Why do people exect delivery tomorrow but pay for 2nd class?

Crowqueen

forgotmyname wrote: »

This postage business seems to be a nighmare for sellers.

I bought 2 heavy items the other week from different sellers.

Same dimensions and same weight, Why does one charge £7.50 and one charges £12?
£12 one arrives 48 hours later the £7.50 one arrives on the 5th or 6th day.

Must ne a nightmare to please everyone, We all want to get it now but pay nothing for
it.

That's probably a perennial problem with retail that sellers have to learn to cope with.

It's OK to say that as sellers, but if people can't please their customers, they are not going to survive in business.

I went up to the co-op near my boyfriend's house, bad shelving, out-of-date offer notices, staff who were focused on conversations with friends rather than serving and short-dated items on sale.

OK, yes, buyers can be demanding, but it's the seller's job to try and keep them happy - just like it's a student's job to write good essays or a car manufacturer's job to design safe and comfortable cars.

If people choose to take on the job of selling, they have to find a way of pleasing the people paying them. The people who can do that efficiently for a low price are the ones who prosper.

It's tough, but it's not really anything to feel sorry for. It's not something I'd choose to do as a living but if I chose to do it I would want to do it to the best of my ability. When I sell I get things out the door ASAP - I sent something within the hour when paid on Amazon the other day - so I can relax knowing I've done my job. Perhaps it's something to admire when they do their job well - I was at the eye of the storm over the NatWest fiasco recently, I didn't suffer much at the time, I was very lucky, but I am impressed that NW are still emailing me with updates as to how the situation is progressing. Good customer service pays dividends and as such is something to aspire to rather than do down.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Crowqueen wrote: »

@Tech - Glad to see that, actually.

Amazon mandate a 2-day dispatch, so there's no reason eBay should be much different.

I wouldn't sell if I didn't have the time to post promptly. I don't think it's reasonable to sit on someone's money for five days without sending the item. You wouldn't do it with anyone else who was paying you to do something.

It may help people realise their actual responsibilities. If you can't post out promptly, then don't list in the first place.

The flexibility on eBay should increase the range of sellers and product, custom made items for example, one of which took 4 weeks to be delivered to me but I'm very glad it was sold on eBay as it was excellent quality at a good price from a independent, British company manufacturing their own product.

Naffing around on Google lead to sites like Argos selling mass-produced, poor quality, cheap rubbish or Furniture Village selling excessively priced stuff.

I take 3 days to post the majority of items and they go 1st Class, if I could send everything same/next day I'd use 2nd Class so the result would be the same. Some may not wish to wait 3 days for dispatch and that's understandable but the listing is very clear so a choice can be made and without hiring staff, which would increase prices, which would decreae sales leaving the very expensive member of staff somewhat redundant, I can only do what I can do within the 10 or so hours a day I work (which I think is enough).

There are also far more things to do that just post parcels, dealing with suppliers, sourcing new suppliers, making deals, listing new lines, managing stock, disposing of waste, answering the excessive number of eBay messages, ensuring packaging supplies are kept topped up, opening boxes from suppliers and checking contents (this can take 30 minutes for box of 100 different items) and then placing into stock, paperwork, VAT and tax returns, paying bills, managing inventory quantities as well as keeping up with the mistakes the suppliers and their couriers make. Picking orders for packing, adding address/return labels to parcels, adding Airmail stickers and CN22 forms to some parcels, writing out RD/SD details and adding yet more labels. I spend around 30 minutes a day just checking addresses as so many seem somewhat incomplete.

If all I had to do was stuff a couple of hundred things in a jiffy bag/box and nothing else I'd be finished by 10am instead of 9pm.

soolin

Ludovico, nothing has changed though- you can still show whatever despatch time you choose. The only difference is that now buyers will see a note that the seller ships outside of the default shiping time- so this is better for sellers who ship slowly as it means buyers are aware that the item may be delayed before they bid.

I suspect this has been changed because of concerns expressed by sellers on the community boards who were complaining that buyers never read the estimated despatch times and were then leaving poor stars as they considered the despatch slow- even though it is exactly what was state don auction.

Even of this thread we've had a buyer misunderstand the difference between despatch times and delivery times, so if it is made clearer before they confirm a bid it will help sellers.

Sharon87

When I sold my items recently, I emailed the buyer when I had posted telling them when to expect their parcel. That's not that hard to do for casual sellers. Or a business seller could have an automated or set email stating the same info to the buyer. You will always get people who still expect next day delivery, but they're just unreasonable.

I try to make things clear to my buyers, I've not had that many complaints about delivery.

techspec

Sharon87 wrote: »

When I sold my items recently, I emailed the buyer when I had posted telling them when to expect their parcel. That's not that hard to do for casual sellers. Or a business seller could have an automated or set email stating the same info to the buyer. You will always get people who still expect next day delivery, but they're just unreasonable.

I try to make things clear to my buyers, I've not had that many complaints about delivery.

And thats what i have always done - until i found out you can now be punished for communicating with buyers.

If you don't send any messages - you are gauranteed 5 stars for communication. If you send a polite email updating them - you can be marked down if the buyer wishes.

So i have now stopped sending messages - unless they contact me first.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

soolin wrote: »

Ludovico, nothing has changed though- you can still show whatever despatch time you choose.

I think it's a good idea to highlight the dispatch time, just the point was there's lot going on behind the scenes that has to be done as well and the comparison to Amazon isn't particularly valid as Amazon can afford to exclude certain types of sellers, they wish to be known for service where as eBay is the place to shop for everything and everything can't necessarily be posted within 2 days.

Amazon's metrics are also far less strict, you are only marked down by Amazon if the order is 3 or more days later than the 2 business day dispatch requirement and the target is 4%. This is a factual measurement rather than a customer's opinion of dispatch (or delivery) and the ETA is extended so the customer is asked 'Did this arrive by xx date' which means if it didn't and it took over 2 weeks to be delivered something went seriously wrong.

Feedback on Amazon isn't as important, some big companies in my sector have 93% whilst selling a ton of stuff each day.

Compared to 0.5% defect rate on eBay which could be based on pretty anything the customer happened to think.

What I would like to see on the eBay dashboard (just for information purposes) is the time difference between payment and marked as dispatched for the transactions marked low on dispatch, this would be useful to gauge expectations.

Sharon87 wrote: »

Or a business seller could have an automated or set email stating the same info to the buyer.

Very easy with the eBay comms hub but despite the info being there (and shown in 3 different ways on the listing, plus an ETA date on the order page as well as the only pre-set FAQ during the question flow) some customers are still asking where their item is before the dispatch time has past.

lovinituk

soolin wrote: »

Ludovico, nothing has changed though- you can still show whatever despatch time you choose. The only difference is that now buyers will see a note that the seller ships outside of the default shiping time- so this is better for sellers who ship slowly as it means buyers are aware that the item may be delayed before they bid.

Thats an interesting view point. This has been discussed on another forum from the point of view that it is not such a good thing for people who take longer to dispatch as it will highlight the sellers that buyers do not want to use. As such, these sellers may well see a reduction in sales. As always, I tend to look at these things from more of a business perspective, and it might not affect private sellers in the same way.

Mistral001

I have been selling unwanted bits and pieces on ebay for 5 or 6 years. Last week was the first time I recieved any correspondence regarding despatch time. It was a request to send it immediately as the buyer was needing it for the weekend. I always dispatch the next day and first class even though I advertise a 3 working day despatch time, so there was nothing special I had to do, but I thought it was a bit strange.

Crowqueen

I don't think it's terribly strange - you put 3 working days on your dispatch timetable, therefore buyer thought they would ask politely for it to be sent ASAP. They wouldn't know whether you mean 3 days or you mean to post immediately.

For some buyers, it's 'don't ask, don't get'.

barmonkey

I posted a parcel at 11am this morning in Plymouth to Doncaster, buyer emailed me to say it was delivered at 4,15 this afternoon.