German sellers must specify postage
17/06/2008 at 11:59
Another one to file under “expect this to roll globally any time now”: from 1st July, German eBay sellers must specify postage in the postage field of their listings, and will not be able to simply list postage costs within the item description.
This is a sensible move and frankly should have been made across all eBay sites years ago. There’s no excuse for sellers not to be upfront about their postage costs, and this makes it much easier for buyers to find them, as well, of course, as feeding into a seller’s Best Match rating. What isn’t specified is whether this applies to just domestic postage, or to international costs too.
Yael says
12:56 pm on 17/06/2008
I have no problem showing domestic postage, but when I “ship” abroad it all depends. Sometimes as in Ireland I don’t actually ship from here but instead have it sent out from an Irish wholesaler, but then they don’t do the whole range and their prices are on the up the whole time, so it all depends. I wouldn’t be able to specify and it would be a problem unless I did hours of research before… (laziness kicks in, lol!).
Mandy says
1:33 pm on 17/06/2008
What it means regarding international postage is that you need specify the shipping cost which will work for you for sure.
This may mean for example the same shipping price for any customer from the EU regardless of the weight.
For example we sell cds and the royal mail charges different prices for small packets so it is nearly impossible (or too time-consuming) to calculate how much exactly the real postage will be which is why we have a fixed price for each item which will cover the postage for sure
Sue Bailey says
2:09 pm on 17/06/2008
I had better make this clear: the German announcement does not make any statement that the policy applies to international shipping, nor that it doesn’t apply to international shipping. In terms of the *policy*, it remains unclear whether it applies to international trading or not. Of course, each seller must price shipping in a way that does not leave them at a loss (unless they choose to use shipping as a loss leader).
Owen says
7:21 pm on 17/06/2008
Another nail in the coffin for my eBay trading.
If it comes to the UK, it will be impossible for me and many others who ship by the pallet or carrier with prices varying according to postcode.
whirly says
7:40 pm on 17/06/2008
As Owen #4, pallet delivery zones vary a lot, not forgetting poopal don’t/won’t update there policies to accept signed for deliveries even though county court judges are happy to accept them as proof of delivery.