the ebay satchel rate for 500g now costs me $7.30 with click and send;  so it is cheaper to send an ordinary parcel, it still gets tracking, and it costs $6.95.   pretty dismal then, when we were told the click and send was the bees knees.

Depends on the cost of the packaging. I send parcels usually in Bx6 boxes, which are about a dollar or a bit more, so that will be $7.95 minimum once the new system comes in. If an eBay 500g satchel is $7.30 all up including packaging, that's quite a bit cheaper.