Royal Mail Parcel Collection

[eastern-lights]

One of the concerns expressed by some private sellers about the forthcoming Ebay Simple Delivery (if it is compulsory) is whether it will be possible to book collection of the parcel from your house.

Doing a little bit of research, it appears to me that it is possible to book collections when you have bought RM postage elsewhere, or where you are using a return label. It looks to me as if one will have to download an app to do it. I can live with that.

https://www.royalmail.com/collection

Has anyone experience of using this particular service?

[troopster2525-per]

exactly the issue with some items or most i assume.

not just that funding the cost of packing materials out my own pocket because ebay seemingly will decided the cost of postage which will only be the exact amount royal mail charge even though packaging should be allowed to be added into postage costs

[department28]

I don't mind 'partially packing' some items, so I get the right weight & size, but with some things, it's much better to be able to wait til sold before packing... might need to check a measurement, or pack two things together, or add extra packing if it's going overseas etc etc...

[eastern-lights]

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@millcottage wrote:

So if I have 70 items listed, after taking photos I need to pack them securely for posting and weigh them, then list them on eBay with parcel info.

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Or, you could make a reasonable judgement as to whether it will be a large letter, small parcel, medium parcel when packed. And put in weight and measurements to suit. Nobody's gonna be checking so long as you don't go over size or over weight.

[eastern-lights]

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@department28 wrote:

I don't mind 'partially packing' some items, so I get the right weight & size, but with some things, it's much better to be able to wait til sold before packing... might need to check a measurement, or pack two things together, or add extra packing if it's going overseas etc etc...

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I guess "combined shipping" will become a thing of the past?☹️

[millcottage]

 Basically put everything as small parcel and 2KG.

If parcel is actually large letter then 🤷‍♂️

[department28]

'I guess "combined shipping" will become a thing of the past?'

Yes, I don't think combined shipping is possible with this ghastly new system. ☹️

[troopster2525-per]

so will be any type of multi-buy discounts and offer settings because why would sellers of low priced stuff allow even more money to go down the pan just so a buyer gets a cheap frill haha

[megan1512]

see my previous post re
https://send.royalmail.com/

[megan1512]

only if you go in gor "simple postage " and buy from ebay
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as far as i can see you can opt out by not ticking box for it when listing
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[big_and_beautiful_fashion]

I suspect that you will get the option to choose the courier that is acceptable to you. EBay cannot expect to take control of your courier as it is impossible for them to randomly choose for you. 

The only option for free collection is RM, if you want it collected by Evri there will be an extra charge, which I can't see the buyer being willing to pay. The seller has to be allowed some control I would have thought.

I was discussing this with a Economist friend of mine and they think maybe  Ebay has arranged some kind of tiered discount with couriers for large amounts of packages. I know this is done for some large customers. That way they can charge the full amount and then reap the benefits of the discount. 

[millcottage]

If I’m still selling on eBay ( very unlikely post 4th of February) when I’m told what postal service to send via, if it doesn’t meet my needs as a seller then I will simply cancel the order and explain to buyer why.

My needs being ; postman collects from me and brings a pre-printed label.

Why?

I can’t always go to post office / mail depot or shop for a drop off due to ongoing cancer treatment and I don’t currently have a printer or the need for one.

I have managed to sell 215 items in 2024 and post using this method and about 100 in 2023.

[magpiecorner1]

At the moment - anyone taking bets?

[vintagefunk01]

It already says on the page the courier is determined based on metrics such as distance, delivery options, express or not and some other things so it seems very unlikely they’ll do the decent thing and let the sellers pick their preference (and even buyers can’t)

plus we all know it’ll be determined on who gives eBay a bigger cut and those in rural areas will be expected to drive for miles to an evri point offering eBay a slightly better deal when there is a Royal Mail Drop off a few yards down the road.

It’s so completely predictable we’ll see a bunch of ‘eBay asking me to drive 5 miles when there is a Royal Mail round the corner’ posts come march. It’s all so obvious these days I’m so sick of it. 

what a mess 

[crg_music]

Exactly, its like vinted with inpost, pretty sure they are available through vinted + parcel2go and maybe ebay and the prices are insane. I bought a bundle of 60 records and paid £2.49 postage. We are talking maybe 12-15kg.

Ebay likely have an arrangement where the courier will handle everything for a set amount regardless of how many parcels and charge the buyer flat rates of who knows what?. Will likely be simplified into wide bands of maybe 1kg, 2kg, 5kg, 10kg etc?. Size wont matter as long as its less than the stated limit.

Who's to say the plan isn't to go the Amazon route and have ebay vans?, its obviously profitable but people really should just let it play out, while it might no seem so I'm sure they have thought this through.

Royal Mail do not treat someone sending millions of parcels a year the same as someone sending 100. See it like the NHS buying hand wash vs Joe Bloggs.

[kath3735_wxmjn]

Exactly - i keep all my e bay/car boot stuff in my spare room where i have everything on hangers waiting to pack if they ever sell, easy to find the item.  Could you imagine all those items already packed just so you could give all the dimensions and then having to find the right one.  I am a private seller not a business with loads of room to keep parcels!  Admittedly most of them are roughly the same kind of size but you do get caught out now and again.  I had one recently that was just too big because of the straps and did not fit through the slot, i paid the extra with no problem.  One yesterday was actually under and i refund the difference.   

[messier44000]

I know as per all couriers, this can vary from area to area.

Where I live, the PO told me a number of those booking RM home collections 

are getting delays with failed pick ups on the promised day.

But I am sure the highly accurate EDDs will take this into account.

I stopped posting on the weekly copy and paste chat team Q&As due to intelligence insulting answers, 

but will have my popcorn ready to have a nosy this week.

[crg_music]

Time of year?, ive had a few temps this week who are nowhere near as competent with the collections and labelling etc. Ive been overall very impressed with collections though, was a mess at first but the systems working well here now. A lot is probably down to the Royal Mail needing to take on more staff and train them up but that needs to be a priority if they want to compete with evri, yodel etc.

[nairb99]

As far as I can see we will be able to opt out of the Simple Delivery system at the time of listing so that's what I will do.

[lucy_farmer]

'As far as I can see we will be able to opt out of the Simple Delivery system at the time of listing so that's what I will do.'

Yep, you can do that at the moment .

Unfortunately, 'simple' delivery will be mandatory for all private sellers sometime in spring this year. 🙁

[spiff101]

Collection with RM 48 is definitely not always available, so beware. Just sold an item and the only Royal Mail option was via drop off with a QR code, and it said booking a collection was not available. Had to select Evri to get a collection at more expense.

I’ve had the same problem with Vinted: when the platform selects the Royal Mail 48 option and supplies the details, it uses the QR code/dropoff method. This can’t be combined with collection, because you’re only supplied with a QR code, not a full label, and the postie can’t print out a label on his/her round - that can only be done at certain designated Post Offices. In my case, the only available dropoff points are miles away so it’s useless.