EBay postage

[Peter Truman]

What’s going on with UK overseas parcel postage eons ago used to be reasonable then a sudden jump around 5 years ago to a min of just over 20 quid then recently I noticed min of over 30 then just now light weight small items being quoted at over 80 quid?

obviously they don’t want to sell overseas, fortunately there’s a very good and Triumph comprehensive Trade Me seller in NZ who whilst parts are initially a little dearer postage isn’t bad but NZ use payment option called Trade Me and I don’t want another payment type/risk but last thing I brought I had to use credit card but overall the costs less than quoted and less thanAus local.

[mishmosh]

What did some people vote for in 2016. That’s your answer. 

[Chris A]

30 minutes ago, mishmosh said:

What did some people vote for in 2016. That’s your answer. 

That shouldn't have made a difference to postage to Australia, surely 

[Iain T]

I agree can't be anything to do with Brexit more likely post covid insanity. Must be caused by individual company policies the world has changed dramatically over the last 3-4 years. 

Iain 

Edited September 30, 2023 by Iain T

[Josef]

The postage you’re seeing on eBay is likely down to eBay’s global shipping program. So the extortionate costs are eBay charging for handling the shipping outside of the U.K. As a seller you ship to their warehouse at normal postage costs, they charge the buyer on top of that. 
 

That said I just had to pay a £28 surcharge to have a Herald sill shipped to me domestically…

[JohnD]

World zone 2 prices
Max Weight	Price
100g	£11.30
250g	£12.25
500g	£17.00
750g	£20.10
1kg	£23.35
1.25kg	£26.35
1.5kg	£29.45
2kg	£31.15

These are the parcel prices to "World Zone 2" on the PO's website.  How heavy was the parcel?

[Colin Lindsay]

2 hours ago, mishmosh said:

What did some people vote for in 2016. That’s your answer. 

Nothing to do with Brexit. I just ignore eBay's 'recommended' rates and post locally; their 'suggested' postage for a carb I sold recently was £22 and it went off on 24 hour Royal Mail for £7. Their rates for everything, not only carriage but selling fees, are ludicrous so I only sell when there's a reduced-rate offer.

[johny]

Yes think eBay has got greedy and they havent any real competition which is a pity because I think its not just prices they could improve but also, for example, their search....

[fungus]

Agree. Local post office ( if you have one) every time. Consistently cheeper then eBay. 

[Peter Truman]

I had assumed it was eBay ripping us off Don't think I've brought anything off ebay for nearly a year, the main driver being postage costs.

Pefer to buy off the UK major Triumph suppliers, find MD most helpful. 

[Morgana]

eBay is pretty ghastly, but has no reasonable competition. I've attempted to use alternatives for some years, but they're not attaining anywhere near the same level of awareness. Once you've sifted out the Chinese resellers it's still possible to buy things on there, though. I check they post with RM since I still believe it's a good idea to have a national carrier with a charter, and 'couriers' are awful around here and barrel down the quiet lanes when they're not chucking things in the garden in the rain without knocking.

When selling with eBay they take a fee percentage for the postage cost (very cheeky) but you won't get any fees for listing (just a percentage fee based on the final value) unless you list a great number at the same time. However, the effort of photographing, packing, correspondence and listing is far too great to bother with unless you have single items of large value or a significant number of the same item. They're really aiming at encouraging 'shops' rather than its old purpose of giving individuals somewhere to declutter.

I always post with RM separately and never use the 'global shipping programme' which seems to be another way to give eBay profit without having control of how one's item's sent.

Sending something heavy to the other side of the world is always going to be expensive. However, within the UK an RM Medium Parcel can be up to 20kg, and most things I send are much smaller than that and get there for less than a fiver. The postman collects parcels, too.

Postage and packing is not unreasonable. Selling a cassette deck, say, on eBay as I did recently means at least an hour ensuring it's well packed and properly labelled. 'Free' postage just means that cost and effort is either not put in, or reflected in the price. I'm happy to tell sellers I'll pay what it costs as I've had some very poor experiences with things arriving smashed. Then they get made to refund it, so I don't end up with the object and they don't have the money. Far better to just value the act of packing in the first place.

Edited September 30, 2023 by Morgana

[ahebron]

NZ Post have set up drop boxes in the USA and UK.
UK is in Southall which funnily enough is where my Mum is from and USA is in Portland Oregon.
If shipping is too expensive from the vendor or they do not ship overseas I will use the appropriate branch. They also supply a phone number for sellers that need a phone number when you fill in the info.
I pay NZ Post here in NZ and they look after everything inc taxes till it arrives at my house.

If you local Post supplier doesn't offer this In believe other companies do.
 

Peter Truman is the NZ supplier Hawkswood Classic Carparts? I believe they have an Australian setup as well.
I think it is run out of NZ but setup for Australian business with a Melbourne phone number.

[Colin Lindsay]

9 hours ago, Morgana said:

Postage and packing is not unreasonable. Selling a cassette deck, say, on eBay as I did recently means at least an hour ensuring it's well packed and properly labelled. 'Free' postage just means that cost and effort is either not put in, or reflected in the price. I'm happy to tell sellers I'll pay what it costs as I've had some very poor experiences with things arriving smashed. Then they get made to refund it, so I don't end up with the object and they don't have the money. Far better to just value the act of packing in the first place.

Postage can be frustrating (not as much as 'collection only', though!!) but I have three Post Offices within a reasonable radius and so can mix and match. The closest is a real rip-off and will charge the highest price, do they get a percentage? The others are good but for some reason car parts are on their list of 'prohibited items' so I have to bluff and claim it's metalwork or household stuff. I do laugh at some of the rates, though - I've had a Herald gearbox delivered for £7.95 and musical instruments for £12, in fact there's an entire rear window on it's way for £17, and most of the books I buy are freepost, but eBay sellers want £15 carriage for a bag of five trim clips costing £4.

I've noticed that these days there are very few private sellers selling off car parts, and the majority of those are collection only.

[Steve P]

I have been trying to de-clutter my garage(s) of Triumph parts including engines, triple webers, rocker covers, hard top, roll bar etc. but I stopped using E bay because of the fees.

A house move may be on the cards next year so I need to decide what to do.

S

[Dick Twitchen]

I have been using Gumtree for some time, not least because it's free.  I initially thought I would get little reaction and just local but have been surprised by the distance some will travel, and the ability to negotiate how to pay and post is useful.

Dick 

[Steve P]

Hello Dick,

We are looking to downsize and have looked around Emsworth last week. Reason being that I have been going to Hayling Island for 50 years + as my Gran had a caravan down there, I love the area.

Steve

[Morgana]

11 hours ago, Colin Lindsay said:

The closest is a real rip-off and will charge the highest price, do they get a percentage? The others are good but for some reason car parts are on their list of 'prohibited items' so I have to bluff and claim it's metalwork or household stuff.

From talking to my local rural post office, they don't get a cut, and don't mind if it's a home-printed 'click and drop' label or bought there as it doesn't get them more money either way. I was keen to find out as it's a good local amenity to support. There can be a price difference between the Royal Mail website and the Post Office as they're now different firms (thanks a bunch...) but I don't believe there should be any difference between Post Office branches. Are you sure? I can't believe they're charging different rates when it's set centrally and is part of their charter.

[Peter Truman]

11 hours ago, ahebron said:

NZ Post have set up drop boxes in the USA and UK.
UK is in Southall which funnily enough is where my Mum is from and USA is in Portland Oregon.
If shipping is too expensive from the vendor or they do not ship overseas I will use the appropriate branch. They also supply a phone number for sellers that need a phone number when you fill in the info.
I pay NZ Post here in NZ and they look after everything inc taxes till it arrives at my house.

If you local Post supplier doesn't offer this In believe other companies do.
 

Peter Truman is the NZ supplier Hawkswood Classic Carparts? I believe they have an Australian setup as well.
I think it is run out of NZ but setup for Australian business with a Melbourne phone number.

Must look up UK & USA drop box's, yes I brought a new Spit brake master cylinder from Hawkswood very helpfull and there was some arrangement for NZ to Melbourne supply as delivery at around NZ local delivery rates, didn't fully understand? they quoted an Aussie web address? https:// classiccarpartsaustralia.com.au.php?route=account/order/info&order id=   then the specific order item No. 

hey I was happy and would trade again, but payment had to be by NZ Trade Me account or universal credit card, as NZ don't appear to use PayPal, it's never quoted or able to use there, what's the story.

[ahebron]

We do use Paypal here but it has the usual issues and I have never found businesses here that use it.
Ping is what Trademe use and it has no fees for the buyer but i am unaware of being able to use it outside Trademe.
If you buy from Hawkswood through Trademe then you will have the option of Ping.
I tried the Hawkswood AU site and it only gives me the credit/debit card option.
What I use for my Paypal account is a Debit card that I transfer money into when I purchase something.
I generally leave it with a $10 float in the acct.
I have also used it for purchasing from sites I am not to sure about, if they roll me then all they get is what is in the debit card acct

[Colin Lindsay]

12 hours ago, Morgana said:

 I don't believe there should be any difference between Post Office branches. Are you sure? I can't believe they're charging different rates when it's set centrally and is part of their charter.

No, not sure, but I gave up using that one when they were quoting carriage rates of £12 on a parcel that I sent through another branch for £5, and many other times I've asked for a quote on a parcel that turns out almost twice the price in the next PO along. It could be laziness or incompetence but I know a number of locals who won't use them as they charge quite a high price compared to the other local branches. 

Just posted an alloy manifold this morning, eBay recommended £9, it went for £4.19 First Class.

[Morgana]

If they are, it would be worth making a complaint. Perhaps they were attempting the next size up; sending a small parcel as a medium for example, or adding tracking and signatures. I know there are a lot of possible sending methods now beyond the expected 1st and 2nd class! It's about a mile to our local one, so unless I'm walking over for the shop they share premises with, I usually buy through RM's website, print out the label and the postman collects when he delivers.