eBay Simple Delivery UK: 2026 Price Guide & Who Can Use It

eBay Simple Delivery is the flat-price postage option eBay UK now puts on most private-seller listings - one set price, full item-value cover, no printer, tracking handled for you. Two things the forums get wrong: it isn’t available to business sellers on eBay.co.uk, and the “Evri is cheaper” line almost always quotes Evri’s ParcelShop-collection rate, not home delivery.

The short version: it’s private sellers only, for items priced £750 or less (£300 for smartphones); labels run £2.70-£14.98 depending on weight, item value and the couriers you allow; and it undercuts Royal Mail Tracked 48 by 5-39% and Evri home delivery on every band. Every figure was verified against the eBay, Royal Mail and Evri source pages on 26 May 2026. For your exact parcel, use the Simple Delivery vs independent carrier calculator.

List an eligible item and eBay sets the delivery price, picks the carrier (Royal Mail, EVRi, DHL or InPost) and handles the tracking. In the default “Buyer pays” mode the buyer is charged for the label at checkout and the money goes to eBay - you hand the parcel over with a QR code and never buy a label yourself.

Three things set it apart from posting with Royal Mail yourself:

1. Built-in full-value cover. eBay carries the risk on loss or damage up to the item’s sale value (capped at the £750 eligibility ceiling) - no Special Delivery-tier add-on needed.
2. Tracking is auto-uploaded. eBay gets the carrier scan directly, so your On-Time Shipping stat updates without you touching it.
3. Buyer pays by default. Offer free postage instead and the label cost comes out of your eBay account - see the accounting note below.

If you’re a private seller - clearing a wardrobe, selling a bike, moving on trainers you no longer wear - Simple Delivery is the only delivery method on most listings. The opt-out (Custom postage) only appears for items priced £20 or under in letter or large-letter categories, so on almost every normal sale you’re using it whether you chose to or not. Plenty of sellers go hunting for a toggle to switch it off, can’t find one, and assume their account is broken - it’s just restricted.

If you’re a business seller - registered with HMRC, VAT-registered, or you ticked the business box when you opened the shop - Simple Delivery won’t appear at all, and you’ll keep using Royal Mail, Evri, Yodel, DPD or another carrier of your own. One thing not to do: if you buy stock to sell on, eBay and HMRC both class that as trading, so you should be registered as a business seller even at low volume. Don’t stay on a private account to keep the Simple Delivery perks.

One catch on eligibility: some electronics - smartphones specifically - priced above £300 are excluded, even for private sellers. £750 is the headline cap, but for tech it effectively drops to £300.

Three things set the price: the weight and size band, the item value (under or over £100), and which couriers you allow. Leaving all four couriers selected gives the lowest price; excluding one bumps you to that remaining carrier’s single-carrier rate. Labels run £2.70-£14.98, with a cheaper Click & Collect tier on top. Each courier takes a different maximum size and weight:

Rates for items priced £100 or less, all couriers selected:

And for items over £100 (a small uplift covers eBay’s loss/damage insurance on the dearer goods):

There’s a separate Click & Collect tier for buyers who pick up from a locker or shop. It’s flat regardless of item value, sits at £2.62 on most bands, and is available on items sold for £100 or less:

Four details change what you pay:

• The £100 value split adds 47p-£2.01 to the label, depending on band.
• Excluding a courier raises your rate. Drop Royal Mail and you pay the EVRi-only rate; drop EVRi and you pay the Royal Mail-only rate; opting out of InPost leaves you on the all-couriers rate.
• No next-day tier as standard. Service is 2-3 day; buyers can pay extra for express. For guaranteed next-day on something valuable, Royal Mail Special Delivery by 1pm covers £750 as standard (up to £2,500 paid extra).
• Out-of-area postcodes add 5-7 working days - Scottish highlands and islands (AB30-AB56, FK17-FK22, IV*, KA27-28, KW*, PA17-PA80, PH3-PH50), the Isle of Wight (PO30-PO41), the Scilly Isles (TR21-TR25), plus the Channel Islands and Isle of Man. Simple Delivery still reaches them, just slower.

Full sale-value cover. If your item is lost or damaged in transit, eBay covers its full sale price (up to the £750 cap). Royal Mail Tracked 48 and Tracked 24 cover £75; Evri drop-off covers £20 by default (£0 for Postable parcels under 1 kg, paid upgrades to £999). On anything mid-range, that gap is the real reason to use Simple Delivery.

A QR code, not a printed label. Show it at a Royal Mail or EVRi drop-off, an InPost locker, or DHL collection - some carriers print the label for you on-site. No home printer required.

Tracking uploaded automatically. Your On-Time Shipping metric updates from the carrier’s scan, not from anything you type - your best protection when a carrier has a bad day.

Performance-metric protection. If you use the prepaid label and the carrier scans the parcel within your stated handling time, a delivery that then runs late won’t count against your shipping performance, and you can ask Seller Help to remove negative or neutral feedback about delivery. Miss your handling time and that protection lapses. Self-ship, and late delivery is your problem.

Tracked 48 is the closest like-for-like: same 2-3 day speed, same tracking. These are standard Tracked 48 Online prices (bought via Click & Drop) from Royal Mail’s 7 April 2026 increase - pay at the Post Office counter and it’s dearer still.

Simple Delivery wins on every band. The gap is modest on letters and small parcels (5-7%) but opens up on medium parcels over 2 kg (29-39%) - and it covers your item’s full value, not Royal Mail’s £75 cap.

This is where the forum wisdom is most wrong. “Evri at £2.62 beats Simple Delivery” quotes Evri’s ParcelShop-collection rate - where the buyer collects from a locker or shop. For home delivery, which is what nearly every eBay buyer wants, Evri costs more.

Simple Delivery is cheaper on every home-delivery band - 11% at 0-1 kg, 29% at 1-2 kg, 21% at 2-5 kg, 22% at 5-10 kg, 30% at 10-15 kg - and Evri won’t carry parcels over 15 kg at all. Add the cover gap (Evri’s £20 default, or £0 on Postable parcels under 1 kg, versus your item’s full sale value) and the protection alone is worth real money on anything £40+.

Two reasons you might still pick Evri:

• You already run a high-volume Evri business account with negotiated rates below the public prices above.
• You want Click & Collect - Evri’s ParcelShop rate (£2.62) is matched by Simple Delivery’s Click & Collect tier, so it’s a preference, not a saving.

Pick your situation:

1. Business seller? Stop here - Simple Delivery isn’t offered to you; keep using your own carrier.
2. Private seller posting to a home address? Use Simple Delivery. It beats Royal Mail Tracked 48 and Evri home delivery on every band, and covers your item’s full value.
3. Selling something worth £40+? Another reason to use it - the full-value cover earns its keep against Royal Mail’s £75 cap and Evri’s £20 default.
4. Got something heavy or bulky (up to 30 kg)? Simple Delivery is often the only option that’ll take it - DHL handles the 20-30 kg band, and Evri stops at 15 kg.
5. Happy to offer Click & Collect? Use Simple Delivery’s Click & Collect tier - most bands £2.62 (items £100 or less).
6. Need a doorstep collection? Only Royal Mail and DHL collect - keep one of them selected; EVRi and InPost are drop-off only.
7. Need it there next day? Simple Delivery can’t - use Royal Mail Special Delivery by 1pm.
8. Still not sure? Run your parcel through the shipping calculator for a side-by-side cost.

Bottom line: for UK private sellers it’s a clear win on both price and cover. Business sellers stay on Royal Mail OBA, Click & Drop or their own courier. Either way, postage and fees move constantly - DashVue (from £8.99/month, with a 7-day free trial and no card needed) works out your real net profit per order, every fee and postage line stripped out.

One scope note: Simple Delivery is UK-domestic and tops out at 30 kg / 120 × 80 × 80 cm via DHL. Selling abroad, on another marketplace, or shipping bigger than that? It won’t apply - you’ll need Parcelforce, a pallet carrier, or that platform’s own service.