eBay Transaction Losses Spike 19% As UK Buyers Notice Change In Simple Delivery Damage Claims
eBay’s latest earnings revealed rising transaction losses as UK buyers notice a possible policy shift in Simple Delivery program, saying full coverage in case of loss or damage is not always being honored.
On last week's Q3 2025 earnings call, eBay CFO Peggy Alford told investors eBay is expecting year over year take rate expansion primarily driven by 1st party ad revenue growth and re-monetizing private sales in the UK through the implementation of Buyer Protection Fees and Simple Delivery managed shipping mandate.
Liz Morton
However, she also noted a significant increase in provision for Transaction Losses, which was up 19% largely due to rising consumer protection costs from Simple Delivery as well as some unspecified increases in buyer and seller fraud.
...and then lastly Transaction Losses were up 19%. A lot of it had to do with our higher consumer protection losses that were due to the ramp of the UK managed shipping program as well as some unfavorable fluxuations in buyer and seller fraud.
This is an area that fluctuates quarter by quarter but nothing really concerning in the trends.
UK sellers had previously questioned whether the protection for loss or damage in transit offered by Simple Delivery was being covered by the shipping carriers or eBay themselves, and based on the comments on this earnings call, it seems the answer is likely mostly the latter.
Liz Morton
Anecdotally, it appears that eBay may be responding to the increasing Simple Delivery transaction losses by only paying out partial compensation in some situations - a move that could land the company in hot water with trading standards and consumer protection authorities in the UK.
The Simple Delivery policy pages still note shipments are "fully protected for the amount they were sold for" in case of loss or damage.
But some buyers in the eBay UK community forum say they have received only partial refunds for items shipped through the program that end up damaged or lost.
50% refund !
Is this legal? eBay have given me a 50% refund for an item I received damaged. I asked the seller for a returns label and they said no speak to ebay.
ebay awarded me 50% and said keep it. i dont want it. i want perfect china not damaged. how do i get my money back?
This buyer went on to explain they had received a refund of only £55.04 on a £105.15 order, confirming it was shipped via Simple Delivery, and that their attempts to get the rest of their refund by contacting support were initially unsuccessful - in fact eBay support told them to contact the seller to try to get the rest of the refund, despite the policy clearly stating the seller will not be held responsible.
Excerpt from their customer service contact transcript:
I can see that you received the item in damaged condition. I understand that you are concerned about your full refund. Let me check and assist you.
I understand that you have not received the full refund and you want to know the reason for it. From the case research, we came to a decision that since the item is in poor condition, the item has been proposed for a partial refund for you.
However, beyond this, if you need any help, please communicate with the seller and try to resolve the issue amicably.. I am positive that as a sender of the item they will be able to help you get the refund.
That led other community members to tag eBay community staff, concerned that it appeared there had been an undocumented change in the policy.
5 days later, Marco@eBay came back with the good news that the issue had been resolved in the buyer's favor.
I have great news, which is that the missing part of your refund (the other half) has been approved and sent to you, so your refund should be within your account between 1-5 business days. If you haven't received your refund by next Friday, please let me know, and I'll be happy to look into it, but it should be all good.
Understandably, this did not satisfy other community members as it still wasn't clear if there has been a policy change that was reversed in this case simply because the buyer was a "squeaky wheel."
In another community post, a different buyer said they also experienced receiving a partial refund for a damaged Simple Delivery item, believing it may happen in situations where the claim has to be manually reviewed.
eBay Simple Delivery - eBay issuing partial refunds without buyer input
I've seen this topic appear a few times over the past few months, and as far as I'm aware, nowhere is it written in eBay policy that they can decide to issue partial refunds and close the case. This is for items damaged in transit.
It seems in cases where the system automatically decides in your favour you get the full amount as expected. In cases where eBay will review it, you just get partial refunds and that's it.
Had my first experience of a partial refund a couple of weeks ago, despite the message saying full refund. eBay have told me they've manually escalated it but I'm still waiting and getting suspect it is just lip service at this point.
Turned out another item in that same order also suffered damage, I just didn't notice until now as I had been busy trying to get the first item sorted out all this time. This time, another partial refund.
What's the point of SD buyer protection if eBay decide things for you? What if I just wanted to return the items? What incentive do I have to be truthful about the reason for starting a return if selecting 'arrived damaged' means there is a chance they'll decide to do partials without my input?
I will also note that instances of items being damaged in transit have gone up with the introduction of SD in my opinion, as Evri is the default forced choice and many private sellers don't seem to realise you can disable them.
The whole system seems poorly designed.
When sellers in that thread tagged eBay staff to try to get clarity on if there has indeed been a policy change, this time they were simply told that because it is an account specific issue, affected buyers will need to contact support.
Kat@eBay said:
I understand these are not ideal situations however we can't advise on such cases as we are not privy to all the details involved. If buyers are not happy with the outcome of the case its best for them to reach out to customer support to review.
Further attempts to ask eBay staff where exactly in the Simple Delivery terms and conditions it says eBay may decide to partially refund a buyer did not receive a response - but given those earnings results, it will not be surprising if eBay is looking for any way possible to lower that Transaction Loss rate in Q4, even if it may come at the expense of both buyers and sellers.
And in that light, eBay's decision in early September to increase the Simple Delivery opt out threshold from £10 to £20 could also be seen as a way to mitigate some claim losses as well.
Liz Morton
Have you received a partial refund from eBay for a damaged item shipped with Simple Delivery? Let us know in the comments below!
