eBay say Diversify your use of carriers

eBay have published an updated on Royal Mail deliveries following the neverending ongoing cyber incident and strike action. They are recommending that to all retailers that you permanently diversify your use of carriers.

We are continuing to monitor the situation closely and to help mitigate any delays that may arise, time has been added to the delivery estimates we display for deliveries using Royal Mail international services.

– eBay

International Royal Mail shipments

International Tracked & Signed and International Signed resumed operations with expected delays and differences to tracking from the 26th of January. International Tracked, International Standard and International Economy services are still not available.

eBay are continuing to monitor the situation closely and to help mitigate any delays that may arise, time has been added to the delivery estimates they display for deliveries using Royal Mail international services.

Until the issue is fully resolved, there is also the option to use alternative carriers such as UPS or DPD via eBay Delivery powered by Packlink to help ensure you are not adversely affected. You can also use eBay’s Global Shipping Programme (GSP) to send your items.

Dealing with ongoing disruption from Royal Mail strikes

While the ongoing impact of the Royal Mail strikes on deliveries is easing, eBay say that they are aware of some sellers still reporting issues. eBay are reminding you that your performance was protected on orders placed before and on 7 January 2023, including:

• Your late delivery rate, which will be removed for orders placed before or on 7 January 2023.
• Your “item not received” count in your service metrics dashboard will be automatically removed.
• We will also remove any negative and neutral feedback relating to or arising from late or non-delivery during this period.

Diversify your use of carriers

eBay are warning that ongoing disruption is likely and that you should permanently diversify your use of carriers in the future. For most parcels this is relatively easy and most retailers will already be using alternatives to Royal Mail. However, for items sent by letter or large letter post this isn’t simple due to the cost of alternatives services and these are the sales most likely to be seriously impacted by both strikes and by the Royal Mail cyber incident. Nevertheless, eBay appear to recognise that things are unlikely to improve in the short term and that further strike action could take place.

It’s impossible to predict what will happen in the future. Diversifying the carriers you use can help you to prepare for more eventualities to reduce the impact of disruption on your business. 

eBay Delivery by Packlink gives you access to multiple carriers with the best prices for your shipments, which are all managed in one convenient dashboard.

– eBay