The eBay UK Bulletin: Issue 155
The eBay UK Bulletin: Issue 155, 6th November 2009
Topics in this issue:
1. eBay News: This and that
2. What!!
3. Let off steam with Molly
4. In the lap of the Gods
5. Ask Molly – Is there anything I can do?
Hello and welcome to this week's edition of The eBay UK Bulletin
Several readers have said that they have not received some recent bulletins; it seems that there may have been a technical problem which is now sorted. I will (eventually) load all the bulletins onto the website.
News just in as I write this: the Royal Mail strikes for 6th & 9th November have been called off. It may be a bit late as even Molly has been tempted to try another carrier, more on this below.
Have you ever had a surreal moment on eBay? I had a cracker this week and still don’t really know what to make of it, you can read all the e-mails later in the bulletin.
[For details of this newsletter, please scroll down to the end.]
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1. EBAY NEWS: THIS AND THAT
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Have you noticed the new ‘Top Rated Seller’ badge appearing in search results? I must admit that I quite like this as I have just managed to hang onto it this month, but it was a close run thing.
The new unpaid Item process is now in effect and although I have not fully embraced it, I am broadly in favour with the changes.
Sellers can now open an unpaid item case 4 days after the sale takes place. If a buyer still does not pay for an item after a further 4 days, the case can then be closed. At that point, a seller can get a refund of their final value fee and the buyer is no longer able to leave feedback on the transaction.
I still think 4 days is a bit too soon to open a case, I will continue to wait until day 10. The good news is that I now only have to wait 4 days for a fee credit instead of 7.
Full details - http://pages.ebay.co.uk/sell/UPI/standardprocess/index.html
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2. WHAT!!
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Sometimes life can be very hard on eBay, it should be straight forward but then something like this happens. The raincoat in question is super quality and very reasonably priced at £2.99 + p&p (many more available folks!). These are real ad verbatim e-mails and my replies; you just can't make this stuff up!
8/10 - CAN I HAVE YOUR ADDERSS P/O TO YOU
8/10 - Molly replied with address.
24/10 - pay on monday the p/o got to you on tue
2/11 - (we are back from hols) We did get a PO (2.99 only, no p&p), but cannot find any record of your purchase.
Did you get an e-mail from eBay confirming that your order went through ok?
31/10 - do you got my p/o on tue
31/10 - We have your postal order, but just cannot find an order on eBay for it.
You will need to actually use the 'Buy it now' button on the listing.
This will give you buyer protection under the eBay scheme.
31/10 - do the p/o on 26/10/09
31/10 - We just wondered if you had managed to buy a raincoat as yet.
If not and you would prefer us to just send you one, could you confirm the colour you would like.
3/11 - have you got my p/o how
3/11 - We have received a postal order but have no idea what you have paid for as there is no record of you buying anything from us.
Please confirm what you purchased because we have been through all our records and cannot find anything.
3/11 - i got in the raincoat for my dog
4/11 - I just gave up and sent one, sorry eBay I did try, I guess I owe you 20p in fees!
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3. LET OFF STEAM WITH MOLLY
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“While the postal dispute is on, eBay have removed the ability to score a seller on their dispatch time. Surely, this is an admission that actually it is a flawed measurement because people don't read it as "dispatch time"; they read and score it as "received time".
I am absolutely convinced of this as I send most stuff out on the day they pay for it, yet my DSR is at 4.78, and before the freeze this score was falling! I can't send the stuff out any quicker, yet I'm sure I'm being marked on how long it took to get there!”
Have your say – Mollybol@ebaybulletin.co.uk
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4. IN THE LAP OF THE GODS
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It has been a big week for 'MyHermes' the UK carrier, picking up delivery contracts for both Mills & Boon and Mollybol. To be fair the Mills deal might be the bigger of the two.
After taking a week off to escape the strikes only to find that they were still ongoing, something had to be done. MyHermes are currently running a promotion for eBay sellers offering a 10% discount for the duration of the strike - a shrewd move! Even though I hate new processes and have a dodgy printer, I decided to give them a try.
Price is of course high on my agenda, customer service is one thing, but I am not keen on paying very much for it. The pricing tariff compares favourably with Royal Mail parcel post with a 2 kilo parcel costing £3.99 (£3.60 with discount). For packages under a kilo the RM is still the best bet and (as I have said before) use the second class packet rate which costs £2.70 for up to one kilo.
With Parcel Post rates kicking in at £4.41 for 2 kilos, MyHermes offers good value. They score again as the next pricing tier is 5 kilos as opposed to the RM's 4 kilo tariff. A 4.5 kilo packet with Royal Mail will cost you £9.58; MyHermes charges £6.24 (5.61 with discount). The discount codes are here - http://members.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=myhermes_parcel_delivery
So far so good, the numbers add up, but what about the process, have I mentioned that I hate new things? The website - https://www.myhermes.co.uk is pleasantly easy to use and you will only have to input your details once. You will need the postcode of your buyer, their house number and surname, add these into the form along with the type of goods and value. As an aside, you get £25 insurance as standard and the package is tracked, you can pay for extra insurance if you wish.
The next step is to arrange a collection date, pay by 8pm and it will be collected the next day - Tick VG. In reality this means that any large parcel destined for MyHermes can be put to one side lessoning the workload in the manic run up to the 6pm RM parcel run. After tea, fill in the forms, pay and then prepare the parcels for collection the next day. No more lugging heavy parcels to the PO, just as well following Molly's intimate operation a few weeks back!
I mentioned my printer earlier which still won't work remotely in the shed, so I have to come inside to print the dispatch labels, handy for another coffee. Ordinary paper is all you need along with Adobe reader (link on web page). One quick tip; print using your 'quick print' and ‘black & white only’ options, this will save ink and it still scans fine.
I now had 14 parcels ranging from 2 to 15 kilos (the maximum) ready to be collected. At 9.30 a great couple arrived in their car, picked them up, put them in their boot, gave me a proof of collection number and drove away.
At 10.00 the MyHermes guys arrived and wondered why I had given all my stuff to a complete stranger - just kidding!
Now this is only half the story, I have not yet had any delivered, so this may go horribly wrong, we will see. The company will try to deliver 3 times and then return to sender, mind you how many parcels are you losing with the RM at the moment?
In summary (Ed - and it is about time), it all looks very good so far, the price is right and as the shipping labels do not show the postage paid, you could charge a little extra and not risk a bad DSR for p&p charges - as if I would!
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5. ASK MOLLY – IS THERE ANYTHING I CAN DO?**
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“Hello Molly,
I am very disappointed to see this morning that somebody who has no feedback rating has left me negative feedback for a DVD they say does not work in Australia. I fully tested this as I do all my DVD’s and it worked fine.
The buyer did email me a couple of weeks ago to explain they wanted another one sent or a refund. I emailed back to explain I tried it and it worked fine here in the UK. I also explained I did not have another one so the best I could do was refund money and they never bothered to reply.
I have never had this before. I feel it is unfair the system will only let me leave them positive feedback. Any advice would be fully appreciated.”
*popsdb81* - http://stores.shop.ebay.co.uk/Dawns-Collectables-Shop
Ouch, it does happen and the feeling of not being able to retaliate hurts. Be sure to respond to their comments, be positive, maybe try something like this "We did offer a full refund, but heard nothing, we always put things right" - it is too many words, but you get the idea.
I am wondering if Australia is region 2 for DVDs, maybe they don't work down under!
I did notice that you have received 1,742 positive feedbacks this year, if you can get to 2,000 you should return to 100%.
Don't forget to block this bidder, it won't achieve anything, but will make you feel better.
If you have a question about eBay or home working in general, please send it to: mollybol@ebaybulletin.co.uk
-- END NOTE --
That's all for this week. Check out www.ebaybulletin.co.uk
A bit of good luck this week when I was introduced to a local craft & novelty goods company who have a problem with unwanted polystyrene chippings. All their raw materials are packed in chippings and they just don’t know what to do with them.
Thankfully the kids are still at Uni, as their rooms are a little inaccessible right now!
Sales are still a bit disappointing and for the second time this year I have retained Gold Power seller status only on quantity of items sold. Maybe the promise of ‘strike free’ shopping will draw the buyers out.
Best wishes and happy eBaying!
Mollybol
Author of the bestselling title, 'The eBay Business Handbook' - available direct from the publishers: www.harriman-house.com/ebaybusiness
At age 40 and
