Question for GENUINE SMALL PRIVATE SELLERS re Sales.

[vintique*violet]

I was wondering if GENUINE small private sellers would share their experience of their sales for the past few months particularly November / December as this is supposed to be the busiest time. 

No need for details, just the completed successful orders, the total amount, postal service used and how the delivery went? 

November 

Order total  11 - All posted using RM Tracked 48 all delivered safely and fast.  

December

Order total 7... My last sale was 11th December 2024 , Marked as despatched & posted 13th, and delivered  on the 16th . Royal Mail Tracked 48. 

All completed orders and feedback left except for a few  as through experience I find  not everyone likes to leave feedback. 

2023 Nov/Dec Sales were nearly double.  

There has been nothing since and I have taken off many higher value items and deciding if  I will list or re-list for the rest of January before the BPF kicks in. 

Thank you. 

[anne.craig]

November - 3 items sold.

1. Tracked 48 small parcel, shipped 19/11, delivered 21/11, marked as Delivered

2. Second class large letter, shipped 19/11, delivered 21/11, marked as Delivered

3. Second class small parcel, shipped 29/11, still showing status of Dispatched.

December - 10 items sold.

1. Second class small parcel, shipped 3/12, delivered 9/12, marked as Delivered

2. Second class small parcel, shipped 6/12, delivered 9/12, marked as Delivered

3. Second class large letter, shipped 10/12, delivered 12/12, marked as Delivered

4. Second class small parcel, shipped 10/12, delivered 12/12, marked as Delivered

5. Second class small parcel, shipped 13/12, delivered 16/12, marked as Delivered

6. Tracked 48 large letter, shipped 16/12, delivered 19/12, marked as Delivered

7.  Second class small parcel, shipped 16/12, delivered 19/12, marked as Delivered

8. Second class large letter, shipped 24/12, delivered 4/1, marked as Dispatched

9.  Second class large letter, shipped 31/12, delivered 3/1, marked as Dispatched (click tracking and it says delivered though...)

10. Second class large letter, shipped 31/12, no indication delivered, marked as Dispatched (click tracking and it says Running Behind...)

[vintique*violet]

All posted with RM? 

Thats great @anne.craig with delivery track record ( super fast ;p-)) and marked on the system. 

So,  you would have 1 item in November  and about 3 in December whereby ( according to the New EBay rules) your  payments would be held " pending"  as not showing as delivered? 

[anne.craig]

Hi, yes all RM and as you say 4 would be pending but paid after 14 days so I'd have the November money - unless eBay have other plans eg contacting buyer and asking for confirmation, prompting a non-delivery claim...!  (though that should not be if the info released is accurate)  Also the ones listed as Dispatched but showing tracking as Delivered - who knows which would be applied???

[vjbuystuff]

November and December 49 items (app not  filtering properly so cant break this down more) 

all RM or parcelforce, all marked as  delivered in ebay

except

3 sent 2nd class post, (delivered as received feedback)

3 RM tracked still not delivered, chased 1 customer today and they didnt know they'd missed 2 delivery attempts.  other 2 have  been delivered as feedback received 

2 parcelforce (high value \ large items) marked as delivered by PF (in my account with them) but eBay not showing delivered 

i discovered 5 items in my seller performance page of not despatched on time, which i queried with ebay today as they where ALL despatched on time and collected by couriers so proven booking and despatch times.  

[papso22]

I think it might help your research if you define 'genuine private sellers', so that you don't get answers from 'fake private sellers'.

[vintique*violet]

I think that we all know that GENUINE SMALL PRIVATE SELLERS are the original private sellers - private BUSINESS sellers seem have copious amounts of the same items... 

And if they  ( private Business sellers ) respond , their account is easily checked and can be noted 😉 

[vintique*violet]

If we monitor our own accounts and calculate how the " system" would affect once the funds held comes into play and for those who are continuing to sell , monitor the time when you receive your actual funds..Hope this is making sense. 

We need to have " stats" to be able to " challenge" 😉 

Re-eBay have other plans eg contacting buyer and asking for confirmation, prompting a non-delivery claim.... if it is still showing as not delivered after a week, I would be tempted to contact the buyer direct to see if they are happy with their item...Usually after that time a buyer would contact anyhow and inform the seller that the item had not arrived. 

[lucy_farmer]

2 sales.

1 in Nov and 1 in Dec.

Grand total of £34.70

That's what private selling is like for me 😂

[vintique*violet]

Wow...  49 items, well done you. 

So have the 3 sent 2nd class post showingw on the system as delivered or is it you just know due to feedback? 

RM. tracked 2 items showing not delivered but they have as feedback received. 

1 item is in the system but buyer has missed delivery - Does this show attempted delivery on the system?

 2 items Parcelforce... Delivered but system not showing as delivered ( Have sellers left feedback?) 

5- Seller performance... be interesting what eBay customer service say about these regarding despatch time etc... have these been delivered and showing on system? 

If we can each monitor our own sales and where they are in the system.. we could collate " stats" to see how it would affect " funds held" and would be interesting to see if there is any difference in timings ( ie delivery and system updating) 

[vintique*violet]

Bless you , I have had months like that... and to be fair a number of mine went for 99pence 😉 I think it is due to the " visibility"...( lack of)  and still think come the BPF and funds held, some algorithm will release the " do not hide anymore ' 🙂 

So I am assuming they were delivered on time and showing as delivered in the system?

Edit to add - be interesting to see if sales increase in Jan/ Feb? 

[lucy_farmer]

'so I am assuming they were delivered on time and showing as delivered in the system?'

Yep, all good with both, and both with Royal Mail 2nd tracked (the old 'signed for') addressed and taken to the post office myself, the old-fashioned way. 🙂

I *like* being in charge of my own stuff and am fairly certain I won't be selling if I have to do Simple Delivery  🙁

[vintique*violet]

I agree with your sentiment - I absolutely cannot use Simple Delivery - there is no way feasible and I have never used Evri and never will to post items especially fragile and sorry but do not trust buyers to choose, no doubt the cheapest option without thinking of " protection?"

Now if the BPF covered fragile items for any breakages,  that would be something ... but they won't because no postal courier covers glass /pottery etc for damage! And eBay will not " risk" their funds... it is the sellers risk, but they are making it even more so as " Risk Selling"...  Special Delivery or Tracked 48 with extra packaging material is the way to go and have not had one lost/damaged!  Even a fragile £400 extra large vintage jug, quite some years back now!  Today, judging by things, I would not even list it! 

Edit .. Spelling 

[geosacha007]

Thats about what happens to me too.  I am pleased if I make one sale a week.

And lowering my prices, sending out offers and pointing out to buyers to get it now before the ebay fees start resulted in one sale.

[abrahamtoast]

November was my busiest month for a long time (I needed money for Christmas, so listed far more than I usually do.) I sold 87 items in November, and 39 in December. My average is around 20 per month.

The November sales figure was slightly up on 2023, when I also sold a lot to fund Christmas, but December was down around 20%. I don't really read anything into that as my listing is so erratic. Some months I listed almost every week, other months I barely listed at all, so comparisons aren't really valid (as you'd expect with a private seller).

I have not been aware of any holds on my funds. All my items were sent by Royal Mail second class, everything got there fine, and I don't post overseas.

Although I live in an urban area, I'm not looking forward to SD. My experience with many of the couriers' drop-off points has been poor - lockers full, shops refusing parcels due to space issues, etc.

I'm still not sure what to do about the "Buyers Protection Fee". My average sale value is around £10, so I'm just about the level where I could discount my prices to make the BIN figures look sensible to a buyer (e.g. £20.00 instead of £21.55), but I'm not sure if that'll really make much difference. It would still mean I was receiving more than I had been when we paid fees; I reckon I'll just need to wait and see what happens.

[vintique*violet]

Wow - fantastic sales and glad it helped you for Christmas.

Good to hear all your parcels arrived. 

Royal Mail second class with the new introductions will mean your funds will be held for 14 days if untracked.. 

The BPF will have a huge impact on sales with  buyers not willing to pay it, I believe... it actually does not "protect" anything new and not anyones items as far as I can see ... it is misleading and ambiguous. 

Encrypted transactions have always been.

Items are covered with the MBG or the postal couriers terms. 

It appears it is just the 24/7 customer support " chat" which is new for buyers. 

[vinylscot]

I'm really not worried about the possible payment holds, as I leave the money in there to accumulate, before withdrawing either when I need it, or when it has built up to a decent sum.

My items are almost all large letter-sized, so I do get something eBay accepts as tracking, although it is really just delivery confirmation.

In any case, once "Simple Delivery" becomes mandatory, I won't be able to send by simple second class post, as I'll need to send by whichever service my buyers select from eBay's limited choice.

Regarding the BPF, I don't think there's much point in rehashing the rights and wrongs of it. NOBODY is in favour of it, except the spiteful, short-sighted business sellers who would happily see all private sellers in front of a firing squad. It's probably more productive now just to work out how best to cope with it - those who adapt early may fare much better than those who hang back.

[abrahamtoast]

*above post inadvertently sent from by business account.

[podlingsmum2007]

9 in November, 6 confirmed delivered, 3 not (but a pos feedback for 1 of those)

8 in December, 7 confirmed delivered, 1 not but pos feedback

7 so far for January, 4 confirmed delivered, of the other 3, 2 are international so not delivered yet

[sunflowers4me59]

November=31, (28, one customer being 89p knitting patterns).

December=4.

Can't/won't do simple delivery, (no printer, no brain power)! will only do as taking to post office, stamps, the old fashioned way.

Only avenue for me would be to do collection only, but who would come for one knitting pattern?