Postal strikes

[BenCJ]

Hi everyone

I just wondered if anyone here had any problems buying/selling on eBay due to the postal strikes? A couple of people have told me that they lost their 100% ratings as items turned up late and went missing - anyone here got any stories to share?

Thanks

Ben

[AndrewGC]

Weirdly enough, no. Have tended to keep buyers informed and happy and we send 90% of our stuff Recorded Delivery which tends to be slightly more prioritised. It also means that you can track packages better.

During strikes we change our regular sales email to state their are delays and so people should expect that.

EBay Forums are full of people moaning about this and that, and a simple check of feedback shows they seriously do no offer a decent service to customers anyway, either ignoring emails or responding rudely. So when things are late and the customer gets a 'There's a strike on, dopey' response, a negative is basically earned.

We get more issues with people that do not collect items from the Sorting Office after the postman has attempted delivery and then moan because we recharge shipping costs.

You have to REALLY annoy a buyer to lose your 100% Feedback and get a negative. The issue today is all about DSRs - Detailed Seller Ratings.

If you get a 1 or 2 for Dispatch Time that can foul up your chance of getting a Top Seller Status (Powerseller is gone) and that can cost you a (from) 20% discount on your Final Value Fees - which could impact harder than any poor feedback.

Saying that we have seen drops in sales during warnings of strike action - buyers are no longer convinced they will get their stuff by Christmas.

We are trying to source other providers for mail but very few are under £4.99 a parcel. Nearer Christmas if the strikes do impact we will seriously look into this and add it as an option for buyers. Our worst DSR is on P& P Charges where we have had 5 1&2 ratings in the last 12 months - so unfortunately charging more to help get items to customers doesn't really work anyway!

[Sandhound]

G'day.

I buy quite a bit from Germany and the Postal stikes are very unwelcome as a package normaly takes 4 working days to arrive, with this postal problem the items take up to 2 weeks to arrive, so now I have to pay insurance incase packages are lost or damaged.

[AndrewGC]

[ QUOTE ]
G'day.

I buy quite a bit from Germany and the Postal stikes are very unwelcome as a package normaly takes 4 working days to arrive, with this postal problem the items take up to 2 weeks to arrive, so now I have to pay insurance incase packages are lost or damaged.

[/ QUOTE ]

In the UK, sellers (it might be just Business Sellers of course) can no longer add insurance to the postage as a seperate cost. This is because, as eBay rightfully have finally pointed out, the seller is responsible for the item if it is lost, damaged or delayed in the post.

UK First Class covers up to ten times the cost of a First Class Stamp (39p x 10=£39) - and you only need a Certificate of Posting or Proof of Posting (invoice from the counter) and both are free. We only use Recorded because it seems to get there quicker and it has eliminated the small band of 'we haven't received our item' crowd we were getting.

Worth remembering that if you do sell on eBay at any level, get either a Certificate or Posting or Proof of Posting, and any item under £39 is covered up to that amount. (Saying that, Royal Mail will only pay Business Sellers the value of the item at trade cost).

[Sandhound]

G'day FilthyRaider.

E-bay UK and E-Bay (WW) seem to be both totally different in their trading ways.
UK must offer PayPal rest of the world can refuse PayPal.

Ok e-bay UK has pointed out that seller is responsible for lost and damaged items, but, do the european package postal service offer the same protection as the Royal Mail do?.
I would rather pay Eu 2.00 to insure Eu 100.00 worth of goods.

[AndrewGC]

Weirdly enough an opposite effect this week. We have had two/three days of good sales - almost as if people are buying BEFORE next week's strike on 22nd.

We have also had the courier service we use offer us a £3.99 service BUT it has a few catches - must be more than 3 items each collection, a £10 surcharge (so not really just £3.99 then) and also each item must be under 2KG AND fit in an A4 envelope. Might give that a miss.............

[AndrewGC]

End of the week and Postal Strikes confirmed for Thursday Friday next week. Best advice is not to post on either day.

As if to celebrate the fact I have just had my quarterly 'Where's my stuff?' claim.

In this case I had a friendly email saying it had not arrived (10 days) and I responded quickly, even Googling their local sorting office, with advice to contact them ASAP.

The response? A PayPal claim started. Lovely.........

Anyone who read one of my older posts will know we had the same thing happen earlier this year. Buyer in that one even left feedback saying 'Great!' but then put a claim in when they realised Royal Mail had not updated the Recorded Delivery tracking.

Apart from the feedback this new claim is identical - I'm hoping that by writing to Royal Mail now I can find out if it has been delivered or if delivery has been attempted (and hence it is more likely on its way back to us!).

All good fun.