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

[kat@ebay]

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@moldosgifts wrote:

Given the massive increase of posts on the boards regarding Simple Delivery,

When it becomes mandatory for private sellers will the postage options match up with those offered by royal mail and evri.

Not just in package size and wight but in price too

People like to manage their own postage. Many have special needs such as no printer so choose the appropriate service for them. No smart phone too.

Simple delivery needs a massive rework before it goes live especially when it is cheaper to send yourself.

The flexibility just isn't in it yet. But eBay seems to want to push it on private sellers.

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Hi @moldosgifts ,

We appreciate your feedback on the changes with Simple Delivery and will share them with our relevant internal team. I know collection is an option for Royal Mail that can be booked on their website which can help with those at home. For those with no access to printers or smart phones we have shared the feedback regarding this and if there will be future changes to provide for these situations we will share an update.

Thank you,

Kat

[marco@ebay]

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@krafty-kreations wrote:

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?

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Thanks for your reply, krafty-kreations.

You should be able to see prohibited items in full here. For further information, you can visit carriers websites.

Thank you,

Marco

[tinpelican]

Payments on Hold - Business Account

Hi. We reactivated our business account on 1st January 2025 and payments were put on hold. We understand the reason for this, but cannot decipher why, three months later, all payments are still on hold.

We have spoken to CS about this a number of times and have been told (twice) that it's because of the new payment system (it isn't, that's for private sellers only), we were then told that the payment hold would be removed after 90 days (i.e. end of March), another CS (Dublin) spoke to the Holds Team who assured us that it would be removed at the end of February, not March. But here we are, now in April, and all payments are still on hold.

Today, CS told us that it is because our available funds are in the minus (£-2.61) and that to release the payment hold, we just needed to pay the money owed. This seems unlikely as, with rolling fees to pay and daily withdrawal of funds for businesses (when payments aren't on hold), there must often be times when available funds are in the minus. Anyway, I was sent a link to make the payment, but the link takes me to a screen which tells us that the sum we owe is £0.00!! Also, the link to make the payment of £0.00 is not active.

Any chance this could be resolved please? Thanks 😊

[pauuk.35za36]

Why have you stated that Simple delivery is starting from the 15th April when in effect it will be mandatory from the 7th April?

[marco@ebay]

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@jusali wrote:

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?

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Hi jusali, thanks for your question.

If the item doesn't qualify for Simple Delivery, you will have the option to purchase your shipping label separately and add tracking, you won't see the Simple Delivery flow.

Thank you,

Marco 

[dave@ebay]

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@555njp wrote:

Also if I can add a question to @ruby*ryan

What happens if an item is listed as auction, starting at under £10 and therefore exempt from SD but ends at over £10? How would that work or would the item remain exempt?

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Hi @555njp ,

If the auction finishes over the £10 threshold SD will automatically kick in when the buyer goes to complete the transaction. 

Thanks,

Dave

[ruby*ryan]

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kat@ebay wrote:

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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

---

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

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Thanks kat@ebay 
I did wonder about BPF, because the difference was 72p, but BPF shouldn't make any difference to the postage cost, as that would already be added to the item cost. Also, if it is that, and it is right it means buyers and sellers are each paying a BPF!
I will be very interested in the update. 🙂

[kat@ebay]

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@moldosgifts wrote:

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,!

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Hi @moldosgifts ,

The seller id is still visible on the item page.  It's the detail of being a private or business seller that has moved. I'll share the feedback regarding this change of place for the business/private seller information. While we do share the feedback we cannot guarantee a change back in the design.

Thank you,

Kat

[marco@ebay]

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@a45heaven wrote:

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?

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Thanks for your reply, a45heaven. The agreement is that they should be accepted, if they don't accept it, we can record that and report it.

Thank you,

Marco

[pauuk.35za36]

If a buyer chooses express postage then changes their mind and returns the item will the seller be responsible for refunding the total cost of this express service? or will Ebay refund the cost difference over the regular speed postage service option?

[debbidooda]

I am a First-Time-User of these boards – and on here today due to receiving an email from ebay (at 12:05pm today) informing me that ‘Starting from 15 April, Simple Delivery will be the only delivery method available for private sellers when listing most items.’

From these boards (and other forums and social media elsewhere), it appears that many many ebay users are deeply unhappy about this situation (- myself included).  Ebay was once the leading online marketplace for buyers and sellers…. Sadly no more!

(Losing private sellers will mean less options for private buyers; less buyers will then affect business sellers.)

My question is:

If, after implementation, the ‘Simple Delivery mandatory’ policy change proves to have an adverse effect on ebay’s business, would a policy reversion ever be considered?

[marco@ebay]

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@johannadee wrote:

>>>>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.

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Hi johannadee, thanks for your reply.

Once it goes live, they have to accept it. If they don't accept it, let us know, and we can record that and report it.

Thank you,

Marco

[jusali]

So in simple terms.

I use your chosen service evri rm

Package and take to buyer chosen courier drop off.

They lose it.

Ebay compensates both buyer and seller? 

[warmyn-81]

Simple Delivery

Marco

I was in the post office this morning and I witnessed wrongly labelled packages & parcels being refused by the post office. 

I can assure you that you are wrong when you say they will accept them. 
 

[krafty-kreations]

I have read a few times now that bringing in free to sell for private sellers would bring more private sellers to eBay who would then buy and most likely from business sellers

Now you have added BPF and simple delivery that to me doesn't look cheaper or simple do you not think you are driving those very sellers away? 

I pay to sell, now I have to pay more to buy 

eBay isn't looking like the place to be right now! 

[kat@ebay]

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@ruby*ryan wrote:

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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?

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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

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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?

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Hi @ruby*ryan ,

If the item is less than £10 and less than 100g you should have the option to choose custom postage.

Thank you,

Kat

[warmyn-81]

Marco 

Please try and understand that Royal Mail and Post Office Counters are two different companies. ebay may have a deal with RM but I can assure you it does not have a deal with the post office!

I am not even sure if ebay realise that the post office, and royal mail are two separate companies as I know no sub postmaster would accept a wrongly pre-paid label on a parcel, Each post office would be fined by RM for this breach and part of their monthly targets on correct segregation. Every post office employee would say either get a new label or buy the correct postage. You cannot pay the difference over the counter. We wait with baited breath........

[dave@ebay]

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@custom-giftsuk wrote:

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)

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Hi @custom-giftsuk,

Depending on how a number of different factors a report can sometimes be handled by automation or by an agent. I can't see how the reports are handled so I can't say why something was or wasn't removed. 

The CS team might be able to see to provide more information on the term that was allowed ( I wont ask you to post it here just incase it flags on our list!)

Thanks,

Dave 

[kat@ebay]

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@tinpelican wrote:

Payments on Hold - Business Account

Hi. We reactivated our business account on 1st January 2025 and payments were put on hold. We understand the reason for this, but cannot decipher why, three months later, all payments are still on hold.

We have spoken to CS about this a number of times and have been told (twice) that it's because of the new payment system (it isn't, that's for private sellers only), we were then told that the payment hold would be removed after 90 days (i.e. end of March), another CS (Dublin) spoke to the Holds Team who assured us that it would be removed at the end of February, not March. But here we are, now in April, and all payments are still on hold.

Today, CS told us that it is because our available funds are in the minus (£-2.61) and that to release the payment hold, we just needed to pay the money owed. This seems unlikely as, with rolling fees to pay and daily withdrawal of funds for businesses (when payments aren't on hold), there must often be times when available funds are in the minus. Anyway, I was sent a link to make the payment, but the link takes me to a screen which tells us that the sum we owe is £0.00!! Also, the link to make the payment of £0.00 is not active.

Any chance this could be resolved please? Thanks 😊

---

Hi @tinpelican ,

That does seem strange about the payment link. I will link in with payments to have it checked and come back and update you.

Thank you,

Kat

[marco@ebay]

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@jjambadger27 wrote:

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?

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Hi jjambadger27, thanks for your question.

That could happen, but only under very specific scenarios. For example, if you disable Royal Mail can keep Evri only, but Evri doesn't deliver to the buyer's location, or doesn't offer the service needed, then it would be sent with Royal Mail.

Thank you,

Marco