Simple Delivery private Seller postage refund form

[wendy-fixes-it-for-bob]

Hi All

If you are a Private Seller and eBay have applied "Simple" Delivery to your item and you wish to cancel the order or use a different carrier or your own label etc. etc. then please read on...

If the BUYER has paid for postage, then eBay will automatically refund if the label is not used.

If the SELLER has paid for postage (ie free / reduced cost postage offered to Buyer) then the postage cost is NOT automatically refunded - you need to fill out the following form to request the refund:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/claims/simple-delivery/refund/seller

This information / help is correct (as far as I have researched) at the date of publication of this post.

I cite my reference:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/selling/posting-items/setting-postage-options/simple-delivery?id=5575

Which states....

• If you selected ‘Seller pays’ and offered free postage on your listing, you'll need to fill out the Request a refund for Simple Delivery form for the label that wasn’t used. Make sure to send your request within 14 days of your item selling

[papso22]

Also members who are buying to sell and have an ebay business account (as required by ebay rules), do not have to use Simple Delivery.

[*vyolla*]

There's a bit more to it than that, sellers need to add a tracking number which must show delivery in order to apply for a label refund.

You shouldn't have to use eBay's Simple Delivery though  - it's only mandatory for private sellers. I think you may be unaware that you're trading on the wrong kind of account - a private seller is one who is just selling off their own personal items such clothes from their wardrobe, bits from their loft/garage etc. They don't have multiples of items to sell.

A Business seller is someone who buys or makes items to sell on.  They need to be registered as a business to meet the requirements of UK law. They need to declare income to HMRC once they reach £1,000 worth of sales (eBay will be providing HMRC with your details anyway so it's vital to keep correct accounts for your tax return).

You can obviously offset more expenses as a business seller, but can't offset any at all as a private one (if a private seller is trading on a private account and claiming expenses that may land in hot water with HMRC).  

To correctly register as a business seller simply go to your Personal Information in your account and to the right of Account Type, which will be showing as 'Individual'  you'll see an Edit option.

https://accountsettings.ebay.co.uk/profile

This doesn't affect your feedback profile or any current listings, it merely upgrades your account so that you're compliant with current consumer and eBay policy.

If you're also selling your own items, just open another eBay account (you can have more than one).

[wendy-fixes-it-for-bob]

Please would you fact-check your assertions.

.... There's a bit more to it than that, sellers need to add a tracking number which must show delivery in order to apply for a label refund..... Not  true, please cite your reference. I have cancelled many labels - no delivery proof required. Delivery proof IS required for Seller Protection, but not to cancel labels.

....You shouldn't have to use eBay's Simple Delivery though  - it's only mandatory for private sellers.... which is why I said "If you are a Private Seller" - please see above.

...They need to be registered as a business to meet the requirements of UK law... if you are referring to being registered as a business seller on Ebay, this is not true, please cite your reference. The only requirement to comply with UK law is that an individual registers as self-employed with HMRC and files the necessary self-assessments as required - this is not an eBay requirement.

....You can obviously offset more expenses as a business seller, but can't offset any at all as a private one.... not true, please cite references. As long as an individual declares income / expenditure to HMRC they can offset any legitimate costs relating to trading whether that be on eBay or elsewhere.

I should suggest citing references before passing your opinions off as fact.

[jckl1957]

Source for proving delivery/confirming tracking:

To process your refund, we'll verify the following:

• The label was paid for by you (you offered free shipping to the buyer).
• The refund request is created within 14 days from the item's sale.
• The label wasn't used within 14 days of the item's sale.
• The package was delivered using a different tracking number.

If your request meets all these conditions, you'll receive a refund for the shipping cost. Please note, it may take up to 14 days for the refund to be processed.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/claims/simple-delivery/refund/seller

You should have a read though this from gov.uk.

https://www.gov.uk/online-and-distance-selling-for-businesses

There are extra rules you need to follow if you’re:

• selling goods or services online

Key points include the need to have your business address on your listings and your buyers have the right to cancel orders from you and return their purchases for any reason within a set period.

[*vyolla*]

@wendy-fixes-it-for-bob

I should suggest citing references before passing your opinions off as fact.

---

Of course.

1. Here's a cited reference to eBay's policy:

Business sellers can't represent themselves as private individuals

Taken from:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/policies/selling-policies/selling-practices-policy/business-seller-polic...

2. and another mentor has already posted eBay's guidance to how Simple Delivery fully works, to reiterate: 

To process your refund, we'll verify the following:

• The label was paid for by you (you offered free shipping to the buyer).
• The refund request is created within 14 days from the item's sale.
• The label wasn't used within 14 days of the item's sale.
• The package was delivered using a different tracking number.

  If your request meets all these conditions, you'll receive a refund for the shipping cost. Please note, it may take up to 14 days for the refund to be processed.

  3. As regards HMRC, again a private seller should not be offsetting business expenses if they aren't trading as a business. I hear that HMRC have some new software coming in soon and will no doubt be sending out back dated bills to reclaim any money they consider wrongly claimed. An eBay private account is very different to an eBay business account, as explained in my first post. It's not something I would risk.

[wendy-fixes-it-for-bob]

Point the first: This is not the thread for discussions about Business Sellers - This thread regards "Simple Delivery" for Private Sellers - please see title.

2nd Point... The only point on topic... - [...we'll verify the following...] The package was delivered using a different tracking number." - I find that not to be the case... There is no way to add additional courier tracking information against an order that has been crippled by "Simple Delivery" and yet, I have had refunds for the all the "Simple Delivery" postage cancellations I have requested - it may well be in eBay's T&C's, but it is not (currently and in my experience) followed-through.

Point 3 - Again, HMRC and eBay Seller descriptions have nothing to do with Simple Delivery - Taxation is far too large a subject to tackle in here. I suggest, if one has an interest, then investigate the difference between turnover and income. The simple equation is: turnover less EXPENSES equals income... and, in my limited experience, the income is the important bit when Income Tax and HMRC are concerned and certainly not what your status is called on a selling platform.  Turnover does become an issue with VAT - as I say, too large a subject to discuss in a thread about "Simple Delivery" for Private Sellers.

[papso22]

What you might not have realised is that you have posted on a board that only mentors can reply on.

It's really for quick questions about ebay but we also have our particular bugbears about certain issues.

[*vyolla*]

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@wendy-fixes-it-for-bob wrote:

2nd Point... The only point on topic... - [...we'll verify the following...] The package was delivered using a different tracking number." - I find that not to be the case... There is no way to add additional courier tracking information against an order that has been crippled by "Simple Delivery" and yet, I have had refunds for the all the "Simple Delivery" postage cancellations I have requested - it may well be in eBay's T&C's, but it is not (currently and in my experience) followed-through.

---

This section really is for eBayers looking for advice from mentors about a particular issue, so your opening post may have been better placed in Seller Central. I happen to know that there are a couple of threads over there wherein sellers are having difficulty getting their Simple Delivery labels refunded, so your advice to them may be invaluable, particularly if you've succeeded where everyone else seems to have failed. 

[*vyolla*]

Here's a direct link to one of the threads:

https://community.ebay.co.uk/t5/Seller-Central/WARNING-Ebay-are-not-properly-refunding-unused-Simple...