Refund Issues for eBay Labels I Didn’t Use (Simple Delivery)

[lbhcafc]

Hi everyone,

Over the last few months I haven’t been a big fan of the new “simple delivery” system eBay implemented. I mainly sell sports cards, and if the value is under £20, I normally send them 2nd class without tracking or a signature.

The problem is eBay forced me to buy more expensive labels I didn’t need. I made a post about this before, and someone kindly gave me the steps to request a refund. For the 87p labels I requested refunds on, I got the money back into my balance with no issue.

However, I’ve had no luck with the more expensive labels (£2.70+). Here are the examples:

• Item: Sports Trading Card Autograph
  Value: £11 (sent 2nd class, no tracking)
  Postage Label Cost: £2.72

• Item: Funko Pop (used Royal Mail instead as it was cheaper)
  Postage Label Cost: £2.94

• Item: Airpod Case (silicone, fits as a large letter)
  Postage Label Cost: £2.94

I’ve tried using the “Contact Us” button, but it only pushes me to call eBay. I really don’t want to make a phone call – I find it frustrating there’s no longer a proper live chat with a human.

I’ve been selling on eBay for quite a while and they’ve earned enough money from me over the years, so these small refunds really shouldn’t be this difficult.

Has anyone else had the same issue with £2.70+ labels not being refunded? And is there a way around this without having to phone them?

Thanks.

[**peaseblossom**]

You don't have to use Simple Delivery for some large letter cheap postage.   For the postage where you have to use SD you only get a refund for unused labels if the postage you buy is tracked.

[lbhcafc]

That's scandalous. How is that allowed then? As long as the customer receives it, it shouldn't be a problem at all whether it's tracked or not. The cards barely have value; sometimes I sell cards for £2/3. They should fix this because it's pathetic. They've recently fixed having standard letters for simple delivery but not being able to get refunded for a postage label, so they've taken £7/8 from me because I didn't send it tracked for a card that's cheap.

[retroman303]

eBay is pretty much forcing private sellers to use tracked services now. The only exception is in cases where a listing has the custom postage option (and where the seller selects that option).

Otherwise you only have two options - use the SD label (which will always be for a tracked service) or purchase your own postage. But, critically, if you choose the latter, you can - as **peaseblossom** said - only get a refund for the unused SD label if the service you bought your own label for was a tracked one. You can "go your own way", but you'll lose the value of the label eBay *wants* you to use.

It's quite an effective trap, I'll give them that.