That is not strictly true, especially with regard to anything posted with EVRI and to a lesser extent Royal Mail. They exclude most things from any compensation for loss or damage and eBay T & C's clearly state that items sent using simple delivery must comply with the carriers terms and conditions as stated below:
Items listed on eBay need to comply with eBay's policies, including our Prohibited and restricted items policy. Items posted with Simple Delivery also need to comply with the prohibited and restricted items guidance and packaging requirements set out below, as well as the policies of the carrier.
I posted recently about private sellers showing their contact details specifically in the items photographs and Marco asked for the item number to investigate as it was a violation of eBay policies. Nothing got done and the seller still lists all items with contact details but I got admonished by two moderators for listing the item number as it was naming and shaming and a violation of eBay policies. In that post I mentioned discussions at a recent auction which always get round to eBay and some of the incidents are listed below:
My brother in law sold a set of waterford crystal champagne glasses, went by simple delivery as no other choice and EVRI managed to destroy one corner of the parcel leaving a clear tyre mark and two smashed glasses. Ebay deducted the costs from his account as glasses or parts containing glass are non compensatory items and not covered. Why then are items in that category only allowed to be posted with simple delivery.
One had a Royal Doulton vase arrived in bits (Royal Mail), sold for £110 and had £35 deducted from her account as tracked 48 only covers up to £75.00. Argued that with CS as it was simple delivery but they were adamant that Royal Mail T & C's overide those of eBay.
I remember a little while back that there was a posting on these boards that an item posted with simple delivery was denied cover by evri as it was over 20 years old,
I personally agree with the simple delivery concept and it makes life so easy, it just needs tweaking to allow combined postage and the fact that unused labels will be reimbursed to the buyer after 30 days is laughable - you couldn't make it up.
Of course, as in so many situations, people will always shout and scream when things don't go their way and some years ago, back in the days of working, a major manufacturer conducted a comprehensive survey and concluded that if something was good, a person would tell on average, three other people. If something was bad, they would tell on average eleven other people so whilst on the face of it most seem to post their dislike of simple delivery, those who like it don't bother to post which gives a rather blinkered view of the process.
Ebay need to correctly abide by their own T &C's and to quote the Financial conduct authority, they 'appear to operate outside their own regulatory framework'.
All we can do is hope for the best and plan for the worst and remember that old mantra " don't list what you can't afford to lose"
We live in an increasingly lawless corrupt world where discipline and standards have gradually been eroded and that applies at institutional level too.
Bring back the good old days,,,,,,,,,
