Small time Seller (not business) Thinking it may be not worth my while to continue selling

[clearingout2day]

I offer items of clothing when I am clearing out.  I also offer hand crochet and knitted item for next to nothing for those who appreciate hand crafted items.

I accepted recented £5 offer for a pure new wool hand knitted beanie and I only chargeed £2.80 for postage.

I was horrified to learn small parcel was now £3.75 2nd class.

This lead me to write the following on my posts;  

Please read:-

It is with regret, that postage costs have just risen again and the cost of small parcel is minimum £3.75 (included in price of this item)  To keep costs as low as possible this means items will be posted 2nd class with proof of posting.  This also means any items lost in the post once posted with proof of posting that refunds cannot be given for items not received.  Please do contact your local post office if this does ever happen to you.  In my own experience this has only happened twice and money lost unfortunately without any reimbursement from Royal Mail.  If you wish to pay the extra to have the item posted signed for, that is an option I can provide.  Sadly this makes sales and purchases more difficult for both the buyer and the seller to achieve more agreeable pricing.    To the buyer: I do appreciate you taking the time to view my items and your purchases are greatly appreciated.  Thank You.

So I am thinking do I just stop offering items on ebay entirely.  I wonder if others may be thinking the same.

I appreciate any feedback.

[papso22]

I am afraid none of that in your listing overrides buyer protection under the ebay money back guarantee. 

[clearingout2day]

Thanks papso, guess I just have to stop selling anything on ebay now.

[the-bee-keeper]

How about collection in person only? Bulk lots? 

[fribblecollectables]

Would the beanie not go flat enough to send Large Letter? Costs £1.90 for up to 500g.

And as above, if it goes missing, Buyer Protection means they open a Not Received case to get their money back. You are the one that has to claim from Royal Mail. However anything rarely goes missing. 

[clearingout2day]

Thanks fribble, the hand crafted items are bulky.

Adding the cost on postage, signed for and tracked would impact buyers and sellers. I doubt buyers would be interested in the extra costs and definitely not worth my while if I end up having to reimburse for a lost item, which I have done twice in the past year at my loss.  

[plum993]

Maybe look at Evri regards post/collection etc,as they are cheaper than RM if you want to continue selling on ebay.

Send a Parcel in the UK | Cheap Parcel Service | Evri

@clearingout2day 

[brownbookbear]

If you get Proof of Posting then you can make a claim against Royal Mail for up to £20 (for item) plus cost of postage but they do ask for ebay item number and value. 

I only had one item go missing in 2024 and successfully claimed from Royal Mail after Buyer said item had not been received.

From Feb, Proof of Posting is not enough, so it may well be the end of eBay selling for me.

[clearingout2day]

Thanks Plum

[clearingout2day]

Perhaps we have to set up our own platforms BB 🙂

[davrman]

Royal Mail Tracked 48 Small Parcel up to 2Kg only costs £3.39 if purchased online, includes proper tracking (most of the time) and compensation up to £150 instead of £20. You can drop them off at the Post Office or have them collected free of charge.

[clearingout2day]

thanks davrman

[jefftopman]

It is the sellers responsibility to ensure that the buyer receives their item in as described order. If they dont receive item or it arrives not as described.  You have to refund. Pointless putting in disclaimers.

[parsley2003]

I have this problem just a small ornament has to go parcel as with good packing it is over the 2.5 cm large letter depth. My items are low value and the postage is mostly more than the price, but at least it's tracked and RM collect from me. Wish it was the old days when it went on weight not size. Stating that refunds cannot be given makes no difference unless tracked it's the risk we the seller takes not the buyer. Proof of posting means nothing now. I have had a case opened against me without the buyer even having the decency to speak to me first and Ebay have already taken the money from my account for him. It's a coin and he's a coin seller he won't tell me he's got it even if he has. Am making him wait before i throw the money his way. Bought 1st Jan posted 2nd, weekend 2 non working days and he opened the case on Friday. I made the mistake of sending untracked and everyone knows now that they can get away with it 

[technthread]

This has happened to me a couple of times. Thankfully it’s only a minority of coin buyers who act like this so the postage costs saved over time more than offsets the rare chancer who you have to refund. 

Royal Mail should send you some 1st class stamps as compensation if you put a loss claim in though.

[parsley2003]

It wasn't expensive but a family item a year 2000 medallion from Bodmin my
town selling my belongings that i don't want to but have to, should have
done tracked but forgot. Clearing my life before i die so sons won't have
to. Been on here 20 years and it's awful how people hate private buyers
now. Most of us would rather not have this stress, but i'm alone now and
need to feed my rescue animals i don't use Ebay to fund holidays, going out
or buying nice things for myself.
Can't get anything back from Royal Mail unless you give them your Ebay
account and bank account and all sorts of info so i just refund now anyway
and soon we won't be able to use stamps at all if we are forced to use Ebay
postage
Sorry i'm going on just getting a bit too much all this

[technthread]

I’m not very experienced with Royal Mail loss claims as I do them very rarely but I had one a while back of very similar value to yours. I submitted the loss claim online and then from their email link I was able to add supplementary evidence. I had no proof of the original purchase price but I just sent them a few basic screenshots of the eBay listing and the eBay case to prove the buyer claimed non receipt. It was for an untracked letter. Royal Mail sent me 8 1st class stamps which exceeded the eBay sale price. It was very simple and I had the stamps in about 3 days from when I put the loss claim in. 

Having said that, I do understand just refunding a buyer and moving on if you don’t think it is worth the effort. 

[clearingout2day]

so sorry for your experiences parsley, its not easy dealing with these things as we age, it is as it, something or some organisations is attempting to control who we buy from whether it be postage or other as it really does not smell nice.

Any way I am wishing you an easier year ahead and that things god smoothly for you and your animals. 

[clearingout2day]

I think local community is a better option for collection in person really.

[clearingout2day]

that was well worth doing technthread, especially considering the cost of 1st class stamps these days.  I have actually stopped using 1st class because of the expense and also around Christmas 1st and 2nd class go all together at same delivery.