve price) Liquids over 1000ml won't be accepted."

So to get away from Simple Deliver I have to describe my parcel as being the same size as a barn or add in somewhere it is actually 1001 mls of beer.

I do not have a printer, nor a smart phone, I've sold something else. Not often I dread seeing a sale.

How do I use S.D. without a smart phone or printer.  Go to the post office book a man to appear who

will have a QR code. He appears (when, am I told in advance when he will appear) They take my parcel, give me a receipt.....Is that how it works. (I'll probably just cancel the sale - far easier, I do not need this.)

[a45heaven]

And to think - this fiasco was not created by a single person in the USA, a whole team was employed - beggars belief 

It appears the UK market is a guinea pig base now for what ever they think up 

'Regulatory Fees', 'BPF',  'Free Listing for Private Sellers', 'Simple Postage'- 

Not a platforms finest hours, but maybe the shape of things to come.

[wintersdawn1]

This is my current understanding of how simple delivery postage works with buy it now listings:

Buyer pays postage:

Item price + bpf + sd postage = £total price

If the seller specified in the listing that the buyer pays the postage, when the buyer purchases the item ebay takes the bpf and the buyer pays ebay for the postage label and the seller gets the item price.

The item price that the seller chose does not include postage as that is specified separately and ebay receives that.  If the seller doesn't use the postage label that the buyer purchased from ebay it is refunded back to the buyer after a set number of days has elapsed.

Also if the seller does not use the label the buyer purchased from ebay but instead uses their own, the cost of this label could be thought of as coming out of the item price that they will receive, so they are therefore getting less than they originally listed the item for.  The buyer will not pay for this seller bought postage label.

Seller pays postage:

Item price + bpf + sd postage = £total price

If the seller selected 'free postage' when they listed the item, when the buyer purchases the item ebay takes the bpf and the seller is forced to buy the postage label from ebay and the seller gets the item price.

If the seller does not used the postage label that ebay forced them to buy and instead arrange their own postage label, the unused postage label they bought from ebay *should* be refunded back to the seller after a certain number of days has elapsed.

[0131jojo34]

Thank you,

Seems I have to go with S.D. How does it work if I do not have a printer or smart phone.

I contact Royal Mail a man appears and takes my parcel, or do I have use the carrier.

Do I contact them, do I take the parcel somewhere...

I know this will be given somewhere on here  but you explain things better than the jargon E-Bay uses.

Jo Jo

[wintersdawn1]

At present it seems that if a listing sells with sd postage the seller needs to print the postage label and can then go to the royal mail website to arrange a collection.  Ebay have said they are working on a way so that the seller does not need to print the label, which I assume means the post office person will bring the label when they collect the parcel, just as they did when a seller sorted out their own postage.

Also at present, apart from printing the label, ebay apparently send a QR code that the seller can display on their smartphone/tablet at the post office and the post office will print the label.

[0131jojo34]

Thanks again,

I'll see what happens but I am very close to removing all my listings and have a peaceful life.

E-Bay should have thought of people with no printer or smart phones before putting this into action.

They will not admit they are wrong, nor will they undo this mess.  I'm done with them.

[department28]

'E-Bay should have thought of people with no printer or smart phones before putting this into action.'

They must have been well aware that many don't have these things - which means eBay were quite happy to introduce a postage system that completely excludes some people. 'People that don't matter', in other words...

[lucy_farmer]

'They must have been well aware that many don't have these things -'

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Perhaps they thought we luddites would all go and buy these things...... ...there's loads of them on ebay! 😆

[department28]

Yes, that wouldn't surprise me... although it is rather a bitter irony that smartphones & printers would mostly be sold by business sellers, who don't have to use Simple Delivery... 😂

[medealady]

Its getting worse. Amazingly sold an expensive glass vase. Clicked to get a label. See  messages saying Evri are experiencing problems at the moment (not that i was sending that way) ..Advised to use another method with a £2.77 large letter label suggestion! Go to order details and find the item isnt SD yet and the buyer paid the signed for Royal Mail process. Big sigh of relief but not good news re Evri which is excluded from our options anyway so why are ebay even mentioning it??

[wintersdawn1]

Sounds like, even though deselected, eBay's system hasn't been programmed to ignore everything to do with evri.

eBay's terms do say they can override our deselection in certain circumstances and still offer the deselected carrier to the buyer.