royal mail Now started charging 30 pence for collecting Simple delivery ebay parcels

[tickswift2]

Royal mail are now charging 30 pence for collecting postage labels that were purchased using simple delivery

so now ebay Labels that you have to purchase with no other alternative option Sellers are getting charged with 30 pence per item // Just happened to 

[parsley2003]

I have used click and drop for over a year and it is no longer free even if i buy direct from them. Yes the label has to be printed if it is SD but not direct from their site.

I have no problem with th 30p because originally the plan was to be 72p which would be excessive

[hallw_sall]

I do use the service sometimes, it is my normal postie who puts them in his van as he delivers. I’d say the service is poor and I have no idea of when the items will be collected. If he goes on holiday which happens a lot then sometimes no one comes. At one point home collection was free but there was an extra cost for the post office, that extra cost has now gone. I don’t understand people arguing about subsidising post office trips as Royal Mail has to pay the post office to handle their items, surely it does make sense to cut out the middle man. I don’t feel they have promoted home collections well enough, most people don’t realise they offer them. It seems odd to start charging again before it is a decent and well publicised service. I feel annoyed the parcel boxes are so far away, I live in a city not far from the centre, yet it would take me over half an hour to walk to one. 

[hallw_sall]

Also I feel there should be a flat fee or it should be capped. I don’t want to pay 30p for each of 10 or more items to be collected, it doesn’t seem reasonable as it is not much more work for them

[technthread]

I agree. I think someone else mentioned they booked a medium parcel and they didn’t turn up. Anything heavy and the chances of collection become a coin toss. 

[akemp1]

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@hallw_sall wrote:

Also I feel there should be a flat fee or it should be capped. I don’t want to pay 30p for each of 10 or more items to be collected, it doesn’t seem reasonable as it is not much more work for them

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Yes I'd agree with that maybe a fee for the first collection with a reduced charge for each additional one but we could get into a debate if the people who get lots of items collecting paying the 30p multiple times are cross-subsidising the people who only get 1 item collecting for just 30p...

[poshboutique2]

OK maybe they have updated it. People were saying they could order free collections yesterday.

[snowylilliput-2]

I am afraid most couriers will add a amount for picking a parcel from your home . The big problem is because Ebay are greedy and we are having to  buy your postage via Simply Delivery you are not able to add it to add the 30p to your original postage cost just like any packing charges . Which means it is a hidden fee, so much for the Ebay Advertising On TV Private Sellers Are Now Selling For Free . 

[jckl1957]

This is not an Ebay charge and most people don't have to have their items collected by Royal Mail, it's an option.

[akemp1]

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@jckl1957 wrote:

This is not an Ebay charge and most people don't have to have their items collected by Royal Mail, it's an option.

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Yes but it's ebay that are stopping the seller from adding it into the SD postage price and forcing the seller to write-off the cost of getting the item into the carriers network (via bus, car, 30p collection charge, etc) from the item sale price.

There should be a clear health warning on those ebay adverts that it's only free to sell if you are willing to accept lower than the item's true value because of the layers of declared (buyer tax) and hidden (SD) ebay charges that the buyer pays and the packaging and initial journey costs the seller is expected to pay.

It would only be free to sell if ebay collected the item from you house unpackaged and you got the full value the buyer paid but that would be too good to be true which is how ebay are misleadingly presenting it.

They are better off not advertising for users for now to avoid too many people finding out how bad their proposition currently is. By over-selling and under-delivering they are only going to disappoint people and those people might never come back having had a bad experience and been given with the impression that ebay are dishonest, greedy and stuff doesn't sell well here anyway.

[dch2112011]

Or even make sellers advertise their items 'free'  ie price them at £0.00  then they would truly be free to sell !

It would also reduce buyer costs to 75p per order !

It's about as nonsensical as some members wanting ebay to pay  for additional services chosen by members  outside of selling on ebay ?

[akemp1]

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@dch2112011 wrote:

Or even make sellers advertise their items 'free'  ie price them at £0.00  then they would truly be free to sell !

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How did  you hear about the top secret Sell For Free project?

It wasn't due to be announced until a later phase of this transformational journey. Building on the success and extraordinary customer value of the buyer tax and SD they will still show the buyer the fully loaded price but give the seller nothing but the risk of paying return postage if the buyer is not absolutely delighted.

[dch2112011]

Damn - you heard about it too ! 

It is all about seller satisfaction - easy listing -  instant payment - no fees - no returns (seller tells buyer to keep the item )  100% positive feedback, take as long as you want to dispatch - simply refund if the buyer complains  -  100% free selling - I'm all for it !

No need to worry about costs, busy lives or any thing else - everyone will be happy ! 

[akemp1]

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@dch2112011 wrote:

It is all about seller satisfaction - easy listing -  instant payment - no fees - no returns (seller tells buyer to keep the item )  100% positive feedback, take as long as you want to dispatch - simply refund if the buyer complains  -  100% free selling - I'm all for it !

 Yeah I heard they were going to offer 110% feedback to sellers that agreed to participate in Sell For Free.

[judydoodles]

How about RM offering a "season ticket" - a one off payment per postal address (house # + postcode) per 6 or 12 months, paid in advance, which covers all booked collections within that time period?  Maybe ebay could set this on their site with a one time entry of that transaction reference registered in the ebayer's seller preferences within their seller account on ebay?  That's something I'd pay up front for if I needed collection regularly.  

Failing that, a capped collection price of say a £1 per collection not a charge per parcel would acknowledge economies from multiple parcels per single home visit and collection?

It remains to be seen whether RM and ebay will come up with a collection system bookable through ebay for sellers requiring collection.  I get that folk don't think they should bolster the collection system for other users when they might never use collections, but there's room for innovative thinking whether by  brainstorming, via focus groups or casting runes to arrive at a reliable bookable collection service. 

But I also think currently if one books a collection on Tuesday but the postie doesn't pick up then the 30p should be refunded.  Ebay's dispatch timing doesn't factor in RM not collecting when they say they will.

I'll admit I don't know what I'm talking about re ebay and RM's dealings within smoke-filled rooms.  I just hope all will become clear...soon.🤞

[the-nutwood-collection]

RM are ahead of you @judydoodles - they do offer season tickets.

You can have a regular weekday or Saturday collection.  You can even specify a timeslot.  How good is that?  Your own little red van.

Better yet, if you spend over £20k p.a. with them, they'll collect for free on a weekday.

You can also have your mail delivered at a specific time.  Handy if you have lots of returns and want to refund same day so as not to disappoint your valuable eBay customers.  Only costs £5475 +VAT p.a.

[judydoodles]

Now that's helpful 😁

[hallw_sall]

Yes I’ve looked into the offering for a larger business. It doesn’t suit people without a reception or who don’t want to be at home the same time each day/ it is not their main job. I think most companies offer some kind of discount or loyalty scheme for customers who use them more (offers, points etc) but Royal Mail doesn’t seem to consider rewarding those small businesses perhaps sending 5 to 10 things a day. I spend about £8000 a year with Royal Mail 

[cbclassicbuyer]

Just for info, on my Royal Mail Click and Drop account, collection is still free this morning. 

[jills_cardclearout]

Wow, is that what it costs nowadays? Going back 20 years or so when I had a business collection from home it was something like £180, I know it worked out at about 50p a day.

Personally I think 30p for collection is a good price, but not if it's per parcel, there should be some scaling going on.

Of course if you are having so many collected it might be cheaper to get a taxi to the PO, a win for everybody!

[the-nutwood-collection]

It's the guaranteed delivery timeslot that's £5475 +VAT p.a,  RM don't quote a price for collection, you have to ask for a quote.

If you spend around £400 a week on postage, collection would be free.  That sounds quite reasonable if, as an OP has said, there's always someone on the premises to deal with the van.  If that was my weekly postage bill, I certainly wouldn't want to be hauling the sacks to the PO or DO.