Simple Delivery is not simple
Summary: davis1957 expresses frustration with eBay's selling policies, particularly its Simple Delivery requirement and restrictions on accepting offers. They highlight issues with accessing buyer addresses and being forced to follow specific pricing rules, which led them to stop selling on the platform. Other participants discuss the misunderstanding between 'Offers' and 'Buy It Now' price settings, confusion about tech use, and offer suggestions for alternatives. Some show sympathy for older users facing tech challenges, while others suggest ways to adapt or criticize the rigidity of eBay's policies.
Simple delivery is not simple if you don't have a printer or a QR code reader. I am almost 70 years old and have stopped selling on eBay due to their policies that require sellers to have an internet conected phone and apps to read their QR codes.
I don't have a printer and I do not use the internet on my phone. I have never ever scanned a QR code and do not use apps on my phone.
eBay tries to force me to use their 'Simple Delivery' but I just want the buyers address otherwise the buyer isn't going to get their purchase and eBay will have to refund the buyer.
Someone messaged me an offer on a gold ring I was selling but eBay insist offers have to be 40% above the opening bid price. I lost money on that because eBay wouldn't allow me to accept a bona fide offer. The ring sold for the opening bid price and I lost a greater offer of £50 more.
For these reasons, I have stopped selling on eBay despite having £1,351 sales in the spring as a private seller.
deedeedaydee2
·2 weeks agoYou misunderstand, it's meant to be "simple" for ebay, not you.
haze_6300
·2 weeks agoI have opted for Royal Mail only here https://www.ebay.co.uk/ship/prf
and when I've sold something, I always request collection, they bring the label. As we are rural and we currently have no driver in the household, I am glad I did.
And I only use a laptop so the QR code would not really be viable!
theelench
·2 weeks ago · Edited@technthread
That is a huge hurdle for many people of my age -- FEAR.
At work I listen to younger people's smart phones pinging. They glance at it, "another scam message".
The mechanics of using them and downloading Apps that come from God Knows Where, are they even genuine or another form of scam ?
People that I talk to often feel that they are on their own with technology that even with some basic knowledge of lap-tops, is still very different and alien to them. Press the wrong button and who knows what will happen, and that's the problem, the uncertainty.
department28
·2 weeks agoFear can certainly play a part in getting to grips with new technology, but mostly I resent being hassled into things that are not necessarily any better just because they are new...
I prefer to stick with a laptop, because they are comfortable to use. For many people, smartphones are too small & too fiddly to be able operate comfortably/enjoy using.
How we use tech should be a matter of choice, and what works best for the individual. The danger is when these choices are reduced or withdrawn, leaving us backed into a corner, having to update or upgrade... or be excluded altogether.
davis1957
OP2 weeks agoBeing almost 70 years old, I don't use the internet on my phone, just my laptop. People are saying I confused 'Offers' with 'Buy it Now' which eBay apparently say does have to be 40% more than the starting bid. WHY? They are my goods I am selling so why does eBay insist the Buy it Now price must be 40% higher than the starting price? Why can't I list my gold ring but be willing to accept a £900 Buy it Now Price. When something of reasonable value sells, why do ebay insist I have to buy their label before they will reveal the buyers address so I can't just go to the post office and buy a stamp(s) and hand write the address on the padded envelope? In the case of this ring, after the buyer made the winning bid, eBay made me post it to an address they gave me for it to be authenticated before they forwarded it on to the buyer. I was never given the winning bidders address details. It's not just about the technology and finding your way around eBay's policies, it's about control.
davis1957
OP2 weeks agoBeing almost 70 years old, I don't use the internet on my phone, just my laptop. People are saying I confused 'Offers' with 'Buy it Now' which eBay apparently say does have to be 40% more than the starting bid. WHY? They are my goods I am selling so why does eBay insist the Buy it Now price must be 40% higher than the starting price? Why can't I list my gold ring but be willing to accept a £900 Buy it Now Price. When something of reasonable value sells, why do ebay insist I have to buy their label before they will reveal the buyers address so I can't just go to the post office and buy a stamp(s) and hand write the address on the padded envelope? In the case of this ring, after the buyer made the winning bid, eBay made me post it to an address they gave me for it to be authenticated before they forwarded it on to the buyer. I was never given the winning bidders address details.
theelench
·2 weeks ago@selective_distribution
It's good of you to give your time to teach at Age Concern but sadly access to such classes is very limited. In my local area the Age Concern center is two towns away, not on a bus route and nowhere near the station.
Like the OP (I'm 73) I struggle with my mobile and prefer my lap-top. I have no access to Age Concern, there doesn't appear to be any local Adult Learning (evening class) aimed at the elderly. Like many, being retired I'm cut off from any in-work training course, have no younger generation family nearby and friends and neighbours tend to be of similar age and just as confused as I am.
If I'm lucky and she's on shift when I call in, the most helpful person I know who will help me is a bar-maid at my local pub.
It's all very well to say you're amazed that age is used as an excuse for not connecting with the modern world but you have no idea how many older people are isolated, have no access to tools, information, courses or even general support in the modern world that so often doesn't see enough profit in the elderly to make it worth their while to provide anything to them.
Perhaps you could talk to Age Concern and suggest that they come out of their Centers and put some volunteers in local libraries or even pubs where the elderly can get to them. I'm sure there would be queues around the block of people who would love to be able to get to see them.
selective_distribution
·2 weeks agoI appreciate what you are saying about Age concern not being available within reach of everyone who may need it, however they do have Outreach Workers who will visit people in their homes and set up internet connections and Wi-Fi for them, so that they can use the Internet in their own homes, but the computer lessons of necessity have to be in the actual center. Local Libraries have FREE computer facilities with staff that will give basic instructions on how to get online, unfortunately there does not seem to be a ......Queue Around The Block......of elderly people wanting to use this facility. I also appreciate what you say about people being isolated, but I do think that people are their own worst enemy when it comes to keeping up with technology, or indeed anything new.....Why do you think that we are still stuck with the idiotic situation of having to convert from Pounds to Kilos, and from Inches to Centimeters? And now we have AI, and why are older people not using it?....because they are afraid of something, but they cannot articulate exactly what they are afraid of, just an unknown .....something. Like you I am more comfortable using my PC than I am my Phone, because of age I was late in having to learn how to use a phone, and so it did not come naturally, whereas I was introduced to computers in my teens....and by the way, I am 76!
selective_distribution
·2 weeks agoI am always amazed at how people use age as a reason not to connect with the modern world. 70 is far from old! I teach a computer class at the local Age Concern center, and our oldest student is 95 years of age, and apart from being a little deaf he has no problems using modern technology. You cannot just bury your head in the sand and hope that it will all go away! Why do you not use apps on your phone....what do you think is going to happen to you if you open Google, or scan a QR code?
technthread
·2 weeks agoI do worry about some of my more elderly family with smartphones. It’s not to be patronising or say they aren’t capable of using them but they grew up in a higher trust society. Some of the scam attempts these days that they are getting on email, phone calls and texts are convincing I have had to intervene more than once.
Just last week I got an email that I had to forward to the eBay spoof address, it was a half decent attempt and it came from no reply @ eBay so they managed to clone that somehow. I don’t even want to know but it will have got people.
davis1957
OP2 weeks agoI asked £800 starting bid and eBay set a minimum offer level of £1120. Someone offered me £850 via 'message seller' and eBay wouldn't allow me to consider the offer as it was below the 40% they set without consulting me. I don't need that level of control so I quit selling on eBay. They also refused to give me a buyers address saying I had to print the label to find out. Only when I told them to refund the buyer and I'll keep the goods did they release the buyers address to me. I tried to end listings but couldn't so I had to put the items up to £1,000 each and run down the clock to end the listings. eBay are control freaks.
papso22
·2 weeks agoWhile there are things that ebay controls on their site, offer levels and how a listing is set up, are not among them. They are totally in the control of the seller, but the seller does need to understand the somewhat complicated process. 40% sounds more like a Buy it Now price not an offer thing.
One thing they do have a lot of control over is postage. Simple delivery is mandatory for most private account sales.
sml192
·2 weeks ago · EditedYou could opt out of Royal Mail and just use Evri and InPost. You would only need the numerical code when dropping off then.
Alternatively, you could opt out of Evri and InPost and get Royal Mail to collect from you. They will then bring the label with them.
If the items you are selling are under £20 and Letter/Large Letter sized then in many instances you can opt out of Simple Delivery when listing and use your own Custom Postage instead.
Just a few suggestions that you could consider.
davis1957
OP2 weeks agoI tried to opt out of 'Simple Delivery' but eBay wouldn't let me list without it, so I opted out of eBay entirely as a seller. I was selling a 22ct gold 1815 George III posey ring at £800 starting bid and selected 'make an offer.' Ebay wouldn't let me accept an offer of £850 and insisted any offer had to be a minimum 40% higher than the starting bid (ie £1,120). The ring sold for £800 to the person who made the £50 higher offer, so I lost money due to eBay's ridiculous demands.
sml192
·2 weeks agoIf you add a 'Buy it now' price to an auction style listing then that does need to be at least 40% higher than the auction start price. However, if you add 'Best offer' to an auction style listing the buyer can make whatever offer they want (they can even offer less than the starting price if they wish) and you then get to decide whether or not the offer is acceptable.
jonatjonatjonat
·2 weeks agoI did wonder whether that was the case had never heard the 40% above for offers rule
davis1957
OP2 weeks agoI just want my buyers postal address after an item has sold so I can go to the post office and pay the postage there. eBay don't make money out of the postage that way so they won't provide the buyers address. eBay have become too greedy so I won't sell with them anymore. They'll just up their prices to those who comply with their dictatorial policies to make up for the losses of people like me who leave.
jonatjonatjonat
·2 weeks agoOnly note you don’t need to scan the QR codes. In fact you can’t get anything of merit from them. The postage boxes or drop off locations do. Though granted you still need something with the QR code on.
You could download the label, copy the address, pay for your own postage instead. If you set the delivery as free delivery you are charged for the label but can claim back the cost of unused labels.
davis1957
OP2 weeks agoI only have the internet on my laptop which isn't convenient to take to the post office. I have to pay for the label before I can download it on my laptop. Unable to print it I would have to write the address onto my envelope and pay AGAIN at the post office. I just want the buyers address and I pay my own postage at the post office but eBay don't get a cut of that so they won't provide the address.
I've told them simply, if you won't provide me with the address, then provide the buyer with a refund. I advertised a George III 22ct gold posey ring at £800 starting bid and selected 'make an offer.' A potential buyer made an offer, but eBay declined it on my behalf stating that any offer had to be a minimum 40% above the starting bid. It eventually sold at a lower price than I was offered. They are my goods and I decide what I will accept, so I removed everything I had for sale on eBay. Even then eBay tried to stop me ending the listings so I changed all the prices to £1,000 each and ran down the clock after selecting 'do not relist automatically' which kept happening. Too little control from the seller for my liking. I'll sell elsewhere.
jonatjonatjonat
·2 weeks agoIf you want that level of control yes, eBay is not the place for you anymore.
davis1957
OP2 weeks agoI just want my buyers address. It's eBay that are controlling by withholding the address and telling me how I can post and how much I can accept as an offer.
vinylscot
·2 weeks agoBy selling on eBay, you agreed to their terms and conditions, which include using their Simple Delivery method in this instance. If you didn't want to comply, you shouldn't have posted your listing. I also think Simple Delivery can be unnecessarily clumsy, buy you agreed to it. (And I'm absolutely sure you're getting confused about the offer - unless you had input a minimum amount to accept, eBay would not have automatically rejected the offer. You've got the wrong end of the stick somewhere.)
davis1957
OP2 weeks agoThe offer was via message to me from the potential buyer. Any offer of less than 40% of the starting price was rejected, not by me but by eBay. Check it out.
vinylscot
·2 weeks ago · EditedWe can't check it out - we don't see the offer details, or how you set up your lsiting. The only way eBay would have rejected the offer is if you had set a minimum price, under which offers would be automatically rejected. You defntitely have the wrong end of the stick somehere with this. (and you say 40% of the starting price - was the offer really below 40% of the starting price - you seem to suggest otherwise elsewhere.)
sml192
·2 weeks ago · EditedIt appears that because the offer was made via the message system rather than you adding 'Best offer' to your listing that eBay has treated it the same as a "Buy it now' for some reason.
Did you add a 'Buy it now' price to your listing? If so then that would explain it as you can't use 'Best offer' together with 'Buy it now', so any offer from the buyer would have been automatically overriden by the 'Buy it now' price.
davis1957
OP2 weeks agoAgreed. Now they've changed their terms, I no longer agree and I will no longer sell via a platform that won't tell me the postal address of MY customer
punzel9072
·1 week agoI listed a large number of DVDs at £2, plus Royal Mail custom postage at £1.90 (large letter with certificate of posting) but when I try to relist or amend some of them, eBay now wants to change the postage to 'simple' £2.72 Royal Mail tracked which is unnecessary, other DVDs don't get this change forced upon them. There seems to be no logic on which ones are forced into Simple Delivery and which ones aren't. This puts the price up for the customer by more that 20 per cent. I only receive £1.78 from the sale
stamp_hammer
·2 weeks agoYou can get the address without printing the label. Choose 'Print invoices & more' from the drop-down next to the sold item.
This won't prevent you from being charged for the Simple Delivery label; payment is taken for the label by eBay within seconds of the transaction being processed
davis1957
OP2 weeks agoExactly. Ebay want me to pay them to post and then pay again at the post office. No thank you. I want to select Royal Mail First Class or Second Class and organise my own delivery at the post office but eBay force me to select Simple Delivery. I have removed everything I was selling on eBay. I will not be dictated to.
punzel9072
·1 week agoIf you don't used the eBay label, after two, maybe four weeks, you can apply for a refund,