Sending Ebay Parcels with Royal Mail

[Daddyman]

Hello. Looking for some advice. I've just sold an item on ebay - the second one in a week. The first one went for £95, out of which ebay chomped about a tenner, and then when I went to post it I was told that in order to have the parcel insured over £20 I'd need to pay £9.50 postage. Given the state of the mail (around here at least, where I'm currently seeing a postman every ten days and both the poor old postman and post office have actually told me not to post anything second class), I thought it was best to go for the insured version, which meant my take-home from the sale was £75-ish. I've just sold something else and would rather not have the RM taking such a big bite out of my winnings. Any ideas? I've never tried non-RM postal services - are they worth a go? Is there a better RM service? - I note a lot of talk of £3.29 on this page. 

[hayfield]

Firstly 10/13% is a good rate when you look at traditional auction sites. Better still wait till there is a promotional week with 80% off fees. Traders offer about 1/3rd of retail prices

 

Royal Mail ( at the Post Office )recorded costs £5.55 but only insured for £50 

 

Try Royal Mail on line Tracked £5.19 and insured for up to £150, pay a bit extra and they come and pick it up

[John M Upton]

Never ever EVER use Evri, not even if your life depends on it!

[Rich_F]

12 minutes ago, John M Upton said:

Never ever EVER use Evri, not even if your life depends on it!

 

Think I might have mentioned before, but where I live Evri is nearly 100% reliable & Royal Mail is 💩.

 

We have a new postie every month. The latest one is so lazy he cba to even go up to upper apartments & just leaves letters & parcels (including bills/brown govt) on the steps in the open foyer to get trodden/mashed/stolen by all the people coming through the front door. This combined with the fact the post never arrives before midday despite living 700 m from a delivery office!

 

Evri will actually attempt to deliver it to your safeplace. 

Edited December 8, 2023 by Rich_F

[RFS]

58 minutes ago, hayfield said:

Firstly 10/13% is a good rate when you look at traditional auction sites. Better still wait till there is a promotional week with 80% off fees. Traders offer about 1/3rd of retail prices

 

Royal Mail ( at the Post Office )recorded costs £5.55 but only insured for £50 

 

Try Royal Mail on line Tracked £5.19 and insured for up to £150, pay a bit extra and they come and pick it up

 

Both Royal Mail Tracked 24 (£3.99) and Tacked 48 (£3.39) have £150 compensation plus provide proof of delivery which satisfies Ebay's requirements. Pick-up from home by the postie is actually free of charge. However, if you want to take it to the Post Office yourself then the prices are 16p extra. 

 

As far as Ebay fees are concerned, I always list on the weekend when I'm offered 80% off. Last week I sold an item for £285 + £4.95 postage and the Ebay fees were just £7.72.

[Daddyman]

1 hour ago, hayfield said:

Firstly 10/13% is a good rate when you look at traditional auction sites. Better still wait till there is a promotional week with 80% off fees. Traders offer about 1/3rd of retail prices

 

Royal Mail ( at the Post Office )recorded costs £5.55 but only insured for £50 

 

Try Royal Mail on line Tracked £5.19 and insured for up to £150, pay a bit extra and they come and pick it up

Thanks. I'm limited by not having a printer - presumably necessary for the online service?  

 

28 minutes ago, Rich_F said:

 

Think I might have mentioned before, but where I live Evri is nearly 100% reliable & Royal Mail is 💩.

 

We have a new postie every month. The latest one is so lazy he cba to even go up to upper apartments & just leaves letters & parcels (including bills/brown govt) on the steps in the open foyer to get trodden/mashed/stolen by all the people coming through the front door. This combined with the fact the post never arrives before midday despite living 700 m from a delivery office!

 

Evri will actually attempt to deliver it to your safeplace. 

Evri is good here too - it just depends on the individual. I wouldn't be too hard on the postie - speak to them and see what they're dealing with. And remember a sh*te postal service is what Britons want - or at least what 14 million of them voted for.  

[Daddyman]

5 minutes ago, RFS said:

 

Both Royal Mail Tracked 24 (£3.99) and Tacked 48 (£3.39) have £150 compensation plus provide proof of delivery which satisfies Ebay's requirements. Pick-up from home by the postie is actually free of charge. However, if you want to take it to the Post Office yourself then the prices are 16p extra. 

 

As far as Ebay fees are concerned, I always list on the weekend when I'm offered 80% off. Last week I sold an item for £285 + £4.95 postage and the Ebay fees were just £7.72.

Thanks. I wonder why she told me my only option was £9.50 then? 

 

When you say "the weekend" do you mean ebay offer this every weekend or only every so often? I never seem to get these offers - just one a few weeks ago, and the item didn't sell - but I seem to remember reading on here some time ago that they varied from seller to seller. 

[D9020 Nimbus]

Evri does depend on the local courier — but when I've ever had a problem with an Evri delivery, the parcel never even got as far as the courier (who is excellent). 
 

You don't need a printer to use RM's online service if you're booking a collection — you can opt to get the postman to bring a pre-printed label — no extra charge for this.

[hayfield]

2 minutes ago, Daddyman said:

Thanks. I'm limited by not having a printer - presumably necessary for the online service?  

 

Evri is good here too - it just depends on the individual. I wouldn't be too hard on the postie - speak to them and see what they're dealing with. And remember a sh*te postal service is what Britons want - or at least what 14 million of them voted for.  

 

I think I read that the Royal Mail can bring a sticker if you get the package picked up

 

Evri is still far too variable in the delivery quality, even worst try and contact their customer service department. They make it so difficult many just give up, I would rather pay more for a better total offer

[hayfield]

4 minutes ago, Daddyman said:

Thanks. I wonder why she told me my only option was £9.50 then? 

 

When you say "the weekend" do you mean ebay offer this every weekend or only every so often? I never seem to get these offers - just one a few weeks ago, and the item didn't sell - but I seem to remember reading on here some time ago that they varied from seller to seller. 

 

I assume the Post office offered you special delivery by 1pm, these other rates are only from Royal Mail direct. But I think if you pay a little extra they will both come and pick it up and bring a postage label if asked

 

Last weekend eBay offered me 80% off fees, which seems to come round every other week

 

 

[Chas Levin]

2 hours ago, Daddyman said:

Hello. Looking for some advice. I've just sold an item on ebay - the second one in a week. The first one went for £95, out of which ebay chomped about a tenner, and then when I went to post it I was told that in order to have the parcel insured over £20 I'd need to pay £9.50 postage. Given the state of the mail (around here at least, where I'm currently seeing a postman every ten days and both the poor old postman and post office have actually told me not to post anything second class), I thought it was best to go for the insured version, which meant my take-home from the sale was £75-ish. I've just sold something else and would rather not have the RM taking such a big bite out of my winnings. Any ideas? I've never tried non-RM postal services - are they worth a go? Is there a better RM service? - I note a lot of talk of £3.29 on this page. 

 

Hello, one Post Office I use quite often has a tendency to recommend the higher cost services - I assume because they're paid on commission in some way - even where they're clearly not needed.

I'm very familiar with the various services and I always ask for the one I want (most usually Second Class Signed For Small Parcel, which allows anything within the UK up to 2KG, max size 45x35x16cm, for £4.69) but I regularly stand behind customers who want to send something which they've specifically stated isn't urgent or valuable, only to be told that "the best option is Guaranteed by 1pm" which costs £7.35 for a 100g or less letter (yes, really). Sometimes, people half-heartedly query this and are told something along the lines of "yes, you can send it other ways, but this is the best way, the safest and the quickest - the one we'd recommend". I fully realise this is actually quite a serious allegation, whcih is why I'm not specifying the branches in question (I've seen this being done at several over the years) but it is most certainly a known practice.

 

It's worth looking through the Royal Mail site and reading what all the various services provide and cost, so that you can go into the Post Office and tell them how you want the item sent. I do realise that their site is not the easiest to find you way around - oh, how I realise that! - and I'd suggest doing so in front of one of those films that's just about worth watching but doesn't need your full attention!

 

For anyone who doesn't fancy losing an hour of their life that way though, I definitely recommend Second Class Signed For Small Parcel within the UK (it does also include normal sized letters and Large Letters of course) and for overseas, I usually use International Tracked & Signed or - for those countries such as Canada where it has to be either Tracked, or Signed For, but not both, I favour Tracked. Overseas services have rocketed in cost in the last few years (not least since the absurd Ransomware attack on Royal Mail and of course the pandemic and various wars) but that seems to be global as I notice very high prices on foreign listings' postage costs coming into the UK. In particular, under an agreement made during the Trump presidency, the USA now has an entirey separate World Zone - Zone 3 - instead of being part of Zone 1, with higher pricing than either of the other two: it's cheaper by several pounds to send a parcel to New South Wales than to New York!🙄

[Daddyman]

1 hour ago, hayfield said:

 

I assume the Post office offered you special delivery by 1pm, these other rates are only from Royal Mail direct. But I think if you pay a little extra they will both come and pick it up and bring a postage label if asked

 

Last weekend eBay offered me 80% off fees, which seems to come round every other week

 

 

Many thanks. If the parcel was guaranteed by 1pm the next day, which I think it was, it still hasn't arrived - 3 days later. 

 

This ebay fees thing is weird! Where do you see it? When you open the ebay page, or do they send you a message?   

26 minutes ago, Chas Levin said:

I'm very familiar with the various services and I always ask for the one I want (most usually Second Class Signed For Small Parcel, which allows anything within the UK up to 2KG, max size 45x35x16cm, for £4.69)

Thanks, Chas - only £50 compensation, though... But food for thought. 

 

 

Thanks to everyone who helped. Have gone for the £3.99 option above booking online, with RM bringing the label with them tomorrow morning (I remain sceptical on that point!). So RMWeb has saved me the best part of £6, thank you! 

Edited December 8, 2023 by Daddyman

[John M Upton]

Given how utterly awful the Royal Mail service seems to have descended to recently, the guaranteed 24/48 hour thing is meaningless.

 

I paid extra for guaranteed 24 hour ParcelForce delivery a couple of weeks ago and it took over a week to be delivered. 

[RFS]

1 hour ago, hayfield said:

But I think if you pay a little extra they will both come and pick it up and bring a postage label if asked

 

No, there's no extra to pay for collections. And they will bring a label if required, again at no extra cost. 

[RFS]

49 minutes ago, Chas Levin said:

For anyone who doesn't fancy losing an hour of their life that way though, I definitely recommend Second Class Signed For Small Parcel within the UK 

 

But that means the recipient has to be in to receive the parcel. Just had a purchase sent this way, and the sender did not add the tracking number so I had no idea when it would come. A second purchase was sent by RM Tracked 48 which does not require a signature. I was given the tracking number, so knew when it was going to be delivered and, as we were not going to be in, was able to update the delivery to leave in our safe place (rear porch). The second class signed-for parcel cost £4.69 whereas the Tracked 48 cost £3.29.   I definitely prefer the latter as a receiver, and send all my sales that way too.  Tracked 48 has £150 compensation, compared to £50. 

Edited December 8, 2023 by RFS

[RFS]

2 hours ago, Daddyman said:

When you say "the weekend" do you mean ebay offer this every weekend or only every so often? I never seem to get these offers - just one a few weeks ago, and the item didn't sell - but I seem to remember reading on here some time ago that they varied from seller to seller. 

 

For over a year now I get offered 80% off fees every 2 weeks starting on the Friday. I have to list by the end of Monday and the item must sell during the initial period. If it doesn't, I just cancel and relist. Even if I don't have anything to sell, I always accept the offer just in case Ebay think I've gone dormant. 

[Daddyman]

14 minutes ago, RFS said:

 

For over a year now I get offered 80% off fees every 2 weeks starting on the Friday. I have to list by the end of Monday and the item must sell during the initial period. If it doesn't, I just cancel and relist. Even if I don't have anything to sell, I always accept the offer just in case Ebay think I've gone dormant. 

Thanks. Curiouser and curiouser... 

[cessna152towser]

For my most recent eBay sales I have been sending by Royal Mail Tracked 48.  Postman comes and collects and brings a pre-printed label.  £3.29 each time for a small parcel, including insurance, though so far I have not had any problems with the service.

[phil-b259]

On 13/12/2022 at 18:25, John M Upton said:

And now I read the other courier companies are having problems as many retailers have switched to them so now they are suffering backlogs and delays.

 

This is descending into a complete and utter omnishambles now, will someone in authority please get off their overpaid backside and do something?!?

 

And how exactly will that help!

 

The REAL reasons for this state of affairs are a chronic lack of staff on the Ground!

 

That in turn is largely because the pay is seen as low and conditions poor compared to other jobs (which means even if Royal Mail or others do try and recruit*, nobody wants to apply when they can get much better T&Cs / work life balance working for Supermarkets say.

 

Which is in turn driven by the Great British Public who REFUSE to pay the true costs of providing decent service in a developed nation!

 

Its a theme which comes up time and time again - be it fixing potholes, having enough NHS / social care staff.

Edited December 8, 2023 by phil-b259

[hayfield]

2 hours ago, Daddyman said:

Many thanks. If the parcel was guaranteed by 1pm the next day, which I think it was, it still hasn't arrived - 3 days later. 

 

This ebay fees thing is weird! Where do you see it? When you open the ebay page, or do they send you a message?   

Thanks, Chas - only £50 compensation, though... But food for thought. 

 

 

Thanks to everyone who helped. Have gone for the £3.99 option above booking online, with RM bringing the label with them tomorrow morning (I remain sceptical on that point!). So RMWeb has saved me the best part of £6, thank you! 

 

If its guaranteed to be delivered by 1pm the next day and did not, claim your rightful compensation

[maico]

1 hour ago, Daddyman said:

Thanks. Curiouser and curiouser... 

 

I've been using the 80% off for years. It's only available to private eBay accounts not business and you need to make sure you are registered for eBay promotional offers.

RM tracked 48 booked via eBay is an unbeatable service.

[Daddyman]

6 minutes ago, maico said:

 

I've been using the 80% off for years. It's only available to private eBay accounts not business and you need to make sure you are registered for eBay promotional offers.

RM tracked 48 booked via eBay is an unbeatable service.

Good tip, thanks - seems like this might have something to do with it: 

[Daddyman]

2 minutes ago, Daddyman said:

Good tip, thanks - seems like this might have something to do with it: 

 

 

Nope, that doesn't work: both buttons on the page are dead links... 

[petethemole]

Despite criticism of poor performance by RM, I'd like to report that some of my packages, both large letter and small parcel, sent 2nd class without tracking and normally left at the PO about 4pm, are achieving next day delivery. I don't use EVRi normally apart from some of SWMBO's mail order returns, which have all been delivered, but I recently sold SWMBO's banjo, in a hard case, and used Evri as it was notably cheaper than RM for the package  size with cover.  Picked up and labelled by our very reliable local courier Dave, it was delivered safely.

[Daddyman]

That means nothing. 

6 minutes ago, petethemole said:

Despite criticism of poor performance by RM, I'd like to report that some of my packages, both large letter and small parcel, sent 2nd class without tracking and normally left at the PO about 4pm, are achieving next day delivery. I don't use EVRi normally apart from some of SWMBO's mail order returns, which have all been delivered, but I recently sold SWMBO's banjo, in a hard case, and used Evri as it was notably cheaper than RM for the package  size with cover.  Picked up and labelled by our very reliable local courier Dave, it was delivered safely.

That means nothing. Everyone knows there are local anomalies where the service works . The problem is when you live in an area where it doesn't work, and don't know if it's going to another area where things are messed up. It's a lottery, and we already have a national one of those - don't need another.