Postage - a helpful guide.REVISED 3 April 2017.

soolin

I am aware that the OP needs a complete update for 2nd April. I will get round to doing it shortly. Basically remember that insurance for loss or damage is going down to £20 unless tracking is used.

theonlywayisup

Yes, i have a diary note to amend.

soolin

theonlywayisup wrote: »

Yes, i have a diary note to amend.

Thank you!

soolin

Thank you theonlywayisup for revising this guide.

I have amended the title to reflect the changes

waterwatereverywhere

Hi,

Hope someone can help. Have had a couple of bad experiences on ebay recently with buyers lodging claims to say they had not received item I posted. I have usually only used "certificate of posting" and have found out the hard way that this doesn't stop me having to refund cost and postage.

I believe the only way to protect myself from these claims is to use Recorded Delivery or Special Delivery, but as I sell low priced items, the recent price hike makes it too expensive to use these options.

Please can anyone:

1. confirm whether using a courier company would protect me from claims that an item hasn't arrived; and

2. recommend any reliable, cheap courier company?

My parcels are usually small to medium size and not overly heavy. Have a batch to send off soon so very grateful for any advice.

Thanks in advance.

soolin

waterwatereverywhere wrote: »

Hi,

Hope someone can help. Have had a couple of bad experiences on ebay recently with buyers lodging claims to say they had not received item I posted. I have usually only used "certificate of posting" and have found out the hard way that this doesn't stop me having to refund cost and postage.

I believe the only way to protect myself from these claims is to use Recorded Delivery or Special Delivery, but as I sell low priced items, the recent price hike makes it too expensive to use these options.

Please can anyone:

1. confirm whether using a courier company would protect me from claims that an item hasn't arrived; and

2. recommend any reliable, cheap courier company?

My parcels are usually small to medium size and not overly heavy. Have a batch to send off soon so very grateful for any advice.

Thanks in advance.

The first post in this thread explains the requirements for PayPal protection so it is worth a read. As for couriers we all have favourites and those we dislike. I use MYhermes which starts at £4.20 and have had few problems, I dislike Collect plus as i had a near 100% failure rate with them but believe they are about the same price.

spooky25

John310 wrote: »

Hi, I'm looking to start selling on ebay for the first time. The only thing I have concerns about is P+P.

Hi John310,

Ebay can be a minefield when it comes to postage rates for different items. Below are some of the things I double check before sending an item:

• Download a copy of the current postage rates from the Royal Mail this will give you sizes and prices and weights as guide.I normally check the weight of a package before I send it on a set of digital scales at home this has saved me countless trips back and forth to the post office.

• Use the forum to find good couriers for you larger items.This site has wealth of info with regards to getting good rates to deliver larger items. espcially if you said you were thinking of selling something like a keyboard

• Buy your postage bags and other postage items from either ebay,amazon or the web. I use a company on Ebay called ODL they have good deals on postage bags and stuff and always free postage which is a bonus! I hate it when I have purchased items in the post and the have arrived in carrier bags, using postage bags and wrapping items well can help well with your feedback and also it can help with repeat/new buyers.

• Always pack your items well, but bare in mind not to over pack them as this will increase the price of what your posting. Size restrictions on postage have recently caused me to revise what I sell on Ebay.

• Always get proof of posting when you send via Royal Mail this is free and all you have to do is ask for it, they will then give you a recipt to say you have sent the item. If the item has value then always consider sending the item recorded/signed for as this will help you if an item has been damaged during transit.

• The last bit of advice I would give to you is Ebay is not the best place to sell certain items anymore as the site can be awash with the item you may be selling, try doing carboots or sending certain items to your local auction house as you may find that you would get a better price for your item without sending it through the post.

Good luck selling!

Spooky

soolin

I'm just bumping this as I am concerned that reading some of the recent threads there are still people who do not understand how paypal works in relation to seller protection and postage.

Former_MSE_Andrea

Thank you for asking to update this post theonlywayisup, we've opened it for you

Forum threads are automatically closed if they've not been posted on within a set timeframe.

The best way to stop that happening is to post on them

Thank you again!

theonlywayisup

Perfect, I'm in Finland at the moment but should be back home this weekend to update - anyone reading this needs to know I haven't revised it since 2013 and whilst the main part remains, there are a few small tweaks!