eBay Australia and local pre-loved fashion marketplace Yordrobe have joined a chorus of businesses that have had to rejig operations following the collapse of global delivery firm Sendle last month.
According to news reports, Sendle’s parent company decided to wind up delivery business in early January after it ran out of time to secure new funding. Sendle advised business customers via email the following day that it had implemented an immediate pause on all new orders.
Paul Eigner, owner of Yordrobe, said the Sendle shut down hit his marketplace at the worst possible time.
"We'd spent weeks integrating [Sendle’s] platform to automate our shipping workflow and had only just completed the full integration before Christmas,” Eigner said. “Then a few weeks later, it was gone without warning.
“That's the reality for small businesses: months of work can unravel overnight through no fault of your own.”
Yordrobe has since migrated to Australia Post for future orders.
“I looked at a large number of local and even overseas platforms, but no one offered the same out-of-the-box automation that Sendle did,” Eigner said. “In the end, given Yordrobe is all about Australian labels, partnering with Australia Post felt like the right fit.
“We're back up and running with no lost shipments or refunds required, but the experience was a stark reminder of how vulnerable small platforms are to third-party collapses."
At the bigger end of town, eBay Australia also reported a shake-up amid Sendle’s fall.
A spokesperson for eBay Australia said the resale platform has been supporting affected sellers through the transition.
“Nearly all Sendle parcels are now expected to have been delivered, and any remaining impacted orders will continue to be protected,” the spokesperson said. “Sellers have been able to continue fulfilling orders, with Australia Post currently available on eBay for new shipments.
“Affected sellers have been covered through several protections, including removing late delivery defects, excluding impacted ‘item not received’ cases from Service Metrics, and removing negative or neutral feedback linked to delivery delays, with these measures applied automatically where possible.”
The Sendle website lists a host of bigger clients that were using its service. Some of its other bigger clients in the marketplace space include Etsy, Wish, Cerqular, Faire, Carousell and Vestiaire Collective. The company also partnered with the likes of Shopify, Squarespace and Big Commerce, and was used by thousands of small businesses across Australia.