Weekly Chat with the eBay Community Team- 02.04.25 @2pm

[community-team@ebay]

Hi everybody!

The Community Chat will open at 2pm and will remain open until 3pm on Wednesday. After that it will be closed for further questions. Of course, we will continue to take care of answering any questions that may still be unanswered—We’ll get to everything as quickly as possible.

Please ask your questions in the thread below. In order to be able to answer your questions as quickly as possible, we ask you to have one question per post. Of course, you can make as many posts as you like in the Chat- the more the merrier!

Our eBay Community Team is made up of kat@ebay , dave@ebay and marco@ebay . Between us, we have knowledge in Buying, Selling, Fulfilment, Payments, and the Community itself. Anything we aren’t sure on we’ll know the people who will be! Please ask us any questions you may have and we’ll do all we can to support. We understand that certain topics, such as concerns about businesses possibly using private accounts, can be frustrating and important to you. Please refrain from asking the same question repeatedly in our weekly live chats. We assure you that we carefully review all posts in the forum and ensure that your concerns are communicated to the relevant teams for appropriate action.
To maintain a constructive and community environment, posts that repeatedly breach this guideline may be removed. Continued violations could result in further action against your community account. We appreciate your cooperation and understanding in helping us keep our community focused and respectful.

To ask your question, click Reply in the lower-right corner of this post, type your question, and click Reply between 2pm and 3pm. The community team will answer each incoming question in chronological order and will quote the original question in each answer.

Please note that any reply without a question to the community team or discussion replies may be removed from the chat. We want to keep on track to get through as many questions as possible. We welcome all discussion to be moved to the discussion boards.

If you missed the weekly chat time, please ask your question in the community boards and tag us or we will be back next week with another chat!

Many thanks,

Your eBay Community Team

[marco@ebay]

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@johannadee wrote:

Hello again,
Regarding Simple Delivery, I have another question. Given that Evri have pottery and glass items on their Prohibited list, and the Simple Delivery instructions say we have to abide by the carrier's Ts & Cs as well as eBay's, if my buyer chooses them as the carrier for such items will eBay still accept responsibility for lost or damaged parcels?

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Hi johannadee, thanks for your question.

Prohibited items are excluded from Simple Delivery, so with those items, you could just ship items the way it works at the moment.

Thank you,

Marco

[moldosgifts]

With regard to the removal of seller id from the listing page and putting another click away, this needs reversing, Ebay are adding another click to the sale process, To get to the cart should be no more than 3 clicks away,  (my it tutor told me that) now it 's 4 or 5 clicks away making the site feel clunky,

And not being upfront on who your buying from is it a business or a private i don't know lets click another button to find out then we will click back again,!

[krafty-kreations]

Prohibited items are excluded from Simple Delivery, so with those items, you could just ship items the way it works at the moment.

Is there a list of items that are prohibited?

[marco@ebay]

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@poshboutique2 wrote:

When buying parcel postage from the Royal Mail website they give the option of bringing you the label as well so there is no need to print anything.  Simple delivery offers Royal Mail collection but what about the very important Royal Mail bring my label option - it is not available on SD.

Neither can you book a bring my label service when booking a RM collection service on their website.  It is only available when buying the label on the RM website. Simple delivery has taken away this option!

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Hi poshboutique2, thanks for your reply.

Updating this reply to clarify information around this topic.

It was of my understanding that the bring my label service was available with Royal Mail, and it would work the usual way. However, this is not the case at the moment. I've been confirmed that option is currently not available, but we've escalated this from our end to make it available, so users can start using this feature. While I haven't been confirmed when will this be available, we're working to make it available for users as soon as possible.

Apologies for any misunderstanding and any confusion this may have caused.

Marco

[custom-giftsuk]

Thank you Dave for clarifying that. I know that listings contain several words that must be on that list so the automated system should pick it up and refuse the listing, so why is the system allowing these words - which are clearly offensive/abusive to go through, coupled to the fact that when they get reported the automated report comes back as stating that there is no breach and the term isnt offensive? I've even created a listing as a test with a variety of offensive/abusive words and it's been allowed (and I subsequently deleted said listing)

[jusali]

So if you're selling items on the courier's prohibited list of which mine tick many. How will I be given the option to opt out if it is mandatory 25th April?

[dave@ebay]

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@555njp wrote:

Hi, two questions please:

1/ As the Business Seller news has now changed to Seller news, is there any intention by eBay to only offer one type of selling account going forward? One perhaps that would satisfy consumer rights legalities if trading (business account) but also be usable if just clearing out (private)?
2/ On a similar vane; is there a proposal/intent to role out simple delivery to business sellers? 

Thanks.

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Hi @555njp 

I'm not aware of any plans to change the different types of selling accounts. The change in name of the seller update wouldn't have any connection to the how these accounts are categorised. 

Similarly, I'm not aware of any plans to roll SD out to Business Sellers. 

Thanks,

Dave

[kat@ebay]

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@wellingnorth wrote:

I have several questions about simple delivery if that's okay?

#1

Will simple delivery be applied to existing listings?

On the forums people are saying it will, but on the help page here says

“Simple Delivery will automatically apply to all new eligible listings. Your existing listings will not be affected.”

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sellercentre/postage/simple-delivery

#1a

If simple delivery will be applied to existing listings how will ebay determine what postage category they fall in?

#1b

If this is done by some automatic process will ebay take responsibility if the labels generated do not cover the costs of sending the item?

#2

Will it ever be possible to combine postage when using simple delivery?

#3

This page suggests that private sellers could use business policies instead of simple delivery, is that the case?

“Can I still use business policies?

You’ll still be able to use business policies when listing through your web browser...The policies set on your existing listings will not be affected.”

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sellercentre/postage/simple-delivery

#4

My understanding is that using simple delivery buyers are not shown the name of the carrier that will be used, just the generic terms ‘standard’ or ‘express’.

I have buyers contact me specifically to check that I am not using Evri (eg ‘Can you please confirm that you will use a Royal Mail service and NOT Evri’) and so was planning to opt out of using them, but I understand that doing this increases the Royal Mail prices shown. Could I ask what the rationale is for that please and whether you might reconsider this, given that opting out may be with a better buyer experience in mind?

As a related piece of feedback I would ask ebay to please show the carrier that will be used to buyers as this is really crucial information to many people. If you compare to Vinted for example sellers there set the couriers they use and buyers can then set which of those services they prefer.

Ebay seem to be emulating some of Vinted’s feature, but it would be great if you could provide the same transparency as well. The same applies for the buyer fee really - on Vinted you see seller price + fee = total and everything makes a lot more sense as a result rather than the unusual prices we currently see in search results.

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Hi @wellingnorth ,

1.  Yes simple delivery will start being applied to existing listings from April 7th. 

 a- will be based on similar items in that category

 b- yes if it was eBay's recommendation it will be covered. The post offices should be accept all parcels.

2.  The combined postage is currently being worked on for this.

3. Yes business policies can still be used but not in place of simple delivery. The business policies will no longer be accessible on the app but can still be accessed on the desktop.

4. This is correct as the label selected is based off many different factors including including the buyer’s location, the item's location, distance to the carrier's drop-off locations, the most appropriate delivery service for the item you're posting. 

Thank you,

Kat

[555njp]

OK, Thank you for the reply.

[marco@ebay]

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@ruby*ryan wrote:

Good afternoon.

I have a couple of questions about Simple Delivery, please.
Re the under £10/100g rule.

Firstly, how will eBay know the size and weight of the item, when the size and weight boxes are missing from the listing form. There are some options for size/weight under SD, but surely, if you select one of those, you will then be using SD instead of opting out?
Also is the under £10 with or without the BPF?

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Hi ruby*ryan, thanks for your question.

Size and weight will be based on the type of item you're listing, then you will be able to confirm it which is why you will see one to select, and then the rest is done automatically. Once this goes live, you will not be able to opt out, unless the items fall under the excluded items for Simple Delivery.

Thank you,

Marco

[dave@ebay]

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@technthread wrote:

If I can add to @555njp questions, I have seen a few business sellers on social media say that they had sales over the weekend where a simple delivery postage label was generated when of course they aren’t offering simple delivery on a business account. Is this an issue that has been fixed now?

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Hi @technthread 

I haven't seen any reports of this and there are no open tech issues for it. If you see any reports of it in the community please tag me on them and I can escalate them to Tech to be reviewed.

Thanks,

Dave

[a45heaven]

They will definitely be accepted, you don't have to cancel it, which is why we are stating that in our Simple Delivery page. 

You are making this statement on behalf of individual Post Offices, how can you be so certain? , and if they don't accept, then what compensation are you offering the seller on behalf of ebay?

[kat@ebay]

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@vinylscot wrote:

Thanks for the partial reply.

Will eBay provide cover for loss/damage when it is they who have instructed the seller to use a service which itself provides no cover?

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Hi @vinylscot ,

Yes eBay provide cover for loss/damage while item is in transit.

Thank you,

Kat

[johannadee]

>>>>Hi johannadee, thanks for your post.

They will definitely be accepted, you don't have to cancel it, which is why we are stating that in our Simple Delivery page. 

Thank you,

Marco<<<<

When will this acceptance start? Because not 3 hours ago I stood behind someone in the Crown Post Office whose Simple Delivery small parcel had a Large letter label and she was turned away even though she protested that "ebay said you'd take it". They got the manager, who also said definitely not.

[ruby*ryan]

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marco@ebay wrote:

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@ruby*ryan wrote:

Good afternoon.

I have a couple of questions about Simple Delivery, please.
Re the under £10/100g rule.

Firstly, how will eBay know the size and weight of the item, when the size and weight boxes are missing from the listing form. There are some options for size/weight under SD, but surely, if you select one of those, you will then be using SD instead of opting out?
Also is the under £10 with or without the BPF?

---

Hi ruby*ryan, thanks for your question.

Size and weight will be based on the type of item you're listing, then you will be able to confirm it which is why you will see one to select, and then the rest is done automatically. Once this goes live, you will not be able to opt out, unless the items fall under the excluded items for Simple Delivery.

Thank you,

Marco

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I did a test drive for an item weighting 50g inc the envelope. SD 'recommended' it was 750g.
As the item is less than 100g and was less than £10, how will I be able to opt out, please, as we have been told we can do?

[marco@ebay]

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@johannadee wrote:

Hello,
My third, and last, question for today. Does Simple Delivery apply to jewellery, given that Evri have it on their Prohibited list and Royal Mail only cover it if sent by Special Delivery, which is not a service offered on Simple Delivery it seems? I have risked Tracked 48 for jewellery items up to £30, but beyond that I have been sending Special Delivery. The prospect of sending more expensive jewellery in the post without insurance horrifies me and I am considering removing those listings if that is the case. I still have so much of my mother's hoard to get through it would be a shame to quit now, but it may be safer to just scrap it. So sad.

---

Hi johannadee, thanks for the question.

That's the good thing with Simple Delivery, if it gets lost or is damaged in transit, we will cover it. We would deal with those cases. Items sent through Simple Delivery are fully covered against loss or damage during transit from the moment it's scanned by the carrier until delivery confirmation. If an item is lost, stolen, or damaged in transit, sellers are fully protected. eBay handles all communication with the carriers to resolve the issue, requiring no action from the seller. 

Thank you,

Marco

[dave@ebay]

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@ruby*ryan wrote:

2nd question.
In the message we received about SD it states:

 Save 20% off postage costs*: Get competitive rates to offer standard and express delivery with Royal Mail and Evri.

I use up to 750g LL which are currently £2.70 if I buy via eBay, and 1k Evri which are £2.94 purchased from eBay. The prices for SD are exactly the same. In fact I can’t see any Option in SD that is ANY cheaper than it is now.

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Hi @ruby*ryan 

I'll pass this feedback on to the SD team to review. 

Thanks,

Dave

[kat@ebay]

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@ruby*ryan wrote:

3rd question.

In that same message it states:

Free postage option: Choose if you want your buyer to pay for the label, or offer free postage and cover the cost.

Why does this cost the seller more than it costs the buyer? This is the same label, costing the same amount regardless of who pays.
e.g. 100g LL by SD, buyer pays £2.70, if choosing free postage/seller pays, the cost is £3.42

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Hi @ruby*ryan ,

That looks like it might be something to do with the buyer protection fee. Let me follow that part up for clarification and will update you.

Thank you,

Kat

[jjambadger27]

Hi, eBay reps - my main concern with Simple Delivery is that apparently eBay can override my choice of item carrier even if I've specified that I only want to use Royal Mail. Is this correct? I have no desire to use Evri based on my poor experience of them as a delivery company.

I also presume that Standard Delivery and Express Delivery refers to Tracked 48 and Tracked 24?

[dave@ebay]

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@wellingnorth wrote:

Sorry, another question!

I haven't seen any mention of international postage, I just wanted to check that we will still be able to sell internationally after simple delivery becomes mandatory using labels purchased ourselves from Royal Mail for example?

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Hi @wellingnorth 

You will be able to send international items as normal but SD is available for GSP items for the first leg of transit to the UK Shipping Centre.

Thanks,

Dave