Ebay to make free postage on DVDs Compulsory!

pepsi_max2k

One word.

@!"£~$@$%^£$~$"£@"£?!!!!!!!!!!"£~@!"£$~@!"$@ 1234:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:



good. god. ebay, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!

The most blatent attempt yet for eBay to increase their fee returns at the detrement of sellers, and this one really is at the detrement of sellers.

Their maximum postage limits are actually lower in many cases that it would actualy cost *just to post* the item, let alone recover packaging costs etc.

DVD's is an obvious one, are eBay going to be covering my postage costs? No.

Special delivery costs a min of £4.60, which I believe you're forced to use if you wish to be covered by PayPal's protection, and I think maybe only 5 - 10% of items have a limit that high, most are £2 - £4.

The rest probably cover postage but that's it, no packaging (£1 for some paper wrap, PO charges ~60p for medium padded envelopes), no costs to cover any other work or fees. Rediculous.

GregtheHammer

Brooker_Dave wrote: »

Perhaps ebay have done a deal with a big retailer of books/dvds?

Probably quite a few big retailers :mad:

dralphs

ebay must be bonkers.

i know some sellers (mainly far east) have been listing stuff at 99p with inflated shipping which then distorts the whole listings/search.

But how can ebay FORCE free p&p on DVDs and p&p on other items that is BELOW the royal mail cost! especially if you or the buyer wants recorded or special delivery.

I know as a seller i can increase the price to cover it but that then increases my fees.

where will it end

Surely this is anti-competative, possibly illegal etc etc

Can we push Martin to do a feature on this

full ebay announcement is at http://web.ebay.co.uk/help/sell/maximumP&P_FAQ.html

soolin

Surely this is anti-competative, possibly illegal etc etc

Can we push Martin to do a feature on this

Other places like Play are already doing it to sellers so I think any panic mongering about it being illegal are a tad OTT.

Frankly I would also prefer Martin to carry on dealing with the fall out of the banking position rather than act against ebay which actually affects very few people ultimately. Also look at the seller boards on ebay and also on Amazon, not everyone is actually against this, many established sellers are for it. Amazons sellers have for years been managing on a £2.75 postage credit .

I think this will put a lot of smaller sellers out of business, but since that is ebays ultimate aim they won't care.

hereishappyhelen

I have 2 question, if anybody knows the answer that would be great...

1) Will postage for dvds still have to be free for overseas to???

2) Can I offer special delivery at an extra cost for dvds?

Thanks for any comments...:beer:

richie7_2

My concern with this is that eBay are applying these new postage rules to all users, irrespective of where they're selling from.

They brought in a similar set of rules earlier on this years on the US site. I used to list a lot of things in US dollars because a lot of potential US buyers are "scared" of anything that isn't listed in a currency they understand. These are the same people who think that the word "domestic" is literally another word for "American" as opposed to something that relates to your home, they don't consider that there are people who don't live in the USA or use US dollars as their main currency.

Whilst I understand why eBay are bringing in limits for postage charges it is extremely anti-competitive to force non-UK users to charge UK postage costs when they're not posting from the UK in the same way that forcing non US-users who are listing on the US site are forced to charge as if an item is being posted from within the US.

This is eBay's stance on the whole "international trading" thing...
I'm an international seller. Do the P&P cost limits still apply?
Yes. If you are listing your item on eBay.co.uk, maximum postage costs will apply for sales to the UK regardless of the location of your item.

This has got to be the most anti-competitive thing ever and is like the Americans are trying to sever international links and go back to their pre-WWI isolation stance. What the hell are they doing?!? We're about to go into global recession and they're making it less attractive to try and trade with abroad. And it's probably illegal too but I'm worried that if you mention antitrust you might end up with someone trying to kill you like in that bad movie with Ryan Whatisname...

goodfella66

hereishappyhelen wrote: »

I have 2 question, if anybody knows the answer that would be great...

1) Will postage for dvds still have to be free for overseas to???

2) Can I offer special delivery at an extra cost for dvds?

Thanks for any comments...:beer:

1) No. You can specify an overseas postage cost. But DVDs will look less appealing to overseas buyers as the selling price will now be higher to cover "Free P&P" in the UK.

2) You can pick a courier option for heavy & bulky items (if you are selling a job-lot of DVDs for example) although I'm not sure Ebay will class Special Delivery as a courier even though it is essentially doing the same thing.

JPS

soolin wrote: »

Other places like Play are already doing it to sellers so I think any panic mongering about it being illegal are a tad OTT.

Ah yes but Play have made sellers offer free P&P to stay in line with their free postage policy that they have had since the very start. I do think eBay needs to be monitored and regulated more than it is. I mean who does actually regulate them? Who says no you can't do that? They do what they like because they can. I think a much better idea would have been maximum DVD postage charges like what they are imposing on some of the other categories, not free for all!!

RFW

dralphs wrote: »

Can we push Martin to do a feature on this

Why on earth would he be against a clear pricing structure? It is better for the consumer. If you can't make it work selling on Ebay, go somewhere else. They are currently losing customers to Amazon and can't compete as they are, I wouldn't even think of buying a cd, dvd or book on Ebay first, I always go to Amazon, a new pricing structure may just make people like me have another look on Ebay to buy.

deebeedee

If the shipping costs are clearly shown before the customer buys, there is absolutely no reason for eBay to be involved in the shipping fees. If the customer doesn't want to pay, they just shouldn't bid.

Shipping high value items with a reliable and insured service is expensive. If you are VAT registered and have employees, this all adds to the costs, on top of payment transaction fees, and packaging costs. Maybe if you are selling items for under £20, it doesn't matter if 1 in 10 packages gets lost, but when the package is worth £500 or more, there is no way that I would trust recorded mail.