How high can a chicken jump?

[WitchHazel]

I've edited the title of this threaad, as the learnings I've had may be useful to other Ebay sellers (and buyers for that matter)

 

A relatively new Ebayer was the successful bidder on one of my items. I had no correspondence from him prior to auction close, so I only found out when he won that he was based in Dublin (ROI, not Northern Ireland). The item sold for £225, and the cost of shipping it to Dublin is quite expensive, even before we add on the additional that the courier company charges to fully compensate the item.

 

I emailed him with options, and he came back and asked if I would ship it to Belfast instead and that he assumed that would be the same as the UK shipping I quoted in the listing. It is cheaper to ship to Belfast than Dublin, but still considerably more than for mainland UK. I sent him the new prices.

 

I am using ParceltoGo to choose the cheaest courier option. I've checked this against other courier companies, and it is definitely a good deal. I've checked ParcelForce as well - they are dearer than the courier company, although their penalty for additional compensation is cheaper.

 

I've tried 3 other multi-courier companies, including arcelLInk and one other whose name I can't remember.

 

Anyone got any other suggestions?

 

I have some sympathy for the buyer. I know he should have checked first, but he didn't.

 

I'm losing a bit of sympathy because I'm expecting the buyer to use this as an excuse to say he doesn 't want the item now. He's already started asking me questions about the item( "How old is it", "does it have all the accessories". My listing extensively detailed what was included, and I had twelve pictures loaded showing everythign that was included).

 

Anyway, if you have any ideas on cheap shipping....please share

Edited October 3, 2011 by Guest

[Chucky Mama]

How heavy is the item that you are sending?

[WitchHazel]

How heavy is the item that you are sending?

 

It's 11.5 kilos. It's 50cmx26cmx46cm.

[Cinnamon]

Try Paysend.

Not sure on their prices to Ireland,but they have a set UK shipping price,which is very reasonable.

[Redwing]

How much was the next nearest bid? I'd be tempted to see if there is a way of refusing the final bid or asking them to retract it then offering the item to the next bidder

 

The difference in bids may mean that it just isnt worth it running round after the original winner then dealing with the inevitable questions that may result once it gets there if the person is as fussy as they sound

[Chucky Mama]

Have pmd you.

[WitchHazel]

Try Paysend.

Not sure on their prices to Ireland,but they have a set UK shipping price,which is very reasonable.

 

THanks Sarah. That's no cheaper.

 

However, at least with Paysend I could see at once that it wasn't going to be cheaper and I didn't have to spend my time entering lots of information first.

 

I have had enough now of entering the weight, the dimensions, the collection postcode, the delivery postcode...get through to the value part and enter the value...only to find it's expensive.

 

The number of rants I've come across (while searching for best rate for shipping to Northern Ireland) saying that the postage to NI is the same as to mainland UK and that Ebay sllers are ripping people off by charging them more, is really depressing. It's not true. It might be true for letter post, but for parcels it just isn't the case.

 

I'm sure the buyer thinks I'm trying to rip him off. I'm not even trying to charge him any extra for packaging, or even to cover the Paypal fees on the postage element,

 

I've sent the weight and size info through to the buyer, so he can trawl through websites now if he wants to either

(a) check my prices or (b) find something cheaper.

 

My learning from this is that I will add a caveat to any future listings about shipping to NOrthern Ireland.

Whinge over.

 

Hazel

[WitchHazel]

Delivery to Belfast

Parcel to Go, using Yodel (DHL)

£15.36+VAT = £18.43 for standard compensation

£8.75+VAT= 10.50 extra for compensation to £225

 

ParcelForce

48 hour service is £16.99+Vat for standard compensation, but the additional premium is cheaper. Overall this works out at £26.09 including VAT.

 

Original quote for Delivery to DUBLIN

ParceltoGo using Yodel (DHL_

f £19.95+VAT (=£23.94) with standard compensation of £50. Increasing the compensation to £224 adds an additional £8.70+VAT (£10.44)

[WitchHazel]

How much was the next nearest bid? I'd be tempted to see if there is a way of refusing the final bid or asking them to retract it then offering the item to the next bidder

 

The difference in bids may mean that it just isnt worth it running round after the original winner then dealing with the inevitable questions that may result once it gets there if the person is as fussy as they sound

 

I've thought about that, but I really don't want to do it. Speaking as a buyer, I always find "Second Chance" offers suspicious. In the days when it was possible for everyone to see bidders, one could often see shill bidding going on. Now that bidders can't see identities, I think this practice is more widespread.

 

If he pulls out, I'll just raise an unpaid item against him to get my fees back, and I'll relist the item.

[Cinnamon]

I always assumed that Northern Ireland was the same postage prices as the UK.

It is at the Post office,but then of course you are dealing with smaller & lighter mail.

 

I know that Southern Ireland is counted as Europe...did you have no overseas bidders,or had you quoted for European shipping?

 

Very interesting.....glad this has been posted (even if it is a pain for you!)

[WitchHazel]

Very interesting.....glad this has been posted (even if it is a pain for you!)

 

Yes, a useful warning to anyone who sells on Ebay.

I 'm not even sure if Ebay gives the option of anything other than "UK" (that is, I;m not sure there is an option to specify UK Mainland" I will check next time.

 

EDITED TO ADD: ParcelForce may or may not be the same, I'm not sure. However, ParcelForce is much more expensive to start with for large items than using a courier service organised through somewhere like ParceltoGo or ParcelLink.

[Cinnamon]

NI comes under UK Mainland & SI under Europe.

Very confusing for all concerned,.....

[Bramble]

Thanks for posting this WithHazel. I can't help at all, but it is very interesting to hear of other people's ebay experience (though I know it will be incredibly annoying for you). I've got one or two biggish things I'd love to sell on ebay but it's postage that's putting me off (I'm reluctant to say collection only as really don't want total strangers coming to my house ) so your experience is kind of confirming my feelings!

[WitchHazel]

Thanks for posting this WithHazel. I can't help at all, but it is very interesting to hear of other people's ebay experience (though I know it will be incredibly annoying for you). I've got one or two biggish things I'd love to sell on ebay but it's postage that's putting me off (I'm reluctant to say collection only as really don't want total strangers coming to my house ) so your experience is kind of confirming my feelings!

 

Don't let it put you off - just make sure you specify in the listing that Courier charges to Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland are more expensive than to UK mainland.

 

Courier services such as Parcel2Go make it relatively cheap to send things across UK mainland, usually much cheaper than using Royal Mail/Parcel Force. Plus you get the item picked up from you, and there is tracking provided.

 

I sell a lot on Ebay, and I much much much prefer using courier services to using Royal Mail. Royal Mail's signed for service has lost several parcels over the years, and it has been a right pain to get my money back.