eBay UK has announced an update to their policy giving sellers automatic 5 stars for P&P when postage is free. The policy holds for items paid for with PayPal, but , “since eBay cannot ensure that there were no Postage & Packaging fees ultimately charged”, the postage DSR will be pre-filled with 5 stars, but buyers will be able to edit it if they wish.
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19 Responses
Eh?
Surely eBay can rely on the payment request email?
If that total is more than the final value then a data missmatch can be flagged up and then the policy implemented.
Considering eBay are attempting to make Paypal a seperate entity (with a view to a seperate future stock listing to enhance shareholder value?) they seem to be over reliant on Paypal algorithms and systems when ebay should exclusively be relying on their own!
And a further thought.
This simply smacks of overcomplication of what should really be a simple process. Its as if the eBay software development team create work which then has the snowball effect of creating more work for no other reason than to keep themselves in a job!
Is this really the best way to create shareholder value?
Are ebay really saying that they cross reference the paypal payment with the listing amount so they know it’s correct to blank the option to rate the P&P stars?
Sellers who surcharge can just as easily manipulate the invoice for paypal, and I simply don’t believe that ebay’s software is clever enough to prevent it. There are loads of listings with buried charges in the description that show “free” P&P in search.
Gary –
I’m trying to imagine the scenario in which this policy comes into play… buyer paying by cheque and seller *emailing* them to say “I know the listing said free P&P but you actually have to pay” is about the only thing I can think of. So rare that it seems hardly worth having a policy for.
I’ve had a chance to sleep on this overnight and really I don’t feel any different.
In times of massive worldwide spending cuts by bloated governments which is affecting us all something that suggests that the staff of an organisation are twiddling their thumbs thinking of things to do does get my goat. Especially when we as sellers are funding that organisation!
If eBay cut costs and fees then the offer would become more competitive all around attracting more buyers. And ultimately its buyers that attract sellers!
There is a clear sense that there are massive inefficencies at eBay behind the scenes and somebody at the top needs to do the right thing else I fear for the future of eBay.
I keep expecting to see Alan Sugar sayng your Fired! to the project manager of this blitheringly idiotic idea
5 stars for post and packing though the buyer can edit them
is the logic of the looney bin ,
no such thing as free post why dont ebay just grasp the nettle and say no seperate postage charge
and support the change with a fee reduction
The issue is the 99p auction and auctions generally. How can you impose “free” shipping on auction sales?
The solution is to drop the 99p band and make the lowest tier band £4.99.
Sellers would then be able to list at a starting price that reflects their costs including “free” shipping.
And then charge a 0% FVF on the first £4.99 of every sale both for BIN’s and auctions. £4.99 probably reflects the average all inclusive cost of every sale for a seller inclusive of postage and packaging and it is unreasonable that eBay should charge their FVF on this.
Then charge the 10% on the sale value between £5 and £50 (or whatever) as it pretty much is now.
With these changes UK eBay could impose “free” local shipping on all UK sellers and sellers would not have too much to complain about.
Of course it would hit overseas sellers shipping to the UK and listing on UK eBay but are UK eBay sellers bothered about this?
And because all UK shipping is then “free” the DSR for P&P becomes pointless allowing this area to be simplified!
With my current shipping costs covering the whole spectrum of letter to packet from 100g to 2kg I’m currently not happy to offer free shipping on anything BIN or auction.
If eBay came up with such a fee deal as described above I would be very happy to offer “free” shipping on everything!
I sense there would be a shared happiness among many eBay sellers. The carrot rather than the stick approach is often the better way!
if the market dictated free shipping we would conform,
though why give free shipping when most buyers know its not free, and are happy to pay a reasonable charge for postage
Another senerio of a faulty DSR rating system, that instead of scrapping it….ebay, just plug it with more options.
This came about because buyers are marking P&P charges when ‘FREE’ with low DSR scores.
Seller support told us, this was one of the biggest cimplaints when sellers sell with ‘FREE’ P&P.
What will happen now, is when a buyer buys 2 of the same item with ‘FREE’ P&P & they feel peed off there was no combined P&P discount, they’ll mark the DSRs down.
Just another nail in the coffin. It does make you wonder what planet ebay software writers are living on!!.
This is just straight back to square 1……..!!
Let’s just consider why these changes are necessary at all:
Buyers are not leaving “fair” ratings for P&P when it’s free, ebay clearly accepts that.
But they don’t accept that other ratings being left are similarly unfair – marking down aspects of the description when the feature complained about is in the listing, for example.
How can any system that applies penalties to sellers be based on a system which ebay now openly admits doesn’t work!