- Original Poster
- #1
Hi
As many of you know, I run a website which is a cross between ebay and freecycle. People give items away but are able to charge postage for their items.
We are increasingly attracting members who are trying to make money from the site, usually by charging a couple of pound for posting a dvd etc, which I tend to let go, but yesterday somebody listed 75 items of baby clothes and wanted to charge £75 for delivery! Someone asked if they could send a courier for them but this request was refused!
I have been wondering for a while how to deal with this - I have thought about introducing a postage calculator on the site as part of the listing process, but then people would cheat this by making out the item was heavier than it really is.
So, my latest thought, probably for the future, is to link up with a courier service, whereby people enter the weight/size of a parcel and then are committed to buying a courier service for this item, at the appropriate cost, should anyone want the item (and then obviously the recipient pays the postage). My only worry is that this formality may put people off. I guess it could be only activated if the postage was over a certain weight/cost which would again encourage people not to charge over this amount unneccessarily.
Not sure if this would work - suggestions welcome. But also, does anyone know of a reputable courier, who doesn't charge the earth, who might want to discuss developing a link with us? We are an up and coming site, with recent funding which we are hoping to spend promoting the site over the next 12 months, so it should be a viable proposition.
Thanks a lot
Jo
As many of you know, I run a website which is a cross between ebay and freecycle. People give items away but are able to charge postage for their items.
We are increasingly attracting members who are trying to make money from the site, usually by charging a couple of pound for posting a dvd etc, which I tend to let go, but yesterday somebody listed 75 items of baby clothes and wanted to charge £75 for delivery! Someone asked if they could send a courier for them but this request was refused!
I have been wondering for a while how to deal with this - I have thought about introducing a postage calculator on the site as part of the listing process, but then people would cheat this by making out the item was heavier than it really is.
So, my latest thought, probably for the future, is to link up with a courier service, whereby people enter the weight/size of a parcel and then are committed to buying a courier service for this item, at the appropriate cost, should anyone want the item (and then obviously the recipient pays the postage). My only worry is that this formality may put people off. I guess it could be only activated if the postage was over a certain weight/cost which would again encourage people not to charge over this amount unneccessarily.
Not sure if this would work - suggestions welcome. But also, does anyone know of a reputable courier, who doesn't charge the earth, who might want to discuss developing a link with us? We are an up and coming site, with recent funding which we are hoping to spend promoting the site over the next 12 months, so it should be a viable proposition.
Thanks a lot
Jo
