Should senders list Sendle in their postage method?

[floral_bangles]

I avoid sellers who send items via courier as it's usually more trouble than it's worth in my residential/rural area.

Bought an item that was listed as standard postage then receive notification that it's being delivered via Sendle.

I queried seller if it'd be our A.P. mail contractor or courier.

Coming by courier.

Not being a seller, I wonder if eBay provide a Sendle delivery method in the description?

[lyndal1838 · Accepted solution]

I don't think the seller needs to specify which courier they are using but I believe they should state that they are using a courier.  I would never buy from a seller using a courier unless they allow a safe drop which most ebay sellers will not do.

With Sendle, you never know which courier company will deliver your items.....it could well be the dreaded Fastway.

Sendle is definitely being promoted by ebay now and at prices marginally lower than Australia Post.....I predicted problems at the time as a lot of sellers only care about their bottom line and not the convenience of their buyers.

[floral_bangles · Accepted solution]

Thanks Lyndall,

I would appreciate if eBay would allow sellers to specify Sendle as their delivery method, as I would not buy from them unless it was a large item that I really wanted.

On the plus side, when I queried seller RE "standard postage" as per the listing, she replied that she'd had no troubles so far.

Time will tell, I suppose.

^.^

[eol-products · Accepted solution]

Sellers have the option of stating the delivery method and sendle is the first option in the list if using calculated postage and second last if using flat rate. 

[zanadoo_56 · Accepted solution]

I'm not fussed if sellers mention Sendle or not but I am annoyed when postage is listed as Standard Postage (Standard delivery) only to find my purchase is being sent by courier.

I've bought the item before (different sellers) and had no issues with Australia Post delivering it.  I asked for Safe Drop and couldn't work out if this was being done or not so I had to contact the seller to make sure (I got no response from the courier service).

The seller has confirmed they've put Safe Drop on the package and they've also supplied a tracking number......HOWEVER, not knowing anything about the courier I looked them up and found this gem on Wikipedia: "With over 6,000 1-star reviews as of January, 2020, Fastway Couriers ranks as one of the worst courier services in Australia."

Wonderful.

[floral_bangles · Accepted solution]

My seller had standard postage A.P. satchel.

No mention of Sendle unfortunately until after I'd paid.

Never had anybody use Sendle before, but I don't buy much.

We used to have a great courier delivering here but he retired & the current couriers leave a lot to be desired.

Thanks to you all for your responses.

[lyndal1838]

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@zanadoo_56 wrote:

The seller has confirmed they've put Safe Drop on the package and they've also supplied a tracking number......HOWEVER, not knowing anything about the courier I looked them up and found this gem on Wikipedia: "With over 6,000 1-star reviews as of January, 2020, Fastway Couriers ranks as one of the worst courier services in Australia."

Wonderful.

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You should be fine if the seller has authorised a Safe Drop.

I am not a fan of Fastway by any stretch of the imagination but I regularly buy medical supplies from Queenland.   I usually place the order on Sunday evening.  There is a box for safe drop instructions on the address label....the order lands in my hands about 7.30am on Tuesday.

If you were put off by the Wikipedia comment, you should read the thread on the boards....there are hundreds of posts with the majority of posters slamming Fastway.

[zanadoo_56]

As you know there are a couple of things I like to avoid when it comes to purchasing - signed delivery....and couriers. 

There was absolutely nothing in the seller's listing that suggested a courier delivery.  Sigh.  I wish all sellers would be upfront about what kind of delivery services they use, but it's never going to happen.

I didn't know Fastway was so bad until after I discovered my purchase had been sent via them.  You have to wonder why sellers use the company.

BTW, I was looking for a kitchen item to buy but eBay had it coming from China so I had to look elsewhere.  Tried all my usual stores but in the end found what I wanted at Howards Storage - and they especially got my vote because they actually encourage Authority to Leave and their checkout has a box for a customer's instructions.  Fantastic.

[davewil1964]

If a seller is using eBay postage labels, the first option is Sendle, which is normally significantly cheaper than AP. So a seller looking to maximise their profits and who doesn't care about their customers' particular circumstances will presumably pick Sendle, regardless of what they said in the listing.

After all, we all know that if we can't be home all day waiting for a courier to turn up, there is a depot just around the corner. Oops, sorry, that's Australia Post.

[zanadoo_56]

Yes but 'my seller' didn't use Sendle - that was the OP's complaint.

Does eBay's postage labels also include Fastway?  If not then using Fastway can't have just been a tick the box decision.