The eBay UK Bulletin: Issue 231

The eBay UK Bulletin: Issue 231, 20th October 2011

Topics in this issue:

1. eBay news – Delivery options

2. Delays in August shipping

3. Can I use a ‘style sheet’?

4. Reader’s rant – feedback stars

5. Ask Molly – How can I get extra pictures for free?

Hello and welcome to this week's edition of The eBay UK Bulletin.

The big Christmas push has started at HQ with the few remaining elves rushed off their feet. Active listings are around 400 with many more items to process. Molly’s Christmas push started three weeks later this year due to other commitments so getting all inventory listed in time will be a challenge.

Some good news - the dreaded tax return is completed and dispatched, sent special delivery, the costs of which are of course… tax deductible!

This week there is still no eBay news of any consequence so instead a blatant plug for myHermes.

Also included is a super rant concerning feedback. It is always so good to let off steam.

[For details of this newsletter, please scroll down to the end.]

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1. EBAY NEWS –DELIVERY OPTIONS

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I did notice that myHermes now have their own postage service entry in the available postage options pull down menu for sellers, as opposed to being grouped with ‘other courier 3-5 days’. Love them or hate them; things have certainly taken off over the past two years.

“Hi Molly,

I've been reading your blog for almost a year now, I own your eBay business book (it's what made me get into e-commerce in the end) and I've been toying recently with the idea of using myHermes, especially with the Christmas rush coming up and we all know how Royal Mail like to go on strike.

So, my question is this, how exactly do you label your packages? I asked myHermes support directly and they told me to print it out on a piece of paper and tape it to the box. Not exactly professional or fitting for the image my company wants to project.

I own a professional Dymo 450 label printer and was hoping you or your readers can shed some light from the trenches about how it works and any possible solutions for my company.

So far we've been sending our packages by Royal Mail first class (why do people always choose first class instead of second class when offered at a much lower rate?) but with more and more of them raising above the 1.75KG weight class I feel we should be offering a more competitive delivery solution; and at £4.19 compared to £6.42 myHermes beats Royal Mail in the face with a half brick.”

‘Reddicegames’ - http://www.reddicegames.com/


It is the sticky tape for me I'm afraid, I am not aware of a higher-tech solution. There is no doubt that it works OK but as you say it does not give the most professional image. Do you get many repeat buyers? I only ask as if most only visit once then it won't make too much difference.

I use myHermes for 1 kilo+ parcels and the savings are considerable, especially as they have an 'up to 5 kilo' tier costing £5.99. The PO only have an 'up to 6 kilo' rate costing £10.34 so a 4.9 kilo parcel saves £4.35. If you are VAT registered the VAT can be claimed back from Hermes, but not yet for the PO standard parcels.

Another great feature which you will of course already know about is that pick ups can be arranged up until 10pm for next day collections. I can leave the larger parcels, concentrate on the 6pm Royal Mail post deadline, have a coffee and then process the myHermes parcels.

You comment on first class vs. second class is a valid one, especially as (almost) all packets are not sorted so the majority of second class will arrive the next day anyway. The extra cost for the perceived peace of mind is not that great for the buyer but first class is also not a guaranteed next-day delivery service.

>From a seller's point of view the implications of postage methods used extend beyond the competitiveness of price as all postage income counts towards turnover. 6,000 x 500 gram parcels a year using first class mail will add £14,880 to your turnover; second class will only add £12,960. This could well mean the difference between registering for VAT or not.

I still send 400 parcels a year with myHermes and have had no problems so far.



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2. DELAYS IN AUGUST SHIPPING?

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“Hi mollybol,

We have been shipping internationally since we started selling on eBay and we have noticed that some parcels sent in August have still not been delivered. We are wondering if you or any of your readers have had the same problem or are able to shed any light on this.”

’Stephensonsonline’ - http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Stephensons-Online



I have noticed long delays in shipping to the Netherlands of up to three weeks; the rest of the world seems OK. Just a quick thought about those lost parcels, isn’t it amazing that once you have refunded for a ‘lost’ parcel you never get an email from the buyer saying it finally arrived and offering to pay again!

The Royal Mail regularly updates the ‘International incident bulletin’ which can be found at:

http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/content1?catId=400033&mediaId=3800088



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3. CAN I USE A STYLE SHEET?

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“Dear mollybol,

I have recently brought your eBay book and found it most helpful. Is it possible to write your own style sheet? If you can will it be in a CSS file format and would you need to link it in via a (a href) tag?”

‘tyrosplayer16’ - http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/tyrosplayer16/m.html?



Wow, great question, a little beyond my HTML knowledge though I’m afraid. I can do extra pictures and a few cross selling links, even the odd animation but so far no need to use a style sheet.

If there are any HTML techies out there who have found a use for this advanced code, please do let me know – Mollybol@ebaybulletin.co.uk



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4. READERS RANT – FEEDBACK STARS

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“Hi Molly,

I am having a battle with eBay at the moment over their unfair (in my view) star rating system and would like to hear from your readers their views.

My current argument is with "Dispatch". I send every item within 24 hours of payment, quite often the same day, yet I have recently received a couple of "1 or 2" scores so I asked eBay how can this happen.

I literally cannot send my items any quicker so surely I must get 5 stars if I am dispatching within 24 hours? eBay's only response so far is that I should contact the buyer and discuss it with them! How can I do this when the scoring system is left anonymously? I also check my DSR page on a daily basis and each time I have received a low score I have checked the feedback comments and they are all good comments so there is no guessing who has left me the scores anyway!

Needless to say if a buyer leaves a positive comment, it cannot be amended anyway so this is quite a ridiculous reply from eBay (you would think they would know how their own system worked)!

99.9% of my items are tracked so I have proof that the items were sent within 24hrs. (By checking Royal Mail or courier websites.)

Surely eBay need to amend this policy as it is factually incorrect, but they seem reluctant to comment or do anything about it! I wonder why? Maybe it because they are happy for sellers to lose their Top Rated Seller status as they then do not have to give 20% discount!

When buyers leave feedback they should be asked for a date of dispatch - this can be seen on the envelope/parcel or by checking the tracking details and then the seller should automatically receive a 5 star if sent within 48 hrs, 4 stars for 2-3 days, and so on. However eBay apparently do not accept ideas from customers, in their words "please note that our company policy does not allow us to accept or consider ideas or proposals, other than those that we have specifically requested." This is not very friendly customer service really is it?

I would be grateful if you could show the above in your News Bulletin to gain the views of your readers,

An interesting link is www.leavingfeedback.com. Maybe ALL buyers should read this before leaving feedback.”



It is quite likely that buyers grade the delivery time instead of dispatch time and mark accordingly. Three low scores in the US have led to the loss of my TRS status which impacts on my sales in America and of course reduces the fees I pay to eBay – a little self-defeating to my mind.

As ever your thoughts are most welcome – Mollybol@ebaybulletin.co.uk

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5. ASK MOLLY – HOW CAN I GET EXTRA PICTURES FOR FREE?
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“Dear Molly,

Your book talks about making changes to the listing description so any extra photos will appear in that area. But how do you make photos appear in other areas as in this listing - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/310338644675?

I am not a stranger to HTML and so any reply will probably make sense to me if you assume an element of pre-knowledge.”

’andjendist’ - http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/andjendist



This is an odd listing, a new improvement by eBay - a multi-variation listing. This format allows one shared free picture which shows all the items and then for each individual item an extra picture can be loaded into the eBay system for free.

You can have a max of 30 variations which means 31 free pictures in total. Train track only really needs one picture per item so no need to load any more into the description.

I am moving more into this format as I can list 30 items for 10p and it is unlikely that all 230 items on this listing will sell so I can just amend the current listing as I obtain more stock. If I had, say, a junction which sold out and three months elapsed before I had any more then the listing, and photo, will have gone from the system meaning more work. This listing keeps all the details as long as one item remains unsold.

This format works well for my cosmetic ranges which come in different sizes. I can offer more bottles at a reduced price which shifts more inventory and cuts down on costs: PayPal 20p flat charges, bubble bags, stamps, time to write out envelope etc. It is worth reducing two bottles by £1.00 to save these costs.

The new 80 character title length allows me to enter all available volume options so buyers searching for 15ml, 30ml or 45ml will find the item. One final point about this listing is that the lead picture shows loads of items with a headline price of 99p, people will be curious and look - more hits usually means more sales.



A couple of quick points about multi-variation listings which you might not know:

1) Each variation title can only be 30 characters long, but eBay don’t stop you typing which is why you have incomplete variation titles on your listing.

2) The variation title is included in the search results, which means for this listing option I have 980 characters in which to place all my key search words – who needs to ‘key word spam’ anymore?

I know it’s not anything to do with HTML this time, but interesting none the less.



If you have a question about eBay or home working in general, please send it to: mollybol@ebaybulletin.co.uk - I will reply personally to every e-mail I receive and remember, there are FREE copies of my book available for the best questions, tips, or stories.



-- END NOTE --



That's all for this week. Check out www.ebaybulletin.co.uk for the latest news from Molly HQ.



Things don’t always go as planned and a recent sale of a stuffed bear ended up in a full refund. I knew it was a borderline item so half expected a complaint, which was sorted with no delay; it was the note from the buyer which made me smile and despair at the same time.

“hi ive just recieced the build a bear lamb which condition is very poor on its back its fredbear and has black bits o fluff on it i would like a full refund as this item is clearly not worth it x i can give this to my little girl”


Best wishes and happy eBaying

Mollybol

Author of the bestselling book, 'The eBay Business Handbook' - available direct from the publishers: www.harriman-house.com/ebaybusiness