eBay simple delivery (merged)

soolin

se2020 said:

soolin said:

se2020 said:

soolin said:

se2020 said:

soolin said:

On a different forum someone has posted a statement that they found in one of the announcements explaining about free postage.

“ "If you have chosen to offer free delivery, you agree that the delivery costs owed to eBay will be deducted from your account. You agree that no further delivery costs are owed to you by your buyer for the Simple Delivery label provided to you."

I still don’t think that is well written , but it implies that eBay will charge seller for the label regardless of whether it is used or not. 

They charge for the lable out of your eBay balance. 
You have to download the label to get the buyers address. 
If you don't use the label the cost gets refunded back to you eventually. 
At the moment you can still add your own tracking number to a simple delivery order. Not sure if they will block that option soon?

I can’t see anywhere that suggests label cost is refunded back to a seller if label isn’t used. It’s the buyer that gets the refund .
The announcement says nothing apart from the statement that seller will be charged for the label.

” “ "If you have chosen to offer free delivery, you agree that the delivery costs owed to eBay will be deducted from your account. You agree that no further delivery costs are owed to you by your buyer for the Simple Delivery label provided to you."


 It also looks like the option to add tracking manually is already being disabled, several people on other forums are saying they can no longer add tracking for items they have taken to the PO for postage. It would seem obvious that tracking wouldn’t need to be uploaded when simple postage is mandatory, as it will always be added as soon as eBay supply the label. 

I (as the seller, listed as free postage) got a refund for a label I didn't use.
I guess whoever pays for the label gets the refund. 

That isn't what other people are experiencing, but if simple postage can be side stepped just by refusing to use the label , then I can imagine many sellers will be using the loophole. 

It doesn't get round the issue though that racking can't be uploaded, so their is a risk you will lose any INR opened. 

Mine was a few weeks ago and it did let me add the tracking.
Not used it since!

It looks like the tracking issue will change after simple delivery is compulsory, at the moment it isn’t obligatory so tracking can be added. 

se2020

Another issue with simple delivery, 

I currently list an item with 'free' postage.
That's RM48. Costs me £3.39 for the postage plus 45p for the packing. 
I also list a postage option for RM24.
That costs me £4.25 so I set the T24 price at 85p.
So it still costs me the £3.39+45p I was contributing anyway and the buyer just pays the difference for an upgrade service.

Now, with SD, the buyer only has the option of 'free' and I pay the £3.39 or 'express' where they pay the full £4.25 and I pay nothing but I loose out on the 45p that was covering the packing. 

Spoonie_Turtle

I have a ton of stuff I need to declutter, although that's been the case for years already and I've just not had the energy to do it.  Nothing so far has put me off the idea of using eBay when I do manage to do any of it - until now.  'Simple' postage sounds anything but, to be honest!  And I didn't like not understanding Vinted's postage options for sellers.

Oh well.  By the time I manage to do anything, eBay will probably have changed yet again anyway!

soolin

messia07 said:

so if I understand this correctly, you buy the postage on eBay, take your parcel to the post office with a QR code and they print out the label for you? 

the Royal Mail parcel options on eBay all look quite basic (size/weight), happens if you want to insure the parcel and have a signature? for example if the parcel is worth £150, will it just be sent basic postage?

also, if you make a mistake regarding the parcel size or weight and have printed out the label, how would you get a refund on the postage and get another label? In the past, I've weighed parcels at home, got a certain weight - then gone to the post office, and it's different. same goes for sizing. once I had to refund a buyer for a missing parcel.. later I found out he had to pay a Royal Mail postage charge due to incorrect sizing (it was the correct size - I used the guide at the post office)... he kept the refund and the item(!)  

it just sounds messy. I just prefer to go to the post office and send things from there.. less risk of mistakes. 

The details as we know them so far are here

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/selling/posting-items/setting-postage-options/simple-delivery?id=5575&st=3&pos=6&query=Simple%20Delivery&intent=Simple%20postage&lucenceai=lucenceai&docId=HELP1805

Basically though when you list with simple delivery then it will be up to you as the seller to choose the correct option. I’ve been playing with it today, there’s not many options but it is basically letter / large letter up to 750g, then small parcel and medium parcel (I don’t scroll any further than that as I had nothing bigger then that to list). I had been worried sellers would have to put exact measurements in, this part of the system is actually easy as it seems to mirror the RM sizes that we are already familiar with. EBay then send you a label and a QR  can either print the label or take the QR code to Evri/Rm depending on which courier it is. Just as now though, sellers will need to have a basic understanding of sizes and weights. 

The value of the item will apparently be taken into account by eBay when issuing the label. 

You won’t need a signature at all as eBay will be taking responsibility for the postage. 

It’s worth having a read of the announcements as they come in, as a lot is explained in them, not everything I admit, but there is an awful lot of misinformation out there. 

soolin

Spoonie_Turtle said:

I have a ton of stuff I need to declutter, although that's been the case for years already and I've just not had the energy to do it.  Nothing so far has put me off the idea of using eBay when I do manage to do any of it - until now.  'Simple' postage sounds anything but, to be honest!  And I didn't like not understanding Vinted's postage options for sellers.

Oh well.  By the time I manage to do anything, eBay will probably have changed yet again anyway!

On Vinted it’s relatively easy, ‘small’ ‘medium’ or ‘large’ with the weights and sizes explained under each one if you click on the option. The different categories have different options, so S M L for say clothing is different to S M L in the kitchen or home categories. 

Green_hopeful

So i have some items which pre date the new fees thing. As a result the postage is included in the price. Is it worth me changing the postage to a more accurate separate postage cost to make it easier when it ‘automatically’ switches to Simple postage. I was going to list the last few items of a batch now but I am not sure if I should bother. 

It’s quite frustrating because there is quite a lot of nuance to posting random stuff from the house. I am quite often not 100 percent sure how I will post until i sell and pack it up. 

soolin

Green_hopeful said:

So i have some items which pre date the new fees thing. As a result the postage is included in the price. Is it worth me changing the postage to a more accurate separate postage cost to make it easier when it ‘automatically’ switches to Simple postage. I was going to list the last few items of a batch now but I am not sure if I should bother. 

It’s quite frustrating because there is quite a lot of nuance to posting random stuff from the house. I am quite often not 100 percent sure how I will post until i sell and pack it up. 

I took the decision to end and relist my very few items that were free post, and have added postage to them as my freepost assumed either a letter stamp or a large letter stamp, whereas EBay will charge me £2.70 minimum for a pre paid label. 

As for postage methods, you choose the postage method when you list , I’m not sure what you mean by choosing only when item is sold. In future assuming you have both RM and Evri enabled, you won’t know which the buyer has chosen until eBay send you the label. 

soolin

These are the postage rates for SD. It’s worth noting that the postage goes up if one of the options is disabled.

soolin

Apologies for the influx of posts but I think this simple postage is a huge step by eBay and is likely to cause some sellers real issues. In fact, I think it is possibly the most disruptive change made by eBay in years. 

There has been a very interesting post posted by someone from the eBay community team (so an official response in writing on a public forum) on the discussion boards as follows: (this is in response to a seller question about low cost LL a size items. )

“Thank you for your post. 

To confirm Simple delivery will be optional for items that are priced £10 or under and lightweight( 100g or under) so if your items are in this range then you should be able to continue with your own postage

Thank you,

This looks like good news , but that assumes it is true as it doesn’t match the announcements, and as regulars will know , eBay reps don’t always give correct information. I do hope this is true , but if anyone sees anything else along these lines please add it to this thread. 

se2020

soolin said:

These are the postage rates for SD. It’s worth noting that the postage goes up if one of the options is disabled.

How will this work with auctions that start low then end up over £100?

I can see buyers complaining if the postage price increases after they place a bid that takes it over £100!