Ebay advice and postage please help me am I done what would you do?

2huskys

I recently started selling small make up items nail varnish and eyeliner on ebay this month and have had 30 sales so far which I am very pleased with but now im beginning to realize this could all be to good to be true of course.

out of those 30 items I have only received feedback for approx 6 of them. Have had 2 emails(make that 3 now) saying their items havent arrived after nearly a week. One of those replied again saying that it was at the sorting office and the post office said a second class stamp wasnt enough for a !!!!ing eyeliner pencil which is no more than 5mm and weighs 10g!!! so they made her pay an extra 22p plus £1 for handling which is a disgrace so I had to refund her that meaning I paid her to take the item!

Now im bricking it and am really stressed because I don't know if the remainder of my sales have received their items and just haven't bothered leaving feedback or if I am going to have to do the exact same with another 20 items even though people have already received the same items no problem with the exact same postage. whats the deal there?

My nail varnish is exactly 25mm which is just enough for a large letter stamp. Any more and the price is for a small packet which is the cost of the nail varnish itself which is a joke for all the size of it. Which is a disgrace people wont buy it then. I cant do proof of postage because again that is the cost of the item so I could easily get scammed if they wanted to.

Any pointers? Thank you for your time and help

hermum

Not everyone leaves FB, have you left for your buyers yet?
Proof of posting is free, however I'm not sure whether nail varnish would be a prohibited item, you'd need to look on RM site.

fannyadams

Hi
just to let you know that proof of postage is free at any/every post office in the UK AND they will check to make sure your package is small enough to go as second class large letter (even if you bought the postage already which it sounds like you did).
HTH
FA
x

Notmyrealname

2huskys wrote: »

My nail varnish is exactly 25mm which is just enough for a large letter stamp.

And there's the mistake you're making. The thing you put the item in also has a thickness as does the sheet of paper you may include as a receipt.

When you are that close to the limits for a postal rate, always go up to the next one.

2huskys

Ok thanks I wasn't aware that it was free. I will use it from now on if I can continue selling. Yes I leave my buyers feedback straight away as soon as they pay. It probably isnt prohibited. I just dont get why some people receive it no problem yet others don't. Another person emailed there as well saying they havent received it :( its just a pencil (crys). I know the nail varnish is cutting it close on size as its 25mm exactly but it nowhere near 100g and the size of the envelope is no where near max size.

2huskys

Notmyrealname wrote: »

And there's the mistake you're making. The thing you put the item in also has a thickness as does the sheet of paper you may include as a receipt.

When you are that close to the limits for a postal rate, always go up to the next one.

Yes but theres no paper in it apart from the enevlope itself which is barley 1mm. And some people have received them just fine. I dont get why others havent.

2huskys

Another thing as well is sellers selling the same item are charging postage equivalent to what Im paying for. They clearly can't be paying for small packets because that is more than the item itself. Is the Royal Mail just nit picking?

vicx

2huskys wrote: »

Yes but theres no paper in it apart from the enevlope itself which is barley 1mm. And some people have received them just fine. I dont get why others havent.

If the item does not go through the letter guide freely without having to pull it through then it is a small packet. Mail is sorted by machine and if the machine rejects it then the recipient will have to pay to collect the item from the delivery office. Whilst some of the nail varnishes will go through the guide freely, others might get stuck due to any extra thickness.

It might be worth buying a letter size guide from eBay, you should be able to get one for around £5. That way, you can make sure (before getting to the post office) the nail varnish goes through the 25mm freely without having to pull it through.

Alternatively, would it not be better to sell the nail varish in sets of 2 or 3's (some same colour and some assorted) and pay £1.33 for the packet, assuming they wouldn't weigh more than 100g.

2huskys

vicx wrote: »

If the item does not go through the letter guide freely without having to pull it through then it is a small packet. Mail is sorted by machine and if the machine rejects it then the recipient will have to pay to collect the item from the delivery office. Whilst some of the nail varnishes will go through the guide freely, others might get stuck due to any extra thickness.

It might be worth buying a letter size guide from eBay, you should be able to get one for around £5. That way, you can make sure (before getting to the post office) the nail varnish goes through the 25mm freely without having to pull it through.

Alternatively, would it not be better to sell the nail varish in sets of 2 or 3's (some same colour and some assorted) and pay £1.33 for the packet, assuming they wouldn't weigh more than 100g.

Thanks I will have to check at the post office and see how easily they go through the 25mm. I was considering that but the cost of postage is still too high to make any money and people are rarely buying those ones in groups of 2 or 3. Its more so the eyeliner pencil why they arent accepting that is beyond me.Just having measured it its 7mm I guess so thats why but for all the size of it Im begining to feel I have just burnt £200 and will never get it back.

How can other people sell it charging lower postage rates?

Just_Like_Honey

You would have to send eyeliner/lip pencils etc as large letters as they are too thick for a standard letter. Standard letter is only really for cards/letters and even some greetings cards say they need to be sent large letter post as they have pop out bits and are slightly thicker.

As you have already pointed out with the nail polishes it's cutting it fine and will probably be bigger than 25mm therefore you'll have to pay for a packet. Just take everything to the post office and get it done at the desk so you know that your buyers won't have to pay extra if it's incorrect. Plus you'll get your proof of posting receipts.

Just_Like_Honey

And with postage sometimes the sellers just pay the extra themselves. I bought a phone cover off ebay for 99p with free postage so it seems as if they've made no profit on it at all, but most sellers are selling them for the same price with free postage so they have to keep up.

The sellers charging less for postage are probably just eating the cost because overall they'll get more sales out of it.