eBay dictating again!

[designers*n*more]

I've had several buyers complaining that the must use I immediate payment when trying to buy items. I don't have this payment method as a setting as I offer local pick up with cash on pick up.

i wrote to eBay asking why buyers are getting immediate payment messages. This was the response.....

we currently implementing a new process in eBay which we call Retail standards. Its goal is to reduce Unpaid item cases by 80%. With this new process, we have a threshold of 650 AUD which applies to single quantity fixed price items:

• If an item is above $650, buyers will be taken to the Commit to Buy screen where they can then continue to checkout and complete their transaction.
• If an item is below $650, buyers will have to pay for items immediately.
• If the buyer is purchasing two items collectively priced above $650, Retail Standard will apply and they will be taken to the Commit to Buy screen where they can continue to checkout to purchase both items.

Surely as the seller it is my choice as to Whether I want immediate payment or not? This forces PayPal or Paymate or the likes and stops the option of Pay on Pick Up. 

I guess the only way around this is to accept the immediate payment, refund it and ask the buyer to pay cash! 

[davewil1964]

Postage rules/discounts only tend to work when all items are a similar size/weight.

Depending on the books, I could fit 4 in a 1kg satchel, or 2 in a 3kg satchel.

No real way to set up rules for those scenarios.

[digital*ghost]

My question remains valid, even if you believe its unworkable. i.e., how would you work with a site where it was impossible for a buyer not to pay for their purchases immediately?

[brerrabbit585]

You're not even comparing apples with oranges here. You're comparing meat with apples.

Of all the other websites I've bought from (there have been many) I've never been able to buy items without putting them in my cart first, then they're all combined when I go through checkout. Most I've had to trust that they'll only charge the combined postage that they've specified and refund any excess through pp or only charge the proper amount on my credit card. There have been no fees on postage to complicate the issue. Ditto for my own website - I refund any excess postage through paypal, same as I did when I sold on etsy. All these websites, including my own, have a cart and you can't pay for an individual item without putting it in the cart first.

The answer to your question is that you'd send the buyer an invoice through paypal.

[digital*ghost]

What have I compared? 

I did say immediate payment was industry standard, and then I suggested people simply have a think about how they would work with a system like that, but taking into consideration all of the tools eBay provide when they do.

I had to think about how to make it work, when I started selling on another site that requires immediate payment, and there were far fewer tools available to me to allow a decent amount of accuracy in the postage calculations. As did many other people who sell things of vastly different weights and sizes. 

My actual point is, eBay's postage and payments system is / was imperfect even without all these new issues, but the workarounds are so normalised people don't see them as imperfections but rather standard practice, so when something new comes along the imperfections suddenly seem dramatic and the workarounds a complete burden to even think about, so "can't do it like this" becomes an unneccessary stumbling block. Just having a think about how someone would use eBay's tools to their advantage with immediate payment in play - I think - is a constructive way to try and overcome that way of thinking. 

[brerrabbit585]

Sorry, I mis-read your question. I already partly answered the question though - you just refund any excess postage. Every website I've ever used requires immediate payment in the sense that you have to pay straight away, but you put everything in your cart and pay for them together. The only site I know of that makes you pay for each item in a separate payment is ebay. I wouldn't be surprised if ebay and paypal have put their heads together over this one but it'll backfire big time!

[brerrabbit585]

What have you compared? You've compared sites like etsy that don't charge fees on postage or insist that each item is paid for separately, with ebay that does charge fees on postage and force each item to be paid for separately (for some sellers).

There's a vast chasm between the two sites and what works on one isn't going to work on the other.

When I sold on etsy I spelt out exactly what postage would cost for all different combinations, then I refunded any excess because there was no way to set the system up to charge the right postage.

How do you work around all the extra fees then, including the extra 30c pp fee on each item? I'm sure I'm not the only one who'd like to know this. If Dave hasn't figured out how to set up combined post rules that don't lose him a lot of money (or cost the buyers extra) then I'm absolutely certain it can't be done for his items. Maths is my strong point too and there's absolutely no way I can set up postage rules that work for my items.

Just as a side note, a lot of buyers have never used the cart and never shop via a seller's store (if they have one). My friends and I always click on 'see seller's other items' rather than going through the store because we find it a lot easier.

[digital*ghost]

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@brerrabbit585 wrote:
 I wouldn't be surprised if ebay and paypal have put their heads together over this one but it'll backfire big time!

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Neither would I, sadly. There's a lot of practices that suggest to me eBay is focussed on short-term gain at the cost of long-term loss.

My question is all well and good (as in, hopefully prompting some practical thoughts and possible solutions), but much less worthwhile when some of the flaws make it a moot point, which at the moment they often do (case in point, I opted, essentially, for flat rate postage, in the hope that people can just buy and pay, not have to worry about varying or increasing postage costs, and not have to wait for combined invoices. It works that way often enough, but I still get a lot of separate payments, and people buying then waiting for invoices. Sometimes the discount isn't even applied when several items are in the cart - the app is the bane of my existence). 

[digital*ghost]

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@brerrabbit585 wrote:


How do you work around all the extra fees then, including the extra 30c pp fee on each item? I'm sure I'm not the only one who'd like to know this. If Dave hasn't figured out how to set up combined post rules that don't lose him a lot of money (or cost the buyers extra) then I'm absolutely certain it can't be done for his items. Maths is my strong point too and there's absolutely no way I can set up postage rules that work for my items.

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You approach the problem differently than thinking postage (or even prices) needs to be an exact calculation for each and every sale. 

As I said above, I use the flat rate model. People pay the same postage for one item that they do for 100. This has often meant I get paid something like $3 for shipping, but I actually pay $30-odd instead. I don't take a loss on those sales. 

On Etsy, where there is only the option to add X amount for each additional item, I maintain the flat rate for Aussies, and add a small amount extra for each additional item for international buyers - the international postage services I use range from $3 - $30 just for packages under 500g. I occasionally take a loss on an individual sale, but overall I definitely don't. 

[brerrabbit585]

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@davewil1964 wrote:

Postage rules/discounts only tend to work when all items are a similar size/weight.

Depending on the books, I could fit 4 in a 1kg satchel, or 2 in a 3kg satchel.

No real way to set up rules for those scenarios.

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They don't even work then.  I can send two items for the same price as one, but three items cost twice as much as one or two items.

This is for letterpost.  On another ID I mainly use satchels and I can send two for the same price as one, and I've got it set up to charge the right amount for that, but I CAN'T set it up to charge the right amount for three.  If they bring in immediate payment on that account I'll have no choice but to stop selling because the extra fees will make it unviable, not to mention that if someone pays separately for two items I'll lose seller protection for one item if I post them together.

[brerrabbit585]

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@digital*ghost wrote:

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@brerrabbit585 wrote:


How do you work around all the extra fees then, including the extra 30c pp fee on each item? I'm sure I'm not the only one who'd like to know this. If Dave hasn't figured out how to set up combined post rules that don't lose him a lot of money (or cost the buyers extra) then I'm absolutely certain it can't be done for his items. Maths is my strong point too and there's absolutely no way I can set up postage rules that work for my items.

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You approach the problem differently than thinking postage (or even prices) needs to be an exact calculation for each and every sale. 

As I said above, I use the flat rate model. People pay the same postage for one item that they do for 100. This has often meant I get paid something like $3 for shipping, but I actually pay $30-odd instead. I don't take a loss on those sales. 

On Etsy, where there is only the option to add X amount for each additional item, I maintain the flat rate for Aussies, and add a small amount extra for each additional item for international buyers - the international postage services I use range from $3 - $30 just for packages under 500g. I occasionally take a loss on an individual sale, but overall I definitely don't. 

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Your model might work for a seller with lots of small items or where people buy a lot of items together, or in certain other cases, but it's still not going to work for a lot of sellers.  You mightn't lose in the long run but a lot of us would, or else our buyers would feel ripped off and would be more inclined to feel like ripping us off in return (by saying the item didn't arrive).  No way do I want to invite that sort of thing!  I prefer my buyers to know exactly what things will cost and so far it seems to be working.