'Simple Delivery' failed, now a test case - worried

[richardb196]

Private Seller here, I sold a gold sovereign for £590 on ebay and was forced to use "Simple Delivery" as you all know. Both ebay and RM tracking show it as delivered, RM say they left it in a safe place and uploaded a photo. Seller says package has gone "missing" and he will raise a case with ebay!

I see some help pages on ebay saying I am covered for the loss but another page says gold is in the excluded list for 'Simple Delivery' even though they do not offer any other postal service.

Who is going to end up eating the loss I wonder?

Cheers

Rich

[notstopbuying]

Was it any process on how to edit the tracking number? 

[dls-online]

To change the tracking number (i.e. from the forced Simple Delivery one to a new one), this is the process:

• Go to "Orders Paid & Dispatched"
• Click on "View order details"
• Under "Postage" there's a small dropdown arrow next to "Track Package" - click on that.
• Choose the "Add tracking" option
• A box will come up with the current tracking number (i.e. the pesky Simple Delivery forced one). Delete that and replace it with your own one.

To be fair, ebay CS were great, walking me through this. She said loads of callers had been asking how to do this!

[notstopbuying]

Thank you, very much appreciated. 

[j.p.greenwood]

This is incredibly helpful.

I do hope that E-Bays internal systems will also handle the data correctly, such that the new tracking number automatically updates so that deliveries are recorded and that funds release then happens without requiring any individual or CS intervention.

If this proves to be the case and E-Bay don't now try to remove the functionality, it gives an effective workaround to many of the concerns that members have voiced.

[lucy_farmer]

'To change the tracking number (i.e. from the forced Simple Delivery one to a new one), this is the process:'

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you so much dis! 😘

That's a real help 😊

[4_bathrooms]

---

@dls-online wrote:

I can confirm the tracking number can be updated by yourself manually after the sale. I did that this afternoon on an item I sold where I'm not using Simple Delivery because of the uncertainty with using it (the item is electrical).

---

Thank you for that; I had wondered about that in an earlier post.

The issue eBay has is they do not make it clear the seller can still use their own delivery service to send the item on the listing form. It is a clunky workaround; the seller must select the "Seller pays" option for SD then request a refund for the unused SD label after a certain amount of time to prevent themselves being out of pocket. This also requires the seller to incorporate the cost of postage/shipping into the item's selling price.

Most private sellers are not going to be at all aware of the above because it is not made clear on the listing form. In fact; it isn't made clear anywhere. This could be judged to be a material omission where consumer law is concerned (a private seller's contract with eBay is a consumer contract).

[dls-online]

Yeah, sorry, I posted a couple of weeks back on here that I was going to give this potential workaround a try. Today was that day as I sold my first item with SD being forced.

So far, so good with the workaround. I submitted my refund form earlier and posted off the item via Royal Mail Tracked 48 as I always used to.

The system shows with my new tracking number and all looks good thus far!

[notstopbuying]

Did the item that you sent, has the tracking updated on the eBay system as delivered and did eBay make the funds available 2 days later for withdrawal?

[dls-online]

Considering I only sold the item today and dropped it to the post office a couple of hours ago, I doubt it's be delivered yet 🤣

As I said, all looks good thus far as the system's using my tracking number and not the SD one!

 

[pinkrabbitprinces82]

hi there agree, but where is the prohibited list please i can't see anything on there info this link about prohibited items? https://www.ebay.co.uk/sellercentre/postage/simple-delivery

[xyz307xyz]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/selling/posting-items/setting-postage-options/simple-delivery?id=5575#se...

Note this list on some lines only gives examples e.g. uses words "including but not limited to", "such as" etc.

Also any item on a courier (currently RM and Evri) Exclusions or Restricted list - I think. I wouldn't use Simple Delivery on such items anyway.

[dls-online]

I'm so sick of ebay's blatant corruption which seems to have worsened from late 2024 / early 2025.

Has anyone found out the reason why ebay think its morally acceptable to charge more for postage for a seller than it is a buyer? They don't even try to hide their vile antics anymore.

I will not partake in Simple Delivery due to (i) the lack of protection it provides for both buyers & sellers; (ii) the lack of trust I now have in ebay to do the right thing should anything go wrong; (iii) the lack of willingness from ebay to provide any clarity on what's not covered through Simple Delivery; (iv) the immorality of how Simple Delivery works; and (v) the inconvenience and frustration Simple Delivery causes.

Ebay management should be ashamed of themselves.

[xyz307xyz]

I saw this before when I tried a test listing.  Have you filled in all the other details of the listing?

For me I get different postage prices when the item price is left blank. If I fill in the item price, the Seller Pays postage price is changed to be the same (lower) amount.

[ruby*ryan]

As xyz said, you need to fill in the item price.

I think if you don't have an item price, it's trying to show you the SD price for under £100 and over £100.

[dls-online]

Ha! It's supposed to be simple...but it's an absolute sheeetshow. I have no idea at what stage I was sorting the postage, but whatever stage it was, this sort of madness should not happen. Haven't ebay heard of UI/UX?

It all sorted itself out in the end and the listing is up. Honestly, it doesn't really matter that much what the price for Simple Delivery is, as I request a refund as soon as the label is produced because I sort my own postage out. I do however set the postage weight to the lowest, so I'm only waiting on a relatively small amount to be refunded.

It's mad that it's gotten to these sort of antics just to sell random stuff with confidence on ebay!

[richardb196]

ebay ruled against me, they have refunded the buyer from my 'pending' balance and will not compensate me for the loss.

Seems I *bleep*ed up,  they say I did not use simple delivery but standard tracked 48 delivery they say I have to file a claim with Royal Mail.

I swear I used 'simple delivery' all my other sales around the same time used it but it seems not this one.

[pauuk.35za36]

I thought that you were still covered by ebays money back guarantee if the buyer has specified a safe place to royal mail prior to the delivery and royal mail leave it in that location? This could be evidenced through the fact that the buyers other items were left in this location? 

[j.p.greenwood]

Have a look a the order here

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sh/ord/?filter=status:ALL_ORDERS

You should be able to see what delivery service was in the listing.

The bad news is RM specifically exclude gold from their compensation lists. see clause 6.5

https://www.royalmail.com/sites/royalmail.com/files/2025-04/specific-terms-for-parcels-version-11.pd...

[sml192]

---

@richardb196 wrote:

ebay ruled against me, they have refunded the buyer from my 'pending' balance and will not compensate me for the loss.

Seems I *bleep*ed up,  they say I did not use simple delivery but standard tracked 48 delivery they say I have to file a claim with Royal Mail.

I swear I used 'simple delivery' all my other sales around the same time used it but it seems not this one.

---

Sorry to hear that Richard.   

Both of the gold sovereigns that you sold in May were listed with Simple Delivery.  The fact that it only states 'Standard Delivery' and 'Express Delivery' on the listing and doesn't specify the actual carrier is proof of that.  So, unless you bought your own postage separately, they must have been sent using Simple Delivery. 

Unfortunately, it would appear that the person reviewing the case either doesn't know what they are doing or they are deliberately trying to fob you off. 

[*vyolla*]

This is bad news, you're going to have to appeal and fight your corner here.

Tell them it was a Simple Delivery label and can they explain why, when it comes to making a claim, they are saying that it isn't a Simple Delivery label.