So far as I can see, nothing in the mandatory & no exceptions* straightjacket to which we have been invited will apply to ebay USA where, in summary, the position remains:
" Ship your item: You select a fixed cost, or we calculate the cost for you based on package weight and dimensions. You can pay the shipping cost yourself "
Perhaps the UK site is being used by corporate USA as trailblazer - or experiment. Perhaps its a radical move which reflects concern with the UK operation. Maybe ebay is weary of private sellers and of auctions. Perhaps greater profits will come not from seller fees but from buyer fees and the double-insurance premium which is now provided by "Simple delivery", with its enhanced and inappropriate level of cover, quite disproportionate to the risk of non-delivery. Forcing over-insurance has always been a reliable way of insurance companies improving their cash-flow!
But what is to be done? To raise every starting-price by £2 or £3 is one option - but sales would suffer, of course.
Perhaps its best to pause a month or two to see what transpires.
(*£10 starting price, or £10 including the buyer's premium, by the way?)
