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Hello Sellers,
As you already know, Shipping is a topic that we're talking a lot about these days at eBay Canada. We've recently hosted a couple of discussions with some Canadian sellers at our eBay offices. I'd like to also draw on anyone who would be willing to share their story with regards to online shipping labels, whether you use the PayPal labels platform, another, or none.
I'd like to know the following:
- How would you describe your experience using online labels?
- What works well for you?
- What are some of your pain or friction points?
- Are there any features you would like to see, or any that you would rather not see?
- Anything else you would like to share.
Many thanks in advance!
raphael@ebay.com wrote:Hello Sellers,
As you already know, Shipping is a topic that we're talking a lot about these days at eBay Canada. We've recently hosted a couple of discussions with some Canadian sellers at our eBay offices. I'd like to also draw on anyone who would be willing to share their story with regards to online shipping labels, whether you use the PayPal labels platform, another, or none.
I'd like to know the following:
- How would you describe your experience using online labels?
- What works well for you?
- What are some of your pain or friction points?
- Are there any features you would like to see, or any that you would rather not see?
- Anything else you would like to share.
Many thanks in advance!
My experience has been 90% positive. When it goes down, it crashes and burns in the worst possible order.
It all works.
PP shipping flat out lies about delivery times. To out of the country, the delivery times are set to "at Customs". For Chile and mexico, it should be five WEEKS.
Features seems fine. Try not to add anything,please.
Share? Change the delivery times from mythical to actual. Do not tell me to ship using tracking, to countries with NO "real" tracking, and tell me to pass the cost along to the customer. Lemme see, I can charge the $11 Small packet rate, or, The $110 Expresspost rate, for a $15 part. Worse? For dispute resolution you require tracking, yet, for many countries you deliberately do not offer it. Why?
I was at eBay Live, Las Vegas, 2006. I was told two things at the PP area. One is that they were going 100% into Canada on the same level as the US. When is that to be implemented? The other thing was "We are meeting with Canada Post NEXT WEEK to work on tracking to the US". That was nine (9) years ago. How is that coming along?
Hi Raphael,
I want to thank you for asking for input from sellers on this essential subject. I think you'll find that those of us "in the trenches" will have many practical (and important) suggestions. By the way, I take it from your queries that eBay is considering offering an in-house shipping label feature, so I'll give my responses from that perspective.
How would you describe your experience using online labels?
- Paypal - Aside from a couple of irritating flaws and some frustrating incompatibilities with certain browsers, Paypal has been mostly wonderful, fairly simple, quick, nicely aligned with eBay, and with decent discounts (although I always wish for a discount on Small Packet). I use Paypal labels almost exclusively.
- Canada Post - a horror. The one time I had to use it because Paypal was down, I was actually laughing out loud with disbelief it was so badly designed and dysfunctional. They should call it "ship-in-a-thousand-clicks". Please, please don't emulate them!
What works well for you?
- A feature that is simple, quick, and consistently reliable. Not all of us have software skills to understand how to come up with workarounds when time is of the essence.
- I do like the way Paypal labels and eBay work in tandem, for a fairly seamless result.
- The Paypal discounts really have been a lifesaver
- Ability to request that a label be cancelled and have the cost refunded (although see #4 below)
What are some of your pain or friction points?
1) Features that should work but don't.
Tracked Packet has never functioned entirely properly since it was introduced.
2) A minor point, but I dislike the way addresses are inserted onto Paypal labels -- the lines run so closely together (top to bottom) that I sometimes fear they won't be legible for the postie who has to deliver the item. A different font, plus a bit more line spacing would make the address portion so much clearer.
3) (Obviously) down-times and major glitches that prevent a label from being processed or printed as expected. For many of us, a problem like that means driving several kms to a Post Office and paying premium rates to ship.
4) On the rare occasion when I've had to completely cancel a label, it's been a slow process getting refunded (over 3 weeks).
Are there any features you would like to see, or any that you would rather not see?
Would like:
- Being able to estimate final pricing in advance for discounted services, and/or use a blank form (i.e. the way "shipnow" used to work on Paypal). This was a vital feature at times.
- Ability to reprint a label within 24 hours (this has been helpful on many occasions!)
- Message box to customer (I use this almost every time when processing a Paypal label)
- Seamless functionality with eBay sales record and Selling Manager (this works well currently)
- Some increases in the existing parcel discounts would be nice. As one poster has pointed out, these have been static, while Canada Post rates have continued to climb significantly
- Option to toggle price display on or off on the final printed label -- I'm sure this is a more important function for many sellers than it may seem
- Full functionality with Windows 10, which it seems half the world will soon be using
- As mentioned above, clearer address portion on the printed label
- I like the idea one poster above mentioned of having the option to display the actual shipping cost alongside the seller's charged cost. I used to send a message to my buyers indicating that shipping was $X, but I was discounting it by $X as a courtesy, but stopped doing that as I felt it was too blatant. However, a pre-purchase reminder by eBay would be a little more subtle and just as helpful.
- I would love, love, love to have a discount on Small Packet USA!
I've never understood why this wasn't possible, since I imagine a lot of Cdn sellers must use Small Packet to the U.S. - Lastly -- a "pie in the sky" wish -- tracked shipping from Canada to the U.S. at truly competitive rates for small parcels (under 1kg). I've just about given up on international shipping (it's simply become too costly), but if the same happens to shipping to the U.S. then I and many other Cdn sellers will be out of the game entirely. EBay could help to step up Canadians' ability to compete in the U.S. market by negotiating or offering a more substantial discount on Tracked Packet, or conversely, Small Packet with tracking at current rates.
Would not like:
- A complex, time-consuming and unreliable shipping label service. When you're relying on a feature sometimes several times a day, you need it to work dependably, quickly and easily, especially if you have promised customers same day, 1-day (or 24-hour) dispatch of purchases
- A Canada Post style online label system (please no!)
- GSP system (please no!)
Anything else you would like to share.
If eBay is going to have a returns policy that involves Canadian sellers having to pay for return shipping from U.S. or international buyers, then there has to be a simple return label feature for sellers and/or buyers to access.
The suggestion of choosing a group of experienced sellers to run a test on a proposed new system is a very good one.
I'm sure shipping is a huge concern and frustration for all Canadian sellers, but it's especially critical for those of us with smaller transaction volumes. The main point I want to make is that whatever labeling system eBay adopts should not add yet another layer of worry or frustration to that area.
Thank you for asking us for our input.
Price on the label tells the equipment where it is going.
I "think" there is a lot of misunderstanding about labels. For eg: legible. Why does it need to be readable by human eyes when only machines ever see it. Every single parcel I get has a bar code on it, which probably identifies right down to which room of my house I am in.
I, too, used to obsess about the four digit locator code to the US. Even the USPS says those are pretty much passe.
I am of the "thought" that any printed information on the label, is simply there as either a backup in the event the bar code fails, or, to assuage us folks that don't want to accept a bar code as the entire name and address.
PP told me that they were going to have this bar code all figured out, with Canada Post, nine (9) years ago.
All other requests aside, why can't each packet simply have it's own bar code that identifies sender, buyer, customs info? The technology certainly exists. We would still enter all the info as we do now. Instead of this label we have to deal with now, all we would need to put on the packet is a bar code.
None of this info would be view-able by anyone other than Customs or the PO.
