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@discodalek wrote:My buyer bought 10 separate items from me, which I'd listed using the Simple Delivery option, and I want to combine them into one package so he only pays once for postage. He already paid, so I can't raise an invoice for total sales. The advice I've seen on here is to combine everything into one package, buy new postage based on that combined package size/weight, then refund the difference. But it's not clear if I can use this method for Simple Delivery.
With the traditional eBay delivery option I set the packing+shipping fee. I get paid that in the final sale and it's up to me to purchase labels with funds from the sale etc. But looking at my dashboard, the orders with Simple Delivery are showing postage as £0.00 - with the usual shipping system it showed the postage amount (e.g. £5 sale, £2 shipping, total to seller = £7). It seems as if the shipping cost is solely handled between eBay and the buyer and as the seller I just receive the shipping label.
There's no way for me to combine postage through eBay's interface. So the only way I can see to do it is to buy a new postal label separately from Royal Mail/Evri for the combined order. But I don't receive money for postage on orders with simple delivery, so I'll be paying for the postage myself. If I also refund my buyer, that refund is coming out of my sale funds, not the postal fees. Is that correct?
How do I combine the orders, and refund the simple delivery postage, so that both myself and my buyer aren't out of pocket? p.s. I'm a private seller, not a business seller.
@discodalek the short answer is there is no way to do what you are trying to do if the order used Simple Delivery.
With Simple Delivery, the shipping options and costs shown to the buyer are 100% controlled by eBay with no input from the seller - they say that if the buyer purchases multiple items, combined postage could be available, but that doesn't guarantee it will be.
Whether or not it is combined is decided by eBay at checkout, there's nothing you can do after the fact to change it.
You are correct that if you decide to purchase your own label outside of Simple Delivery, that cost will come out of your own pocket and you will not have any of the protections or coverage that would apply if you used the eBay provided label.
And since whatever amount the buyer paid for shipping is paid to eBay, not to you, you are also correct that should you process a partial refund, it would be coming out of the funds paid to you as part of the item price, not out of the shipping amount paid to eBay.
I would highly recommend to read the full FAQ and policy pages for Simple Delivery to understand how it works - especially since eBay CEO Jamie Iannone has said it will become mandatory for all eligible items from UK private sellers sometime in Q1 2025.
@discodalek wrote:My buyer bought 10 separate items from me, which I'd listed using the Simple Delivery option, and I want to combine them into one package so he only pays once for postage. He already paid, so I can't raise an invoice for total sales. The advice I've seen on here is to combine everything into one package, buy new postage based on that combined package size/weight, then refund the difference. But it's not clear if I can use this method for Simple Delivery.
With the traditional eBay delivery option I set the packing+shipping fee. I get paid that in the final sale and it's up to me to purchase labels with funds from the sale etc. But looking at my dashboard, the orders with Simple Delivery are showing postage as £0.00 - with the usual shipping system it showed the postage amount (e.g. £5 sale, £2 shipping, total to seller = £7). It seems as if the shipping cost is solely handled between eBay and the buyer and as the seller I just receive the shipping label.
There's no way for me to combine postage through eBay's interface. So the only way I can see to do it is to buy a new postal label separately from Royal Mail/Evri for the combined order. But I don't receive money for postage on orders with simple delivery, so I'll be paying for the postage myself. If I also refund my buyer, that refund is coming out of my sale funds, not the postal fees. Is that correct?
How do I combine the orders, and refund the simple delivery postage, so that both myself and my buyer aren't out of pocket? p.s. I'm a private seller, not a business seller.
@discodalek the short answer is there is no way to do what you are trying to do if the order used Simple Delivery.
With Simple Delivery, the shipping options and costs shown to the buyer are 100% controlled by eBay with no input from the seller - they say that if the buyer purchases multiple items, combined postage could be available, but that doesn't guarantee it will be.
Whether or not it is combined is decided by eBay at checkout, there's nothing you can do after the fact to change it.
You are correct that if you decide to purchase your own label outside of Simple Delivery, that cost will come out of your own pocket and you will not have any of the protections or coverage that would apply if you used the eBay provided label.
And since whatever amount the buyer paid for shipping is paid to eBay, not to you, you are also correct that should you process a partial refund, it would be coming out of the funds paid to you as part of the item price, not out of the shipping amount paid to eBay.
I would highly recommend to read the full FAQ and policy pages for Simple Delivery to understand how it works - especially since eBay CEO Jamie Iannone has said it will become mandatory for all eligible items from UK private sellers sometime in Q1 2025.
