No Royal Mail 2nd class option
I've never come across this before but I can't use Royal Mail on one of my FBM orders.
I literally shipped the exact same item last night for 87p but when I went onto this one, a minute later, Royal Mail is greyed out and I can only use Evri.
I've opened a case via SS (11238764102) - was told to use Evri but that method is 3 times more expensive and leaves me out of pocket.
Anyone have any clues - tempted to take a hit on my VTR and use a stamp.
It's to Devon and it's a ship by today - delivery up until 1st of July (the exact same stats as other orders the same).
I'm at a loss as I've tried everything - SS aren't helping (no surprises there).
We're forced to use 'Buy Shipping' but this appears to be a glitch that will leave me with either a hit on my metrics or being out of pocket
No Royal Mail 2nd class option
I've never come across this before but I can't use Royal Mail on one of my FBM orders.
I literally shipped the exact same item last night for 87p but when I went onto this one, a minute later, Royal Mail is greyed out and I can only use Evri.
I've opened a case via SS (11238764102) - was told to use Evri but that method is 3 times more expensive and leaves me out of pocket.
Anyone have any clues - tempted to take a hit on my VTR and use a stamp.
It's to Devon and it's a ship by today - delivery up until 1st of July (the exact same stats as other orders the same).
I'm at a loss as I've tried everything - SS aren't helping (no surprises there).
We're forced to use 'Buy Shipping' but this appears to be a glitch that will leave me with either a hit on my metrics or being out of pocket
34 replies
Seller_0sVkARBIRM7Oe
Yep 2 orders customers paid £1.70 for RM
first class
The only option available through buy shipping was over £8.00
for next day delivery?
Bought two stamps and send at post office with POP now have 2 VTR hits but worth it to save nearly £16
I checked my shipping settings to see if Automatic handling had been activated but it hadn't.
Seller_ZVAz3d5lZuGid
We are NOT forced to use 'Buy Shipping'. Why not buy shipping from RM website ? - you just need to confirm shipment with the barcode, omitting any spaces and hyphens.
Seller_d8YGbIjNqwFxn
Is the postcode correct, is it formatted correctly?
I had one the other day where the postcode was formatted wrong with an extra space and I had no Royal Mail options only EVRI.
Had to spend extra on RM48 through my RM account rather than letter post.
Seller_AVteysPitiEJq
I've had this reply from SS....
"Amazon uses internal transportation data and high likelihood of meeting the buyer’s delivery promise to surface ship methods. It is possible for a ship method to be available on a carrier’s website and not available on Buy Shipping.
Keep in mind that since using Buy Shipping is not mandatory unless its a Prime order, if you wish to ship via 2nd class Royal Mail, you can do so via the carrier directly, since its not currently an option via Buy Shipping."
If Buy Shipping is not madatory - why are we penalised when using letter rate.
There's no difference in promised delivery times with all my other orders but somehow, they're expecting me to take a hit on VTR on lose any ounce of profit on this order.
Never in almost 20 years have I seen such a farce.
Seller_AVteysPitiEJq
So I ended putting a stamp on the item so that's a hit on my VTR.
Despite several bouncy back and forth with Seller Central - I couldn't get anywhere (no surprise there). I ran out of time as I had to ship by last light.
I'm thinking Amazon gave this buyer false expections on delivery (or the buyer chose a delivery date of their chosing) as they ordered an FBA item from us at the same time and perhaps that's why all Royal Mail options were blanked out for me - even 1st class (go figure).
Just a heads up to those who sell by both methods of FBA and FBM.
Seller_qJ8eKNGHaE2vK
it happens to me sometimes, if you come out of the page with the post options on and try buy postage again, it usually refreshes it and 2nd class option pops up.
if it doesn't it might be a time issue, I have had it where if you are buying shipping after 5pm, or more lately it has given a little longer till 5.30pm, then the Amazon system is assuming you are not going to get it in the post that day, so only offer a 1st class or Evri option.
if it keeps happening, use a stamp and on the confirm shipping page put in a tracking number (e.g. 3B 07A AFA A7B is one of mine from today, Mine always start 3B then 3 lots of mixed letters and numbers), the Amazon system registers that it is tracked - no VTR damage. all my cards get posted letter or large letter size and I now follow rules and buy shipping supposedly because it gets tracked - (even though it costs me loads more as I have a franking machine for reduced post) but all my orders are put in a post box or on busy days like seasonal Christmas etc, when I have 3 sack fulls they go straight to sorting office, but they still don't scan any of them, Royal Mail say they are too busy to scan letter and letter sized post, so as sellers we still don't get our orders tracked even though we follow Amazons rule to buy shipping, So when I hit the glitch I just use my franking machine still and put in a tracking number.
its there glitch, it shouldn't cost us more money to deal with their issue, so just work a little magic round it.
Seller_tIxmXsqZeXpx5
Try changing the weight by 1g and you will often find it looks again for shipping settings and RM will appear. Works for me.
Seller_lmJOjF6JybyzB
I had the same on Saturday with several addresses in the North (I'm in Kent).
Seller Support were abysmal as expected. Chatted with 3 of them (1 laughably referred to as a 'specialist') but not one could grasp what I was saying and kept reverting to stock answers in an attempt to get me to go away. They literally ignored my specific questions like "Do you agree that 2nd class post, delivered in 2-3 days should be available when the delivery estimate is also 2-3 days?"
I re-opened the case and sent screenshot after screenshot. They have now apparently referred it to a special team, which means I'll either never hear from them again about it, or they'll recycle an old answer that isn't relevant.. I took the financial hit. I wondered if it was because the orders came in on a Saturday, so I may have to reset my settings to show that I no longer ship on a Saturday, so again Amazon incompetence will cost me a big slice of my business. Has anyone ever, EVER heard Amazon say "yes that's our mistake, we'll fix it"? I haven't.
Seller mistake=Seller pays
Customer mistake=Seller pays
Customer fraud=Seller pays
Amazon mistake=Seller pays
There's a theme.
Seller_q02IFWVcXV5xc
I also had this issue on Sat morning with 2 orders,
an order came in on Fri night just before midnight plus an order early sat morning,
both were £5 orders with 'free' postage,due to go by 2nd class letter post at a cost of 87p
instead amazon forced the option of 1st class letter postage only on me ,making me pay £1.70 for each order,
I didn't even bother asking seller support about this as I knew it would be a waste of time as I had to dispatch the items before luchtime to catch the last post,so I took the loss,
as you can imagine,after fees on a £5 order there isn't much left,and to be forced to pay nearly half of it out due to amazons error is totally maddening
Seller_AVteysPitiEJq
Something isn't right. I wasn't able to buy anything via Royal Mail including 1st class yet seller central banged on about buyers expected delivery.
I have screen shots of two orders with the same ASIN. One came in at 8.17pm and I was able to buy my usual 87p 2nd class letter but 20 mins earlier (7.30pm) - the order in question was there but had all RM options greyed out and unavailable. Both orders showed the same 'estimated' delivery dates.
I used a stamp so will have to take a hit on my VTR, sadly. I put buyers first before Amazon and their daft policies. Nothing worked for me - changing sizes, waiting until the following morning and so on. Getting the order to the buyer was my priority and not waiting for Amazon to understand my issue after several attempts (not that they will ever get to the bottom of this).
Part and parcel of using Amazon as a platform - nothing is ever easy when something goes wrong their end. We usually take the blame and the punishment.
