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

[stereosound]

As a seller, I buy the postage through Ebay for RM 2nd class parcel and also 2nd class large letter. In both cases a tracking ref is given and added to the order automatically. With these, you can't actually track it's movement, but when delivered to the buyer it updates to say it has been delivered. This is on Ebay and RM website tracking.

[keosg_58]

As much as 'your mileage may differ', you are clearly part of a multi-ocupancy property where as I live alone, other family members are not in a position to help. My 80 year old Mom, lives at the other end of town and is out a lot in the day or of on cruise holidays.

Divert to a chosen post office is a propper R-M option, in the same way that most delivery companies have the option to divert small items to a parcel shop.

[keosg_58]

not something that I have heard of but looks a bit like recorded delivery

[kath3735_wxmjn]

It is called a Certificate of Posting which you are given for any parcel or LL now.  You enter that on the tracking section and it shows when the postie scans it as delivered.  Sometimes they do not but most do.

[keosg_58]

I can place certificate of posting very clearly, but did not realise that you could confirm receipt of the item

[1956glyn]

I have no clue what you mean by "your mileage may differ"

Yes i live with my husband Glyn and short term with my son.

One of my points was.......having a delivery diverted may exlude you from the Ebay Money Back Guarantee

[keosg_58]

I'll answer again 'One of my points was.......having a delivery diverted may exlude you from the Ebay Money Back Guarantee'

As before R-M accept that many people are not going to be at home when their delivery is expected, so on their own website they offer the option to have the item delivered to a R-M post office instead.

This is not the same as having the item delivered to a nominated neighbour.

When you collect the item from a nominated post office, you have to prove that you are the real 'Glyn' for example.

As much as you might not like my cliches, you are trying to compare apples to orranges, in that you believe that what works for a three person household ought to work for a singleton like me as well

[insidethe93]

Occasionally I need and/or want an item asap, so I'm grateful for, and tend to gravitate towards, those sellers who automatically offer an upgrade at check-out. This includes sometimes spending a high percentage of the item price on postage, and once or twice more than the item. Cheapest postage is probably not an average buyer's main priority. I suspect very few buyers are so unfortunately financially constrained that they really can't afford to pay the extra postage whenever they feel it's needed.

I like to have upgrades offered automatically at check-out as I don't like to bother sellers by asking, and possibly the time waiting for a reply negates any faster-posting benefit. A noticeable number of sellers who've become my regular sellers automatically offer upgrades which I occasionally use. I'm so glad to have the automatic option that I thank them at check-out for offering it.

I've discovered I'm not alone in this, as of course tips are shared about how we buy things - shared among family, friends, colleagues and social media groups dedicated to a shared interest.

There are certain items, perhaps more common in some categories than others, where the item price/value is different for the buyer and the seller won't know that (and seller can't be expected to know). For instance, I've seen quite a few items that are priceless to me (exactly what I want for an ongoing project, say) but of low value to the seller and most other buyers. As a seller can't know every buyer's circumstances, why not offer automatic postal choices? It could be something as simple as a buyer wanting to increase the chances of receiving an item before they go on holiday, rather than see if it's still available after their holiday. Yes a buyer can always message a seller but I'm not the only one who doesn't want to bother a seller nor to wait for a reply, and a seller won't know that they just buy elsewhere. Generally the easier a seller makes it for a buyer, the more sales they're likely to get.

At certain times of year buyers want items more quickly, and might also feel that a faster postal service reduces the chances of it being lost in the post, such as the run-up to Christmas.

[keosg_58]

Yes a large well organised text, but I can certainly identify with most if not all of it. How ever I do enquire about paying the extra to cover R-M tracked when it is not in the listing, many sellers are acomodating. In general if an item is sent 2Nd class and lost, then the seller may have to provide a replacement and make a claim to R-M, where as agreeing the upgrade improves the risk at no cost to the seller.

[gjalp]

I used to have a full range of postage services available automatically but no-one ever opted for them. Then it became a pain to update when RM increased prices so I just dropped them all and now have 2nd class only. I also have a 3 day handling time as Im not able to sit and pack orders for hours on end. People aren’t generally in a rush for my items anyway. It also came in handy when I ended up in ITU following emergency surgery as it gave others time to pause my listings and email buyers that there will be a delay or they could cancel. When you have a chronic illness or a disability, you need contingency plans and for me that comes with a 3 day handling time and ‘basic’ postage whereby a postbox can be used.

if I want something asap, I buy on amazon. 

[zee_moris]

Same thing applies to buyers right? I mean you say you’re disable, what if the buyer is disabled ?This means you have to walk in their shoes also.

[akemp1]

I don't offer fast postage options incase the item gets uncontrollably delayed in the post and the buyer starts abusing me despite a prompt dispatch. I've had that a few times it's not nice and not worth it for the low value of my items. Those are not the type of buyers I am looking to attract with my listings. I'd rather not have their money. They are very welcome to buy elsewhere.

That's not to say I'm not receptive to a buyer asking politely if I can help on a clearly delayed item as that's completely reasonable although often there is little I can do than phone the carrier etc. As a buyer I sometimes need to contact sellers myself on items that are clearly very delayed.

I've had several buyers ask for an upgraded faster, tracked, whatever service over the years and if they are polite and I can dispatch quickly then yes I'll update the listing but I am always clear that I cannot guarantee any delivery dates as once I hand it over to the agreed carrier it is beyond my control.

[insidethe93]

Yes it depends on what you're selling and who your buyers are. You knew for sure it was fine to stop offering anything but 2nd class, because you'd offered other options and seen what happened. Also eBay started and grew as a place where ordinary people could fit selling around their busy lives (such as having jobs) but eBay, particularly with their often unrealistic EDDs (estimated delivery dates), began to expect sellers/slaves to spend all their waking hours doing nothing but sell on Ebay.

Yes it definitely depends on what a seller's selling. For very seasonal items for instance, offering an upgrade option might increase sales when postal deliveries slow down in the run up to Christmas.

Shame nothing can really be done about impatient buyers, often spoiled by despatch/delivery offered elsewhere such as a large rival platform that offers "Prime Next Day" so buyers expect similar on eBay even while knowing that said rival owns and manages their own courier system. I believe eBay could greatly close the gap on that simply by improving their Customer Service e.g. making contact easier and having humans not AI (however straightforward a matter, people prefer to deal with real people).

eBay's EDDs (estimated delivery dates) are perhaps one of the top main things eBay needs to fix, to help all customers and earn back some trust. As a buyer I mentally add on a day or two to the estimated delivery date, partly from experience (over 1K purchases) and because I kind of walk in a seller's shoes since I post several parcels a month (gifts) so I know packaging items and going to a post office or drop-off is time-consuming and often a hassle.

Actually it's not the buyers who could do with realising sellers aren't superhuman, but eBay itself as it seems no eBay execs ever buy from eBay otherwise they'd experience the problems themselves which would be big incentives to correct the problems or at least to cut sellers some slack.

[gjalp]

I also have a lot of repeat buyers and many of those do know that if they want a specific service, they only have to message me before paying (I don’t require immediate payment) as even in the stamp selling business, stamps do get bought as gifts 🙂

My husband is a nightmare as a seller however. As soon as a buyer pays he is stressing, packs immediately and then goes running off to the postbox/office as he doesn’t want to upset buyers (his words). I have to remind him that on his settings (as well as mine) he has 2nd class listed and a 3 day handling time due to the fact that it’s mostly me that packs and arranges posting and any buyer has no idea or even cares that he is busting a gut to get items out almost before payment is made. 

[squirrelz14]

Naturally. 

If a buyer messages me to say they have a problem and I can help, then of course I do all I can, often putting myself out in the process - such as a special trip to the parcel box today for someone, 2 quid in bus fares pretty much took any profit I would've got from that sale, but they wanted it quick for a birthday present.

However I am not psychic, nor do I intend to make my own life difficult for the sake of a few quid from a bit of my old junk. If requests are reasonable, I'll help where I can.

My disabled feet are so misshapen though that they are pretty unable to walk in anyone else's shoes. 

[zoeebabii369x]

Ebay prefers it when people don't use second class delivery because most of the time it's a negative experience for the buyer but for me anything that arrives by royal mail is a negative experience. You need to make sure you include it in your feedback. The only way we can put a stop to royal mail's terrible customer service is to give buyers negative feedback. Sellers will always chose royal mail because it's cheap but most people would rather pay for a reliable delivery and we as the buyers deserve the choice. I'm just starting a case with a seller who used royal mail second class when, they should be using tracked 24. I'm having nothing but trouble with private sellers on here at the moment. 

[akemp1]

---

@zoeebabii369x wrote:

Ebay prefers it when people don't use second class delivery because most of the time it's a negative experience for the buyer but for me anything that arrives by royal mail is a negative experience.

---

As a regular buyer I can't think of any negative experience I have had because an item is 2nd class. It seems just as reliable around here as Tracked48. I'd rather make the big % saving on 100g or 250g large letter items worth upto £20 buy buying from a seller who offers 2nd class. For a parcel then I might as well get tracking with Tracked 48 for around the same price.

[zoeebabii369x]

Well your one of very few. Do you think this is helpful? We're trying to complain about an issue we are having and your coming here saying "oh well I don't have any issues" 🤷🏼‍♀️ good for you! I do literally every single time that royal mail delivers to me from any company using any service becsuse they are a bad delivery company. Lucky you for not having to put up with this but I'm on multiple threads where quite a few people are contantly having issues with royal mail aswell. I'd rather know where my stuff is at all times and when it's being delivered ect. That's literally all I want with any delivery. Having parcels out there and not having a clue what's going on is nothing but stress. Also royal mail can't offer the basic services that any other delivery company can, they are a joke! 

[moonlight-rhapsody]

The solution is simple - only buy from business sellers if you've had bad experiences with private sellers, and only buy from sellers who use a tracked service with some other courier than Royal Mail.

As a buyer I have no problem with Royal Mail, or private sellers, or 2nd class delivery, or delayed delivery, as long as the seller makes it clear what their delivery policy is at the time of buying.

[akemp1]

---

@zoeebabii369x wrote:

Well your one of very few.  Do you think this is helpful?

---

But what evidence is that most of the time 2nd class is a negative experience for the buyer? The impression I get is that most people on the forum seem happy with 2nd class with particular affection for the Large Letter rates on small low value items. Similarly there seems to be more affection for RM than other carriers  around here although yes admittedly because of their market share they get a share of the issues too. I think any perspective is helpful as this forum is for debate not an echo chamber and would stand up for anyone putting their view across respectfully even if holding the opposite view.