Ebay Postage Problems.

mrstaypuft

Hi.
I sell some things on ebay and have done for a while mainly things that sell for under £10.
At first I used Royal Mail 1st class untill I had the odd one or two saying that things had not turned up so now send them all by Recorded delivery.
More often now a couple of things are still not turning up or are turning up very late.
Are there any cheap alternatives to Royal Mail as I charge Low postage (about 50p less than it actually costs) so not to put buyers off.
Most of the things I sell come to £3.50 or under in postage costs so don't really want to ask for £5.00 for DHL or something however using Royal Mail is affecting my seller ratings as people are paying for first class and its taking a week or longer to arrive after it has been posted.
Not sure what to do as I am getting low star ratings on my postage but it seems to be out of my hands.

Crowqueen

Take off the recorded element. On the things you're selling, it doesn't do you any favours to overcharge, and the Recorded business doesn't actually insure your items, it just gets a signature to prove delivery - and then only a certain percentage of the time, as you've found. So your buyer feels they are paying over the odds for something very cheap and something which doesn't benefit them and, quite often, doesn't benefit you. Then charge stamp cost only. On low ticket items buyers are going to notice the cost more.

You can insure yourself for up to £41 with RM by getting a proof of posting - if the item doesn't arrive then you claim from RM with the POP.

Or you could go free postage and build costs into the start price - then any items paid for by Paypal through checkout will automatically get you 5*s.

Using a courier for items like this will price you out of the market. If you have more than one or two INRs every few months then you need to look at addressing issues at your end as quite a lot of times handwritten addresses can be vulnerable to rain and missreading. On anything more substantial than an ordinary envelope I now use Sharpie - indelible, waterproof marker, and write in ALL CAPS so each letter is clear. Also put your return address on the package and lost items may find their way back to you as a result.

soolin

I use standard 2nd class on my items, I sent approx !500 items last year and had 4 claims for loss, my starsare maintained at 4.9. If you are having a lot of issues and have poor stars then there must be another reason, as Crowqueen says recorded can make your stars worse in some cases as many buyers dislike paying the additional 74p and if they compare you to other sellers you automatically look expensive.


Unfortunately for sub £5 postage there is no alterntive to RM

chancesare_2

If you are experiencing a high number of losses, you may need to check your packaging.

Could the labels be coming off? Are the labels/address easy to read? Do you use a return address? Are you posting to the correct address?

I am not saying you are sending things incorrectly, but imho it is always best to ensure the parcel is in a failsafe condition when it leaves you.

mrstaypuft

Hi thanks for the reply I do not charge the buyer for the recorded part just standard First Class and take the costs of the padded envelopes etc and recorded part out of my profit so they are only paying the minimum amount.
I print all the labels clearly and cover them with clear parcel tape so there is no way rain will make the ink run and they are completely secured.
My problem is not the compo from Royal Mail but the negative stars on my postage and people wanting to know why things have not turned up within 3 days when they have paid for First Class even though they were sent next day resulting in more negative stars that are affecting my seller ratings

mrstaypuft

I do not really get many losses maybe 1 in 100 but my main problem at the moment is that Royal Mail are taking too long on some of the first class things. Sent 4 on Wednesday and 2 have turned up.

amcluesent

I'm not an especailly high volume seller from Ebay/Amazon, but I use RMs online postage service, and stuff the printouts into stick-on A6 pockets, plus print the PoP for items under £41. IMHO it looks professional to have the address done that way, with return address and logo. Losses in the post have been minimal, but I do live close to a Mail Centre and drop stuff in there.

Crowqueen

mrstaypuft wrote: »

I do not really get many losses maybe 1 in 100 but my main problem at the moment is that Royal Mail are taking too long on some of the first class things. Sent 4 on Wednesday and 2 have turned up.

Then you don't need Recorded as it is not worth it. As Soo says, it may be making your items LOOK like you are overcharging for postage, even though you're not.

Somebody else said recorded might also cause slight delays.

You might kill two birds with one stone if you stop using it and just make sure you have a proof or certificate of postage.

mrstaypuft

Crowqueen wrote: »

Then you don't need Recorded as it is not worth it. As Soo says, it may be making your items LOOK like you are overcharging for postage, even though you're not.

Somebody else said recorded might also cause slight delays.

You might kill two birds with one stone if you stop using it and just make sure you have a proof or certificate of postage.

I use online postage too so the return adress is clearly on it and also the price paid for the postage is shown on there which is allways more than I have charged.

Crowqueen

Then you might benefit from free postage and the automatic 5* rule as a last resort.

Dump recorded as well.

soolin

mrstaypuft wrote: »

I do not really get many losses maybe 1 in 100 but my main problem at the moment is that Royal Mail are taking too long on some of the first class things. Sent 4 on Wednesday and 2 have turned up.

That is not unusual, however it shouldn't be affecting your stars. So you need to find out what is affecting your stars. Recorded of course is no faster and may actually slow it down if it goes to an area that actually bothers to get a signature and person is not there to accept it.