I have several questions about simple delivery if that's okay?


#1

Will simple delivery be applied to existing listings?

On the forums people are saying it will, but on the help page here says

“Simple Delivery will automatically apply to all new eligible listings. Your existing listings will not be affected.”

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


#1a

If simple delivery will be applied to existing listings how will ebay determine what postage category they fall in?


#1b

If this is done by some automatic process will ebay take responsibility if the labels generated do not cover the costs of sending the item?


#2

Will it ever be possible to combine postage when using simple delivery?


#3

This page suggests that private sellers could use business policies instead of simple delivery, is that the case?

“Can I still use business policies?

You’ll still be able to use business policies when listing through your web browser...The policies set on your existing listings will not be affected.”

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


#4

My understanding is that using simple delivery buyers are not shown the name of the carrier that will be used, just the generic terms ‘standard’ or ‘express’.


I have buyers contact me specifically to check that I am not using Evri (eg ‘Can you please confirm that you will use a Royal Mail service and NOT Evri’) and so was planning to opt out of using them, but I understand that doing this increases the Royal Mail prices shown. Could I ask what the rationale is for that please and whether you might reconsider this, given that opting out may be with a better buyer experience in mind?


As a related piece of feedback I would ask ebay to please show the carrier that will be used to buyers as this is really crucial information to many people. If you compare to Vinted for example sellers there set the couriers they use and buyers can then set which of those services they prefer.


Ebay seem to be emulating some of Vinted’s feature, but it would be great if you could provide the same transparency as well. The same applies for the buyer fee really - on Vinted you see seller price + fee = total and everything makes a lot more sense as a result rather than the unusual prices we currently see in search results.