Yes, it is TOTALLY CRAZY. One of ebays stupidest ever ideas. For Private Sellers it takes the control out of your hands, and there are sooooo many flaws with it. Different Sellers will have different complaints but here are a few that I’ve found that potentially* (see below) affect me.
1. Cost: it forces you to use a Tracked Service at extra expense. For low value items (below £20) this is totally unnecessary as Royal Mail standard services automatically give cover for loss up to £20 if you ask for Proof of Posting (which is Free).
2. Practicality: it forces you to A) print out an address label at home or B) get it printed at the Post Office. A) I use Hewlett Packards FREE INK Service which gives me FREE Ink Cartridges if I print out no more than 10 sheets per month. Simple Delivery would force me over that limit so I’d have to pay for those extra pages. B) Queueing in the Post Office is bad enough as it is; scanning several QR codes, printing out the labels and applying would be time consuming (and potentially confusing to make sure the right label goes on the right package). I’ve been stuck in the queue behind other people doing this, it’s a nightmare!
3. Size/Weight Options ebay gives you are very limited and often not practical or cost effective.
4. EBay withholds your payments for two weeks or until delivery is confirmed. How much money are they making by holding onto peoples money for that long? 🤔
* Up until now I’ve managed to avoid using Simple Delivery as there was an option to overide it (though it was well hidden and often used to default to Simple Delivery if you made an amendment). However when trying to list today Simple Delivery removed this option from my template! With much trial and error I have managed a workaround but it is time consuming, and no doubt ebay will in time close this loophole.
Of course ebay have a contract with Royal Mail,so by forcing you to buy through them, THEY make money on the postage, which THEY get at discounted rates. 🤬
