Simple delivery is awful

[jezzagold]

I list a few things on ebay occasionally, but this new simple delivery is just rubbish for sellers. It assumes that ebay actually know the size and weight of items And that everyone can easily get to Evri or other courier services easily. Why did they have to stop the seller from deciding how to post items? Put me right off bothering to use Ebay.

[bobflemingesq]

I've been there - offer of a role that was exactly the same but paid less, or take statutory redundancy.

Taking redundancy was the best choice I'd made in a decade.

[gjalp]

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@tranceenthusiast wrote:

Tbh I think most of you are stuck in your ways.

I started selling on eBay a year or so ago. Never once measured or weighed a box, only ever used the QR codes and have only had one instance where I had to re list and let the seller know to rebuy ( perhaps Ebay should let us change or update the label / parcel size? Maybe they do now?) 

Getting a QR code and having it scanned is simple, easy and convenient. Most people do not have access to a printer..  I believe you lot kept your printers from the year 2000 because you are eBay sellers.. lol 😂

Touch wood I will have no problems lmao 🤣 

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I am quite happy with my old b&w laserjet printer. Ive been here over 20 years and had 2 of such printers, both bought re-conditioned . Its a good work horse. I don’t do QR codes or apps or much of anything with my phone. My phone is a phone. I either can’t read the screen or drop the darned thing when I try to use it for things other than a phone.

 I drop my items in a post box or have a collection. I haven’t been to a post office since 2020 despite mailing orders most week days. My printer has been used for degree assignments (both mine and my eldest son’s - I proof read his). Its been used for packing slips, address labels, tracked postage labels and labels for my jam making. Nothing wrong in having a printer.

[ratecheap_comics]

Nothing simple about it, scrolling through phone for which QR code goes to which item, what shop I’ve got mess about going too, can’t wait in all day for postman to turn up to collect.

then there’s the cost I’ve gone from £1.55 - £2 to simply garbage delivery’s default £2.72 with pointless unnecessary tracking. I’d have to lose every other item for this to benefit me. So I’ve had to drastically reduce prices to accommodate it, a £3 comic I have to knock off practically half the value to sell it.

Simple delivery needs to be optional.

[carsaverrestoration]

It's absolutely crackers. I had a BMW sump to sell and when I listed it did so with £10 or £12 postage as I know that would be right for the item size and weight and to leave a couple quid for my materials.

When the item auto renewed it went onto simple delivery and ebay in its infinite wisdom decided it would fit in a medium parcel category but also that it weighed little. A buyer bought it and I had to explain the issue. I spent an hour waiting for a call from ebay and went round in circles and on hold trying to solve it. In the end I explained to the buyer who still wanted it that I would cancel the sale, relist the item and hopefully be able to choose a suitable service - still no - the arrogance that they think they know better than my scales and tape measure! In the end I have had to relist the item intentionally in a wrong category to get it over the line as it let me choose other courier 3 - 5 days and set my own price.

I have been using ebay to buy things I need and sell things I don't for 22 years, I never use the Bezos website but am really close to delisting all my stuff here as it's so frustrating and I bet this won't be the only issue with my currently listed 150 items.

[legotrooper]

I was charged but didn't use a Simple Delivery Royal Mail label 5 weeks ago.

Have I had a refund? NO

Ebay is an absolute disgrace. I've filled in the refund form, I've contacted CS about 6 times (4 phone calls, 2 emails) and I tell you not one of the calls has given me consistent information. Every one has given different time scales for the refund. 

What is SIMPLE about this. 

I'll probably use ebay to continue to buy some things I can't get anywhere else but I'm never selling on it again. 

Absolute Tossers. (and that's being polite) 

[the-nutwood-collection]

In a post on a different topic, @papso22 wrote I expect it won't be long before ebay stops these refunds, they want the SD label used, whoever pays for it.  I am pretty sure it wasn't meant to be an opt out mechanism.

I'm inclined to agree.  eBay doesn't want sellers going rogue, and I'm sure they don't want tens of thousands of server transactions to process requests and refund the payments.

Both RM and Evri refund unused labels but I'm guessing the numbers are fairly low.  I don't suppose either entity would appreciate a dramatic increase in refund requests - but maybe eBay can't claim, and just has to swallow the cost. 

[legalbeaglejohn]

I totally agree.  I selected Royal Mail large 2nd class to ship a CD.  Ebay had suggested a cheaper alternative though I knew that to be insufficient.  When the buyer paid and it was time for me to print postage, I was told the buyer chose Royal Mail 2nd class small parcel, and Ebay wanted another £1.55 from me.  I called Ebay and the person I spoke to basically said simple delivery doesn’t work well with CDs, and that I’d need to manually correct Ebay’s weight estimate of 10 kilos, and I couldn’t do that from the Ebay app!!! In the end, I paid for postage myself ((£2.00; Royal Mail 2nd class large letter) and posted it, so both the buyer and I have paid for postage. Ebay won’t refund me. I’d  suggest we all switch to another selling platform.

[thissyann]

I agree   I have so much to sell re downsizing but due to the postage i have given up

my postman used to collect all my parcels instead of me going to look for an outlet

just fed up with the whole thing now

[department28]

'Ebay had suggested a cheaper alternative though I knew that to be insufficient.'

It would probably have been ok to use the 'insufficient' label. This is the way Simple Delivery is supposed to work - it auto-churns out a label it 'decides' is right for your item, and it is ok to use it, even if it is underweight. Many sellers are understandably thinking 'this can't be right', and end up getting even more confused by conflicting advice from CS.

We are used to packing an item, weighing it, and buying the correct weight/size postage for that item. eBay can't expect everyone to immediately understand that it doesn't work like that now! It has been especially confusing for sellers to find their listings switched over to Simple Delivery - and maybe have items sell - before they have realised exactly what SD postage entails... 🤖

'I called Ebay and the person I spoke to basically said simple delivery doesn’t work well with CDs...'

That is very reassuring for all those trying to sell CDs... 😖

[goodibags]

It's all very well Ebay deciding that a seller must use their SD label or else, but what if an item is valuable and needs a more appropriate postage service? It's hardly sellers 'going rogue' when RM guidelines state that valuables SHOULD be sent with a verified service, either Special Delivery or at the very least with a signature on receipt. These are not available with SD.

I imagine the number of lost or damaged items may be pretty low, so Ebay probably can 'take the hit' on those (altho' it does rather undo the purpose of SD if the item value is not reclaimed). But failing to follow best practice if not  their own guidelines for upgraded postage is a more serious matter.

The obvious reason RM and Evri do not have to refund many unused labels is because the sender has bought the correct one. If Ebay refuses to refund users for unnecessary and unusable SD labels, it won't just be losing (as presumably intended?) the low-value untracked items from the platform. It will end up losing a lot of the higher end items too.

[goodibags]

I thought CDs were excluded from SD? This would make a lot of sense as officially it really doesn't work well with them. As well as many other things. 😉

[sml192]

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@legalbeaglejohn wrote:

I totally agree.  I selected Royal Mail large 2nd class to ship a CD.  Ebay had suggested a cheaper alternative though I knew that to be insufficient.  When the buyer paid and it was time for me to print postage, I was told the buyer chose Royal Mail 2nd class small parcel, and Ebay wanted another £1.55 from me.  I called Ebay and the person I spoke to basically said simple delivery doesn’t work well with CDs, and that I’d need to manually correct Ebay’s weight estimate of 10 kilos, and I couldn’t do that from the Ebay app!!! In the end, I paid for postage myself ((£2.00; Royal Mail 2nd class large letter) and posted it, so both the buyer and I have paid for postage. Ebay won’t refund me. I’d  suggest we all switch to another selling platform.

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The CD's that you sold were listed with custom postage, 2nd class Large Letter @ £1.55, not Simple Delivery, hence why you then needed to actually buy the label instead of just being provided with one. 

Royal Mail Standard Tariff services are not available with Simple Delivery, only Royal Mail Tracked.

As the label ended up costing you £2.00 then it appears that the £1.55 listed price was insufficient anyway. 

[legalbeaglejohn]

CDs are not excluded according to the person I spoke to at Ebay, who was a manager and didn’t understand their *bleep* system.

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[xyz307xyz]

You are (/should be) able to opt out of SD for CDs, if no more than £10, 100g and large letter size, listed in the Music - CDs subcategory.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/selling/posting-items/setting-postage-options/simple-delivery?id=5575#se...

[legalbeaglejohn]

As a follow-up, the mechanism for communicating with a person at Ebay to get help has now frozen.  I’ve logged in and logged out, removed the App and re-installed, logged in via their website, and nothing works, so now I can’t even communicate with them.
>From great customer service to non-existent.  What progress. I’m done! 


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[suelel1968]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/eua?id=5275&mkevt=1&mkpid

Links generally dont work for me so if this doesn't work @legalbeaglejohn look on he buyer forum for a post called ebay phone number and the working link is there for a call back. 

[legalbeaglejohn]

Worked! Thank you!!


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[thissyann]

Well after all these years i don’t think I will be using ebay again —very sad
Unless you go back to the preference postage system -that we can choose ourselves

i know i am not the only one who thinks the same

keep the simple system but let us choose what WE want

[goodibags]

In the link you provided SD opt outs are for letters only. Except some CDs in card sleeves they're usually large letter size and often over 100g too.

Opting out

The option to opt out and select Custom postage instead of Simple Delivery will be available for letter-sized items in the specific categories below that are priced £10 and under.

[chutch1971]

Totally agree, this is one of the biggest mistakes they have made to date in my opinion