Combined postage with Simple Delivery ?

[reno08]

In the Simple Delivery FAQ I see no mention of combining postage when selling several items to the same buyer.

Is that now gone ?!

If so it will have a HUGE impact on many sellers of low value items.

As a buyer I also always check sellers other items after I win an auction, to take advantage of combined postage. If it’s gone I won’t have any incentive to do that

[**peaseblossom**]

We don't know what's going to happen about combining.   They surely can't get rid of it altogether.   You can always ask sellers to relist items into one listing with a single postage.   Most aren't going to realise yet that they can't combine at the moment.

[retromusings]

I just spoke to an agent who stated that "No, the Simple Delivery option with combined postage will not work," which I guess is because it is too simple for seller's needs.

I couldn't get to the bottom of how international postage will work if a seller is not enrolled in Global Shipping, but I did get confirmation that items under 100g AND £10 can opt out of Simple Delivery.

[britanniabug_stamp_store]

Is that official eBay policy or just a CS rep speaking off the top of their head. The categories where SD will no apply have, as I thought, NOT been announced; so what gives.

[zax93]

Not being able to combine items is such a retrograde step - almost unbelievable

[**peaseblossom**]

In the weekly chat with ebay staff today one of them (Kat) confirmed that combined postage with Simple Delivery is currently being worked on.   So it will be OK soon - hopefully.

[spirograph]

Having walked into the 'Simple Delivery' nightmare today, I spoke with Ebay and as a seller that lists only auction items, it seems that the facilty to combine multiple purchases (wins) is no longer  going to be available. From what I could make out, one seller who has won 11 items from me is now being asked to pay 11 x postage fees on each item. In turn I will receive 11 x postage labels and be effectively forced to send out 11 separate packages for the tracking to work.

What benefit is this to either seller or buyer? No buyer surely wants 11 items being sent to the same address on the same day by the same seller in anything other than the same package!

Crazy. If combined postage is no longer an option, then that's my Ebay selling days come to an end. 

[edwardian-dreams]

EBay community staff have said in the weekly chat that you can use the old postage method to ship internationally but that SD is available to use if you use the GSP

Re combined,postage, I’m sure I read a poster here today saying they managed to combine invoices

But as with everything we have to wait for the “official” announcements

[zax93]

Also forced to pay 11 x buyer protection fees! Hopefully this gets sorted soon

[zax93]

Good news if that is true about International Shipping

[edwardian-dreams]

Yes

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?

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

[geosacha007]

You'd have to cancel all of them, create a listing for all the items at the corrrect value and get one postage label.

[spirograph]

Thanks - in fact that's what we agreed upon and ended up doing. It was anything but 'simple' though, as I had to cancel all of the auction transactions and then do a buy-it-now listing. 

Another buyer bought 7 items and did appear to receive a discounted/combined demand for payment from Ebay without any input from me. It wasn't ideal, as I'd have charged previously requested £2.70 as the total postage payable on all 7 items combined, whereas Ebay charged £5.54 (slightly more than 100% extra!). A small mercy I suppose, that they didn't ask the buyer to pay £2.70 x 7 (£18.90), but does rather stick in my craw that the label I generated and which the buyer paid £5.54 for, is, for all intents and purposes, identical to one which would've only cost me £2.70 to purchase directly from Royal Mail.

[sml192]

There used to be a reference to combined postage on the help page, stating that it may be available, but that appears to have been removed now.  The only mention now of multiple items is this bit:

'If you're sending multiple items from one order, all items will need to fit in one package which meets the Simple Delivery package limits.' 

I have seen a couple of posters mentioning recently that their buyers were given a small postage discount by eBay on a multiple item order, but can't remember the details. 

I think it's something that eBay are still working on. 

[tressygirl]

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@spirograph wrote:

Thanks - in fact that's what we agreed upon and ended up doing. It was anything but 'simple' though, as I had to cancel all of the auction transactions and then do a buy-it-now listing. 

Another buyer bought 7 items and did appear to receive a discounted/combined demand for payment from Ebay without any input from me. It wasn't ideal, as I'd have charged previously requested £2.70 as the total postage payable on all 7 items combined, whereas Ebay charged £5.54 (slightly more than 100% extra!). A small mercy I suppose, that they didn't ask the buyer to pay £2.70 x 7 (£18.90), but does rather stick in my craw that the label I generated and which the buyer paid £5.54 for, is, for all intents and purposes, identical to one which would've only cost me £2.70 to purchase directly from Royal Mail.

---

The inability to make combined postage on multi purchases is causing a headache for all.

eBay tell sellers to  send the items as one and just make a partial refund  on the excess postage,  far from ideal.

Is it a permanent thing?  No one is  coming forth to confirm or deny, just statements that ...  ' eBay are aware of the issue, and are working on it.'

Some sellers are leaving an note on their listings like this......  ' If you wish to buy multiple items from my eBay listings,  please inform me before buying, I will relist them together as one and you will only pay for one postage cost, as currently it's not possible for sellers to offer a combined postage.

This also then gives sellers that tracking protection for all items sent.

@spirograph 

[davrman]

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@sml192 wrote:

I have seen a couple of posters mentioning recently that their buyers were given a small postage discount by eBay on a multiple item order, but can't remember the details. 

---

I've tested this a couple of times by adding multiple items from the same seller to the basket. I did this yesterday with four items that individually would have been parcels under 1Kg, but together over 2Kg. The Simple Delivery Standard Tracked costs for 1, 2, 3 and 4 items were £2.94, £3.71, £5.36 and £5.36 respectively. So eBay is attempting to offer combined postage automatically.

[spirograph]

@tressygirl

I encountered the recent bug of not being able to properly combine
purchases, but at least the facility was there. Oh if only we could return
to those days a few short weeks back! It was indeed a headache, but at
least was something the buyer/seller could work out. It was definitely not
a permanent issue, because they've now over-ridden all private sellers
shipping options with the dreaded 'Simple Delivery' scheme. This takes away
completely the ability for the seller to combine invoices for their buyer.
Not only that, but Ebay set the amount they demand from the buyer for
multiple purchases and this does NOT get paid on to the seller (so the
seller cannot refund the buyer's postage even if they wished to, as the
sellers no longer physically received the £ postage element of the
transaction - it's replaced with a 'free' postage label, the 'cost' of
which I'm sure is not matched by the amount the buyer had to pay for it).

If my listings were set-price items, I'd definitely follow the re-listing
multiple items as one route, but in my case, all my listings are auctions
and I never know who's going to 'win' what, or for how much until the
auctions are completed.
I had to spend over an hour last night individually editing this week's 100
listings to omit the bit where I say to buyers in the description that I'm
happy to combine postage. I'm indeed very UNhappy that Ebay have taken away
my right to combine postage, choose delivery service, and allow me as a
seller, to discount my buyers so that I keep postage to just the actual
Royal Mail cost. (i.e. I can throw in as many items up to 750g as will fit,
and still only charge the buyer £2.70)

This new Simple Delivery is not going to benefit buyers or sellers....but
based upon the figures shown in my transaction for a buyer who bought 7
items under this new scheme, it's most definitely going to benefit Ebay!

There was a time in the dim and distant past where Ebay used to condemn
sellers for 'making profit from postage fees'....oh how the world's changed!

[spirograph]

Thanks @sml192
Based upon my transaction yesterday, a seller who 'won' (in auction) 7
items where postage on each listing was set at £2.70 (i.e. the cheapest
'tracked' Royal Mail fee), was not thank goodness, charged £18.90 (i.e. 7 @
£2.70) but was charged £5.54 in total for the 7 items.
This isn't 'too bad' I guess, but it's still no where as good as my
previous ability to combine this seller's invoice, and only charge them a
single £2.70 postage for all 7 items. I would do this until the weight of a
package exceeds 750g and then if that occurs, I would then simply charge
the next 'up to 5kg' fee of £3.39.
So £5.54 is still over 100% more than what I'd have previously invoiced my
seller for, and the 'difference' (£2.84) seems to be going directly into
Ebay's coffers, because the 'free' label they send me is to all intents and
purposes, identical to a £2.70 label that I'd have purchased for my buyer,
were to be able to.

At present it's allowing me to opt out of using the dreaded Evri as an
option (I have watched on a hidden cam an Evri delivery driver take a photo
of my package as proof of delivery, and then pick it up and walk off with
it!).
This SD scheme is a lot of straw, and the most inappropriately named scheme
that Ebay could've come up with, but I shall persevere if Ebay buyers don't
revolt or boycott. However, were Ebay to force me to use Evri, then that'd
be the straw which'd break my back!

[spirograph]

And so the nightmare continues for me this weekend.

An item purchased under the 'Simple Delivery' scheme was paid for by the buyer, and I accessed the 'prepaid postage label'.

The buyer then contacts me asking if I'd made a typo on the tracking number - I hadn't as that data is auto-uploaded by Ebay. The tracking number on the order showed the identical tracking number as on the label.

HOWEVER, when you click on the link to track package, this particular reference relates to a package that was already sent, and successfully delivered back in October 2024!

Apparently ALL Royal Mail tracking references are unique, so how the heck can Ebay produce a new RM tracking label in April 2025, with a tracking number that was already used by RM in October 2024?

Has anyone else experienced anything similar yet? I'm dreading taking this item to the Post Office tomorrow, as I've a horrible feeling that their computer is gonna say a big fat NO to accepting this label....and Ebay's A.I. (and CS in turn!) are going to doubtless insist that the tracking shows the package was delivered (in Oct last year!) even though the item in question didn't sell on Ebay until 5th April 2025!

[flowerpower37-uk]

Hi

combined shipping is still there when a customer buys more than one item - it is really difficult to understand and find but i did it yesterday - if you select the items for the combined shipping and near the top right of the screen there is a small button combine shipping - it's there you just have to search - nothing now is simple and straighforward with this new 'SIMPLE DELIVERY'