Great news. Ebay drops seller charges!

[bikeworkshop]

My two problems are;
When I buy my RM / PF post myself I can ask them to bring a label. On simple postage I can't (unless I can but not bright enough to figure that out yet).
EBay charging £13.63 for PF when I can send a frame/forks/pair of wheels worth up to £150 for 9.65.

Who'd you use for frames under a tenner? Parcelforce?

If you're a business seller then:
Ebay charge 14%on selling price
... but they allow you to charge your own postage amount, and choose your own courier

 

[Twozaskars]

Who'd you use for frames under a tenner? Parcelforce?

If you're a business seller then:
Ebay charge 14%on selling price
... but they allow you to charge your own postage amount, and choose your own courier

Send.parcelforce.com
9.65 collected, if we're working anywhere where one of the depots is on-route then I sometimes print my own label and drop them off, saves a bit, drop off at post office actually costs more now.

 

[M_Chavez]

Ok, cherry on the ebay cake.
If you send internationally, the GSP contractor (Pitney Bowes) can confiscate your item without any good reasons.
When you sign up for GSP, the T&Cs state that you agree to them doing it: that is, seller retains his cash, buyer gets a refund from ebay and Pitney Bowes owns the item that then gets re-listed by their ebay agent.

If they reckon that item sold well below market price, they pocket it and then re-list at a much higher asking price.

I found out the hard way.

 

[Twozaskars]

We have got to see this!
What was the item?
Doesn't bother me personally but interesting all the same...

 

[M_Chavez]

Google "Pitney Bowes is wrongly stealing purchased goods."

I really don't understand the point...Clearly they spot expensive items that were sold below market value, confiscate them and then resell them above market value, but surely this can be done just by buying directly from ebay sellers...I guess here they can put through a large accounting charge for "liquidation costs" and dodge tax.

Or, you spot a gold-plated colnago frame incorrectly listed as some old cr@p in Italy. Buy it at £50. Pitney spot it in their chain and confiscate it.
Seller gets his £50, you get your £50 back, Pitney keep a £2k frame.

 

[Twozaskars]

I wish I'd thought of it
That said, looking at it from a buyer point of view that's bad.
Edit: I can't believe I'd never even heard of this happening. I've been using the GSP for years (but only selling, not buying) so I don't know how this has never appeared on my radar.

 

[d8mok]

As a seller, you are left in the same position so it makes no difference. Buyer will likely be disappointed though.

I also doubt they have a 90s retro bike expert to know any of our old shite has been sold cheaply. More likely in the event of it being lost.


I’ve bought many things from lost postage auctions. Some gems amongst it all.

 

[M_Chavez]

Nah, if they have half a brain, they'll have a small script running the parcel description against the database of sale figures for these goods (they'll have a good db because all shipping goes through them). I reckon if the script flags a huge bargain, they open the parcel and pocket it if it's looking good. Apparently their ebay agents even reuse old original listing description and photos, so there's zero cost to them to repost.
Ebay gets commission twice: Once for the "stolen" sale, once for the "liquidation" sale.

No difference for seller, but buyer can be severely disappointed, especially if we're talking rare collectible stuff.
I'm not clued up enough to make a call whether shipped goods still belong to the seller under distant selling regs, or whether ownership transfers to the buyer at payment date, in which case it's actually stealing from the buyer who might not agree to being paid £50 for a £2k frame in the example.
I suspect it's the former.

There's a suspiciously high number of ebay punters posts where this has happened to high value goods sold at lower than market prices. I don't believe in coincidences.

 

[Stretch79]

As a seller, you are left in the same position so it makes no difference. Buyer will likely be disappointed though.

I also doubt they have a 90s retro bike expert to know any of our old shite has been sold cheaply. More likely in the event of it being lost.


I’ve bought many things from lost postage auctions. Some gems amongst it all.

Do you mind telling where these auctions are? Never seen any. Thanks

 

[d8mok]

That would indeed be telling unfortunately and likely increase anything I end up paying.

Do you mind telling where these auctions are? Never seen any. Thanks