eBay stats for the UK by scale

QUOTE (Dinwiddy @ 24 Oct 2007, 23:26) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>the current Royal Mail changes in charging structure mean that some items cost more to send out than they cost to purchase!
David Y.

Royal Mail continually increase the costs & reduce the quality of the service - they are gradually losing more & more business. We have a contract with DHL (part of the German Post Office) which gives us guaranteed 48hr delivery, tracked & signed for, insured &, of course they collect from us, up to 30kg for £7.50 !

Only, small items now go by Royal Snail - we use our local Sub-Post Office to try to keep them open, but by the time we have gone down the road & quewed up behind all the people buying one stamp & then discusssing whatever with the lady behind the counter..................................

& before anyone jumps in, this is based on our experience - I appreciate that some people manage to get excellent service from Royal Snail. Also, the local RM staff we deal with are excellent people who will tell you (& I believe them) that the problems are caused by continual restructuring & management.

"Royal Mail continually increase the costs & reduce the quality of the service . . ."

I agree. I bought something on ebay, and using paypal the money got to the seller's account on 16th of this month. When it had not arrived by the 22nd, I emailed, and they assure me that they had posted it the same day that they had got the money. It arrived today and sure enough is franked with 16th October as the date and with first class postage paid! It may have got caught in a backlog due to the recent strike.

As a buyer on ebay, what usually amazes me is the ridiculously high prices that some people are prepared to offer. With postage it sometimes comes to more than you could get the thing from a dealer up the road. As an example, a few days ago someone paid £11.25 plus £1.50 postage for a used tortoise point motor. They are less than that brand new. Still, people on this website have commented before about what happens on ebay. I will only buy if the price is at least 25% below the new price for an item that is in perfect condition, and then only if the postage doesn't add too much.

Re Royal Mail and other carriers.

I live in the Scottish Highlands (on Skye) and am getting increasingly concerned about the possible demise of Royal Mail and especially the 'flat rate' postage. I cannot speak regarding all carriers but my experience is that many of them add an extra 25% or more to deliver to the Highlands, indeed some won't deliver at all. Royal Mail give us an excellent service with items posted in the south of England usually here as quickly as if we were next door to the sender.

That said, I have had a few 'incidents', all with overseas mail. Recently I received a letter advising me that a parcel was being held in Inverness until I paid Custom's VAT. I paid Saturday morning over the Web and arranged delivery on Tuesday. On the following Thursday, I contacted their help office (on-line) as nothing had arrived. Later that day I managed to find a way to speak direct to the Inverness office. The latter were very helpful and the lady I spoke to said yes, she personally know the package, checked that it was still in the bonded area and arranged to get it to me the following day; very apologetic. Today I go an apology from the help desk, noting that the parcel had since been delivered. As I have two more high value parcels coming from the US, I am just a tad worried that it will all happen again.

The other problem was much more serious. As the bank charge £17+ to do an international money transfer to Europe I have been sending cash by Signed For or Airsure. I have had two non-deliveries. In both cases the envelope with the money in it disappeared in Frankfurt. Royal Mail refused to compensate me as I could not prove that the letter contained teh amount claimed (fair enough). I have since stopped using overseas suppliers who do not accept PayPal. One set up a PayPal account specially for me, teh rest have lost my trade and know why.

Regarding sending items abroad, I have been lucky so far. My eBay auctions always state that items are sent at the recipient's risk and email them with a copy of the certificate of posting. I will probably either stop selling abroad or always insist on insuring everything in future.

On the whole, I have found eBay buyers and sellers to be honest, reasonable and, often, friendly. Several of my sellers keep in touch by email and I woudl have no hesitation in setting up a meeting if it was convenient. I could count the number of times I have been conned on the fingers of two hands. On, sadly, led to a negative feedback that was on the verge of libel. I rely on hte other 2000+ good ones to lend the lie to it.

Finally, back to Royal Mail, I think it is a 100% certainly that our local post-office will close and with it the sorting office (both of which continued to work through the strike). Only time will tell where our mail will be sorted (Kyle of Lochalsh or Broadford) but it will be a sad day. The 2000 paces I walk up to the post office most mornings is pretty well the only exercise I get. (

All the best,
Chris

Hi Chris,

Very valid points regarding carriers. The problem we find with Royal Mail/Parcelfarce is not only the prices, but the long winded delay tactics employed to discourage claims for damaged/missing items. The new sizes for letter post they use seems to have been very, very carefully calculated to be in their favour.

We now only send small items via Snailmail (locomotives usually via Special Delivery). Often, it is cheaper to use DHL who charge us £7.50 for UK delivery up to 30kg for a 48hrs signed & fully tracked service - and they collect from us - no going to the local sub-post office & having to listen how Mrs Jones cat's lumbago is, or going to the main one & dodging the parking fascists !

It really is a great shame about the way things are going for Royal Mail - most of the people that we have contact with are great. It's the usual story of more management, less workers & constant fiddling with how to do things.

Regarding eBay, my experiences pretty well reflect yours. PayPal may appear a little greedy, but it is still often far cheaper & safer than other methods.

QUOTE (BRITHO @ 9 Nov 2007, 13:45) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>I really think you've missed the point. Yes Wrenn are old castings (incidentally you have either die cast or injection moulded), which is why, and here I have to agree wiyh Gary (Gulp!), that it is the rarity value that attracts the bids, not that it is a nicely detailed model to modern standards. Everyone has their own viewpoint, and don't forget you can't just phone Hattons, or whoever, and ask them to send you a new Wrenn 08 shunter.

Think about it.

Regards

Sorry, no I haven't missed the point, just we have a difference of opinion here, as a modeller of operational layouts that prefers items as near to realism perfection as can be practical. I have no understanding of high prices for so called rare crude collectors items. It may be sacrilege to some, but my own opinion is that the best thing for Wrenn die-cast is to melt it down, and make something more useful. When looking on E-Bay if I see an item I want, and the seller has added 'rare' to their ad, I avoid it as someone is trying hard to overcharge. Likewise I have no understanding of people spending untold millions on old paintings.
It takes all sorts I suppose.
Paul M.

QUOTE Except maybe to trap the unwary, using the word "rare" in a description is a waste of time, - those that really know, know if it's rare or not !

If there is a buyer/seller relationship and many eBay sellers do have a following of buyers then using the word "rare" when appropriate is helpful for the buyer who may be quickly scanning your list of items for sale.

As long as it is used with discretion by responsible sellers.

Its entirely 100% every buyers decision on how they approach eBay and if some choose to ignore items that contain the word "rare" then that is entirely up to them!

Do we avoid Sotherby, Christies, Bonhams and Vectis because of their use of the word "rare"?

Happy modelling
Gary