EBay/Royal Mail Online Postage Terms and Conditions

Terms and conditions governing the purchase of postage online through eBay

This Agreement is between you and Royal Mail Group Limited and governs your use of Royal Mail Online Postage (as defined in clause Article III below). EBay International AG, acts as our agent for the provision of these postal services to you. We recommend that you print out this Agreement for future reference.

The postal services that can be requested through Royal Mail Online Postage are governed by the Successor Postal Services Company Inland Letter Post Scheme 2001, Successor Postal Services Company Overseas Letter Post Scheme 2001, Successor Postal Services Company Inland Parcel Post Scheme 2001 and the Successor Postal Services Company Overseas Parcel Post Scheme 2001 issued under section 89 of the Postal Services Act 2000 (‘Schemes’).

The full list of postal services (which is subject to variation, addition and/or deletion at Royal Mail's option) is as follows:

Article I.   Royal Mail Services

  • Royal Mail 1st Class Stamps
  • Royal Mail Signed For™ 1st Class Stamps
  • Royal Mail 2nd Class Stamps
  • Royal Mail Signed For™ 2nd Class Stamps
  • Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed by 1pm™
  • Tracked 24 non-account
  • Tracked 48 non-account
  • International Standard
  • International Signed
  • International Tracked & Signed

Article II.   Parcelforce Worldwide Services

  • Express 24
  • Express 48
  • Global Priority

Some of the postal services may also have additional terms and conditions, and/or be provided under contract, the terms of which will be presented to you when you request the postal services concerned. The Schemes and additional terms and conditions are referred to in this Agreement as the Postal Services Terms and are not excluded or limited by this Agreement. Such other services and corresponding terms and conditions can be found on the following links:

For Parcel Collect (Personal Customers) specific terms and conditions these can be found herepdf, 2.37 MB.

If you have purchased a Royal Mail Service then you must print or attach a Postage Label on or to an Item so that the Postage Mark is at the top right hand corner on the front of the Item (unless specified otherwise). If you print or attach a Postage Label anywhere else on the Item, the Item may not be delivered or its delivery may be delayed (see clauses 6 and 8).

Clauses 27 to 30 contain important provisions about our liability to you in relation to Royal Mail's Online Postage. Please read them carefully.

Please note:

  • You can only purchase Postage Labels for postal services that are supported by Royal Mail Online Postage.
  • You cannot purchase Postage Labels unless the computer from which you are using Royal Mail Online Postage is connected to the Internet.
  • For Royal Mail services, a Postage Label will expire at 11.59 p.m on the Working Day after its purchase.
  • For Parcelforce Worldwide services a label will expire 5 working days after the day of purchase.
  • A Postage Label will expire even if it has been downloaded and/or printed. This means that an Item must be posted by no later than the "Post by" date stated on the Postage Label. You may, however, claim a refund on any expired Postage label (even if the label has been downloaded and/or printed) where permitted by clause 5 below, and provided that the Postage Label has not been used to post an Item.
  • We will as part of providing you with the Royal Mail Online Postage service, process Personal Data. Further information about how we use Personal Data is set out in our privacy notice at royalmail.com/privacy-notice. 

Royal Mail Group's VAT registration number is GB243170002.

Royal Mail Group Limited is a company registered in England and Wales, number 4138203, registered office 185 Farringdon Road, London, EC1A 1AA.

Parcelforce Worldwide is a trading name of Royal Mail Group Limited. Parcelforce Worldwide's principal office is Lytham House, 29 Caldecote Drive, Milton Keynes, MK7 8LE

Royal Mail, Parcelforce Worldwide and Parcelforce are registered trademarks of Royal Mail Group Limited

Article III.   Definitions

1.   In this Agreement, unless the context requires otherwise:

Agreement means this agreement between us and you governing your usage of Royal Mail Online Postage;

Cancellation Period means the period of fourteen (14) calendar days beginning with the day after the day on which the purchase of the relevant Postal Label was made.

Group means us and the following for the time being: our Subsidiaries, and our Holding Companies and their Subsidiaries (and Subsidiary and Holding Company shall have the meanings given in section 1159 of the Companies Act 2006);

Item means a mail piece on or to which a Postage Label is printed or attached;

Royal Mail's Online Postage means all aspects of the Royal Mail Online Postage service and system provided via the PayPal and/or eBay website other than your hardware, including the Online Postage server software and the trade mark Online Postage;

Royal Mail Online Postage Website means the functionality which allows users to print and purchase labels from within the PayPal and/or eBay websites www.paypal.co.uk & www.ebay.co.uk.

Personal Data means personal data as defined in the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and any laws, regulations and secondary legislation supplementing or applying it into the domestic law of all or any part of the United Kingdom, or any similar law (including the Data Protection Act 2018), in each case as the same may be replaced, supplemented, substituted or amended from time to time

Postage Label means a postage label created by Royal Mail Online Postage that indicates, among other things, the amount of postage paid or the weight (or size and weight where applicable) on an Item and the address of the recipient of the Item and that may indicate the address of the sender of the Item;

Postage Mark means a postage mark included in a Postage Label that indicates, among other things, the amount of postage paid on an Item;

We means Royal Mail Group Limited, and us and our have corresponding meanings;

Working Day means any day which is not a Saturday, a Sunday or a bank or public holiday in the United Kingdom.

 

Article IV.   Forming a binding agreement with us

2.    Set out below is a summary of the steps you will need to follow to enter into a legally binding agreement with us for the purchase of postal services using Royal Mail Online Postage.

  • Step 1: You are signing up to Royal Mail Online Postage by using this channel to purchase a Royal Mail or Parcelforce Worldwide label. All relevant terms and conditions covering your use of this channel are contained on links at the bottom of the Purchase and Print Your Postage Label page.
  • Step 2: You will then be given the opportunity to submit an order for postal services by clicking on the Purchase Postage button.
  • Step 3: The purchase of a Postage Label is deemed to be complete and a legally binding agreement will have been formed between us when you have clicked on the Purchase Postage button confirming the details you have entered about the postal services you wish to order.
  • Step 4: If at any time prior to your clicking on the Purchase Postage button, you decide you do not wish to proceed with an order for postal services using Royal Mail Online Postage, click the My eBay button and this will return you to your Account Overview.

 

Article V.    Payment

3.   Payment will be made from your PayPal account.

Article VI.   Postage Labels

4. A Royal Mail Postage Label will expire at 11.59 p.m. on the Working Day after its purchase. If you have purchased a Parcelforce Worldwide postal service the Postal Label will expire at 11.59 p.m. on the fifth Working Day after purchase. A Postage Label will expire even if it has been downloaded and/or printed. This means that an Item must be posted by no later than the "Post by" date stated on the Postage Label.

5. If you have not used a Postage Label and it has expired, you may get a refund by viewing your purchased item via your transaction history, and clicking on the Refund Label/Cancel Postage button. We will refund the value of the Postage Label to your PayPal account within a period not exceeding 14 days beginning with the day after the day on which the notice of cancellation was given. If you are a consumer, this right of cancellation is in additional to, and does not affect, your statutory rights.

6. For Royal Mail services you must only print or attach a Postage Label on or to an Item so that the Postage Mark is placed in the top right hand corner on the front of the Item, unless specified otherwise. If you print or attach a Postage Label anywhere else on the Item, the Item may not be delivered or its delivery may be delayed.

7. A Postage Label may not be sold by you for use by anyone else.

8. Your purchases of Royal Mail Postage Labels will not entitle you to discounts on any goods or services supplied by us. There may be a channel or promotion discount for Parcelforce Worldwide products that would apply to all Royal Mail online postage channel customers.

Article VII.   Your statutory cancellation rights

9. If you are purchasing a Postage Label in the course of your business, trade, craft or profession the cancellation rights outlined in this Article VII ('Your statutory cancellation rights') will not apply to you.

10. If you are a consumer you may have the right to cancel your purchase of postal services made using Royal Mail Online Postage within the Cancellation Period without giving us any reason for doing so.

11. However, you will not have any right to cancel your purchase if you have used the corresponding Postage Label to post an Item, or if we have refused the relevant Item for posting as set out in clause 18 below.

12. Unless clause 11 applies, you may cancel your purchase by giving notice to us during the Cancellation Period.

13. The easiest way of giving us notice of cancellation is electronically through the History section of your PayPal or eBay account under the relevant purchase details. You may also use the Cancellation Form set out at Appendix 1, or send your request in writing by post to us at eBay Customer Support, P.O. Box 9473, Dublin 15, Ireland. If you are contacting us by post or via the
eBay website, please make sure that you give us sufficient details to be able to identify your purchase your purchase including your full name, your order reference number and order date.

14. We will refund the value of the Postage Label to your PayPal account within a period not exceeding 14 days beginning with the day after the day on which the notice of cancellation was given. To assist you in getting a refund, we recommend you keep the Item on or to which any cancelled Postage Label is printed or attached.

15. For advice about your rights please contact your local Trading Standards or Citizens Advice Bureau.

 

Article VIII.   Complaints

16. If you wish to make a complaint please contact eBay’s Customer Services centre.

 

Article IX. Hardware

17. For the avoidance of doubt, We are not responsible for the functionality or performance of the hardware you use to use Royal Mail Online Postage and will not supply, maintain or support such hardware. In particular, We are not responsible for the quality of reproduction of a Postage Label on an Item to the extent that the quality is affected by your hardware.

 

Article X. Discretion to refuse Items for posting

18. We reserve the right to refuse an Item for posting if:

a. the Postage Label on the Item has expired;

b. the Postage Label on the Item is of an insufficient value for the postal service requested for it;

c. you have cancelled your purchase of the postal services to which the Postage Label you have used on the Item relates;

d. the Postage Label on the Item is a duplicate of a Postage Label that has already been used on another Item;

e. the Postage Label on the Item is obscured, defaced, incomplete or otherwise unreadable or invalid; or

f. the Postage Label is not positioned so that the Postage Mark is placed in the top right hand corner on the front of the Item, unless specified otherwise.

 

Article XI. Rights in Online Postage and Postage Labels

19. All intellectual property and other rights in Postage Labels including, without limitation, in the design, layout and format of Postage Labels, belong to, and will remain with, Royal Mail Group and our third party licensors. All rights are reserved.

20. If any third party claims that your use of Royal Mail Online Postage infringes any intellectual property or other right you must notify us immediately and, subject to reimbursement of your reasonable costs, give us and our third party licensors such assistance as We or our third party licensors reasonably require to defend or reduce the scope of the claim. If requested by us or our third party licensors, you must immediately hand over control of the defence of the claim to us or them.

 

Article XII. Your information

21. We will keep an encrypted record of the volume and types of postal services you request through Online Postage. Royal Mail may use this information for statistical analysis.

 

Article XIII. Termination of Agreement and suspension of your access to Royal Mail's Online Postage

22. We may terminate this Agreement and your use of Royal Mail's Online Postage immediately by notifying you in writing (including by email) if:

a. We believe you have mailed or attempted to mail an Item of a type referred to in any of paragraphs (a) to (f) inclusive of clause 18; or

b. you commit any other material breach of this Agreement or the Postal Services Terms.

23. Without limiting clause 22, We may suspend your access to Royal Mail's Online Postage for up to 28 days if We believe any of the events in clauses 22 (a) or 22 (b) may have occurred.

 

Article XIV. Security

24. You are responsible for the security of the password that allows you to access Royal Mail's Online Postage and purchase Postage Labels. Unless We have negligently disclosed your password to a third party, We will not be liable in relation to any unauthorised transaction entered into using Royal Mail's Online Postage under your user name and password.

 

Article XV. Postal Services Terms

25. Nothing in this Agreement excludes or limits your rights or obligations under the Postal Services Terms or terms formally agreed by You with eBay or PayPal.

26. Your entitlement or otherwise to compensation for lost, damaged or delayed Items is subject to the provisions of the Postal Services Terms. For such entitlement for Parcelforce Worldwide Services please see Conditions of Carriage.

 

Article XVI.  Exclusion of liability

27. To the fullest extent permitted by law, and except as expressly set out in this Agreement, We exclude all representations and warranties relating to our provision to you of Royal Mail Online Postage.

28. With the exception of any liability referred to in clause 27, our total aggregate liability to you under or in relation to this Agreement including (but not limited to) liability for breach of any term or terms of this Agreement, whether express or implied, and tort (including but not limited to negligence) is limited to £1,000.

29. Notwithstanding clause 28, to the fullest extent permitted by law We exclude all liability to you for any:

a.    loss of business;

b.    loss of goodwill;

c.    loss of data;

d.    loss of opportunity;

e.    loss of profits (whether or not the loss of such profits was foreseeable, arose in the normal course of things or We were advised of the possibility of such loss); and

f.    losses that were not reasonably foreseeable by both parties at the time this Agreement was entered into.

30. Nothing in this Agreement excludes or limits:

a.    our liability to you for any death or personal injury resulting from our negligence;

b.    any of your other statutory rights as a consumer that cannot be excluded or limited;

c.    fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; or

d.    any other type of liability that cannot be excluded or limited by law.

 

Article XVII.   General

31. Any failure or delay by you or us in enforcing (in whole or in part) any provision of this Agreement will not be interpreted as a waiver of your or our rights.

32. If any provision of this Agreement is unlawful or otherwise invalid, such provision will be struck out of this Agreement and the remainder of this Agreement will apply as if the offending part had never been agreed.

33. You may not transfer any of your rights or obligations under this Agreement without our prior written consent and We may not transfer any of our rights or obligations under this Agreement without your prior written consent, although We may transfer any of our rights or obligations under this Agreement to another company in our Group without your consent.

34. Subject to clauses 25 and 26, this Agreement is the entire agreement between you and us for your use of Royal Mail Online Postage and supersedes all prior:

a.    agreements;

b.    representations; and

c.    understandings,

in relation to your use of Royal Mail's Online Postage, in each case whether these have been made orally or in writing.

35. Each party acknowledges that it has not been induced to enter into this Agreement by reason of any representation made by or on behalf of the other party, except where any representation has been made by or on behalf of the other party fraudulently.

36. These terms and conditions are governed by and will be construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales. Each party submits to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Courts of England and Wales.

37. The headings in this Agreement are included for convenience only and shall not affect its interpretation.

38. Following your initial acceptance of these terms and conditions, a link to them will be provided to you each time you use Royal Mail’s Online Postage services. We reserve the right to amend these terms and conditions at any time, and if We do so you will be prompted to accept such amended terms when you next use the service.

Last revised 12 March 2020.
 
 

APPENDIX 1

CANCELLATION FORM (pdf, 11.18 KB)