e-bays new global parcel plan postage has caused postage costs to treble or more.

[leoniec4748]

I have been buying on e-bay for a long time now.  Items in the US have always been prohibitively expensive because of the postage cost.  I have now noticed that items in the UK have exorbitant postage costs and when I have queried this the sellers tell me that they are using e-bays new global parcel plan and are not even aware of the listed postage cost.  Furthermore, parcels sent using this service cannot be sent to post office boxes, which is what I use.  So, I can no longer make purchases from the UK, but what really troubles me is that the sellers are unaware of how much e-bay is charging.  It is such a total rip off.  e-bay is just getting greedier and greedier and it is not good for business.  I have for example seen 2 exact same items available on e-bay from the UK, one using the global parcel plan and the other not.  The postage for the item using the plan is $60 + whereas the item not using this "service" is $15.  The sellers I have contacted are not aware of how much postage is being charged.

e-bays greed is very bad for business.  The new global parcel plan makes purchasing from overseas impossible.  I just hope members refuse to use it as it does not appear to be compulsory, and bring some fairness back into e-bay.  When you consider that sellers have to pay a commission on postage, it is just outright wicked.

I love collecting vintage inlaid boxes from e-bay but won't be able to anymore because of this new postal scheme.  I wish e-bay was not so greedy.  It will be its undoing.

[lyndal1838]

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@padi*0409 wrote:

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 I suggest you read my post, in it I said that if the seller can opt out and then send direct by UPS, then the P.O. box should not be a problem, furthur to that in the next post "sheep" showed a get around by going through the "shopping cart".

 

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Padi, using UPS will not get rid of the POBox delivery problem.....they are a courier company the same as FedEx and will not deliver to PO boxes.

You need to use USPS.....the US Postal service to get the items delivered to a PO box as they are handled by Australia Post when they arrive in Australia.

[padi*0409]

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@lyndal1838 wrote:

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@padi*0409 wrote:

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 I suggest you read my post, in it I said that if the seller can opt out and then send direct by UPS, then the P.O. box should not be a problem, furthur to that in the next post "sheep" showed a get around by going through the "shopping cart".

 

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Padi, using UPS will not get rid of the POBox delivery problem.....they are a courier company the same as FedEx and will not deliver to PO boxes.

You need to use USPS.....the US Postal service to get the items delivered to a PO box as they are handled by Australia Post when they arrive in Australia.

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Thanks for that clarification lyndal...........'twas a slip of the keyboard..........................

[dabbleroz]

THIS is what I posted somewhere (on Thurs I think). I don't mind people copying/pasting and creating awareness but I would prefer if they copied it/worded it correctly. Note there are slight differences between the US and the UK site, keep in mind where your seller is

ebay.com (US site)
My eBay > Account > Site preferences > Shipping preferences > Offer the Global Shipping Program > edit > no

ebay.co.uk
My eBay > Account > Site preferences > Postage and packaging preferences > Offer the Global Shipping Programme > edit > no

[dabbleroz]

ebay.com (US site)
My eBay > Account > Site preferences > Shipping preferences > Offer the Global Shipping Program > edit > no

ebay.co.uk
My eBay > Account > Site preferences > Postage and packaging preferences > Offer the Global Shipping Programme > edit > no

[padi*0409]

Thanks for the process for the opt-out on the U.K. site, many wouldn't be aware (me included) of that one since they only introduced the GSP there a few weeks or so ago.

[dabbleroz]

I keep it in a notepad file on my desktop lol, I need to be 'proactive' if I want to continue to purchase (small items) from the US and UK.

The job can be easier if the item does not already have bids on it. I ask the seller politely if they are familiar with shipping overseas and I sometimes send them a message with a screen shot of the listing my end so they can see what I am being charged. They are often not aware of what is going on! How much info I send them depends on their response to my first message. If they seem open/flexible but not sure what to do then I send them the steps - might even go further and include the links to the USPS (USA) or Royal Mail (UK) price finders......

I figure if they are going to be flexible enough and willing to ship to me the least I can do is make the process a bit easier for them.

[i-love-my-sheep]

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@leoniec4748 wrote:
So do you think I should bid on things and sort it out later? I might just do that so that the sellers know what is going on.

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No, I don't think that at all. Not even for a second. You should ALWAYS ask a seller if they are willing to bypass the GSP BEFORE you bid/buy. Some sellers refuse to post any other way than via GSP. 

How would a seller know what's going on when you place a bid if you haven't already contacted them prior?

[zanadoo_56]

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@i-love-my-sheep wrote:

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@leoniec4748 wrote:
So do you think I should bid on things and sort it out later? I might just do that so that the sellers know what is going on.

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No, I don't think that at all. Not even for a second. You should ALWAYS ask a seller if they are willing to bypass the GSP BEFORE you bid/buy. Some sellers refuse to post any other way than via GSP. 

How would a seller know what's going on when you place a bid if you haven't already contacted them prior?

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I agree.  Definitely don't 'sort it out later'.  Some sellers love the GSP, they know what is going on....and they don't care if overseas buyers are getting stung on shipping charges.

[i-love-my-sheep]

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@zanadoo_56 wrote:

I agree.  Definitely don't 'sort it out later'.  Some sellers love the GSP, they know what is going on....and they don't care if overseas buyers are getting stung on shipping charges.

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I agree. I have seen several listings where the seller clearly states in large, bold text "I only use the Global Shipping Program for international orders". When I see that, I can't see any point in asking if they would post via USPS, so move on to someone else. UNLESS, it's a large, heavy item, in which case the GSP is cheaper.

[afantiques]

The sellers I have contacted are not aware of how much postage is being charged.

Sellers only see their domestic item page.

To tip them off,show them how to see the shipping costs to Australia.

Go to item page, Shipping and payment tab, select Australia from the drop down 'ship to' menu on the left and hit 'Get Rates'.

Untill they reset the 'ship to' location or log off, they will see all their items with the internatiuonal page, in fact they will see all items as if they were looking at them from Australia. It can be an eye opener for sellers but it is not something that many will know how to do, or even that therfe is a different international page that overseas buyers see.

The 'request invoice' loophole was specifically closed in the autumn seller update. The option to do this has been removed from the sold item page. This came into effect in November, I think.

The system seems to rely heavily on sellers not knowing how much the international shipping cost is, so spreading the word about how to see this cost is advisable. It would be helpful if people spread the word about how to se the full picture, described above.

[bruce3mn]

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@i-love-my-sheep wrote:

The postage cost can be adjusted afterwards by requesting an invoice via the shopping cart. Normally the seller can't send an invoice as the option isn't available to them, but if you request one, they can then send one.

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I realy hope that's true,I'm  in the middle of bidding on an item, and the global postage service is almost twice the cost of the item , I bought an item just before Xmas and the Ebay global postage service made that item twice what I paid for it, that just sux.

After researching the GPS on this forum I will no longer use it,

I contacted the present buyer that I am dealing with and he said the only way he knows of removing the GPS is to relist the item, we all need to contact sellers before we bid as the sellers seem to be struggleing with this GPS and are not aware it is killing their sales