THE EBAY OF 2025 - WHAT TO EXPECT AS A SMALL PRIVATE SELLER - SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO ?

[bittyboy101]

Just as the title says...

Apparently a few disturbing/concerning changes to eBay coming in January & February 2025... 

1) eBay Managed Shipping.

2) Payment Holds until delivery of a sold item has been confirmed.

So I'm a bit confused about number 1 - eBay's managed shipping... Not sure how this is going to work ? and whether it will be something like Packlink (only made compulsory instead of optional) ... or will it be like an "eBay Global Shipping program" type of setup where we send our sold items to eBay's 3rd party distributor and they then forward the item to the buyer by their default postal service ??... something tells me this could be Evri  (Hermes ! )  - Not happy or comfortable with this !  knowing Evri aren't always great !  😞

Moving on to number 2 - payment holds/delays until a sold items has been confirmed delivered (or 14 days have passed since buyer purchased the item and the buyer hasn't opened any cases during that time)... This can now be time consuming to get paid... Like eBay's new managed payments wasn't already slow enough !... now it's getting even slower !... not ideal if you've  got little money in the bank that week and have to 'find money upfront' to pay for posting sold items (this can get pretty expensive if 2 or 3 heavy items which cost £20 to post sell on eBay at the same time to different buyers)... Oh wait a moment... Conveniently eBay now does managed shipping and  they'll let you have an advance on your buyer's payment to cover shipping costs PROVIDING YOU BUY IT AT AN INFLATED RATE FROM EBAY ONLY !... How nice !  😞 

Now the debate of whether I should stay ? or go ?

I have always loved buying and selling on eBay for many years... Would it be worth carrying on with these new changes which are very worrying... or would it be better to do what the old saying says and QUIT WHILST YOU'RE AHEAD ???

All comments welcome - The good, the bad and the ugly - Let's know what you all think !

would a small private seller be skinned alive by the new 2025 eBay ? I wonder ! 🤔 🙄 😁   

[1956glyn]

I know of a very large company that has a cheap contract with Evri who carry items for next to nothing...........they do have a clause in said contract that they will not pay out for any lost or damaged parcels.

[vintique*violet]

I have had  similar thoughts on this and you have worded it perfectly, thank you - will be interesting to hear others take on it. 

[da-vids]

Ha ha yeah good luck eBay getting entwined with evri

[14pms02]

sold recently - ebay buyer location said based in Chile, with delivery address in West Midlands, when order details came thru - that should keep ebay amused in terms of which piece of information they use !

I live in a village with a Post Office 400yards from my front door - so most things go 48 hours tracked, at cost, I do not mark-up, despite cost of material, though most is recycling.  Nearest EVRI is 10 miles away, so return journey will cost me £3 in petrol alone, plus 45 minutes travel time.

So to keep ‘control’ of my sales, I’ll have to opt out of ‘Simple’ and invest my own cash that I might never get back.  If I opt in, I’ll be spending more on petrol/car running costs, which I will need to recover, meaning uncompetitive pricing EVEN BEFORE buyer 4%, plus 75p added on top.

Think I’ll let my current offering run, and join ‘wait and see’ crowd.

[dawns9326]

I totally agree with you as I live in a rural area with no public transport whatsoever,  with a perfectly useable Post Office in my village which we use ncluding passing the time of day with other people which is very welcome interaction  for myself and my elderly husband , we also found posting a welcome part of our permitted exercise walking during Covid 

[lucy_farmer]

'I know ebay will have a much much better deal with any delivery company than us *bleep*; '

BLEEP ??!! come on ebay for heaven's sake....... what is wrong with the word P.L.E.B.S.?  it's from Latin, not Anglo Saxon.....😅

[da-vids]

Maybe if a seller uses the new eBay post service the seller may not be liable. Maybe eBay have negotiated cheaper delivery rates that don't include insurance so when an item goes missing eBay pay out. The 4% is pooled and used to pay out losses instead of the carriers. Strangely carriers take out insurance for their lost and damaged parcels, so it's probably known that 4% will easily cover losses. Perhaps eBay saves on paying the carriers  insurance and are basically insuring losses themselves. Whatever they don't pay out in losses is profit. One reason for this thinking is we can get parcels cheaper without insurance indeed pay more for more insurance, usually we pay with basic insurance included. eBay buying bulk delivery without insurance, the 4% is the insurance... Maybe !?

[mitchiemasha]

Now that would be an idea wouldn't it!

I did put this else where

"If this new future automated system with "Simple Delivery" also automatically refunded the seller from the postal provider, when an item stayed stuck in transit (clearly undelivered), without the seller needing to make a complex claim with the postal provider... this would actually be amazing! However, that's never going to happen."

[valueaddedresource]

---

@da-vids wrote:

Maybe if a seller uses the new eBay post service the seller may not be liable. Maybe eBay have negotiated cheaper delivery rates that don't include insurance so when an item goes missing eBay pay out. The 4% is pooled and used to pay out losses instead of the carriers. Strangely carriers take out insurance for their lost and damaged parcels, so it's probably known that 4% will easily cover losses. Perhaps eBay saves on paying the carriers  insurance and are basically insuring losses themselves. Whatever they don't pay out in losses is profit. One reason for this thinking is we can get parcels cheaper without insurance indeed pay more for more insurance, usually we pay with basic insurance included. eBay buying bulk delivery without insurance, the 4% is the insurance... Maybe !?

---

@da-vids  @mitchiemasha  - yes, that is how Simple Delivery works - the seller would not be liable for loss or damage (within the terms of the program, of course.)

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sellercentre/postage/simple-delivery 

How is my item covered?

Items are protected against loss or damage from the moment they are scanned into the carrier's delivery network until they are marked as delivered by the carrier. In the event that a buyer raises a claim for an issue that occurs during transit, you'll not be held responsible.

I suspect it's the reason eBay has set maximum item price caps on eligibility for the program...to limit their exposure on that "protection".

What listings are eligible for Simple Delivery?

Simple Delivery is currently available to private sellers in the UK selling:

• Clothing items that have a ‘Buy it Now’ price, auction starting price, or reserve price of £500 or less
• Items in all other eligible categories that have a 'Buy it Now' price, auction starting price, or reserve price of £750 or less   

Items (once packaged) within the following dimensions and maximum weight:

• For shop drop-off: where no side exceeds 120cm in length, the volume is no more than 245cm and the package is up to 20kg. To calculate the volume: add together the two shortest sides and multiply it by two, and then add the length.
• For locker drop-off: 61cm x 46cm x 46cm and the package is up to 15kg.

Authenticity Guarantee and bulky listings are currently excluded from Simple Delivery.

[da-vids]

Not sure eBay will be liaising with couriers for lost parcels, but they will have the money up front for buyers refund. The more I read it seems not much has changed but a little evolution in processes.

[mitchiemasha]

That's great. I already use ebay labels... I just hope there's no clash between which I use for what sized items.

[valueaddedresource]

---

@mitchiemasha wrote:

That's great. I already use ebay labels... I just hope there's no clash between which I use for what sized items.

---

@mitchiemasha in theory, that's another one of the benefits to Simple Delivery - the seller doesn't really have to do anything except either accept the estimated size/weight info eBay suggests based on the item info or enter their own actual weight/dimensions.

At that point, eBay then has full control - they decide which "appropriate shipping methods" to show to the buyer and at what cost, the shipping amount is paid from the buyer to eBay, and eBay provides a pre-paid label to the seller.

Again, in theory, it could really be simpler but most sellers have personal experiences that understandably make them skeptical. 😂

Possible issues could come from the fact that what eBay deems to be a convenient or appropriate service may not be convenient or appropriate for any number of reasons from the seller's perspective (including that they don't currently support collection, so sellers do have to physically take the package to whatever carrier the label designates).

I'd definitely recommend reading the full FAQ in the link I provided above to get yourself familiar with how the program works before it becomes mandatory later this quarter.

[da-vids]

I'm not sure I've read into it that seller isn't liable for loss or damage, maybe regarding seller account metrics not liable. Suppose it's ultimately who is the customer of the courier, is it seller or eBay. But if seller isn't liable completely then it would suggest eBay would be liaising with couriers for compensation which would truly be simple delivery and quite a good evolution. Holding onto money until delivery covers them. Starting to think dissed eBay employees prematurely, I should have read properly before dissing them. 

[da-vids]

eBay is ultimately the customer of the courier in the case of simple delivery I reckon. So yeah... Simples! Wonder if loss claims are from courier insurance or they haggle cheaper uninsured prices from couriers and back losses themselves 🤔 apologies sad case here thinking out loud!

[valueaddedresource]

@da-vids yeah they don't give specifics as to if the coverage is insurance from the carrier or simply eBay using some of the fees/revenue as "cookie jar insurance" where they just cover it themselves - and honestly I'm not sure that matters either way to sellers, as long as they are not being made to pay for any claims of loss or damage in transit.

As to who will be the customer of the carrier - that will definitely be eBay in the Simple Delivery program.

eBay will be in complete control, deciding which shipping methods to offer to the buyer with no input from the seller.

The shipping cost will be paid by the buyer to eBay and eBay will simply provide a pre-paid (by eBay to the carrier) label to the seller.

The only part the seller will really play is in getting that package with the eBay paid label into the possession of the carrier, which is why the coverage for loss or damage doesn't kick in until there is an acceptance scan on the tracking.

[lucy_farmer]

'eBay is ultimately the customer of the courier in the case of simple delivery I reckon.'

So we hope they will suck up all the courier and delivery refunds etc.

But most sellers just can't believe they *won't* be held liable for refunding customers when it all goes pear-shaped.

We've all had too many years of watching it happen....

[da-vids]

There isn't specific detail on what happens due probably to all of the different outcomes but ultimately yes to what you said, eBay will deal with it all.

[da-vids]

Great posts / poster 👀

[*maetrix*]

I've had to claim on a few items this year from Royal Mail when the item has "gone missing"...at least £20 every time (plus they refund the postage costs)...do ebay have any clue what they're letting themselves in for?

As I said before - somebody at ebay needs firing for coming up with this nonsense OR they need to eat a bit of humble pie and admit they've got this one totally wrong.

We shall see......

[da-vids]

eBay are in a position to know what they are doing... Hopefully!