Simple Delivery is not just a change there are some fundamental trading basics it changes and not so much a case of how it works , is what happens when it doesn't , because it could very messy and painful for the seller when things do go wrong and they will more often given the simplistic one sized fits all approach.
It could now be seen that if Ebay are purchasing the postage on behalf of the winning bidder , Ebay are acting as a middle man , and this is emphasised by the "buyer protection" surcharge . Ebay are your buyer and they are selling it on to the actual buyer and they are now responsible long distance selling rights and buyer protection etc
As soon as the Ebay courier processes the item, your part of the transaction is complete as you did not purchase the postage , Ebay take it out of the postage amount the buyers has paid them which you are not in receipt off . They also pocket the buyer protection fee ! If you were allowing a home collection you would only do when you have received fees ?
With the seller purchasing the postage from a provider or source of their choosing this can't be issue as the seller is clearly responsible for postage , You have a contract with the courier should the the item get lost and damaged
In practice I think Ebay will still expect the seller to be responsible as they were prior to Simple Delivery and Buyer protection . A concern is who will RM and Evri consider to be their buyer especially if the claim is against a high value item and Ebay are no help at all. If Ebay who are now the middleman fail to inspect your item the buyer issue is with Ebay and not you . It really is a can of worms best avoided
This is perhaps the primary reason I do not want anything to do with simple delivery in relation to regular multiple sales and I think all sellers need to think about this carefully .
Another issue I can see , is the most popular choice with sellers is RM48 . Currently all sub post offices will accept drop offs but this has not always been the case and given how Ebay / RM have shafted sub-postmasters with this closed set-up , sub-postmasters will be significantly out of pockets as Ebay private sellers can no longer go to their local post office unless it some Ebay can't be bothered with !. In reality RM48 could go back to just official drop off points or collection , which starts making things difficult
Another issue is the seller receives no funds towards packaging which is why the fee is called p & P
I have no contract to sell with Ebay , I do not need to sell on Ebay and its no skin of my nose if Ebay lose money as a result and the same applies to RM when they realise their Ebay related revenue drops through the floor . Ebay and RM leadership are responsible to their shareholders and stakeholders and when they realise what a hash up they have made on their brain dead strategy things may happen
Finally I don't believe Ebay want to get rid of private sellers as the free to sell strategy is aimed gaining more private sellers , they just don't understand their own platform and just want it to be shiny and dynamic like greener grass of vinted .
