Former eBay Subsidiary Gumtree Pivots To Full C2C Marketplace With Built-in Payments & Shipping
Former eBay subsidiary Gumtree is making a significant product shift, rolling out integrated shipping and on‑platform payments in a move to become a fully fledged consumer‑to‑consumer marketplace
“Delivery on Gumtree” launched in the UK in November, allowing sellers in select categories like fashion, sports apparel, entertainment, kids' toys, and home textiles to enable delivery at listing creation, thanks to new partnerships with Evri and MangoPay.
Currently, delivery is limited to items up to £250 in value and excludes watches, high-value jewellery, vinyls and other restricted items but Gumtree plans to add more categories to expand the offering throughout 2026.
How Gumtree Delivery Works For Sellers
- List your item: Delivery is enabled automatically for eligible items (you can toggle it off if you prefer to continue to offer collection only).
- Prepare and package securely: Choose the correct parcel size, follow packaging guidelines, and attach the pre-paid delivery label.
- Ship within 7 days: Drop off at your nearest Evri location.
- Get paid safely: Funds are released automatically 48 hours after delivery if no disputes are raised, or immediately once the buyer confirms satisfaction. MangoPay securely manages all payments and ensures sellers receive their money safely.
Seller protections:
- Compensation up to £250 for lost or damaged items if guidelines are followed.
- Support for SNAD (Significantly Not As Described) disputes and returns when needed.
- Fraud prevention and secure payment flow through MangoPay.
How Gumtree Delivery Works For Buyers
- Find items with delivery: Look for the “delivery available” tag and the Buy Now button on eligible ads.
- Checkout and pay securely: Enter your UK delivery address and choose your payment method (Visa, Mastercard, or Apple Pay). Buyer Protection is automatically added for a small fee, ensuring coverage if your item is lost, damaged, or not as described.
- Track your order: Once purchased, you can follow your parcel in My Orders until delivery.
- Resolve issues easily: If your item doesn’t arrive or is significantly not as described, raise a claim within 48 hours. Gumtree’s support team will help manage returns and refunds.
Buyer Protection highlights:
- Flat fee of £0.70 +5% of the item price.
- Covers items that don’t arrive, arrive damaged, or are significantly not as described.
- Customer support and fraud prevention included.
With this new service, Gumtree is clearly targeting the same casual/C2C recommerce space where eBay has long dominated and Vinted has become a more recent challenger.
The move is not surprising given Gumtree's history - it was acquired by eBay in 2005 and later folded it into eBay Classifieds Group alongside Kijiji and other verticals, before being sold to Adevinta as part of a multibillion‑dollar restructuring deal eBay was forced to undertake under pressure from activist investors Elliott Management and Starboard Value in 2020.
Eoin McSweeney
But UK regulators raised competition concerns about the deal, ultimately forcing Adevinta to divest Gumtree UK to new owners in 2021.
With no selling fees and buyers paying for "protection", Gumtree is clearly mirroring Depop, Vinted, and eBay, which dropped fees for private sellers in the UK last year and brought in their own Buyer Protection Fee as well as Simple Delivery managed shipping to "remonetize" consumer to consumer transactions.
Liz Morton
Gumtree’s shift into integrated shipping and payments is squarely aimed at eroding eBay’s competitive moat and core value proposition, offering a potential offramp for sellers who have grown increasingly frustrated with eBay’s costs and policy complexity.
