Sellers think it alright to offer second class only or.....

[keosg_58]

In the context of small items that are typically disc based movies, just what kind of sellers think it acceptable to offer R-M 2Nd class even when I make it clear that I wish to pay the exyta for R-M 48 hour tracked?

I live about an hour south of Birmingham.

I do not believe that it is a lot more effort to allow R-M 48 hour tracked upon request.

I don't sell, but find it strange that Ebay allow sellers to receive payment without proof that the customer has received their order

[therenewalworkshopltd]

Fortunately, it's the seller that decides the postage options to present to the customer and not the customer!

It is perfectly acceptable to offer second class, even though you want a different service.
Why should we be forced to upgrade it, just for you?
Not everyone has access to that particular service.
A lot of companies will work with other couriers and not necessarily RM.

So it boils down to, find one that sends it in the way you want, or don't buy it.

Harsh, but true.

[keosg_58]

I'm fully aware that other delivery companies are available, I'm talking about sellers who offer Royal Mail second class post.

Just how can it be too much effort to offer an upgrade from second class to 48 tracked when the customer is paying.

I'm interested, how do sellers get paid if there is not any proof of delivery?

The seller can offer what they like, even free collection only. But the fewer options that are offered the fewer people are apealed to and lower sales

Have a naice day now

[the_repair_man]

using 1st or 2nd, which arnt tracked allows seller to pop order in a RM post box. If they used tracked 24/48 then they have to take to post office or a parcel shop, which for some sellers may not be easy.Not everyone has a drop off point near them.Or they can pay rm 30p per item to get collected, which makes 2nd class apealing.

[therenewalworkshopltd]

The seller can offer what they like, even free collection only. But the fewer options that are offered the fewer people are apealed to and lower sales

That's exactly the point!
Maybe, there is a smaller proportion of people willing to buy without Tracked services.
However, VERY FEW are actually willing to pay the extra for this kind of item.

There are however multiple reasons not to provide the service and very few people complain when the item is low value.  And I'll say it again, you don't have to buy from those sellers. 

As to people being paid, that very much depends on whether they are private or business.  Whether they have an account in good standing or not.  But frankly, again, unless your a seller, why on earth should it matter to you?
And frankly, POD is not required, because the vast majority of people are actually honest....

[keosg_58]

An interesting situation that I had not though of. Although I would then wonder when they go somewhere for work, they must have a luch hour or go once a week shopping. 30p to have the item picked up is good, but then why would it only be available for 2Nd class and nothing else?

[barry.110]

"The seller can offer what they like, even free collection only. But the fewer options that are offered the fewer people are apealed to and lower sales"

Before we were forced to use Simple Delivery I often used to list my items with free postage using 2nd Class then had added options that the buyer could choose paying the difference, I cannot recall a single time the buyers paid the extra for a different service.

[keosg_58]

I had a quick look at your listings, although nothing of interest to me I see that you sell new/ used clothes with a choice of tracked delivery options, that is good.

You are entitled to your belief just like the next person, but the more people that you apeal to the more you sell.

The reasons I like 48 tracked is because like many I am out during the day, a few of us work for our money.  Leaveing things on view for porch pirates is not a great idea, so I divert the item to a local post office and pick it up when I can. I have bought items where 2Nd class was used and had bad experience. To me the small cost for the big service improvement is more than worth it. 

As far as other delivery companies go, if they have a drop off shop near me, evri for example then not a problem

I not saying that you should, but having looked quickly I don't believe that you offer untracked delivery, very wise.

[therenewalworkshopltd]

No, your not getting it at all.
And just for the record, I've been doing this for a long time now.
I'm not new to it.  And know exactly what customers want.

I don't offer tracked services on everything on this account, or others, it is simply not worth the extra expense doing so on certain items.
And what you are missing, is that though it is a preferred option, a LOT of buyers simply won't buy, if the price is too high.  Which it will be, when you add on the extra cost of tracked services.
So selling an item for less than £10, to send via tracked, is going to cost another £3.50 or so, which is a 35% uplift on the total price!  Why would anyone pay 35% extra for something that it doesn't matter if it comes a day or to later.  Particularly so with items that will go through a letter box.

Why do you think so many places will sell sub £10 items and not send them via tracked services?

Especially these days where customers are expecting postage to be included in the cost.

[keosg_58]

Barry that is good, at least you give people the choice.

As much as 'your mileage may differ' where I live R-M  have a long history of looseing things particularly near bank holidays, weather sent to me or by me. Even when I send things 48 tracked when there is no inclemant weather, I have to confirm that they do not mean 48 days

[keosg_58]

Why shouldn't there be a choice? You offer choice for example

Many things don't fit through a letter box though, ref my earlier comment.

This 'I don't offer tracked services on everything on this account, or others, it is simply not worth the extra expense doing so on certain items.'   But the customer pays, so the effort on your part ought to be the same.

If it helps, I most commonly buy disc based movies, usually 4K that tend to have a ticket price of £ 12 plus. the aim is to undercut Amazon that deliver free to several lockers near me. Some 4K movies even new here on Ebay have a ticket price that is half that of Amazon, so the saving can cover 48 tracked

[technthread]

For some reason buyers on eBay hardly ever upgrade the postage at checkout. I recall just 1 buyer doing it on my listings.

There was a poster on the forum a couple of years ago who offered Parcelforce Express 48 as their freepost and also had Parcelforce Express 24 as a free option so I asked them whether any buyer upgraded for free and he said no. That was a test that I had always wanted to do myself, it says it all really.

It is also worth mentioning that the effort for the seller isn’t the same. If we offer options it is very easy to miss it when a buyer actually upgrades. That doesn’t put me off personally but it means another check on our side or we risk making an error when we buy postage labels.

[keosg_58]

As politely as possible, my issue is with R-M 2Nd class.

Indeed I would be more than happy with ' Parcelforce Express 48 as their freepost'.

I'll try to be careful here.  Where, for example two delivery options might be offered care needs to be taken to check the order, however like you say that does not put you off. Clearly you are a good seller.

To me sellers that offer 'any colour you like as long as it is black', are not good sellers

[maggie44d]

I only ever offer RM 2nd class with proof of postage and have never had any problems. Sometimes the tracking can take a few days to get uploaded, but I am almost always paid by ebay within a couple of days once the item has been delivered. 

No one is forcing you to buy from sellers that do meet your delivery needs.

[therenewalworkshopltd]

No, the effort is not the same.
It is a pain in the backside to sort stuff out, just because one person wanted something different.
Again however, on virtually every listing I have, I have a standard, a faster service and a guaranteed next day.
In all the time I have been selling, I maybe have had 3/4 with faster delivery and never next day.

So bearing in mind that I have sold many different things,  (from clothing to freezers and most things in between) that says to me, that the customer in the main, doesn't need or want those services.  Yes, there are exceptions such as yourself, but they are not worth the extra hassle.

[technthread]

I appreciate what you’re saying but I don’t think it matters what the postage options are, buyers just go with the one that is automatically applied as the default. It could have been 2nd class or Tracked 48 options both free and I would bet the result would have been the same.

Just to let you know if a buyer pays extra for postage, eBay take a cut of that from a business seller as extra fees. It means we have to overcharge the buyer for the upgrade or take a hit ourselves.

These are seller problems I don’t expect buyers to care about this stuff but different sellers have different considerations it isn’t always a sign of a bad seller if they only offer 1 option. They may not know how to add postage options on listings as eBay can be complicated. They may be part time and only have a limited block of time each day to post things out so they need a quick streamlined process.

[*devils.advocate*]

As a buyer, if I’m asking for something which is not included in the listing and the seller declines that request, it may well be declined for any manner of reasons.

What suits the buyer, may well not suit the seller.

I, for one, accept their decision and respect it.

And move on if it doesn’t suit me.

[keosg_58 · Accepted solution]

Indeed I do care, and find it gready on the part of Ebay. To my mind Ebay should not be takeing a cut of costs like that.

I have seen listings where sellers say that they can only send items on named days and I respect their upfront honesty

[keosg_58]

 re 'Again however, on virtually every listing I have, I have a standard, a faster service and a guaranteed next day.'

I believe that earlier that I said that you offered a choice of delivery options and that is good

[technthread]

This is a general point but as a seller sometimes you can’t please everyone and can only do your best. 

I occasionally have problems on my listings where I offer ‘other 48 hour courier’ as the freepost option. I need the ambiguity so I can make the decision which courier I use depending on buyer location.

I had a sale last month where the buyer sent me a rude message because I had bought a Royal Mail Tracked 48 label. They threatened to cancel as in their mind Royal Mail were a terrible courier. I bent over backwards and offered them 4 other options and they chose DPD in the end. I had to drive 5 miles to find a drop off point who were open late at night to guarantee the parcel would be out on time. Not aimed at you, but some buyers think the postage issue is so clear cut and can be very difficult about it. It makes eBay a lot less enjoyable.