eBay

sylviebee · ‎08-09-2016

I'm Appalled.

This is what eBay sent me for $66.00 (100 count) eBay Branded Polyjacket Envelopes 12" x 15")

I expected Padded Envelopes. There are plastic bags valued at $66. I have no use for these. The PO used to give these away for free.

I wish I could return them.

ricarmic · ‎08-09-2016

Yep this is what I got last time around too ooops.

Guess I should have done more research regarding what in the heck polyjacket envelopes really are.

Still trying to figure out what I might order this time that might be of use.......

sylviebee · ‎08-09-2016

I just put in a return request for INAD.

It sounds like you were fooled too so obviously they could do better with the description.

Who'd expect plastic bags for $66?

ricarmic · ‎08-09-2016

It is interesting that they tell us sellers to use lots of pictures etc.

The pictures for these are only:

-top (front) of the envelope

-a pile of the various sizes together fronts only (which we would advise sellers not to do, only picture what is being sold)

Once I had it in my hand the description makes sense. The bubble mailers are straightforward description wise.

If I were selling these, I'd have a picture of a stack of 100 top view and side view at least.....probably back view too.....

We must remember that they are only new sellers, it will likely take them a while to learn about all the rules and good ways to present and sell things...

sylviebee · ‎08-09-2016

Yes!

Had they posted a photo like the one I took above I would have known what I was buying.

As it was, I took a lot of time comparing these to the other type of shipping envelope they offer.

They wrote the others up like they're very heavy-duty bubble envelopes and by comparison these were written up like the same thing but just a little less sturdy.

The price is fairly close so it made sense.

It never occurred to me that they'd sell plastic bags for 66 cents each.

triber · ‎08-09-2016

I also got these, and I was very happy with mine. Canada Post is now charging for theirs, and I have been buying Tyvek, so to get them (amost) free from eBay is great for me. It depends what you sell, for me they are perfect for mailing yarn, a box puts the package in a higher shipping rate, and these are nice and light but strong.

I think "poly" does mean plastic, next time I am going to get them again in a different size. I agree, the pictures are not very clear.

silverpinups · ‎08-09-2016

If eBay really wants to benefit and compensate eBay.ca sellers for increased store subscription fees they should design a "coupon" for "general use" and not for overpriced shipping supplies that most sellers won't get much use out of.

I can go to my local Staples store and purchase exactly what I need for a fraction of the price.

An eBay coupon or store credit should be used for general use, purchasing whatever we want or desire, like the "eBay bucks" program they had set up a few years ago.

If I'm going to reinvest in eBay I would like to purchase what I want on eBay and not some useless shipping supplies that I will never get any use out of!

A Store Coupon for eBay Shipping Supplies is soulless offer on the part of eBay Management!

sylviebee · ‎08-09-2016

Poly indicates plastic but a poly mailer can still have bubble wrap inside. Usually the thin plastic bag type of mailer is shown open so that the buyer can see it's only thin plastic.

Really, I did take quite some time to read and compare the two types but was still misled.

In any case, they've accepted the return and now they just have to get the money to me for return shipping.

I'll send them back and get the ones with the bubble wrap inside. They're only a few dollars more.

Maybe if they get more returns they'll punch the listing up a bit.

triber · ‎08-09-2016

Yes, I hope they make the descriptions a lot clearer. I had purchased some "polymailers" from a seller on eBay, and when they came, the were quite thin, and if I am not careful, I can rip them very easily, so I have to use a lot of tape on them to prevent them ripping in the mail, but the ones I just got with my coupon are much stronger. I don't need the bubble lining, so for me, or clothing sellers, these are be perfect, they just need to be described correctly.

snoopwiz · ‎08-09-2016

I was "fortunate" enough to receive a quantity of 50 boxes, measuring 6" x 4" x 4" for a "measly" $106.90

The illustrious "coupon program" took care of most of that of course.

Back to the boxes now. Abacus out and I come up with the deal of the century at only $2.14 per box.

Not that I would check to see how much they would be, should I have bought them locally as I have been for many years but, should I have checked, I might have found that these same boxes (without the eBay log/ad) for, um, lets see now.....31 cents each.

But wait you say, wait, that is not with shipping and lo and behold, you would be right.

Let's check now. Where they heck did I stash the abacus. Oh good, found it. Shipping 50 of them would be $14.78, add the cost of the boxes which would be $15.50, slide the 3 red beads to the right, 2 of the blue ones and I come up with a total of $30.28

Did I mention that they took 3 weeks before they shipped? (no seller notification of pending delay)

Did I mention that they shipped just one box of 25, not the 2 that I "cough" paid for?

In their defense, they did respond to my "huh?" email quickly and quite professionally and sent the rest of my order

Did I mention that I really don't need those size boxes for anything I sell? No? Ok then, consider it mentioned. (If they were a bit less wobbly, I almost could use them to step on to reach that blasted cupboard above the fridge.

But fear not ladies and germs, we have been told that they are working on a more equitable system for Canadian sellers because, apparently, there has been quite the uproar. Ha. Imagine that. I bet San Jose never saw that coming when they put together this program for any other than U.S. sellers.

Note to self: Source any required plastic bags elsewhere.

And that my friends, ends my rant o' the day. We now return you to your regularly scheduled program, already in progress.

ypdc_dennis · ‎08-09-2016

@sylviebee wrote:
This is what eBay sent me for $66.00 (100 count) eBay Branded Polyjacket Envelopes 12" x 15")

I expected Padded Envelopes. There are plastic bags valued at $66. I have no use for these. The PO used to give these away for free.

Looks just like the eBay ones from Canada Post. The batch I got this year were 24 for $3.50 plus tax (shipping included). The Canada Post website says 14 cents each in multiples of 25 -- but I counted 2 groups and it's really only 24 per bunch, not 25. Really not worth complaining over. The Canada Post ones are nice thick heavy duty plastic and have come in handy for adding an extra bit of shipping protection.

-..-

sylviebee · ‎08-09-2016

It would take nothing at all to set up a location in Canada to supply us with this stuff.

Anyone who can sell on eBay can operate their shipping supply "store."

Sure, it would require space and an employee or two, but setting that up is just too simple and could be done with a phone call.

It should have all set to go before they offered the supplies.

silverpinups · ‎08-09-2016

This is a completely soulless offer!

eBay.ca isn't going to be setting up a Canadian Branch for Shipping Supplies (it's not cost effective).

eBay Management has found away to compensate sellers without actually compensating them and making money on overages because in most cases the coupon doesn't cover the entire cost.

I don't use the coupon... personally it's an insult to my intelligence.

eBay Sellers shouldn't complain about the eBay Shipping Supplies Store offering better pictures or more detailed descriptions, they should advocate for CHANGE!

rose-dee · ‎08-09-2016

@silverpinups wrote:
If eBay really wants to benefit and compensate eBay.ca sellers for increased store subscription fees they should design a "coupon" for "general use" and not for overpriced shipping supplies that most sellers won't get much use out of.

They will never do that because in my view, the whole purpose of these "coupons" was as a ruse to placate sellers over the 25% increase in store fees, while at the same time providing a benefit to eBay that it doesn't have to pay for. It was an ingenious idea -- make others pay and do the work for eBay.

EBay is losing absolutely nothing with these coupons. They're far from being "freebies" or "fee rebates" that cost eBay money to give away to sellers, although eBay would like us sellers to think of them as such.

The ridiculously inflated prices aside, in reality eBay is getting free international advertising every time one of these shipping products is used. That's value added for eBay, and a lot of it. EBay is cleverly using its sellers for its own ends while telling us they're really doing us a favour.

They're likely even making a small profit on the shipping supplies, but that's irrelevant in comparison to the advertising potential.

Honestly, I think they should be giving this stuff to us (for nothing but the cost of shipping the supplies to us) if we're going to be doing their promotion for them. What we're doing, in effect, is distributing little packets of eBay branding all over the world, thousands of times a day. We pay for the branding supplies, but as a matter of fact, it's our buyers who are paying for the distribution (when they pay us to ship their item(s)). I'll bet even eBay couldn't afford to buy that kind of worldwide daily branding coverage.

Yes, this branding concept may bring more buyers to eBay, but why should we sellers be paying for that service in addition to the fees we already pay to eBay to manage the site and do the site's promotion? It's not your store or your items that are being promoted to your customers when you ship your parcel with the eBay branded supplies.

There is also the question of whether some buyers may not want or appreciate having eBay's logo splashed all over a parcel they receive. Apparently eBay isn't concerned about that aspect, but these are our customers, not eBay's.

I'm sorry, but I see nothing but a cynical approach on the part of eBay where these shipping supplies are concerned.

silverpinups · ‎08-10-2016

"They're likely even making a small profit on the shipping supplies, but that's irrelevant in comparison to the advertising potential."

It's win, win for eBay.... and trust me their making a huge profit off the "cheap" shipping supplies which cost them pennies on the dollar.

You can go to your local Staples store or purchase shipping supplies from Canada Post for a 1/4 of the price with no product delays or shipping charges!

I would love to see the yearly profit margin from the eBay Shipping Supplies Store.

amya4295 · ‎08-10-2016

Using your Venture One Card you can get 100 poly bags for $14.00. Not free but certainly cheap. Just out of principle I won't use a coupon and participate in this "program". Canada is an afterthought in most Ebay seller incentive programs and this is another example.

sylviebee · ‎08-10-2016

I like the coupon.

It's true that they raised store fees and then used the coupon to mellow complaints, but they would have raised store fees eventually anyway and didn't have to issue coupons.

I saw/see the coupon as a way to get packaging for those items which don't fit my usual package sizes: The Outliers.

I still have to buy packaging for my usual size items and can it buy much cheaper than eBay prices because I buy it in bulk, but for odd sized packages it's expensive to buy a few at a time.

That's where the coupon comes in handy and it's more than enough to cover the outliers.

What I don't like is being treated as "Less Than" American sellers but this isn't the biggest slap in that regard.

Whenever eBay Bucks is mentioned I still get really bugged by the fact that we don't get that token of appreciation from eBay the way Americans do.

We are Less Than American buyers and sellers and the gap continues to grow.

ypdc_dennis · ‎08-10-2016

@amya4295 wrote:
Using your Venture One Card you can get 100 poly bags for $14.00. Not free but certainly cheap. Just out of principle I won't use a coupon and participate in this "program". Canada is an afterthought in most Ebay seller incentive programs and this is another example.

Canada Post has a daily order maximum of 50 for the "eBay Pack" (sturdy 406 mm x 305 mm plastic envelope, product #533086682).

amya4295 · ‎08-10-2016

Correct, I buy 50 at a time.

pjcdn2005 · ‎08-10-2016

I'm glad that they are accepting a return although I don't really agree that they are snad. Whenever I've ordered mailers from any site the word bubble or padded was in the description and/or title for bubble envelopes and if that wasn't there, they were envelopes such as what you received. It's odd that eBay calls them airjacket instead of bubble envelopes but I thought the descriptions for both were accurate.

i totally agree that they should have set up a Canadian supplier before ever offering these. Although I realize that the shipping from the US is the main reason these are so expensive it's insulting that no effort was made so that this truly was a benefit for both Canadians and Americans.