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.

[robs-prints-and-pics]

I’ve had exactly this experience. 

[birsaybooks]

I fail to see the relevance of that, Simple Delivery is an awful
service  - I have a business account for the business - this is my
private account. They used to be treated the same by EBAY but now they
have gone potty and clearly no longer want private sellers.

[robertnew16]

You can change settings as you are getting the prepaid label, its a pain
but I just send them, I think it's about the only good thing about simple
delivery in that if you get the weight wrong it doesn't seem to matter

[jonatjonatjonat]

There is no relevance to you - they weren't replying to you. Of course ebay want private sellers - but they want to make money the way Vinted are off them.

What business sellers particularly on here don't want is Private Sellers who act as a business.

[cobwebcottage]

I  was replying to the seller who is selling multiples of their own prints on a private account.

Obviously trading so for one, doesn't need to use SD and should be on a business account.

[dunstun365]

Inpost  are used on Inpost i starting at only £2.49  although customers have to collect the parcel from the locker

[d226_media]

ebay used to be great,now it's rubbish

[robs-prints-and-pics]

Really? Interesting, thanks I’ll check it out. 

[robs-prints-and-pics]

Thanks for that 👍

[robs-prints-and-pics]

Great point, yes I didn’t think if that. Expired dates. 

[birsaybooks]

All Postage Labels have a use-by date whether you buy via Click & Drop
or EBAY. You must submit a claim for non use before that date. This
highlights a major flaw in Stupid Delivery in that they are issued
immediately an order is placed taking no account of of the buyers wishes
or needs. I really do not understand what EBAY is up to, they could
still have forced the use of SD to get the revenue stream but dated them
from the point they are downloaded, it is just sloppy.

[dahath-5906]

Yep I had a similar experience.
Had a technical hitch and ended up paying the postage myself.
Felt obligated to send the item as buyer had paid postage, lost £12.00 on
my sale so not used e bay since.
Cheers.

[dunstun365]

Vint are better for many things now

[jond1492]

Simply Delivery should be renamed Shockingly Inept Delivery.  There is no way eBay can possibly know:

- what I am selling (based purely on the listings or title of the listed goods)

- how I intend to package it up to protect it from damage

- the size of packaging I'll use (or the amount)

- the weight of the complete package

- and/or how much Royal Mail (or any other delivery company) will charge for it.

Forcing me to charge only a set figure based on assumptions, means I - as the Seller - lose out on money, as inevitably postal charges cost way more than eBay let me charge for sending within the UK.  My loss can be a few pennies, or it can be a few quid.  Moreso, if I want to send it tracked and insured.  I now have to add notes to my sales, that I will NOT send anything by Evri/Hermes, and buyers who ask me to do so, will find their request ignored.  (The fact that Evri are incompetent and lose every parcel in their delivery system, thanks to their many helpful 5-finger-discount staff, is why I refuse to use them.)

It's a state of affairs that eBay thinks it can tell Sellers what to do, how to do it, and take a loss all at the same time.  I don't think I can understand them any more!

Such a decision is absolutely backwards, and has really put me off selling stuff via eBay.   They seem to want complete control  over every aspect of every sale.  I wonder how long it'll be before they start demanding video evidence of our goods or asking Sellers to install cameras in our homes, so they can see what we are selling?!

eBay are absolute animals!  Let me decide what my postal charges need to be, based on what I am posting and how I am posting it!

[sml192]

---

@jond1492 wrote:

Simply Delivery should be renamed Shockingly Inept Delivery.  There is no way eBay can possibly know:

- what I am selling (based purely on the listings or title of the listed goods)

- how I intend to package it up to protect it from damage

- the size of packaging I'll use (or the amount)

- the weight of the complete package

- and/or how much Royal Mail (or any other delivery company) will charge for it.

Forcing me to charge only a set figure based on assumptions, means I - as the Seller - lose out on money, as inevitably postal charges cost way more than eBay let me charge for sending within the UK.  My loss can be a few pennies, or it can be a few quid.  Moreso, if I want to send it tracked and insured.  

---

Whilst it is true that there are still a number of issues with Simple Delivery, I'm not sure that you really understand how it works. 

With Simple Delivery you are given a prepaid label to use.  You don't have to buy the postage yourself so cannot possibly lose out. 

Provided you select the label size recommended by eBay when listing then even if the parcel ends up being bigger you can still go ahead abd use the label.  It will still be accepted by the carrier and there won't be any surcharges.

Ebay knows exactly how much the carrier will charge them as they have agreed a contract price with them (flat rate per item regarfless of weight/size).

[birsaybooks]

That is a ridiculous response. It is impossible to know the size and
weight of the package until

1) The buyer has completed all purchases

2) The buyer has expressed their wishes, in terms of packaging and
delivery dates - SD labels expire!

3) The buyer has had the opportunity to switch to Collect once they
realise you are nearby

4) The buyer has the opportunity to request expedited delivery, which SD
does not offer (Tracked 24 does not offer a delivery guarantee)

5) An overseas buyer asks for a parcel to go to to UK address to save
costs - very common occurence

I could go on, but what EBAY needs to so is to review feedback from sellers

SD can only work if the seller is able to cancel the label immediately,
in order to offer a proper Customer Service Experience

[sml192]

I stated at the start of my post that there are still a number of issues with Simple Delivery.  Everything else in my post is correct so I don't see why it is ridiculous.

'It is impossible to know the size and
weight of the package until

1) The buyer has completed all purchases'

Combined postage whilst possible with Simple Delivery is still one of the main issues with it.

'2) The buyer has expressed their wishes, in terms of packaging and
delivery dates - SD labels expire!'

How the item is packaged should be down to the seller.

Estimated delivery dates are determined by eBay and there is very little leeway whether you are using Simple Delivery or not.

All postage labels expire if not used within a certain amount of time.

'3) The buyer has had the opportunity to switch to Collect once they
realise you are nearby'

If you wish to offer collection then that option needs to be added to your listing and the buyer needs to select it at the point of purchase otherwise you won't be covered in the event of an INR claim.  Nothing to do with Simple Delivery.

'4) The buyer has the opportunity to request expedited delivery, which SD
does not offer (Tracked 24 does not offer a delivery guarantee)'

Yes, Simple Delivery doesn’t currently offer a guaranteed next day delivery option but then most buyers wouldn't require that when buying secondhand/collectible items from a Private Seller.  It does, however, offer an 'Express Tracked Delivery' option (Royal Mail Tracked 24) which has a 1 day delivery aim including Sundays if they want the item quicker.

'5) An overseas buyer asks for a parcel to go to to UK address to save
costs - very common occurence'

If an overseas buyer wants the parcel to be sent to a UK address then they need to provide that at the point of purchase otherwise you won't be covered against an INR claim.  Again, nothing to do with Simple Delivery.

[baryon97]

Simple delivery has improved slightly since my earlier posts; if the item is larger or heavier after packing, you can adjust the service without further charge. My current complaint is about booking a collection, something I've done frequently in the past and, for me is very convenient. For a long time this was free with Royal Mail and now it's 30p, which I'd be happy to pay. For my latest sale, I booked a collection but there is no confirmation of this so I was a bit unsure; the collection was supposed to take place today but didn't happen. When I've booked collections with RM in the past, they've always happened according to schedule. So I've now printed a label and will drop the item off somewhere. Not a massive deal for me, but a one-day delay for the buyer.

[gatefittingsdirect]

If there's a temp on for RM mail they'll not collect, we get it all the time if our regular postie has a day off. 

[sml192]

When you book a Royal Mail collection through eBay you still need to click on the blue 'Print/generate label' button to complete the process.  You should then get an email confirming the booking.  Looks like you may have missed that step.