Ebay Plus $4 express upgrade problems

[sfor8673]

I am experiencing a problem with the Ebay Plus Express Parcel upgrade.

Low value items that are small and normally ship as an un-tracked large letter class item.

Cost Seller $2.20 to post.

Same day handling time

Retail price of item is $9.90

Buyer has 3 x domestic shipping options on the listing:

Free Postage: Standard Postage (Australia Post Domestic Regular Letter) 

$6.95: Standard Postage (Australia Post Domestic Regular Letter With Tracking) 

$11.95: Express delivery

Buyer selects free standard shipping and is upgraded by Ebay Plus to Express Shipping at no cost to buyer.

Ebay only compensates seller $4 towards the Express upgrade when the upgrade actually costs $9.30 (difference between the letter price and the Express Parcel price).

Shipping by express parcel service will cost $11.50 + packaging materials and time to process order.

Seller now has to make up the $5.30 out of their own pocket to upgrade a "free" letter class item to a tracked express service. Impossible not to lose money on an iten priced <$15

Ebay chat support only suggestions is to modify the handling time to 2 days so these listings will be exempted, but naturally increase the deliver time estimate (and potentially lose sales)

Any Suggestions other than opting out of Ebay Plus all together or removing the free shipping option?

[jfmgray]

I also send large letters but use the c4 express envellope if express option is selected by the buyer - cost of $7.50. These are meant to be used for documents only but my local post office accepts them over the counter and I have never had a problem with these arriving at the destination. But my items are flat and uniform so might be hard for AP to know they are not documents.

[sfor8673]

Hello.

Thanks for your reply. We had considered this option, but like you say, the item needs to be a flat/uniform type item that could be assumed as documents.

We can do this with some items, but mostly this is not an option.

I just don't understand why there is not an opt in/out option on each listing, or linked to your postage policies that allows you to enable the ebay Plus Express upgrade or not.

Sellers can choose if the item should be included in the program or not.

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@jfmgray wrote:

I also send large letters but use the c4 express envellope if express option is selected by the buyer - cost of $7.50. These are meant to be used for documents only but my local post office accepts them over the counter and I have never had a problem with these arriving at the destination. But my items are flat and uniform so might be hard for AP to know they are not documents.

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[little.ripple]

Yes, I have complained as well. I have to pay much more if they choose Free Express. I'll just have to opt out of Ebay Plus. 

A really bad program. And actually not many people use this feature which is good news for me! 

[andrew0123]

Hey i've recently started using ebay plus. First, keep in mind this is only a promotion and from experience will only last 1-3 months going by other offers ebay put forward in the past. 

Secondly, I haven't sold anything yet through ebay plus + express. You have to add the cost of the express postage SEPERATELY therefore the buyer will pay for the additional postage costs. 

Also, try sending these $2:20 items in an express post envelope as merchandise which costs around $8 (C5). So you are out of pocket under $6 - and you can charge $6 for this - and ebay you will give you $4 back - and you profit $4 until the promotion ends. 

[andrew0123]

I have sold a couple of things on ebay plus and nobody payed the extra $6 for express. My understanding is that you shouldn't offer express as the only postage option. Maybe bulk change your listings to add express as the second option.

[*tippy*toes*]

Plus buyers get free express. They don't pay for the upgrade. Ebay pays a portion of it and the seller foots the bill for the rest. I made sure none of my items qualified.

[silver-fox-bullion]

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@sfor8673 wrote:

I am experiencing a problem with the Ebay Plus Express Parcel upgrade.

Low value items that are small and normally ship as an un-tracked large letter class item.

Cost Seller $2.20 to post.

Same day handling time

Retail price of item is $9.90

Buyer has 3 x domestic shipping options on the listing:

Free Postage: Standard Postage (Australia Post Domestic Regular Letter) 

$6.95: Standard Postage (Australia Post Domestic Regular Letter With Tracking) 

$11.95: Express delivery

Buyer selects free standard shipping and is upgraded by Ebay Plus to Express Shipping at no cost to buyer.

Ebay only compensates seller $4 towards the Express upgrade when the upgrade actually costs $9.30 (difference between the letter price and the Express Parcel price).

Shipping by express parcel service will cost $11.50 + packaging materials and time to process order.

Seller now has to make up the $5.30 out of their own pocket to upgrade a "free" letter class item to a tracked express service. Impossible not to lose money on an iten priced <$15

Ebay chat support only suggestions is to modify the handling time to 2 days so these listings will be exempted, but naturally increase the deliver time estimate (and potentially lose sales)

Any Suggestions other than opting out of Ebay Plus all together or removing the free shipping option?

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Yep drop option 1  add option 2 to ya item price so that becomes ya free postage plus an extra say 25 cent ,    then option 3 drop back 4.00.    

so if ya item is say 10    change it to $17.25   what this does is cover option 2 postage and for every 4 items sold ya covering the 1 dollar you will be out of pocket for the plus buyers on the express cost.....

Also with the change coming in from the start of OCT ya mad to NOT send everything by tracking as ebay are going to cover lost items so the seller will not be left out of pocket.    where NON tracked you got no leg to stand on

[andrew0123]

I'm confused by this. So even if i don't list the item as express (you don't have to list express as main option - i haven't) I still have to send express to all members who are signed up to ebay plus?

[andrew0123]

I'm confused by this. So even if i don't list the item as express (you don't have to list express as main option - i haven't) I still have to send express to all members who are signed up to ebay plus?