topic Re: NEW FVF on postage system A TOTAL MESS in Selling

NEW FVF on postage system A TOTAL MESS

chameleon54 — Tue, 13 May 2014 03:13:30 GMT

I,m trying to work my way through a range of problems with the new FVF system on postage and just finding it a mess. I,ve had a buyer purchase a range of items and pay for them individually. Then they ask for combined post discount. If I do a partial refund, I need to PHONE CUSTOMER SUPPORT ( What the !!! ) to explain what has happened to claim back fees. Questions are being raised on other threads about normal combined post. Are we charged the FVF on total original listed price or combined invoice ? Lots of confusion and different answers depending on who you ask. I,ve had a number of international sales the last few days. With AP's ridiculous costs ( to make up for China imports ) and ebays 10% FVF on international post charges, the costs are out of this world. Frankly I'm embarassed to send the invoices. COME ON EBAY - Issue some statements to clear up the confusion, answer some of the commonly asked questions ( REAL ANSWERS not just some airy fairy spin to try to deflect criticism ) and review the 10% FVF on International postage costs to bring your policy into line with what you offer sellers in other countries. YES I'M FRUSTRATED AND ANGRY !!!!!

Re: NEW FVF on postage system A TOTAL MESS

gkam2 — Tue, 13 May 2014 03:38:27 GMT

I got my first FVF on shipping yesterday, sold & mailed three items to a value of $18.00, postage was $11.50 and the FVF on shipping was 40c. about 3.5%. Not the 9.9% that we were warned to expect. Go figure.

Re: NEW FVF on postage system A TOTAL MESS

digital*ghost — Tue, 13 May 2014 03:51:24 GMT

I agree that there are a lot of issues that need clarification right now, and it's simply poor form for there to be so many unanswered questions.

Just a couple of things - because I'm able to accomodate automatic postage discounts, the FVF on shipping is being charged on what the buyer pays, not the total of separate postage amounts (and I can only presume that will be the case where an invoice is issued prior to payment).

I've had a couple of purchases now where the buyer bought from listings created prior to the 6th, and some that were created or rolled over after, and the FVF has only been on a percentage of the shipping. (For example, 5 items where only one is eligible to be charged FVF, the postage charged was divided by 5 and the FVF percentage was charged on one fifth).

The system for overpayments / FVF etc for individual payments sounds like a PITA, I have on all my listings that separate payments = separate packages, but I will issue an overpayment refund and combine in some circumstances. Not sure how I'll go about that yet.

Re: NEW FVF on postage system A TOTAL MESS

chameleon54 — Tue, 13 May 2014 04:41:50 GMT

Its one of those days and I've had enough !!!......... Its a beautifull sunny day here so I'm off for a nice drive through the green hills ( coffee at my favorite bakery ) to my hobby farm to check the new born lambs and do a bit of work in the sunshine. I'LL BE THINKING OF YOU ALL......... LOL.

Re: NEW FVF on postage system A TOTAL MESS

cherry*135 — Tue, 13 May 2014 06:21:57 GMT

The FVF is on the total cost to buyer.. what they pay (combined cost of postage) not the individual amounts for postage in each listing.

If items were listed before 6 May and sold afterwards, they don't have the FVF applied to postage, so that may be why some sales haven't had it applied an some do at todays date.

How do other countries deal with combined postage? They have had this new system for awhile now. eBay reps should know how to deal with it by now and be able to advise sellers who ask about it.

They (eBay ) probably have the thought that if buyers willings pay too much postage ( individual amounts instead of waiting for combined).. to0 bad for them, don't need to refund them.. more FVFs for eBay if the amount is not reduced.

Re: NEW FVF on postage system A TOTAL MESS

cherry*135 — Tue, 13 May 2014 06:29:14 GMT

To clarify - FVF is on the total cost to buyer - the amount they actually deposit in sellers account (through paypal, bank deposit etc)

This is unfair to Australian sellers: and review the 10% FVF on International postage costs to bring your policy into line with what you offer sellers in other countries.

Re: NEW FVF on postage system A TOTAL MESS

*crikey*mate* — Tue, 13 May 2014 09:03:47 GMT

@am*3 wrote:
The FVF is on the total cost to buyer.. what they pay (combined cost of postage) not the individual amounts for postage in each listing.

If items were listed before 6 May and sold afterwards, they don't have the FVF applied to postage, so that may be why some sales haven't had it applied an some do at todays date.

How do other countries deal with combined postage? They have had this new system for awhile now. eBay reps should know how to deal with it by now and be able to advise sellers who ask about it.
They (eBay ) probably have the thought that if buyers willings pay too much postage ( individual amounts instead of waiting for combined).. to0 bad for them, don't need to refund them.. more FVFs for eBay if the amount is not reduced.

AM, you have to remember, that somewhere there is a major breakdown in eBay behind the scenes communication

remember when a Customer Service Rep told me to contact LiveWorld about a TECH issue - even if it was a moderation issue, Lithium hAD ALREADY REPLACED lIVE wORLD 5 months EARLIER!

She then asked MR how I knew that lithium were now the board moderators and asked ME for their contact details so that she could verify MY information as she had "the most up to date info ion the screen in front of her"

Then the next day she PM'd me and told me that I had to contact Liveworld and gave me their contact info.

Re: NEW FVF on postage system A TOTAL MESS

*crikey*mate* — Tue, 13 May 2014 09:06:46 GMT

@am*3 wrote:
To clarify - FVF is on the total cost to buyer - the amount they actually deposit in sellers account (through paypal, bank deposit etc)

This is unfair to Australian sellers: and review the 10% FVF on International postage costs to bring your policy into line with what you offer sellers in other countries.

I wonder why they do this in the US but not in the UK?

and AFAIK, we are the only 3 countries that have this fee structure, so it really is only one country that has the international thingy, unless there are more than just us three countries, are there?

Re: NEW FVF on postage system A TOTAL MESS

jorayjen-1 — Tue, 13 May 2014 09:24:03 GMT

Gday All!

I hate to break it to you - but the latest (after 30mins with CS) is that fvf on postage is calculated when Buyer clicks on Confirm...

Now, to get any creadits back from eBay, I need to ring/email eBay and let them know the record number and details of transaction and the postage paid and then they will credit my account within 24-72 hours.........

Most of my sales are combined for cheaper postage so they will be getting lots of emails from me.

Maybe if they get enough of these emails, they might make it easier ... we can wish, eh?

They keep changing their minds...

Take Care

Re: NEW FVF on postage system A TOTAL MESS

*crikey*mate* — Tue, 13 May 2014 09:28:28 GMT

see above

fees on postage are NOT attirbuted to your account until the cistomer goes through checkout and pays

Re: NEW FVF on postage system A TOTAL MESS

chameleon54 — Tue, 13 May 2014 09:36:27 GMT

@*crikey*mate* wrote:
see above

fees on postage are NOT attirbuted to your account until the cistomer goes through checkout and pays

This still raises the problem of buyers paying before items are combined and then requesting a postage refund. I had quite a big one of these today, but is it worth me spending 10-15 minutes contacting CS to have a few dollars refunded to my account ? Time is money, but it annoys me to let ebay get away with this little rip off. Either way its just going to leave me feeling grumpy.

Re: NEW FVF on postage system A TOTAL MESS

jorayjen-1 — Tue, 13 May 2014 09:40:12 GMT

Gday again,

I checked my activity account and, after noticing that there was fvf on shipping listed after each of the three items (with differing amounts according to individual postage costs), rang CS and was just letting you know how my transaction had worked.

Maybe they are doing it differently for ithers, bt this was my experience.

Take Care

Re: NEW FVF on postage system A TOTAL MESS

jorayjen-1 — Tue, 13 May 2014 11:19:29 GMT

Just checked my Account Activity - and the fvf fee for the individual items have now been credited back to my account

Re: NEW FVF on postage system A TOTAL MESS

digital*ghost — Tue, 13 May 2014 11:30:29 GMT

The three biggest improvements eBay could now (realistically 😄 ) make to the site would be to get rid of the "Buy Now" button so that there is only 'Add to cart', plus make it so that clicking 'Add to cart' doesn't load the cart, but keeps you on the same page so that you can continue to easily navigate a seller's store, plus not only should you be able to see that the number of items in cart via the icon on the top right, it would be neat if you could mouse-over it for a quick summary of those items.

IMHO, that would cut down a lot of the separate payment issues. The postage total (where applicable) could probably stand to be updated and more clearly indicate that it's a preliminary figure if auto-discounts aren't in place, with a prominent 'request invoice' button.

Re: NEW FVF on postage system A TOTAL MESS

jorayjen-1 — Tue, 13 May 2014 11:35:14 GMT

The Request Total button in Shopping Cart would be wonderful digital ghost.

At the moment the Shopping Cart does not allow for combining postage though... so, when asked by Buyers, I suggest they use the BIN button instead. - Jo

Re: NEW FVF on postage system A TOTAL MESS

*crikey*mate* — Tue, 13 May 2014 11:47:43 GMT

@chameleon54 wrote:
@*crikey*mate* wrote:
see above

fees on postage are NOT attirbuted to your account until the cistomer goes through checkout and pays

This still raises the problem of buyers paying before items are combined and then requesting a postage refund. I had quite a big one of these today, but is it worth me spending 10-15 minutes contacting CS to have a few dollars refunded to my account ? Time is money, but it annoys me to let ebay get away with this little rip off. Either way its just going to leave me feeling grumpy.

I know.

and as it stands at the moment, it is a case of "suck it up" it appears, however, hoping this will go back to the table for a system similar to UK's

on the surface with what is in place atm, you don't have to ring, you just fill in an email through CS - maybe even have a template ready to go? but no confirmation that this type of fee credit has been approved yet

also see this from ebay's perspective.

every time someone does pay, the fees are charged. Now it takes more work for them to go back and adjust the fees if people ask for a credit

how many times a day do you think this would happen? Reckon they'd need a whole department and three guesses how they would recoup the costs of staffing that, eh?

ya know, to be fair, when should eBay apply the fees? (never is a desirable option LOL, but I doubt it is an option LOLOLOL) how are they supposed to know what a seller or buyer is going to negotiate after payment?

I don't think it is an intended "rip off" just a pragmatic business solution to be honest.

Hoping it doesn't, but it might just be a case of sayiong to our customers "sorry, the eBay system will not let me combine shipping after payment" or the seller may have to decide if for the sake of good will, they will absorb the cost themselves.

on the surface, i agree, not fair - but....

in time, maybe we will get the system like in the UK where everything goes through the cart first (it's being introduiced there any minute now)

I have started really emphasizing the cart and listing BINs with immediate payment - NFI how it will go yet, just started today and it is still in the works and will no doubt need tweaking, but happy to share with you what I'm doing if you want.

but I have emphasized it prominately in my shop the BIN auto thing and if they want more than one item to use the cart and then give cart instructions.

hopefully most will see it

also trying to work Combined postage available into my titles - and in a way that they know it only applies if they contact me before payment - just need to refine my statement and minimize the letters LOL

Re: NEW FVF on postage system A TOTAL MESS

desolate-sellable — Tue, 13 May 2014 11:50:04 GMT

What a JOKE

eBay this may be the last straw.

I pay as I go Why would I want my eBay INVOICE to be charged Postage

What a MESS

Re: NEW FVF on postage system A TOTAL MESS

chameleon54 — Tue, 13 May 2014 14:04:41 GMT

Crikey, Thanks for your kind offer of advice on the cart system. I have to admit that I know nothing at all about computers & carts ( and my mature aged male customers generally know a little less. ) so will probably leave things as is for now. I will certianly keep you in mind if I need to make changes.

Re: NEW FVF on postage system A TOTAL MESS

davewil1964 — Tue, 13 May 2014 14:16:47 GMT

There is nothing stopping you from transferring the postage part of a payment into your eBay account, therefore effectively paying as you go.

The difference is that instead of it automatically being deducted from your Paypal account you have to click about three buttons. For a postage cost that is now considerably less than using any other AP service. Other than own packaging.

If, of course, your time is worth more than $120 per hour (assuming it takes 24 seconds to do 3 clicks for a satchel, comparing satchels) then go for it. Or work out what time it takes to find and package 'own'.

I'll use the eBay system thanks.

Re: NEW FVF on postage system A TOTAL MESS

ejholden1963 — Tue, 13 May 2014 22:38:40 GMT

WOW .... Somebody is certainly watching over me then .....

I make it clear in my listings that I will combine postage as long as buyers contact me for an invoice before using checkout.

I have had one buyer pay for items individually & I just reversed the PayPal payments, added the 30c PP fees to additional charges on the invoice & sent it. The difference in cost was still vastly different & the buyer learned a valuable lesson which has earned me his gratitude & hopefully further custom.

ebay charged the shipping FVF on the postage charged on the invoice.

desolate-sellable

I just transfer funds from PayPal to my ebay account as each transaction is finalised.

I have an indisputable paper trail so if the ebay accounting system fouls up, problem belong them.

More work for ebay maybe .... but that's what they get paid for, isn't it?

davewil1964

I guess my time is more valuable than most, now my use by date has more of less been confirmed.

However, I will still continue to use ebay "own packaging" for now. It will be interesting to see if they support <500gm when the grace period ends. If they don't, AP Click & Send does, so it will just mean that ebay misses out on that turnover .... & that is what this exercise is all about .... being able to report an increase in turnover to Wall St. at the next Qtly Report.