topic Re: Anyone else having issues with eBay Simple Delivery? Can it be disabled? in Postage

Anyone else having issues with eBay Simple Delivery? Can it be disabled?

thepoisonpixiex — Sat, 25 Oct 2025 15:08:06 GMT

Hi everyone,

I’m curious if anyone else has had numerous problems with eBay Simple Delivery lately and if there’s a way to disable it altogether and go back to choosing your own courier or postage method.

I’ve had several issues now where parcels have gone missing or been delayed, and every single time I’ve tried to chase it up, I hit the same wall. I don’t have access to the buyer’s address under Simple Delivery, so I can’t even contact the courier or confirm where the item was sent. eBay insists on controlling the whole process but then tells you they won’t step in until a case is opened, by which time the parcel is already long gone.

My latest situation has honestly been the worst so far. I used eBay’s prepaid Simple Delivery QR code at an Evri ParcelShop, but the machine malfunctioned and staff printed the wrong label with a completely different address that was even linked to another platform. Because of that, I was told to post it at the Post Office instead, and now the parcel is somewhere in Evri’s system under the wrong tracking number. I’ve contacted both eBay and Evri several times, and neither will take responsibility.

This isn’t the first time I’ve had issues with Simple Delivery either. I’ve had parcels delayed for days without updates, tracking that stops completely, and items marked as delivered when they weren’t. Yet because eBay controls the entire delivery process, sellers are completely powerless to do anything about it.

I’m more than happy to accommodate a buyer who wants faster or tracked shipping and I’ve always done so in the past when I could pick my own courier. But with Simple Delivery I don’t even get the choice. I feel like this system is meant to make things easier, but in practice it’s made selling more stressful, less flexible, and full of unnecessary complications.

Has anyone else had similar experiences? Is there any way to disable Simple Delivery and go back to arranging postage yourself? I’d much rather manage my own shipping where I can take accountability and ensure things are done correctly.

Re: Anyone else having issues with eBay Simple Delivery? Can it be disabled?

tressygirl — Sat, 25 Oct 2025 15:17:54 GMT

There is no way to disable Simple Delivery for Private sellers it's mandatory now. Though some lightweight and extra oversize items are exempt, and custom postage can be used.

For any lost items, those not delivered, under SD Bay will refund the buyer, and you the seller, gets to keep the payout for that item. If posted within eBay's timescale and delayed, if you receive any late delivery defect, contact CS they have said defects for those instances will be removed if applied.

You could ignore SD initiate the labels, receive buyer's address, post using your own postage / preferred courier and then manually add tracking . Whoever paid for the SD label will be refunded.

Be aware though, payments then may be held for a minimum of 14 days before release, and you lose the bonus of eBay paying the refund for items lost or arriving damaged in transit.

Simple Delivery is by no way faultless, perhaps introduced too soon, but it does have those bonuses of refunding for the cases explained above !

@thepoisonpixiex

Re: Anyone else having issues with eBay Simple Delivery? Can it be disabled?

thepoisonpixiex — Sat, 25 Oct 2025 15:23:48 GMT

Thanks so much for explaining all of that, that actually clears up a few things for me. I can definitely see the benefit of eBay covering lost or damaged parcels, but in my experience the lack of control causes more harm than good.

You mentioned I could ignore Simple Delivery and initiate my own label to access the buyer’s address, but that’s the part I’m unsure about. I never actually see the buyer’s full address until the Simple Delivery label is printed. At most, I only get a partial postcode, so I wouldn’t even know where to send the parcel if I tried to ship it myself.

Is there a way around this, or a specific point in the process where the full address becomes visible if I choose to use my own postage instead? It would honestly save me and my buyers a lot of unnecessary hassle if I could manage delivery myself.

Thanks again for taking the time to explain everything so clearly.

Re: Anyone else having issues with eBay Simple Delivery? Can it be disabled?

**peaseblossom** — Sat, 25 Oct 2025 15:32:13 GMT

If you click on Get Prepaid Label you get Delivery Details which contains the buyer's full address. At that point the label is still unused so makes no difference. In fact you have to do that even if not using SD in order to mark the item as dispatched, which it does immediately.

If you use Seller pays > Free delivery on your listings you can apply to get a refund of the unused SD label as long as the postage you use has tracking. Of course we don't know how long ebay will continue to refund sellers who don't use SD. If there is a pattern of not using it things might change.

Re: Anyone else having issues with eBay Simple Delivery? Can it be disabled?

tressygirl — Sat, 25 Oct 2025 15:39:41 GMT

@thepoisonpixiex wrote: Is there a way around this, or a specific point in the process where the full address becomes visible if I choose to use my own postage instead?

Yep, as in my post above, initiate the label for the address, and then depending who paid for the postage they will be refunded. If it was the buyer it can take 30 days or more for the refund to reach them, might be worth sending a message to the buyer to explain this.

@thepoisonpixiex

Re: Anyone else having issues with eBay Simple Delivery? Can it be disabled?

budgerigarad — Sun, 26 Oct 2025 14:58:38 GMT

I have an issue as my parcel is stuck in the system somewhere and ebay say it will get returned

to me. Its a heavy expensive item and all tracking has been taken down so I have no idea where my parcel is or when it will get back to me.

Re: Anyone else having issues with eBay Simple Delivery? Can it be disabled?

stimple — Wed, 17 Dec 2025 13:48:19 GMT

ITS A NIGHTMARE SO WHAT I AM DOING IS MARKING IT AS COLLECTION ONLY..... BUT ON THE HEADING PUTTING FREE POSTAGE AFTER THE PRODUCT DESCRIPTION....THEN WHEN SOLD MESSAGING THE BUYER FOR THEIR ADDRESS ...ITS A LOT OF EXTRA TROUBLE BUT MAY BE A WAY ROUND IT ,,I HAVE NO PRINTER ANS NO MOBILE SO I EITHER DO IT THIS WAY ..OR STOP SELLING ON EBAY...

Re: Anyone else having issues with eBay Simple Delivery? Can it be disabled?

redmonkey98 — Tue, 30 Dec 2025 17:45:21 GMT

The buyers full address is shown on the invoice so you can bypass the pre-paid label route but (if I remember correctly) you can't update tracking with your own details until pre-paid is paid and the wrong tracking (ebays) is used - then you can amend the tracking for the actual one being used. Then you have to put in a claim for the pre-paid postage, 14 days for monies to be returned. Apparently this is an improvement!

Re: Anyone else having issues with eBay Simple Delivery? Can it be disabled?

ksl32168 — Wed, 31 Dec 2025 00:48:05 GMT

Delivery too complicated,

Now,

How to use, How to not use,

When it will display!

which Delivery is mystery!

eBay Simple Delivery???

Re: Anyone else having issues with eBay Simple Delivery? Can it be disabled?

beaconschris — Fri, 03 Apr 2026 09:25:26 GMT

I hope you found the answer !

I ignore the stupid eBay simple delivery and post recorded myself. Once the seller confirms arrival I get paid immediately.

eBay is stupid just like all other large companies not allowing choice !

Chris

Re: Anyone else having issues with eBay Simple Delivery? Can it be disabled?

jckl1957 — Fri, 03 Apr 2026 11:30:41 GMT

Your post is a bit unclear.

What service do you use? 'Recorded' has not been available since 2013.

Buyers (not sellers) can't confirm delivery. They can leave feedback but that is not proof of delivery.

Re: Anyone else having issues with eBay Simple Delivery? Can it be disabled?

beaconschris — Fri, 03 Apr 2026 11:37:28 GMT

I used Royal mail special delivery and did not provide proof of postage on eBay as it's not possible / I can't see where to add this information without going into simple delivery ( which I do not want).

I did send the tracking number to the buyer in a message though .

On the day it was delivered I got paid....

Can't really say more. I don't know how eBay operates but this is how I have done it in the past including last week.

Chris