Simple Delivery Nonsense

[carbonelthecat]

Is there no way to avoid using Simple Delivery now?

I wasn't able to choose the usual RM options so it has just cost me £2.70 to post as a large letter when it usually costs me £1.80 2nd class and under 250g.

I have sold a few bits on ebay over the last couple of years, and I detest this unavoidable Simple Delivery nonsense.

You can't combine items either, so if a buyer buys more than one thing via auction, you have to send them in separate packages! (Apparently you can combine buy it now items if they add them to a basket before checking out.)

You could charge the buyer the postage in your listing, but they are already paying more with the Buyer Protection Fee, so it can put people off.
It's putting me off from selling to be fair. 😠

I find it’s pretty straightforward though. You need to chose the correct delivery type when you put on your listing (in the Shipping/Delivery section) but the buyer pays for the postage anyway and you just get a label to print off or QR code for scanning.

I haven’t had to do any combined postage yet though so that does sound a bit of hassle.

Yes, but the issue is the postage for the items I usually sell has gone up by 50% when there is no need for it to as the cheaper options have disappeared and only a flat rate option seems to remain.

I sell on pretty low value items I have no need for anymore, so a massive hike in cost to the buyer will probably stop me selling tbh.

I don't find any issues selecting advanced option. Allows me to select service and price.

I am really annoyed about this. I like to use Royal Mil and now am being forced to use Evri simple delivery. Is there a way I could just get the address from the buyer and pay extra to post Royal Mail or would the funds not be released to me ?

I've sold bits and pieces on ebay since it began and it's really not worth it any more.

There's so many big sellers and the opaque fees for postage, buyer protection and listing promotion where its hard to work out what ebay will take and how little you'll be left with if the item sells, which now takes a lot longer, I'll bother a lot less in future.

But yes, Simple delivery is shit for smaller cheap items as ebay are charging way over what postage actually costs.

Enshittification strikes again.

it’s all bollocks and i hate it. pure greed by ebay.

our evri collection point IS the post office. WTF

You can opt out of simple delivery in some cases, eg a buy now for £20 or less can be sold via ‘simple delivery’ or the classic ‘custom delivery’ where you specify the details

There have been many changes to the way that fees etc are charged, including the combination of PayPal fees into eBay fees, resulting in a net reduction previously there were offers such as 80% fee reduction, but taking into account buyers fees today vs sellers fees previously my trend is lower percentages of the sale going to fees
(I am then happier more often to use a eBay ‘promotions’ and to pay an extra fee for wider advertising)

Buyers look at the bottom line, and will pay up to an overall total.

If your item is listed at £20 or below for buy now you can set a lower postage rate as appropriate rather than the set £2.70 large letter (and have the option of calling it free post)

The EBay simple post option is similar to Vinted, with the exception of sellers not getting stung by RM actual costs

For parcels it can work out a bit better, as when it comes to producing the label it is possible to produce a label for an ‘upgraded’ heavier parcel
without taking the hit

As always with eBay and Vinted it ultimately comes down to whether or not an item is viable to sell

It does frustrate a little when a buyer takes multiple items and they are all processed separately, I recently had a sale of 4 items - all in separate packages, two by RM and two by Evri. Previously I could have combined postage and part refunded if they had paid the full amount, or if I had shown as ‘free post’ I would have have made more £ on the sales

This is available for buy now priced up to £20, but the defaults while creating the listing may go to the simple delivery option

It does mean the right options can be set, but may not always be obvious to the seller

One benefit I had recently was a bulky and heavy package, sold for over £20 so had to be ‘simple postage’
Due to its cost I ended up making less than £3, and then had an undelivered dispute, though the tracking showed multiple attempted deliveries - I feared that it would end up returned to me and not even making under £3

But as it was via eBay simple postage, the message was that it would be dealt with by eBay.
in the end it was successfully delivered

Other than the worry of ending up with the hassle of having to try another sale there was no problem on my side. Had it vanished then I would have got to keep my £3 and the buyer would have been refunded

In another case I refunded a non delivery which was not showing any tracking, it then eventually arrived.
Thinking I then needed to decide on how to get repayment it was just reprocessed by eBay based on the successful tracking finally completing

So with the annoyance of simple delivery, there can be benefits

"Simple Delivery" is a timewasting nuisance.

eBay institutes postage higher than if you get it direct from Royal Mail (which is what I always do).

I ignore the link to get eBay's mailing label. Then I have to apply to eBay to get the charge refunded. eBay suppresses the seller's address, and so I have to message them to get the address.

It makes selling a time-consuming, tedious, aggravating process.

Obviously, some bright new broom arrived at eBay toward the end of 2024.

eBay refuses to listen to complaints about this (or anything else).

I am seriously considering stopping selling there.

I love it, its much better for the seller as if anything goes missing you do not have to refund. As long as SD is used then Ebay pay it. Of course it depends what you sell but my items are all in the Royal Mail up to 2kg bracket so my sales haven't taken a hit at all.
As a regular seller I also get paid as soon as I print the label and the item shows dispatched.

I’ve found you have to dig around to change from Evri to RM and then ensure you’ve selected the correct package size / weight, but you can do it.

I quite like the option of getting the label preprinted and all the tracking automatically uploaded, but then I rarely sell these days.

Yes I have to admit I have been wrong . I have been able to select Royal Mail the last few times and it has indeed been simple . No need to print off a label they collect and do it for you .

I dislike change but find simple delivery really easy.

Select the correct postage type and ebay tells you how much it will cost then you can decide if the buyer or seller picks up the tab. You then take the parcel and QR code to the postoffice who print the label.