Author Topic: Would you really sell on ebay ?  (Read 18404 times)

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Offline Simon

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Re: Would you really sell on ebay ?
« Reply #125 on: October 13, 2020, 03:46:31 pm »
[...] It's also a quirk of an agreement between countries to no charge each other.  [...]


The agreement between governments relates to the distribution of "the last mile" (can be many miles!) after the container full of mail is dumped on the floor in some distribution center, once it has arrived in the destination country. 

The agreements between countries are based on the real costs of distributing the mail.  (We are talking about professional negotiators here, not members of the public!)  The real costs boil down to a warehouse, and some guys with some vans - they all know that, and that is what they are willing to pay for.  Those costs are not that high, and have nothing whatsoever to do with the prices we pay at the post office counter.

Western business and private users of the mail services are, to put it in simple terms, being fleeced.  Then, when we notice how cheap it is for Chinese businesses to send stuff, we think they must be cheating...  -   and it is convenient for the powers that be for people to blame China rather than them, so they are happy to let people believe it is all China's fault -  they are far away anyway, and probably blame us for a lot of their own problems in return, on the same principle!  :D



actually royal mail ran at a loss until the volume of online selling picked up and it started turning a profit because the cost to process a parcel is not too different from a letter but for it's size, weight, fuel etc. As soon as Royal mail started making money they privatized it. I don't think parcels have gone up dramatically just letters. Now parcels and letters are delivered by different people who may even cross each others paths but the volume of parcels is such that it warrants a person with a van where in the past the on foot post person would carry the odd parcel. Now the ones carrying letters do leaflet drops too.


 

Offline Simon

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Re: Would you really sell on ebay ?
« Reply #126 on: October 13, 2020, 03:48:33 pm »
"The cost of shipping out of the USA went up dramatically around 10 years ago. I used to send quite a bit of stuff and as long as it wasn't huge or super heavy there were economical ways of doing it. Now all of the low cost surface options are gone and USPS only offers the high priced premium airmail services. Shipping even a small package to the UK for example will cost over $50 now,"

I find that really surprising.

What about normal airmail / air parcel post?

I've been importing from the US for 40+ years and the biggest issue I have seen is that most US firms are not interested in using the "Post Office" because somebody has to mess about, go there, etc. Whereas if they use say Fedex they just chuck everything on a big pile, have a streamlined system for labelling it / printing off the AWBs, and the Fedex driver just collects the lot, so nobody has to do anything "complicated". The result: I pay $150 for shipping the smallest item, whereas airmail would have cost $15.

So i started bulk buying probe master and reshipping in the UK because to buy one set from the US cost the same for the shipping as it did for the probes.
 

Offline SilverSolder

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Re: Would you really sell on ebay ?
« Reply #127 on: October 13, 2020, 04:39:32 pm »
"The cost of shipping out of the USA went up dramatically around 10 years ago. I used to send quite a bit of stuff and as long as it wasn't huge or super heavy there were economical ways of doing it. Now all of the low cost surface options are gone and USPS only offers the high priced premium airmail services. Shipping even a small package to the UK for example will cost over $50 now,"

I find that really surprising.

What about normal airmail / air parcel post?

I've been importing from the US for 40+ years and the biggest issue I have seen is that most US firms are not interested in using the "Post Office" because somebody has to mess about, go there, etc. Whereas if they use say Fedex they just chuck everything on a big pile, have a streamlined system for labelling it / printing off the AWBs, and the Fedex driver just collects the lot, so nobody has to do anything "complicated". The result: I pay $150 for shipping the smallest item, whereas airmail would have cost $15.

So i started bulk buying probe master and reshipping in the UK because to buy one set from the US cost the same for the shipping as it did for the probes.

Yes, the insane charges have created opportunities for local distributors.  Maybe it's all intentional!  :D
 

Offline peter-h

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Re: Would you really sell on ebay ?
« Reply #128 on: October 15, 2020, 01:18:05 pm »
I don't believe this is true in the US. Airmail (for "letters" and "small packets up to 2kg") exists all over the world, by international agreement. You can airmail a 2kg package from Mongolia, most probably.

Some countries support up to 4kg; possibly more. IIRC, Sweden used to. I used to be able to tell you but Royal Mail don't seem to publish an easy "book" anymore; it's probably online.

So all the US firms which tell you they can't do it

- are just being lazy
- pay $100 to Fedex/etc under some block deal and charge you $150 (they could not add $50 to airmail)
- are selling diamonds
- are in a market where there is a high level of buyer fraud, so they need continuous tracking (tracked airmail is "recorded" only at the ends of the journey, broadly speaking)
- have customers who are too stupid to understand "shipping time 5-10 days"
- are just being lazy
- are selling to countries where almost everything gets stolen

It is certainly true that in some countries anything which can get stolen does get stolen e.g. Egypt has a theft rate on airmail packages exceeding 50%.

It is also true that 1st World postal services seem to be poorly managed and this creates opportunities for the couriers to rip everybody off.
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Offline Simon

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Re: Would you really sell on ebay ?
« Reply #129 on: October 15, 2020, 01:52:54 pm »
If you go to a post office you may find the printed price guide but they are getting harder to get hold of. I grabbed one as their site is crap! I can't just look up a weight and destination anymore I have to put an address in because they want to flog me the shipping there and then.

Yes everywhere does 2Kg but after that it gets tricky. I tried to send 2.17kg the other day to Belgium but they won't have stuff over 2kg, luckily I just pulled out some packing, cut the box down and sent it next day at 1.7kg. I was happy being lazy with the packaging and paying a couple of quid more but instead was made to save my money :)
 

Offline james_s

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Re: Would you really sell on ebay ?
« Reply #130 on: October 15, 2020, 05:36:03 pm »
I don't believe this is true in the US. Airmail (for "letters" and "small packets up to 2kg") exists all over the world, by international agreement. You can airmail a 2kg package from Mongolia, most probably.

I'd encourage you to visit usps.com and try getting some shipping quotes on various packages. Keep in mind if you try to send a small packet and it is either rigid or more than 1/4" thick it will be charged as a parcel instead of a packet or letter.

You also cannot use the automated kiosk for international parcels. You have to visit the post office in person during business hours which usually means take time off work, stand in line for anywhere up to an hour depending on how busy they are, find the right customs form and fill that out, believe me, I've done it loads of times and it's a big hassle. I didn't develop the system, I'm just stuck living with it.
 

Offline SilverSolder

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Re: Would you really sell on ebay ?
« Reply #131 on: October 15, 2020, 05:45:30 pm »
If you have a PayPal account in the US, you can send small packages online (with an 8% corporate discount) here:  https://www.paypal.com/ShipNow
 

Online tggzzz

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Re: Would you really sell on ebay ?
« Reply #132 on: October 15, 2020, 06:37:10 pm »
If you go to a post office you may find the printed price guide but they are getting harder to get hold of.

https://www.royalmail.com/price-finder
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Offline Simon

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Re: Would you really sell on ebay ?
« Reply #133 on: October 15, 2020, 06:40:47 pm »
Yep, that is the one that used to be easier to find unless they changed it. Try looking at their contact page, it sends you round in a loop so you never get the number. It's easier to get their number off the regulators website (offcom) than it is their own.
 

Offline peter-h

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Re: Would you really sell on ebay ?
« Reply #134 on: October 22, 2020, 09:05:13 am »
"Yes everywhere does 2Kg but after that it gets tricky"

Indeed; then it is called AIR PARCEL and can be quite an exercise. It is also expensive. AP used to be cheap but today it is perhaps 50% of DHL, and with the discounts which DHL etc offer to corporate users (more than 50% off) nobody uses it anymore. I have also seen AP taking a month...

At work we split say a 3kg airmail shipment into two packets; it is still much cheaper than a courier.
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Offline @rt

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Re: Would you really sell on ebay ?
« Reply #135 on: October 22, 2020, 10:20:15 am »
I was a little shocked over my September invoice having sold nothing.

Someone from another country purchased a listing where I didn’t tick the option to offer international postage, plus they didn’t pay in 4 days, so I cancelled it.
Someone else purchased a listing, and didn’t pay in more than 4 days, so I cancelled it.

It looks like I was charged for both of these sales.
I promptly cancelled all remaining listings, and seriously considering viability of the platform in my case.
 

Offline Simon

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Re: Would you really sell on ebay ?
« Reply #136 on: October 22, 2020, 11:26:11 am »
"Yes everywhere does 2Kg but after that it gets tricky"

Indeed; then it is called AIR PARCEL and can be quite an exercise. It is also expensive. AP used to be cheap but today it is perhaps 50% of DHL, and with the discounts which DHL etc offer to corporate users (more than 50% off) nobody uses it anymore. I have also seen AP taking a month...

At work we split say a 3kg airmail shipment into two packets; it is still much cheaper than a courier.

Yes i have often split stuff up or been a bit smarter about the packing like this time to achieve the same robustness but at under 2kg, air bubbles are lighter than shredded paper.
 

Offline SilverSolder

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Re: Would you really sell on ebay ?
« Reply #137 on: October 22, 2020, 01:00:18 pm »
I was a little shocked over my September invoice having sold nothing.

Someone from another country purchased a listing where I didn’t tick the option to offer international postage, plus they didn’t pay in 4 days, so I cancelled it.
Someone else purchased a listing, and didn’t pay in more than 4 days, so I cancelled it.

It looks like I was charged for both of these sales.
I promptly cancelled all remaining listings, and seriously considering viability of the platform in my case.

You can call support and get them to refund those.  They are not going to do it automatically....
 

Offline Simon

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Re: Would you really sell on ebay ?
« Reply #138 on: October 22, 2020, 02:40:19 pm »
ebay is ultimately full of bugs and without fixing the existing ones they continue to make half hearted buggy attempts to "improve" their site. For buyers it looks great, but for a seller it's a mash up of at least two different attempts at creating  system usable by sellers. Last time I tried clicking on the link in an email to say I'd made a sale and would I like to buy the postage I just went round and round in circles being asked for my login again and again as I was passed between two different existing systems and their current in progress attempt. This is one reason I signed up to drop and go, i stick an address label on and just go and dump it on the local post office counter and walk out. Sometimes he manages to stop me before I dissapere to give me the last weeks worth of receipts.
 

Offline Jan AudioTopic starter

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Re: Would you really sell on ebay ?
« Reply #139 on: October 22, 2020, 03:09:13 pm »
Ebay buggy ?, aliexpress, that is really buggy.
 

Offline CatalinaWOW

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Re: Would you really sell on ebay ?
« Reply #140 on: October 22, 2020, 04:17:05 pm »
ebay is ultimately full of bugs and without fixing the existing ones they continue to make half hearted buggy attempts to "improve" their site. For buyers it looks great, but for a seller it's a mash up of at least two different attempts at creating  system usable by sellers. Last time I tried clicking on the link in an email to say I'd made a sale and would I like to buy the postage I just went round and round in circles being asked for my login again and again as I was passed between two different existing systems and their current in progress attempt. This is one reason I signed up to drop and go, i stick an address label on and just go and dump it on the local post office counter and walk out. Sometimes he manages to stop me before I dissapere to give me the last weeks worth of receipts.

It seems as if eBay uses different software in different parts of the world.  Probably necessary to comply with local differences in taxation and other rules.   And it also seems as if it may be more broken in England than it is here in the USA.  I am not a great fan of the eBay user interface here on either buyer or seller side, but don't seem to have run into the degree of difficulty you have encountered.
 

Offline Simon

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Re: Would you really sell on ebay ?
« Reply #141 on: October 22, 2020, 05:36:54 pm »
to be honest it's also part of the fact they are huge and it's complicated. The amazon arse end is just that, an arse.
 

Offline @rt

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Re: Would you really sell on ebay ?
« Reply #142 on: October 24, 2020, 04:00:00 am »
I was a little shocked over my September invoice having sold nothing.

Someone from another country purchased a listing where I didn’t tick the option to offer international postage, plus they didn’t pay in 4 days, so I cancelled it.
Someone else purchased a listing, and didn’t pay in more than 4 days, so I cancelled it.

It looks like I was charged for both of these sales.
I promptly cancelled all remaining listings, and seriously considering viability of the platform in my case.


You can call support and get them to refund those.  They are not going to do it automatically....

I did, and they did, but so long as we have computers which exist to run software, why should I have to bother? (if I even notice).
 

Offline Simon

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Re: Would you really sell on ebay ?
« Reply #143 on: October 24, 2020, 08:15:54 am »

I did, and they did, but so long as we have computers which exist to run software, why should I have to bother? (if I even notice).


Human error, computers are infallible, they do exactly as they were told to do, but if you tell them wrong they will do wrong.
 

Offline @rt

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Re: Would you really sell on ebay ?
« Reply #144 on: October 24, 2020, 12:16:00 pm »

I did, and they did, but so long as we have computers which exist to run software, why should I have to bother? (if I even notice).


Human error, computers are infallible, they do exactly as they were told to do, but if you tell them wrong they will do wrong.

I meant that they could write it into their own software not to charge in those cases.

I also take issue at the moment that a buyer can leave feedback for a cancelled sale.
That could probably be appealed as well, but it all seems unnecessary.

 

Offline Simon

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Re: Would you really sell on ebay ?
« Reply #145 on: October 24, 2020, 01:18:18 pm »
Yea, they don't care, can't be asked, like i said in the UK we have bits of 3 different versions of the system running together to the point that you can get stuck in a loop constantly logging in and that's when you are trying to give them more money.
 

Offline SilverSolder

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Re: Would you really sell on ebay ?
« Reply #146 on: October 24, 2020, 02:48:27 pm »

I did, and they did, but so long as we have computers which exist to run software, why should I have to bother? (if I even notice).


Human error, computers are infallible, they do exactly as they were told to do, but if you tell them wrong they will do wrong.

I meant that they could write it into their own software not to charge in those cases.

I also take issue at the moment that a buyer can leave feedback for a cancelled sale.
That could probably be appealed as well, but it all seems unnecessary.

If it was automated, I think too many people would find a way to abuse it...

So, sellers have to call support once a month to sort out these kinds of issues.  Not the end of the world?
 

Offline @rt

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Re: Would you really sell on ebay ?
« Reply #147 on: October 26, 2020, 07:38:07 pm »

So, sellers have to call support once a month to sort out these kinds of issues.  Not the end of the world?

The refund hasn’t been processed as promised (within 24 hours), so make that possibly twice.

Look at it this way, If every company that bills you each month overcharged you, and you had to call each of them, would you be impressed?
eBay aren’t special.
 

Offline Simon

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Re: Would you really sell on ebay ?
« Reply #148 on: October 26, 2020, 07:47:12 pm »

eBay aren’t special.


Oh but they are :) they are a monopoly and can do as they please within the loose framework of the law, what ya gonna do? sue them?
 
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Offline Syntax Error

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Re: Would you really sell on ebay ?
« Reply #149 on: November 03, 2020, 08:28:12 pm »
Yikes! This British ebay seller is really pissd  >:(

"Why do ebay lie so much and why is their website so Crap? Plastic Wristwatch" £124.95 + postage
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Why-do-ebay-lie-so-much-and-why-is-their-website-so-Crap-Plastic-Wristwatch/114196270385

Seriously pissd >:(
 


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