What's the latest on if I don't change my First Class package listings to Ground Advantage?

[jamesdouglasgallery]

What happens to the listings? Curious, since eBay seems to be converting my existing first class package sales to ground advantage now without a snag in prices.

[fern*wood]

That's a shame you look at it that way.  I always appreciate others looking out for me and helping me fix problems in my listings that may save my butt down the road.   After reading the earlier post by wastingtime, I went to check on my yearbook listings.   All were Priority mail except for one, which I had offered media mail because I misunderstood the rule.  That yearbook didn't have any advertising, so I thought I was okay.  I just now fixed it. 

[gloryglorygifts]

Who knows?

[jamesdouglasgallery]

I understand that it might be a shame for you if you took my attitude. I see you finding insight from the unrequested feedback given to me, and I hope it works for you, but after 26 years of selling on eBay, I'm only looking for answers to the questions I post, not a review of my listings. They can certainly make their own posts to warn people about their concerns. But this is the risk of posting a public question, other users going on their own personal power trips. I think I've found the answers I expected, so I'll leave you to deal with them now.

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@nobody*s_perfect 

At present, ground Advantage rates for what had been First Class packages are the exact same rates as the previous First Class rates. Which is why , when a buyer chooses First Class today (because the seller did not change the designation in the listing), ebay can provide a GA label---because the buyer is charged the same amount he was shown in the listing. The dollar amount has NOT changed, only the designation (FC to GA) has changed.

In other words, ebay has not had to change the dollar amount shown to the buyer. So, even though the seller is still telling the buyer it is First Class, it doesn't really matter, in terms of what the buyer pays.

But sooner or later, the USPS being the USPS, they will increase the GA rates. My guess is, IF you as a seller have changed your listings from 1st Class to GA, fine, no problem...ebay will update GA to the new GA rates (for calculated shipping).

The question is: what if you still have 1st Class in your listings? We know ebay will change GA to the new GA rates, but will ebay make that change for listings that still say 1st Class? My guess is: No. 

Just what ebay will do is anyone's guess. Maybe gray out 1st Class and if it's the only choice you have provided to your buyer, ebay might remove the listing. If you have, say, 1st Class and Priority, the buyer will only be shown Priority. Who knows? We don't know, because ebay has not said. 

But my guess is, there's no big problem UNTIL USPS increases the GA rate for items under a pound (formerly , First Class). Then, there may well be a problem.

I do NOT intend to wait around for that. I have maybe 150? more to change. I 'll continue to spend a little time here and there, and I'll be updated long before I need to worry about it.

[norskmediashop]

Like everyone is stating we just dont know yet, ebay got a lot of backlash the first time around and pulled all the deadline dates. We were told to wait it out that they were working on options essentialy going back to the drawing board, whatever that may or may not mean.

We went out of business on Bonanza, because they just outright pulled the FC from everything and only showed customers Priority, which was horrible, with no options to change anything unless you manually went into every single item and did it yourself, well that's impossible with thousands of items. So were done with that site...ebay however is a waiting game, stores that have thousands of listings where every item has a different set of shipping needs and configurations...its a nightmare. we have done nothing except for when new listings are created we of course set it up with GA if thats an option for the item. But bulk will not work because it eliminates the other ship options you have, and buis policies not even going there, not yet unless were all thrown under the bus like bonanza did. That was a shame because we did okay on bonanza, not as good as here, but it was nice. USPS doing this was really the worst thing that could have happened to ecommerce. None of the platforms were ready or had alternatives for sellers. 

[albertabrightalberta]

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@jamesdouglasgallery wrote:No, but you do underline a point for me. I now know why people have posting ID's to keep busy-bodies from reviewing your listings to cite issues that have absolutely nothing to do with the thread's subject. And then being supported by others for doing exactly that. It really is kind of passive-aggressive, and talk about reputation. It's like feeding time in the shark tank.

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When a post gets such a defensive response, I infer that the "error" pointed out wasn't an honest mistake and the response is anger and frustration for having been caught.  

Rather than attacking the messenger (whether it's one who uses a PID for obvious reasons or one using a selling ID), accepting the fact that one is human and subject to erring is significantly more appropriate. 

[nobody*s_perfect · Accepted solution]

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@my-cottage-books-and-antiques wrote: ... We know ebay will change GA to the new GA rates, but will ebay make that change for listings that still say 1st Class? ... my guess is, there's no big problem UNTIL USPS increases the GA rate for items under a pound (formerly , First Class). Then, there may well be a problem....

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One place where the old and new rates are different is the retail rates for packages above 12 ounces.  Listings that are set up to charge retail pricing for 13 ounces show the current GA rate, not the old 13-ounce rate, so clearly eBay is already plugging in the current GA rates in listings which say FC package. 

[albertabrightalberta]

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@norskmediashop wrote:

We went out of business on Bonanza, because they just outright pulled the FC from everything and only showed customers Priority, which was horrible, with no options to change anything unless you manually went into every single item and did it yourself, well that's impossible with thousands of items. So were done with that site...ebay however is a waiting game, stores that have thousands of listings where every item has a different set of shipping needs and configurations...its a nightmare. we have done nothing except for when new listings are created we of course set it up with GA if thats an option for the item. But bulk will not work because it eliminates the other ship options you have, and buis policies not even going there, not yet unless were all thrown under the bus like bonanza did. That was a shame because we did okay on bonanza, not as good as here, but it was nice. USPS doing this was really the worst thing that could have happened to ecommerce. None of the platforms were ready or had alternatives for sellers. 

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Both Bonanza and eBay give you the ability to bulk edit your listings. I haven't done it on Bonanza but on ebay, it took me about 10 minutes to figure out how to bulk edit all my first class mail listings. And the only reason it took as long as it did is because I don't bulk edit very often, so each time, it's like starting over. 

For the record, my Bonanza listings still show first class shipping. I don't offer a choice of first class or priority on items <1 lb. and nothing has changed. My listings that are priority shipping remained the same.

[norskmediashop]

well for whatever reason FC was automatically removed from all of ours on bonanza,,,so we deleted the entire store,,,(at their suggestion) and did a reimport from ebay but it only imported 300 of 2,000 listings,,,it was a mess, and their customer service is horrible. so unfortunately bonanza is out because I dont know how to fix it. I saw the bulk edit option there, but you had to enter a weight to do a bulk edit, that's impossible when nothing is the same weight...its just all messed up there. 

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@nobody*s_perfect  Thanks. I wasn't aware of that. So it might be that ebay will simply plug the new GA rates (Whenever they arrive) into the existing First Class rate in the listing. That's certainly possible. Who knows? It's even possible that ebay will decide to change the 1st class designation to GA, just as they did with Parcel Select...and if they do that, the time I spent making the changes was wasted. But hey, I waste time watching cute cat videos, too, so , really, for me, no big deal either way. 

I can understand those sellers who are not making the changes now, and are waiting to see if ebay makes the changes, or if ebay at least comes up with an easy way to bulk edit them. I've already changed a bunch, and I don't mind doing a batch here and there until I'm finished. But I don't have thousands to change, so I can only speak for myself.

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@my-cottage-books-and-antiques wrote: ... It's even possible that ebay will decide to change the 1st class designation to GA, just as they did with Parcel Select... .

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I thought that one of the eBay staff pointed out that they can't globally change all FC to GA because some FC listings are for flats and letters.  If you go back a year or two, the old listing form had the option to calculate postage for letters and flats. I figure if eBay can't/won't automatically change Retail Ground to GA, they sure won't change FC.

[gloryglorygifts]

I noticed from day one that ground advantage was listed as the only first class shipping for labels on here. I seem to remember ebay saying that you had to change every one of your listings to the new product, and had a month to comply (which seems to have been extended). After that period all listings that were not updated were going to be removed by ebay. I remember that because it lit the fire under me to get it done sooner rather than later. They said change the listings so I did. I'm not one to rely on them to update anything. Too glitchy and too many products to worry about. 

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@nobody*s_perfect That's what they said, yes. However, I think many sellers are hoping ebay will eventually find a way to make the conversion on their end, or at least  make it possible for sellers to easily identify their First Class listings in bulk edit, and then edit the listings from there.

As I said, I'm not relying on any of that happening, but I also don't have thousands of first class listings, and who am I to crush the hopes of those who do? Until ebay tells us just exactly what the consequences will be for not making the change, I am fine with following my plan , but for those who'd rather wait, that's their choice.

[lux.ra_14]

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@jamesdouglasgallery wrote:

I understand that it might be a shame for you if you took my attitude. I see you finding insight from the unrequested feedback given to me, and I hope it works for you, but after 26 years of selling on eBay, I'm only looking for answers to the questions I post, not a review of my listings. They can certainly make their own posts to warn people about their concerns. But this is the risk of posting a public question, other users going on their own personal power trips. I think I've found the answers I expected, so I'll leave you to deal with them now.

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You weren't looking for guidance on Media Mail, but you're misusing the service and cheating USPS.

Is it anybody else's business? Yes, since postal fraud can cost all online sellers in the form of higher rates.  That's the truth, not a power trip.

[fern*wood]

Personally I don't understand why USPS continues to offer media mail.  I sort of understand the educational part, but many things can be educational, and plenty of books aren't.  Books are heavy, but many items I sell are heavy too.