eBay

25kenwood · ‎07-08-2023

I already have buyers asking 'can't you just ship it for cheap in an envelope' when they don't see first class shipping in a listing. 🙄

Good luck with the big change everyone!

Change your first class listings now, since the next shipping day is Monday, after those services have changed.

dbfolks166mt · ‎07-09-2023

A lot of sellers are focused on just the first class aspects of the change but there is also another potential advantage, no pun intended, to the USPS Ground Advantage. One of the reasons I never utilized Parcel Select Ground before was because it did not have insurance so I either went with UPS ground or USPS priority mail as my main shipping options.

With the cost of postage becoming more and more of a factor to buyers as well as sellers and with ground advantage now having insurance while I was updating my listings I switched my default shipping option to Ground Advantage as opposed to priority mail as there is potentially a significant cost difference between the two and the couple of extra days of shipping time may out weight the extra cost for priority although I left that decision to the buyer. Example for one of my listings. That is a pretty significant cost difference.

stainlessenginecovers · ‎07-09-2023

@inhawaii @nobody*s_perfect

Note that it was VERY easy to 'edit' all items from '1st Class' to GA

Also very easy to change the verbiage in my written description that used to say 'Item will ship USPS 1st Class or "item will ship USPS First Class' or 'Item will ship USPS Priority" to....

Item will ship USPS

This way, if/when they EVER decide to change the 'name' of anything.. I won't care and neither will the buyer.

duffy4444 · ‎07-09-2023

@nobody*s_perfect wrote:
eBay has stated that they will NOT change First Class in your listings to Ground Advantage, and that this must be done "manually."

@nobody*s_perfectand @inhawaii :

I'll chime in and either clear something up, or muddy the waters a bit more:

I think that the reason why we have to manually edit USPS First Class to USPS Ground Advantage is because it is ONLY First Class Package that is being retired and moved over to GA. There is still First Class Letter and First Class Large Envelope/Flat that are NOT changing or being retired. Therefore it is up to us sellers to know which listings we need to change, and which ones we need to leave as USPS First Class.

I've got hundreds of quilt and cross-stitch patterns that get shipped as USPS First Class Large Envelope/Flat. I still have to go thru my 888 listings and change the other First Class Package ones to GA, which I'm not looking forward to.

I hope this helps... Clear as mud? When the USPS makes such a big change and eBay tries to interpret what needs to be done, it is almost a given that it will be instituted by the Keystone Cops.

Cheers, Duffy

25kenwood · ‎07-10-2023

I am aware. I was not referring to a first class letter anywhere.

25kenwood · ‎07-10-2023

It is only easy if you're a 'free' shipping seller. I had to re-insert shipping rates on every listing I changed. eBay has no way to carry over shipping rates when you change the shipping type.

nobody*s_perfect · ‎07-10-2023

@duffy4444 wrote: ...
I'll chime in and either clear something up, or muddy the waters a bit more:
I think that the reason why we have to manually edit USPS First Class to USPS Ground Advantage is because it is ONLY First Class Package that is being retired and moved over to GA. There is still First Class Letter and First Class Large Envelope/Flat that are NOT changing or being retired. Therefore it is up to us sellers to know which listings we need to change, and which ones we need to leave as USPS First Class....

It was eBay that muddied the waters, by removing the menu for "Package type" when designing the new listing form. With the earlier versions of the listing form, sellers could clearly specify First Class letters, flats or packages as distinctly separate services.

duffy4444 · ‎07-10-2023

@nobody*s_perfect wrote:
@duffy4444 wrote: ...
I'll chime in and either clear something up, or muddy the waters a bit more:
I think that the reason why we have to manually edit USPS First Class to USPS Ground Advantage is because it is ONLY First Class Package that is being retired and moved over to GA. There is still First Class Letter and First Class Large Envelope/Flat that are NOT changing or being retired. Therefore it is up to us sellers to know which listings we need to change, and which ones we need to leave as USPS First Class....
It was eBay that muddied the waters, by removing the menu for "Package type" when designing the new listing form. With the earlier versions of the listing form, sellers could clearly specify First Class letters, flats or packages as distinctly separate services.

Greetings, @nobody*s_perfect !

Yes, I know it was eBay that muddied the waters. Ebay is very good at emulating the Keystone Cops when adjusting shipping changes or pushing out new things so we have to sort things out ourselves and waste a lot of time. I still have to go thru all of my FC listings and delineate which are which.

This current eBay labeling/shipping fire drill is the reason why about 18 years ago I switched over to Stamps.com for my shipping needs. This morning I loaded the Stamps.com software update, and I see all the correct versions of First Class and GA that the USPS instituted. I was able to seamlessly ship correctly all 6 orders from over the weekend. They included a DMC Floss order that went First Class Large Envelope/Flat. That label properly had F in the box with the correct postage charge, and the rest had GA.

I would assume that the other 3rd party labeling/shipping services are ok with properly instituting the changes to First Class.

You're right - I offer Free Shipping on most, but not all, of my listings. In doing so, I avoid most of the hassles and eBay-generated confusion such as many of us sellers are currently experiencing. The prices on my listings already include average shipping costs. This works quite well for me, has not affected my sales much at all, and eBay's shipping inadequacies are a thing of the past.

Cheers, Duffy