An eBay UK marketing email, triggered Friday, contained a warning message that has troubled UK sellers this weekend, and spawned many questions across discussion boards, and in blog commentaries and replies to them.

The email entitled, “Why travel to your local High Street when we’re right here?” carried a top index stating, “P&P Changes, see below” leading readers to this panel -

“Fair enough” you might think, except the link took readers to the US General Announcements Board, and logic then made them navigate to eBay.com’s recent announcement about maximum shipping charges in certain categories, together with the need for specified domestic shipping options in all listings.  Those were what lit up the forums and blogs this weekend.

In fact, the link appears to have been intended to be a refresher for the UK’s 14th August announcement titled, “Making important item information more visible“.  The key points of this announcement, affecting listings on eBay UK are -

• From the beginning of October, when sellers put in a dispatch time for an item, eBay will start to display the estimated delivery time for that item at checkout.  This will be calculated by combining information about the ‘Dispatch Time’ and ‘Postage Option’ the seller specifies when creating their listing.
• Also from the beginning of October, every seller will need to specify whether they do or don’t accept returns. eBay say they will remove the pre-selected drop down menu that allows sellers to choose the length of time during which returns will be accepted.  This means business sellers (listing on eBay UK) should adapt their return policy in line with their legal obligations (under UK law), and specify the number of days during which returns will be accepted by them.
• Then, from early in the new year, all sellers (listing on the UK) will be required to enter a dispatch time on all their listings.  If there’s no information regarding normal delivery times for the postage option chosen, eBay will just show the dispatch time.

This announcement itself gave rise to outbursts on the eBay UK discussion boards when it first came out, but in the mayhem after the new fee announcements the following week, it was forgotten and buried.  Now it has surfaced afresh.

The weekend’s early reactions came from those who thought the email was referring to the incoming US policy of maximum delivery charges in certain categories, first launched in Germany earlier this year.  Then when it was realised (in the UK PowerSeller Forum) what it truly referred to, the mid-August objections kicked up again.

Seller ” guns-and-golf ” summed it up best -

I’ve started adding ‘unfortunately I’m not responsible for Royal Mail’s delivery times‘ when I email the buyer about dispatching their item. It may or may not help my DSRs, only time will tell.  My next working day and sometimes same day dispatch is not reflected in my stars at the moment.

Interestingly, Royal Mail’s website quotes 1-2 days for 1st class postage, and 3+ days for 2nd (although I’ve known them deliver next day for 2nd so that’s a joke too).

Here at eBay, they quote 1 day for 1st class, and 1-3 for 2nd class!!!

They should STOP putting the ‘Sellers are not responsible etc etc..‘ blurb in the lightest and smallest possible font.. THIS IS IMPORTANT!

There are two critical points in there – the discrepancy between what Royal Mail advertises as the service delivered, and what eBay says about the same service.  And the “fading” of the warning to buyers about sellers not being responsible for the performance of the postal services.  On the second point, “Stop fudging eBay!” either sellers are, or are not, responsible for the post offices’ performance – stop sitting on the fence and ensure the buyers understand the reality.

If any overseas sellers are intent on continuing to use the UK site after last week’s back-stabbing money grab regarding shop status for reduced fees eligibility, the incoming postal rules are less of a kick in the sphericals, than a grinding of the heel into them while you’re down.  Overseas sellers will now be forced to use the “Seller’s Standard Rate” and “Seller’s Other Rate” options for UK deliveries and with those comes several dissuasions for UK buyers.

First is that, the Standard and Other options will not display a delivery transit time, only a despatch time.  Many buyers globally are already reading the despatch time as meaning total delivery time, and I forsee the P&P DSRs taking a massive beating over this.  I’ve used the despatch time drop down since it first appeared in Turbo Lister around four years ago, and have a LOT of personal experience of arsey buyers contacting me on the 3rd day of despatch time, asking where their packages are “as it said delivery time would be 3 days”.

Second, is that buyers do not read the payment and postal blurb within a description or “Additional Info” box – we all know that – therefore explaining the postal options in those is largely a waste of time, though I still do it.  Even using the custom FAQs page that comes with a store/SMP subscription does not catch all buyer queries, therefore seller’s time-overhead is going to be further increased, pressuring margins and customer support availability even further.

Third, and perhaps most critical, is the removal of the sellers’ choice of return period.  If we could be 100% certain that eBay would abide by the legally required limits, then it’s less worrying, but as they demonstrated this year (twice) eBay UK have little regard for statutory limitations when it comes to telling sellers what to do.  Both the Business Seller Addresses in all listings, and the 14-day compulsory minimum return period (double the legal requirement) have been backtracked on … whilst sellers could still ignore eBay’s overstepped rules, and apply the legal requirement.  Such an option will not be available to sellers next year.

With the incoming loss of sellers’ return-period choice, eBay will be able to state whatever period they like and sellers only objection-choice would be a total take down of all listings.  Am I being a cynic or a seer if I hypothesise eBay advertising “change of mind” return eligibility for 3 months, or even 6 months, after date of delivery, before the end of 2009?  In their battle to out-Amazon Amazon, such a scenario should not be unexpected.

For International sellers, again this is a traumatic move – If a seller is stating 7-14 days international delivery, and eBay then states returns must be made within say 7 days, I can picture buyers thinking, “If the buyer gets 14 days to get it to me, why have I only got 7 to get it back to them?  Next Seller please.”  This is quite apart from the fact that such buyers’ rights may not apply to non-resident sellers under existing UK laws.  Again this is a legislatory aspect that eBay have demonstrated scant regard for in the last year or so – PayPal even more so.

As I said last week, when eBay announced (after the fact) that overseas stores subscribers would not get the new-BIN reduced insertion fees by store level, I’m off the UK and will never list there again until they offer free insertion or a complete reversal of these xenophobic and location-discriminating policies.  These incoming postal policies reinforce that decision. I also believe it is only a matter of months before capped P&P charges begin appearing on what is no longer eBay’s second largest marketplace.

eBay UK is demonstrating very firmly they have no desire to retain non-resident sellers.  eBay is not a country, but many countries have tried what eBay UK seem intent on doing.  The USSR tried excluding cross-border traders, and it almost sank the nation.  So did China, and they had to u-turn just over a decade ago.  North Korea is still trying it, and look at their condition.  Vietnam and Laos have recently abandoned such exclusionary policies, as have almost all of the “closed states” around the world.

Yet, in the face of global recession, and an impending UK economic collapse, eBay UK think they can survive without the world wide marketplace.  They forget that upsetting the sellers from developing nations also upsets the buyers from those same countries, and national pride and petulance can turn one nation’s traders away from another’s marketplace faster than you can say “Global Accord on Tariffs and Trade”.

These latest moves will hopefully accelerate the rise of other UK sites such as eBid, who do not penalise their overseas buyers and sellers, and where the sellers go, eventually the buyers follow.

Ed