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.

[xyz307xyz]

It certainly does say that, and I made that point myself to someone else many months ago, when it was just starting, with only a few people having to use it [not me] and generally not many people understanding how it worked (and possibly ebay still making some changes to it.)

Even so, it's implemented as large letter - Click View listings next to my name and you will see a cased CD for sale with custom postage (with the correct dimensions for large letter).

(As we have both said, if its over 100g it can't be opted out.)

[goodibags]

That's confusing. Yet another example of Ebay not even trying to sell SD to its users?

I guess with any CD above 100g you can just call list it as under and add the extra 45p postage to the item price.

Hmm, almost tempted to list my vinyl records under CDs. After all, they're plastic too.

[dazzamatazz1]

The link works.  Thanks!

[thissyann]

That is absolutely no good whatsoever. i have been with you since 2011 have 100% feedback and now you are losing me like many others
bad mistake ebay

[ovendoor]

Your pathetic "Simple Delivery" isn't wanted. The business you gain from contracts with couriers will be lost to sellers who jump ship. Which 6 year old economist did you hire to do the math? Leave my listings along.

[akemp1]

I wonder if ebay had any idea that around 5 months later, and after so many concessions and defeats, they would still be getting so much hate from loyal users with thousands of feedback.

What a shameful mess.

I can't believe they seriously thought their original ideas would workout.

Such a complete lack of competence and understanding.

To anyone that has used ebay it was obvious from day 1 that this was going to be a total disaster.

[auctionbusters]

Having this exact nightmare. ebay thinks my item is a medium parcel size when it's almost 2 metres long and weighs 30kg. I'm getting options for medium parcel and that's it, and £6 postage costs. Woefully inadequate, just plain ridiculous.

I came back here to sell some stuff because I want a better buyer base but I'm now back to FB marketplace, because at least it's easy and not stressful like this utter nightmare of frustration.

[bra-516896]

Todays joke is a sale for a sample of some graded granite I have ,  it’s on for 99p .

ebay claim to have taken 3.38 from the seller , they haven’t , they then proceed through the list of fees and my end result is minus £2.39p for my 99p sale which they inform will be deducted from my funds .

couple of days before that sold a dozen 1970s  tiles from my mums bathroom , eBay took 5.38 I think it was for postage , sent me label on email which notes parcel size acceptable and it says weight up to 20kgs . 

printed label sent parcel , it now shows on Royal Mail as in retention .

Doubtkess EBAY will blame me for their poorly thought out simple delivery , there is no way they know what parcel sizes will be or weight accurately  , even though I note the weight and size they just ignore it .

[bobflemingesq]

eBay doesn't want us 99p bidders and sellers anymore. We're not profitable enough - so we've been screwed over with eBay's 20% on top of postage charge for years (which is BS as eBay doesn't provide any VATable service to speak of). Now they're slapping an extra 100-200% on top of the postage and forcing us all to pay it - otherwise we don't get the money we sold an item for. eBay is a digital pirate on the immoral seas of internet commerce.

[legalbeaglejohn]

Extremely well said!


Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone

[empty1612]

I didn't even get the Evri option. This simple shipping is obviously designed by some halfwit - which probably qualifies them to be the CEO

[department28]

'I wonder if ebay had any idea that around 5 months later, and after so many concessions and defeats, they would still be getting so much hate from loyal users with thousands of feedback.'

I was thinking the same thing. Since the start of this thread, it would be very interesting to know roughly how many private sellers still think 'Simple Delivery is awful' - and have stopped, or paused, selling as a result? 

Did eBay really think replacing Custom postage with SD would be welcomed, or at worst, reasonably well accepted/tolerated - and that after a few minor tweaks, the initial grumbles would die down & everything would go back to normal?

Or is it actually all going very well, as far as eBay are concerned, with more gained on the swings than lost on the roundabouts?!

More questions than answers... 🤔

[books1ecb]

Cannot agree more. EBAY are destroying the platform. I wonder if they no longer want private sellers. You can't combine multiple purchases, which is a key selling tool. You can't buy expedited delivery for special occaisions like a wedding or birthday present. You can't just deliver something when you realise it was bought by a neighbour - plus their lousy AI system gets the postage label wrong. You can't cancel them - you can't buy your own correct label and enter the correct tracking number. Or to put it simply it is impossible to know what the best shipping method, and rate, is until all the stuff is packed and you know what the customer wants. 

Add this to there crackpot buyers fee EBAY is becoming impossible to use. But they do not seem to care, so that is why I think they just do not want private sellers anymore.

[books1ecb]

Agree SD is awful - but you can still book collections from Royal Mail, they charge 30p for the service. You only need to book one collection, and the postie will take all your other parcels as 'extras' - no need to schlep to the PO. At one point in the evolving rubbish SD wesbite there was a link to tak you to RM Collection bookings.

Better though if SD was just scrapped, before it destroys EBAY

[sml192]

---

@books1ecb wrote:

You can't buy expedited delivery for special occaisions like a wedding or birthday present. 

---

On most listings with Simple Delivery the buyer has the option to choose 'Express Tracked Delivery', which is Royal Mail Tracked 24, when checking out, if they need the item quicker.  

[books1ecb]

That is not true. SD offers Royal Mail Tracked 24, which is not an
expedited service. Buy Postage on Ebay offers Special Delivery which is/
That is no longer available to sellers.

Regards

Eric

[books1ecb]

TRACKED 24 Conditions para 3.3.1

3.3.1 Non Account Tracked 24 and Non Account Tracked 24 with Signature, we will aim
but do not guarantee to deliver your Item within 1 Working Day of the day on which
you Handover your Item provided such Handover occurs prior to the Latest
Acceptance Time applicable to the Drop Off Point where you provide your Item to
us (and if you provide your Item to us after the relevant Latest Acceptance Time,
then we aim but do not guarantee to deliver your Item within 2 Working Days of
that day);

SPECIAL DELIVERY CONDITIONS

Royal Mail guarantees delivery by 1pm the next working day to more than 98% of all UK addresses depending on the service selected.

And they offer Saturday delivery

Simple Delivery is unfit for use on a professional OMP

[sml192]

---

@books1ecb wrote:
That is not true. SD offers Royal Mail Tracked 24, which is not an
expedited service. Buy Postage on Ebay offers Special Delivery which is/
That is no longer available to sellers.

Regards

Eric

---

You didn't mention Special Delivery which admittedly isn't available with Simple Delivery.  'Expediited' just means to make something happen quicker which Tracked 24 essentially does although not actually guaranteed next day like Special Delivery. 

[sml192]

---

@books1ecb wrote:

TRACKED 24 Conditions para 3.3.1

3.3.1 Non Account Tracked 24 and Non Account Tracked 24 with Signature, we will aim
but do not guarantee to deliver your Item within 1 Working Day of the day on which
you Handover your Item provided such Handover occurs prior to the Latest
Acceptance Time applicable to the Drop Off Point where you provide your Item to
us (and if you provide your Item to us after the relevant Latest Acceptance Time,
then we aim but do not guarantee to deliver your Item within 2 Working Days of
that day);

---

Note those aren't actually the correct T&C's where Simple Delivery is concerned, as it isn't 'Non Account', although the delivery aim is still the same.

---

@books1ecb wrote:

SPECIAL DELIVERY CONDITIONS

Royal Mail guarantees delivery by 1pm the next working day to more than 98% of all UK addresses depending on the service selected.

And they offer Saturday delivery

Simple Delivery is unfit for use on a professional OMP

---

Royal Mail Tracked 24 offers delivery on a Saturday and Sunday, so it is actually better in that regard.  

[books1ecb]

Royal Mail Special Delivery offers a guaranteed Saturday Delivery Service, which is available via EBAY's PACKLINK service.

If I may summarise this thread and the many others to be found elsewhere. The most important person in any transaction is not the seller or EBAY, it is the Customer; and EBAY seem to have lost sight of this.

It is not possible to know a customer's shipping needs until they have completed all their purchases, which may include a Messaged conversation between Buyer & Seller to suggest other items of interest, and to determine their precise shipping requirements. Whilst many sales may well require the simple shipping of a single box, which can have its mail costs pre-assessed, many others do not. Simple Delivery is not fit for purpose because it presumes the shipping needs of a customer without allowing them the courtesy of being involved in that decision, and is inflexible. It also provides a pitifully small range of shipping options.

The most serious deficiency is the loss of the ability to combine purchases after multiple checkouts. Many commentators have stated that here. That is discourteous, especially as Buyers will rightly consider that they are being 'ripped off' by EBAY by being forced to pay for multiple shipping costs. A Royal Mail Small Parcel costs £3.75 with collection, and whilst limited in size to 16mm thickness and 2kg, it is more than sufficient for the multiple purchase of small items. In any case a Medium Parcel is only £7.10 (SD sometimes charges more than this) for shipments up to 20kg with a very generous parcel size. The loss of this feature robs sellers of a powerful selling tool, the ability to offer buyers additional items at a discounted rate.

The absence of an expedited delivery service has already been discussed. It is a serious omission.

The denial of access to alternative couriers is unreasonable. I would not ship anything by EVRI in view of their poor customer satisfaction rating. In order to sell via an Online Market Place (OMP) sellers need to have free access to all shipping options to meet a customers needs. 

It is not possible to deliver an item if the buyer lives nearby. I often do this multiple times a year, and it generates lots more sales. Buying  a shipping label is compulsory even if it is not needed.

SD needs to revert to be optional, so that those of us who seek to offer a superior customer experience can revert to doing so.