Enforced free P&P on Ebay listings

kharyss

RFW wrote: »

So you expect them to have a department that answers pointless emails? Personally I'm glad its something they don't waste money on.

How is asking how to complain to a company about something a pointless email? You're basically saying that there is no point complaining about anything to anyone because it never has any affect. There's plenty of examples off this website.... PPI? Bank charges? If people hadn't
complained then they'd still be ripping people off. Perhaps my one complaint won't force eBay to change its policy. Doesn't mean I shouldn't send it.

RFW

kharyss wrote: »

How is asking how to complain to a company about something a pointless email? You're basically saying that there is no point complaining about anything to anyone because it never has any affect. There's plenty of examples off this website.... PPI? Bank charges? If people hadn't
complained then they'd still be ripping people off. Perhaps my one complaint won't force eBay to change its policy. Doesn't mean I shouldn't send it.

In this case you aren't really the consumer, you're the supplier. The consumer is the person getting the free (well inclusive) p&p.

kharyss

RFW wrote: »

In this case you aren't really the consumer, you're the supplier. The consumer is the person getting the free (well inclusive) p&p.

But I am a consumer of a product supplied by eBay ie their website. I pay them a proportion of any sales I make using their site so I am buying a service from them. I am a customer as much as the buyer is.

qw3rt7

Ok, 1st off, i will say i used to use ebay, quite a few years ago, before any of the free sub 99p rules existed (or quality score or any other such stuff), and i agree the new system is bad for small hobby sellers.
However, you must understand ebays main concern is......

EBAY

Its a business after all. The restructuring and pricing are clearly designed to improve profits. I believe the free sub 99p policy was implemented after the initial changes where made, this has been trialed, and has resulted in masses of junk being endlessly re-listed, which is detrimental to the company, hence the changes now being made.
To those that previously used this tactic, regardless of whether you made any sales (after x months of re listing??), you are why this is being stopped!
Just because it made a few quid for yourself, it had the opposite effect for ebay - this is a private company, its responsibility is to its shareholders.
Once again, Ebay DO NOT WANT YOUR BUSINESS if you traded like this.
On the flip side, if there is a void created by this change in ebays business model, it will be filled.
To the OP, i do however 100% agree with you that a policy of a single non-escalating complaint procedure is bl88dy annoying, but this is not a contracted service - you can use it or not - so really have no hope of getting anywhere.

welshsue

I agree about this free postage thing. We were going to sell some pc cables and a printer cartridge but these all have to be free postage now. If they sell for little money (you cannot start price too high or nobody will bid), then you are giving them away by the time you pay ebay/paypal fees and the cost of the postage (you would probably be out of pocket).
We didn't bother listing them, instead gave them away on freegle.

SallyForth_2

I think they should split up the Postage and Packing elements. Buyers should pay the cost of postage regardless of what it is. Postage is the Postage. It's the packaging element which is the bit which gets abused. If Sellers were forced of offer free packaging in these categories, it wouldn't be nearly so painful.

deeds

you could always list in a category that doesn't have free p&p rules.
Most people know what theyre looking for and will type it in the search bar, as opposed to trawling through each category..

though i suppose if everybody did that it would make such a mess of the categories

cyberbob

deeds wrote: »

you could always list in a category that doesn't have free p&p rules.
Most people know what theyre looking for and will type it in the search bar, as opposed to trawling through each category..

though i suppose if everybody did that it would make such a mess of the categories

You can also get reported for that and be risking your ebay account and very soon everything will be Free P&P anyway

deeds

cyberbob wrote: »

You can also get reported for that and be risking your ebay account and very soon everything will be Free P&P anyway

really?:shocked:
But it could easily be done accidentally too.

Is that confirmed about everything becoming free P&P?:huh:

StaffsSW

deeds wrote: »

really?:shocked:
But it could easily be done accidentally too.

Yes, much in the same way that people "accidently" bid on items that they do not want... It's intentional deception and does nothing to improve the integrity of the many honest sellers on ebay.

Is that confirmed about everything becoming free P&P?:huh:

It's not confirmed, but it does not take much to deduce that as ebay are making more money from it and using it as a PR exercise to increase buyer activity, that it will continue to be rolled out across more and more categories.