Thanks so much for explaining all of that, that actually clears up a few things for me. I can definitely see the benefit of eBay covering lost or damaged parcels, but in my experience the lack of control causes more harm than good.

You mentioned I could ignore Simple Delivery and initiate my own label to access the buyer’s address, but that’s the part I’m unsure about. I never actually see the buyer’s full address until the Simple Delivery label is printed. At most, I only get a partial postcode, so I wouldn’t even know where to send the parcel if I tried to ship it myself.

Is there a way around this, or a specific point in the process where the full address becomes visible if I choose to use my own postage instead? It would honestly save me and my buyers a lot of unnecessary hassle if I could manage delivery myself.

Thanks again for taking the time to explain everything so clearly.

@thepoisonpixiex  wrote:  Is there a way around this, or a specific point in the process where the full address becomes visible if I choose to use my own postage instead? 

Yep, as in my post above,  initiate the label for the address, and then depending who paid for the postage they will be refunded.  If it was the buyer it can take 30 days or more for the refund to reach them,  might be worth sending a message to the buyer to explain this.

@thepoisonpixiex 

ITS A NIGHTMARE SO WHAT I AM DOING IS MARKING IT AS COLLECTION ONLY..... BUT ON THE  HEADING PUTTING FREE POSTAGE AFTER THE PRODUCT DESCRIPTION....THEN WHEN SOLD MESSAGING THE BUYER FOR THEIR ADDRESS  ...ITS A LOT OF EXTRA TROUBLE BUT MAY BE A WAY ROUND IT ,,I HAVE NO PRINTER ANS NO MOBILE SO I EITHER DO IT THIS WAY ..OR STOP SELLING ON EBAY...

The buyers full address is shown on the invoice so you can bypass the pre-paid label route but (if I remember correctly) you can't update tracking with your own details until pre-paid is paid and the wrong tracking (ebays) is used - then you can amend the tracking for the actual one being used. Then you have to put in a claim for the pre-paid postage, 14 days for monies to be returned. Apparently this is an improvement! 

Your post is a bit unclear.

What service do you use? 'Recorded' has not been available since 2013.

Buyers (not sellers) can't confirm delivery.  They can leave feedback but that is not proof of delivery.

I used Royal mail special delivery and did not provide proof of postage on eBay as it's not possible / I can't see where to add this information without going into simple delivery ( which I do not want).

I did send the tracking number to the buyer in a message though .

On the day it was delivered I got paid....

Can't really say more. I don't know how eBay operates but this is how I have done it in the past including last week.

Chris 

You can't do that with a packet of seeds. Competitors are selling them for nothing! 

You could be inadvertently selling using the incorrect account type.

If your 254 plant items are genuinely stuff you have knocking around your house that you are simply getting rid of, then your current 'private ' account is correct. 

If instead these are items you have obtained to sell on (hopefully for a profit), you are allowed to change to what ebay call a 'business' account. (It's just a name they call the accounts that are not  'private' accounts.)

The good news - this gives you full control over your postage options.

Ebay's help pages advise: "if you have items that you've made or bought to resell or if you already have a business outside of eBay, you’ll need to register a business account."

Go to My eBay and select Account, then Personal information.
Select Edit next to Account type. You may be asked to sign in again.
On the Change Account Type page, select Business Account and then Confirm.

If only takes a minute or so. 

just upgrade to a business so you can choose your own postage.

as an added bonus the prices you’ve put in your product titles for some reason would actually be accurate.