UK Postal Strike and Selling on eBay

Following the recent announcement from the Commercial Worker's Union that a national strike involving UK postal workers is likely to commence on 18th October 2009, eBay have made the following announcement concerning their Dispatch Time DSR's for the duration of the proposed strike, should it take place.

This announcement from eBay was issued on Thursday 8th October 2009.

"Today the Commercial Worker's Union has issued strike notice to Royal Mail. This means a national strike is possible from 18th October 2009.

We take this notice very seriously, and recognise the negative impact that such action will have for sellers on eBay.co.uk and I want to let you know what we are doing to mitigate the impact.

We're temporarily removing the option for buyers to rate sellers on the Dispatch Time Detailed Seller Rating from the start date of any national strike action.

We've expressed our concerns directly to the business secretary Rt. Hon Lord Mandelson that it is unacceptable many hard working small businesses selling on eBay are victims of a dispute that is beyond their control.

We're working with a number of alternative postal carriers to ensure sellers can provide the levels of service that are critical in the run up to Christmas."

Although this may give eBay sellers a little less to worry about, the fact remains that deliveries will be severely delayed unless other more expensive options are used. Any updates will be posted as soon as possible.