Is opting out of Simple delivery still possible?

[cherry_5809]

Hi. I haven't listed anything in a while, but while trying today on mobile I could no longer figure out how to remove this overpriced service. It wants 2.72£ for a 2.80£ item, which I could easily send for 87p with Royal Mail 2nd class.. 

Do I need to try on PC/Web? Should I choose "sell similar item" on an older listing with sane shipping options? Can I choose free postage and then send with stamps manually (which I've been doing for a while anyway) and just mark as dispatched, or does it automatically buy the label?

I thought eBay was doing relatively positive changes when they reduced the buyer protection fee, which in my opinion is just a rebranded and unnecessarily complicated version of normal sales fees which are still a thing in other countries eBay websites, as well as the quicker payout times. But if I can't ship without using this convoluted system it may just be a deal breaker for me, which is a problem since many if the items I sell only really have a customer base on eBay.

[style_wise]

You seem to have figured it out! As a Private Seller you have to use Simple Delivery for most things. Many of your items fit Royal Mail Letter or Large Letter size, and are under 100g, and are £10 or under... for these you can still set Custom Postage (as long as eBay offers it for that category - which is still glitchy).

Simple Delivery is just new, not complicated. I dreaded it because of all the nay-sayers, but it is actually quite easy. And the Seller Protection is better.

BTW your 'random' pack listing is against eBay's policy. You would be better to list each of these separately, which as you say is now free to do because of Buyer Protection Fee changes.

[suelel1968]

Hi Cherry @cherry_5809 

"Do I need to try on PC/Web?" I would definitely try a desktop if you have one. I have the lot: mobile phone, tablet & Desktop and it is different on each one. Today I noticed some items had switched to SD which i didn't think should have (wishfull thinking really) but on the tablet, when editing it showed only my selected postage and no SD option, but when listing it showed as SD still. Tonight on the desktop, I could select Large letter again and it reverted to custom postage. 

"Can I choose free postage and then send with stamps manually" - you could do that but SD will generate a label and the customer (I believe) will still chose the delivery method, so stamps might not be an option if they select Evri (which you could exclude). You would also need to claim a refund on the label SD generated which is a faff.

You call it "convoluted" - how do you manage to stay so polite? Stick with it for now, at the very least just leave everything alone and let it play out. Ebay can't leave anything alone and it will change again one day, who knows what to or when, but it will change.

[goodibags]

"Simple Delivery is just new, not complicated. I dreaded it because of all the nay-sayers, but it is actually quite easy. And the Seller Protection is better."

No, the seller protection is far worse. For example, if you send an old silver sixpence you can buy postage with the RM for 87p and cover up to £20.

Under SD the postage shoots up to £2.72 tracked but the coin is not covered AT ALL. Zero seller protection.

I guess the 'good' news there is you'd sell fewer of them, so it'd also be much harder to have stuff lost in the post. 😉

@suelel1968 

You can only claim a refund for an unused SD label if you sent your item tracked, so NO stamps.