Does anyone use click and drop with OBA?

soolin

after 8 months my RM business account seems to be up and running but although I have a help line number they don't seem to be fully conversant with the system I am on and I wonder if anyone else is using it and can help?

I already use click and drop via paypal for my post and have now got a log in that works to log in via an OBA credit account, and I have hopefully linked all my ebay accounts so that the sales will be picked up automatically. I have watched online tutorials and they mainly do a days post in one go , print off the dockets , seal the bags and drop them off. However, I like to wrap as I go along and wonder if I can just pack and print off my labels and then only print the days docket when I am ready to go to the Mail centre?

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

The labels created via C&D are only billed to OBA when they are manifested, I believe the system will auto manifest at the end of the day but apart from that it should only create an OBA sales order when you manifest, whether you wish to do this once or in batches is up to you really.

Have they allowed you edit the address yet? When we tried it a couple of months back what you got from the buyer was what you got on the label. They said they were integrating the postcode look up into the system so the address can be checked and edited.

soolin

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head wrote: »

The labels created via C&D are only billed to OBA when they are manifested, I believe the system will auto manifest at the end of the day but apart from that it should only create an OBA sales order when you manifest, whether you wish to do this once or in batches is up to you really.

Have they allowed you edit the address yet? When we tried it a couple of months back what you got from the buyer was what you got on the label. They said they were integrating the postcode look up into the system so the address can be checked and edited.

Thank you the_lunatic_is_in_my_head, I haven't tried it yet but to be honest don't check addresses anyway- so the ability to change an address wouldn't be a real issue for me.

RFW

I gave up on getting anywhere with mine, they kept promising to send me stuff and never did. Every time I called back the person I was last dealing with had left. My last call from them was in August responding to my enquiry last November. It's hard to believe they're a private company now.

I've got a better deal with franking now so not paying much more than the listed prices for the account and running costs. It seems to be working out a bit less than OBA for me. It seems to be more viable on most of the weights I use.

soolin

RFW wrote: »

I gave up on getting anywhere with mine, they kept promising to send me stuff and never did. Every time I called back the person I was last dealing with had left. My last call from them was in August responding to my enquiry last November. It's hard to believe they're a private company now.

I've got a better deal with franking now so not paying much more than the listed prices for the account and running costs. It seems to be working out a bit less than OBA for me. It seems to be more viable on most of the weights I use.

I started trying to set this up in January and have been trying seriously since March- and this is my first batch! Mine should be the simpler service, it is just RM prices free of VAT, but I haven't tried any of the manifest things yet- so am still hoping it goes well.

For such a small seller I have an awful lot of different sacks!

thebestnameshavegone

Totally agree about the number of sacks you need once the Large Letters have been separated from the Parcels - plus if you have one customer who has upgraded to First Class post then their package/letter needs to go in a bag all by itself!

Getting the bags can be a bit of a palaver too - online ordering is very hit and miss; it's a lot easier to befriend your local PO and scrounge some from them.

I currently use OBA but not Click & Drop - will be interested to see how you get on. RM keep asking me to switch to bar-coded DMO, but as DMO options don't include the VAT-free Large Letter option I'm holding on at present.

RFW

thebestnameshavegone wrote: »

Getting the bags can be a bit of a palaver too - online ordering is very hit and miss; it's a lot easier to befriend your local PO and scrounge some from them.

Don't talk to me about bags. The office I drop them off at is the regional depot but they won't give me any. They have to go out of my local office, who get them from the regional depot, who tell them they haven't got any. I then doubled up with the few I had left and got told off they were too heavy, so they proceeded to split them into spare sacks they had. I then asked for more so it wouldn't happen again but they couldn't give them to me. I realise no one cares but I thought I'd tell someone about it:D

soolin

Re bags:

I am exceedingly lucky, for the past week our local mail centre has had a large cage of sacks right by the drop off point for the full bags. It does ask people to limit the amount they take to 10, but so far the cage has been almost full each time I have checked. My mail manager apparently sent me some, which never arrived, the ones in my stationery box were missing and the ones I ordered last week have not arrived- so without the Mail centre stock I would be completely stuck.

thebestnameshavegone

I gave up ordering them - I ordered ten a week for about twelve weeks and only received them once. My village PO won't give any away (they say they barely have enough for their own use), but another PO about three miles away will let me have as many as I want. The downside of this is that I have to listen to the ups and downs of the love life of the lad who works there and give advice if necessary!

soolin

thebestnameshavegone wrote: »

I gave up ordering them - I ordered ten a week for about twelve weeks and only received them once. My village PO won't give any away (they say they barely have enough for their own use), but another PO about three miles away will let me have as many as I want. The downside of this is that I have to listen to the ups and downs of the love life of the lad who works there and give advice if necessary!

I spoke to soon- my local mail centre has had none for the past 2 days so I am now down to 2 bags to use today and desperately hoping no one upgrades to 1st class as I don't have a third bag to use. The MC said they should have them available today, so fingers crossed.

Absolutely none of the ones that were apparently sent as my starter bundle, or at a later request, or as an emergency stock after I phoned to ask what to do- have yet arrived.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

soolin wrote: »

I spoke to soon- my local mail centre has had none for the past 2 days so I am now down to 2 bags to use today and desperately hoping no one upgrades to 1st class as I don't have a third bag to use. The MC said they should have them available today, so fingers crossed.

Absolutely none of the ones that were apparently sent as my starter bundle, or at a later request, or as an emergency stock after I phoned to ask what to do- have yet arrived.

You have to be ruthless with bags, ignore the sign and take 2 bags stuffed to the brim, then each day take the same number of bags as you drop off. It'll get worse as we get closer to December and a small stockpile is wise.

I don't like putting one parcel in a bag (unless it's fairly big) as I wonder if the bag will get put aside as empty, you should be able to just hand over the odd 1st class parcel that doesn't go in the 2nd class bags.