Couriers - please advise

[nametakenagain]

I have sold a few things over the years but nothing large. I have recently advertised 3 large items which I marked as 'collection only' but was inundated with requests to send a courier. I cheerfully agreed but reading some of the posts here, it sounds as if I was a bit naive. Can you explain in what way?

And if I am in a stronger position to organise a courier myself, what is the best way to go about this?

Many thanks for any advice you can offer.

Definitely arrange the courier yourself, but charge the buyer.

Measure and weigh the items in their packaging and then use Parcel2Go or ParcelMonkey to find prices. MyHermes are quite good (despite the bad press!), but I sometimes find them cheaper if you go direct rather than via the parcel sites. CollectPlus have a rigid size limitation which you will probably be over if your items are large.

Also, check where it's going as most couriers charge a surcharge for "Islands & Highlands" i.e. Isle or Wight, Northern Ireland, Scottish Highlands etc.

Hope that helps.

Thank you for these tips. Do you know why it is considered risky to have other people send a courier?

If you organise the courier then you have proof of postage , parcel number etc because if they organise it & say the item was never delivered then you don't have a leg to stand on , but if you organise it you will have the tracking number .

Hope that makes sense

That makes sense, thanks. But could I ask a courier for proof of collection to avoid this problem?

When the courier has delivered then it will be down on the system as delivered , I usually use My Hermes as for an extra £1 you can get your parcel insured & it has to be signed for so their is no way they can say they didnt get it iyswim .
Oh and iglf you do post out you can enter the tracking number on to eBay which helps if they say it has not turned up

When the courier has delivered then it will be down on the system as delivered , I usually use My Hermes as for an extra £1 you can get your parcel insured & it has to be signed for so their is no way they can say they didnt get it iyswim .
Oh and if you do post out you can enter the tracking number on to eBay which helps if they say it has not turned up

no you can't just ask for proof of collection - if it gets damaged the buyer can claim from paypal but you can't claim from the courier as you don't have the contract with them - so you have no item and no money.

And with My Hermes it shows as delivered without needing to pay the extra £1 for the signature so there is no need to pay for that.

I only add signature with my hermes collectplus if over £50 as their standard insurance is only upto £50

ebay/paypal will accept tracking number with status as delivered to mean it was delivered so they would be unlikely to win a not received claim

Thank you, all. I have been lucky with the two people who have sent a courier, then, I won't risk that again now.

But of three items I sold last week 1 buyer (low cost item) has not responded at all, and another (hotly contested item for over £50) changed their mind, has asked me to open a cancellation request, and has not responded to that. I'm going off ebay

If they don't respond to a cancellation request you will get your fees back anyway. I would have done a non payer case tbh, then you know you will get your fees back.

Thank you very much. I think I need to read up some more.

did you open non payer cases for the other items?

Yes, i opened a non payer case for the person who didn't reply.

I opened a cancellation for the one who changed their mind (before paying) but was at least replying to email until then.