The eBay Thread.

[Alex]

Regarding the positive-feedback-only thing.... you can only leave a positive rating, but the actual words you put in the "review" are still up to you. I had to a give a positive rating to a bad buyer once, but made sure my real feelings were clear in the little blurb I wrote. I only hope other people might take time to peruse this. I know when I am looking at people's ratings I now make sure I actually read what's been put for the most recent transactions. Not an ideal solution, but it's about as good as you can get.

If they contact ebay, negative comments can be removed as well though - I've been chastised by ebay twice for doing exactly that.

[Perry Vale]

Some wonderful news, and well overdue....

Ebay to replace forced 'free p&p' with maximum postage rates

[Alex]

That's bloomin' fantastic news! It's honestly made my day, I've lost so much money recently due to having to offer free P&P, so I'm over the moon they've changed their minds about it.

[Perry Vale]

I was just about to embark on a large selling programme (bought 100's of jiffy bags & 12"/7" mailers), so the timing is great for me. I'll wait until next monday, when the changes come in to place.

[P-Bal]

Bid now for Mary Mac!

[Si Hunt]

I was almost certainly next to her when she signed that!

Unless she's the seller and is at home knocking them out herself.

Si. :mobile

[Jon Masters]

Some wonderful news, and well overdue....

Ebay to replace forced 'free p&p' with maximum postage rates

Unless you're a buyer of course

[Rob McCow]

I don't think it made any sense for the seller to pay the P&P. With things like magazines, the cost of posting say 10-20 magazines that you've sold for £5 could well be £3-4. So you end up making one pound.

Provided the buyer can see the P&P costs clearly up front, there shouldn't be a problem with the buyer paying.

[Perry Vale]

Apparently the Royal Mail posage costs are going up in April, which would have made a lot (more) of things for sellers cheaper to just throw in the bin.

Unless you're a buyer of course

Of course, but buyers still have plenty of alternatives (professional retailers), plus sellers on ebay who choose to still offer free p&p will rank above others in ebay search engines.

[duncan]

I was just about to embark on a large selling programme (bought 100's of jiffy bags & 12"/7" mailers), so the timing is great for me. I'll wait until next monday, when the changes come in to place.

I too was about to embark on a selling programme. I want to sell some stuff and they are dictating to me how much I can charge for P&P! The maximum I can charge for 12 ALan Partridge DVD's is £1.25 inc packaging. The weight of the items without packaging comes to £2.48 for the postage. So I'll be out of pocket.

I just won't bother with ebay anynore. Anyone know of any other online aution sites I could use instead?

[Alex]

The P&P rules on Ebay really annoy me too, it's ridiculously low, and I've lost money many a time due to them. A few other auction sites exist, but unfortunately none of them have ever taken off, and I've seen items sell for stupidly low prices on them.

[Anthony Williams]

Before I left the UK, I sold off a load of back issues Doctor Who Magazine.

One guy bought a bulk load, and as soon as he'd won, he started negotiating with me to get the price of postage down, because he'd bought a load. Wanting to be a good seller, I agreed. Turned out that this chap lived in Canada, and once I'd sent them out, started complaining that they hadn't arrived yet (after about two days).

When they eventually did arrive, he sent me a message complaining that the packaging had been damaged in transit, along with some of the items, and demanded that I refund him. Before I could even respond, he had filed a claim with eBay. He was unwilling to provide me with any photos of the damaged items.

Naturally, given that he had given me a LOT of hassle already, I was extremely dubious. I laid out my case to eBay, and I'm guessing that he did too. eBay ruled that I had to refund this guy. Ultimately, because of the way that he had haggled down my postage, and then demanded a refund, I was left actually out of pocket.

And for this reason, I will never sell using eBay again.

[Alex]

That's sickening Ant, I hate the way Ebay always side with the buyer, even when it's completely unfair - I really wish their was a decent and popular alternative, but I guess it's such a huge and well known site now that people stick with what they know...

[duncan]

I'd rather chuck my stuff away than sell with ebay again.

[Alex Me]

Hmmm, was selling a load of old books on ebay, and despite clearly saying 'shipping to uk only' in the description the winning bidder is from greece. Anyone know what the standard procedure is in these situations?

[Anthony Williams]

Good luck with that, Alex - eBay tend not to side with the seller, sadly

[Alex Me]

I did find an ebay page on this : http://ocs.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...OCUMENT_OC1538

I have quoted him £35 for postage, and said I would be willing to cancel the order (And then see what I can claim back from ebay). Hopefully he will agree to cancel, but it looks like there is a listing fee.

Apparently when you set up an auction it still allows bids from countries you are not shipping too. Their is an option to change this in profile settings but for some reason this is not the default.

[Alex]

Yeah, it's ridiculous, you can set up "UK only posting" but then you still need to add the rest of the world to a list of countries you refuse to sell too. I think you did the right thing on the postage front (and add in a recorded delivery charge if you can) so it's likely he'll refuse to pay.

[Alex Me]

I've not heard back from him since I sent the invoice. He has until 4th May and then I'll be able to claim for non payment, I'll give him one last email before then as I would prefer to resolve this amicably.

ETA : Finally heard back from him tonight, he's agreed to cancel so hopefully be able to sort out a refund for my fees from ebay.

[Alex Me]

Still not sorted this out . Sent a cancelation request to the buyer over a week ago, but he never confirmed it his end, sent him a message saturday requesting he aprove the transaction but not heard a word from him. Getting very annoying now.

[Rob McCow]

They were so keen to bid on the item! Yet suddenly give them something they have to do and they can't even be bothered. Bums!

[Perry Vale]

I wouldn't sell anything to anyone in Greece in their current situation. Or Italy...

I've got a non-payer too. Won the auction on sunday, sent him an invoice tuesday, a reminder yesterday, yet still nothing....