eBay UK Survey & Roadshow Hint At Simple Delivery Expansion To Business Sellers Coming Soon
The eBay UK community forum is buzzing with speculation that Simple Delivery could soon expand to business sellers as recent survey and executive comments point to potential future roadmap for managed shipping offering.
First a community member shared details of a recent eBay survey they received that showed particular interest in gauging business seller sentiment about shipping costs.
eBay trying to get business sellers to go for Simple Delivery?
I got an invitation to fill in an eBay survey today, on this account.It was mostly very bland, gobbledegook about all eBay's nefarious high-minded "enhancements".
One thing that worried me, as a business seller, was how often they tried to get me to say "Affordable Postage Options" was the most important thing to me. That option turned up in about half a dozen similar-ish questions, where you MUST select one as the most important, and in each case the other choices were totally banal and trivial.
They obviously want to be able to report that their business sellers view "Affordable Postage Options" as their number one priority. It's only a short step from there to bringing Simple Delivery on for business sellers too (at least those too small to negotiate their way out of it.)
I couldn't go "back" and see all the questions again, but here's one example. See how it is weighted - seven "nothings" and "Affordable Postage Options".
This is not a good sign.
US sellers reported receiving similar survey questions back in January, also suspecting it may be a hint that eBay is looking for ways to expand managed shipping to new markets/new seller cohorts in the very near future.
Liz Morton
UK business seller concerns were further exacerbated by comments made by high level management personnel at the recent eBay Roadshow in Edinburgh, where they reportedly advised that Simple Delivery was currently only for Consumer to Consumer (C2C) private sellers and not for business sellers...yet.
Sellers took to this week's eBay UK community chat session to try to get some clarity about future plans for Simple Delivery, but were initially stymied in their efforts.
One seller asked:
Since it was confirmed by your Chief Commercial Officer in a speech at the recent Edinburgh Road Show (maybe he said more than he should have, but he did say it), and heavily trailed in the incredibly loaded “survey” sent to some business sellers on Monday, the cat is now out of the bag. eBay intends to extend Simple Delivery to (at least some) Business Sellers.
Please don’t insult our intelligence with the usual “there are no plans” non-answer. We now know that not to be the case.
Could you please let us know the proposed timetable for this utterly ridiculous and unwelcome development.
Dave@eBay responded:
Unfortunately we weren't at the roadshow so I can't comment on what was said. As it stands, we haven't been made aware of any plans to roll SD out to business sellers so I can give you an answer other than that.
I'll reach out to the roadshow team and if I can get any sharable info from them, I'll pass it on to you.
Other sellers pushed back, incredulous that eBay staff could be completely unaware of both the survey and comments made at the Roadshow, until finally after the chat had closed, Dave came back with additional information:
I spoke to the Roadshow team about this. Simple Delivery was spoken about as the new way that c2c sellers will ship their items, however business sellers will continue to have the flexibility to ship items in a way of their choosing.
However in response to interest from some business sellers we are exploring whether we can make Simple Delivery also available for business sellers, on an voluntary opt in basis.
It's possible the survey you shared was sent to gauge business seller interest in this option, to warrant any further exploration by the business. As I'm sure you can imagine, with a site this big, even small changes can mean a lot of work and time to implement. We send surveys to better understand the needs of our customers, so we can ensure feedback like yours is heard.
Simple Delivery was introduced in May 2024 and was initially limited only to clothing sales, causing some to speculate the program was designed specifically to compete with Vinted.
But eBay quickly expanded the program to include most categories on the platform and announced it would be mandatory for all private sellers of eligible items to use Simple Delivery as of April 15, 2025 (though they have since made some exceptions and advised the mandate will be a phased rollout).
Liz Morton
With this managed delivery service, eBay decides which shipping options to show to the buyer on the listing, the buyer pays whatever rate is shown (with that money going to eBay), eBay then provides a pre-paid label to the seller and eBay pockets any difference there may be between what the buyer pays and the rates they have negotiated with the shipping carriers.
CEO Jamie Iannone has presented Simple Delivery to investors as a significant revenue opportunity for the company, with Q2 2025 guidance clearly setting expectations that it, along with the Buyer Protection Fee in the UK, will meaningfully contribute to achieving 1-3% Revenue growth.
Liz Morton
Given everything eBay has riding on meeting or exceeding revenue guidance for the rest of the year, it will not be at all surprising to see them potentially roll out Simple Delivery to business sellers on a voluntary basis in the UK and/or to sellers in other markets as well.
In fact, several recent job postings for Toronto-based Monetization Managers reveal that eBay is explicitly looking for someone to help improve and expand on monetization initiatives in the UK as well as expand those efforts globally to find the right monetization strategies for each of eBay's core marketplaces.
Liz Morton
If you're an eBay UK business seller, would you use Simple Delivery if it was offered? Let us know in the comments below!
