experience of hermes and cost cutting delivery

soolin

I don't like couriers, never have- but we sellers are always being told that buyers buy on price. If that means offering a courier to save £3-£4 on a shipment then so be it.

I am using MyHermes and whislt they are not the quickest I am impressed with their tracking. My latest one has been updated a couple of times a day

The first one I sent worried me a bit as it showed not collected by courier, but customer thanked me for fast delivery before MyHermes updated delivery online.

The simple fact is though that I do not believe my buyers are going to pay £5.20 postage (before any apkcing charges) for a sub £5 item when I can offer the same item for less than £3 with MyHermes.

Chrysalis

I understand, the solution to me is offer both delivery options, eg. I have paid £10 delivery for a £2 item and gave the seller 5 stars because it was here 10am the next day.

To me my time is easily worth £10.

This is why I said I always send special delivery even when only getting paid for recorded.

Also I tend to overcharge for recorded (maybe also for special) and I have never had anyone moan at me about delivery costs, I guess if they unhappy on price they simply dont bid.

So yes I have lost money on sending fast delivery myself, granted I dont sell for a living and not often, but I still have sometimes lost money on delivery to remove stress for the person I am selling to having to wait for slower deliveries.

In this case the item I have purchased is worth £18 not £2 tho. The item is extremely rare, meaning if it was £50 I still would have brought it, so £10 delivery wouldnt have made any difference at all.

Also if your item is small, sending it basic recorded delivery is not only cheap but seems extremely reliable, I love it when the postie delivers, because he is here the exact same time everyday, meaning I know when he is here, not the horrible "any time between 8am and 8pm". Every day he is here around 11am, maybe max 30 minute variance.

To add as well I prefer slow dispatch fast delivery, to fast dispatch slow delivery, as the latter requires me to sit in all day every day until it arrives, whilst the former doesnt.

soolin

Chyysalis, I don't even bother with recorded- I trust my buyers. The only time recorded has any use is if a seller believes they are all scammers.

Recorded is also not cheap, currently an additional 95p and over £1 extra from next week.

Chrysalis

If you dont think recorded is cheap then you willing trying to search for pennies.

Recorded is cheap..

I have learnt my lesson on this transaction tho, from now on I will be asking everyone if they going to use hermes, if they say yes I wont bid/buy..

Even a guy who gave me free delivery managed to send it so I got in 2 days via my postie.

If you try to look at it the other way round, would you like if it I said to you I may pay you within 3 weeks anytime between 8am and 8pm? probably not.

Instead I 95% of time pay within 2 mins of the auction ending, always by paypal instant clearance (not echeque), the other 5% is if I am asleep at time and then pay when I wake up so still within 12 hours or so.

soolin

Chrysalis wrote: »

If you dont think recorded is cheap then you willing trying to search for pennies.

Recorded is cheap..

I have learnt my lesson on this transaction tho, from now on I will be asking everyone if they going to use hermes, if they say yes I wont bid/buy..

Even a guy who gave me free delivery managed to send it so I got in 2 days via my postie.

If you try to look at it the other way round, would you like if it I said to you I may pay you within 3 weeks anytime between 8am and 8pm? probably not.

Instead I 95% of time pay within 2 mins of the auction ending, always by paypal instant clearance (not echeque), the other 5% is if I am asleep at time and then pay when I wake up so still within 12 hours or so.

I send approx 150 items a month (at the moment) so recorded would currently cost me £142.50. I do not consider that pennies at all.

I also pride myself on the fact i do not overcharge, you have already admitted your postal charges are steep and sometimes inaccurate , so we are poles apart. My business would be lost if I did not know exactly what I needed to charge to get a sale and achive mainly 5* ratings.

campdave

I think the main issue is there isn't a one size solution for every sale. I wouldn't expect to pay (or the seller to fund) special delivery on a cheap item, and would be willing to pay for myhermes for a medium value item. If I was paying top whack for something, I'd expect a decent 24 hour courier to be used.

Still, at least with ebay most sellers are upfront about the delivery method being used, whereas when buying from Amazon one seems to be selected at random.

Chrysalis

Hermes refusing to let me pick up from where parcel is, they say its not at depot, and thats all the information they will give me, they say any further communication needs to be done from the sender.

Still waiting for reply of sender.

--edit--

Sender did reply, he is chasing them up.

Chrysalis

campdave wrote: »

I think the main issue is there isn't a one size solution for every sale. I wouldn't expect to pay (or the seller to fund) special delivery on a cheap item, and would be willing to pay for myhermes for a medium value item. If I was paying top whack for something, I'd expect a decent 24 hour courier to be used.

Still, at least with ebay most sellers are upfront about the delivery method being used, whereas when buying from Amazon one seems to be selected at random.

I was just told economy delivery (not the company used) I am guilty of skipping over the estimated delivery date (as usually it means little). There was no higher option available to me.

Will see what happens now, it appears at the moment hermes are not going to be reattempting to give to driver (if driver rejected it) and the tracking isnt showing anything thats indicated its back to sender either.

I personally dont see long estimated delivery times given as a get out of jail free card, but I have no aim here to get angry at the seller, I just want my item, and I dont want to be sitting here for several days in a row having to be here 8am till 8pm just in case it shows up. I also in reality cant do that so its actually now quite possible if they do attempt again next week I wont be here to accept it.

campdave

Chrysalis wrote: »

I was just told economy delivery (not the company used)

When I've needed an item on a certain day, I've contacted the seller and asked when I need to order by and what service they use. I have a 2-day dispatch, 2nd class post on my items. If my buyers want another service, they need to contact me before ordering rather than expecting me to somehow read their minds about their delivery expectations.

You don't get the individual service you seem to want from any internet retailer, so I'm not sure why you expect more from sellers on ebay. The facility is there for you to find the information you need before you order by asking the seller before you order.

techspec

Chrysalis wrote: »

instead of marking down for delivery time?

No - because delivery time will be clearly stated - so no need to mark down.

Oh, i forgot - you've admitted marking everyone down on Ebay, as you do not undertand the stars. So the seller would have still been in trouble - even if they had sent the item next day via limousine.