Royal Mail refused parcel

[shou3047]

I put an item for sale on item. It is 95cm long and 25.3kg. I selected a parcel weighing over 20kg when it asked for details. E bay did not ask for size. EBay selected Royal Mail. Royal Mail refused to take as too long. I contacted eBay and they told me cancel the order. I put out of stock as reason as I couldn’t put unable to post. EBay refused to cancel the order and contact them. If I refund the order will the buyer get their protection fee and postage paid by EBay. 

[marco@ebay]

Hi shou3047, thanks for your post.

If the item is too big to qualify for simple delivery, then you would ship the item in the old way, which would be basically you getting the carrier and service that suits your parcel/order best, in that case we would provide the label or anything as the order wouldn't be part of the Simple Delivery program. 

It is completely up to you if you want to cancel the order or not, but if you do cancel the order, the buyer will get a refund in full as soon as you issue the cancellation, yes.

Thank you,

Marco

[xyz307xyz]

If you ship it as per #2;

if the item was listed with buyer pays postage - they would have that refunded in approx 30 days.

if the item was listed with seller pays postage - you can claim that SD postage back.

I think Marco means "in that case we would NOT provide the label "

[mostlylamps]

As sellers can't opt out of that stupid "simple delivery" parcels exceeding the 61cms can't be sent on any other carrier. I know this is a fact as I have had to end a listing that exceeded the maximum dimensions allowed on this latest pathetic "service" 

[wellingnorth]

marco@ebay but it currently seems like there is no way to opt out of simple delivery if your account has been opted in?

For example if I try and list an obviously potentially large item e.g. title 'chair' in category "Home, Furniture & DIY > Furniture > Sofas, Armchairs & Couches" I can choose only collection or simple delivery - there is no  option to opt out and use a different courier. 

[irt303]

It's interesting that Marco, probably unintentionally, has just acknowledged that "the old way" (pre-SD) involved the seller "getting the carrier and service that suits [their] parcel/order best" (I'm sure he typed the exact words he meant to type, it's what can be inferred from his remark that's noteworthy).

That being the case - and it also being the case that eBay must surely want items to be sent with the most appropriate carrier and service (since this ultimately benefits all parties - seller, buyer and eBay alike) - what rationale can there be for introducing a new way?

eBay's CEO provided the answer to that when he spoke of SD as being an additional revenue stream; considerations of what is best for sellers and buyers (and, ironically, for eBay itself in the long run) are clearly of secondary importance. Pursuit of short-term gains at the possible expense of future longevity. Flogging the fishing rod for a few quid instead of using it to catch all those fish that could be sold on an ongoing basis. I don't think anyone needs to have done Business Studies to see that this is not a sustainable model.

I feel that Marco has inadvertently summed up the reason why many of us are so unhappy about SD. The new way is not conducive (at least, not always) to the item being sent (and the order being fulfilled) the way that works best for all parties, something which was possible when we were able to do it "the old way".

The juggernaut that is eBay continues to thunder down the highway for now, but how much of that is propulsion, and how much of it is mere momentum? One thing's for sure: the juggernaut needs a significant overhaul.

[wellingnorth]

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@irt303 wrote:

Flogging the fishing rod for a few quid instead of using it to catch all those fish that could be sold on an ongoing basis. I don't think anyone needs to have done Business Studies to see that this is not a sustainable model.

Funnily enough if I try and list 'fishing rod' in the fishing rod category it does allow an optout so it seems like the current functionality may be allowing opt outs based on category. Do you know if that's the case marco@ebay  and if so could you see if they could review this please as clearly sofas + armchairs should have an oversized option.

If this is how it's going to work It would be great if ebay could err on the side of caution with this as many categories where 99% of items may be within the simple delivery limits 1% may not be (particularly fragile items packaging may take them over the limit). 

I'm seeing new functionality in general for choosing postage.

This is what I see without the opt out for the chair:

And this is what I see with the opt out for the fishing rod:

[shou3047]

Thankyou for your reply.

The item is too long for simple delivery by Royal Mail. It is 93cm and weighs 15.3kg. Evri take items this length. What is their weight limit? Ebay do not give it.

How do list an item using my own courier? I do not see that option.

[3942rick2005]

It is obvious that ebay/marco haven't a clue that custom delivery is not available without a workaround, try my solution:

https://community.ebay.co.uk/t5/Seller-Central/how-do-you-list-anything-bigger-than-61cm/m-p/7882449...