eBay tracking: sellers' carriers, numbers and delays

Who delivers an eBay order?

The seller decides. Every listing's Shipping (or Postage) section shows the service the seller offers and where the item ships from. Labels bought on eBay come with tracking uploaded to your order automatically:

Sellers can also buy a label elsewhere and add the number to the order themselves. In the UK, eBay Delivery, run by Packlink, sells DPD, Evri, InPost and UPS labels too, and Click & Collect via Simple Delivery sends items of £100 or less to a collection point or locker you choose.

Where do I find my eBay tracking number?

In Purchase history, as a link next to the item. Bought as a guest? It's in the "Order Confirmed" email, under the order details. More on both in how to find your tracking number.

A number only counts for eBay when it's valid. eBay Australia spells it out: the number is uploaded to the order, the carrier is one eBay integrates, and "at least one tracking event is shown in My eBay". eBay also says the number on eBay "should match the tracking number on the shipping carrier site". To settle a missing-item claim, eBay looks for a scan before the latest estimated delivery date and a delivered status at your postcode.

Some services have no tracking at all. eBay Australia names two domestic ones: Australia Post Domestic Regular Letter Untracked and Priority Letter Untracked. With an untracked item, eBay shows only an estimated delivery date. No number in your order but the item is marked as shipped? Ask the seller to upload it.

eBay International Shipping, GSP and SpeedPAK: how do they work?

When you buy from abroad, the listing says whether the seller uses one of eBay's programmes. Each hands your parcel from one company to the next:

eBay is moving eligible UK sellers from the Global Shipping Programme to eBay International Shipping, in phases. The GSP's international provider is Pitney Bowes.

1. SellerPrints a label and uploads the number
2. eBay hub or SpeedPAKInternational tracking starts here
3. FlightFew scans until it lands
4. Your customsCharges are due here unless paid at checkout
5. Local carrierOften under a number of its own
6. YouAn early Delivered moves eBay's deadline

SpeedPAK doesn't deliver to your door itself: its history names the carrier that does, with that carrier's own number. On SpeedPAK's wider European tier, tracking runs "From pickup to destination country only", so it can stop once the parcel lands. Read more on SpeedPAK tracking.

What does an eBay tracking number look like?

It's the carrier's own number, so it also works on the carrier's site. The shapes you'll meet most:

Not sure whose number you have? Type it here:

More shapes in tracking number formats.

Why does my eBay order have two tracking numbers?

Usually because a second company took over, or the seller added one:

• eBay International Shipping or GSP. The first number covers the seller's leg to the hub. eBay adds the international tracking once the hub receives the parcel.
• SpeedPAK. Once the parcel reaches your country, its history gives the delivering carrier's name and number.
• eBay Delivery Network (Australia). You "may see Orange Connex appear in tracking updates", while one of its partner carriers delivers.
• The seller added or changed one. Sellers can add up to 6 tracking numbers per order and edit them, for example when an order goes out in several parcels.

Follow the newest number for the last leg. The first one often stops at the handover.

Why is my eBay tracking not updating?

Each quiet spell has its reason:

• A number, but no scan. The label exists, but the carrier hasn't picked it up. For eBay, a seller's tracking proves shipping only with an acceptance scan.
• On the way to the hub. With eBay International Shipping and GSP, the international tracking only appears once the hub has the parcel.
• In the air and at customs. Few scans until your country's carrier takes over. How long customs can take: parcels held at customs.
• Partial tracking. Some services stop at the border, like SpeedPAK's wider European tier. Orange Connex tells SpeedPAK buyers to contact the seller "if there has been no movement for more than five days".
• No tracking at all. On an untracked service, wait for the estimated delivery date.

More on gaps in why tracking stops updating.

What can I do if my eBay order hasn't arrived?

Go in this order:

1. 1Wait for the estimated delivery dateIt's in your Purchase history. The latest date of the range counts.
2. 2Check the carrier's trackingLook for a second number or a delivery partner.
3. 3Report it to the sellerMore actions → I didn't receive it, within 30 days of the estimated delivery date.
4. 4Ask eBay to step inIf the seller hasn't solved it after 3 business days, up to 21 business days after you reported it.

The same timings apply on ebay.com, ebay.co.uk, ebay.ie, ebay.ca and ebay.com.au. Once you report it, the seller has 3 business days to send a delivery update, a replacement or a refund. When eBay steps in, it usually answers within 48 hours, and you can appeal within 30 calendar days of the case closing. eBay UK says refunds are typically available within 3 to 5 business days. You're covered by the guarantee of the eBay site where you checked out.

The guarantee doesn't cover everything. It leaves out payments made partly outside eBay, a courier or mail forwarding you arranged yourself, and a parcel that couldn't be delivered because you didn't pay import charges. Those charges are covered when the seller said they were pre-paid, overstated the item's value or gave the wrong item location. Parcels forwarded by eBay's own programmes, such as GSP and eBay International Shipping, stay covered.

Tracking says delivered, but you don't have it?

Before you report it, eBay suggests you:

• look around your property, porch or mailroom
• ask a neighbour who may have taken it in
• contact the carrier and check your building's front desk
• look at the delivery photo, if the carrier took one

Still nothing? Report it to the seller the same way, within the same 30 days. If tracking shows delivery to your postcode after you open a request, eBay closes it automatically within 24 hours unless you ask eBay to step in. To count as proof, the scan has to show delivered or an attempted delivery, its date and your postcode; in the US, orders of $750 or more also need a signature. More help in delivered but not received.

Can I track an eBay order with Peek?

Yes. Copy the number from your Purchase history and paste it into Peek, which works out the carrier from the number. SpeedPAK numbers are tracked directly, and Peek shows the delivery partner with its number. When the first carrier names the partner taking over, Peek keeps the first carrier's history and follows the partner once its own tracking shows fresh progress. It can't open a request with eBay for you: that stays in your Purchase history.