… or some of us may purchase from the US but have the items sent to a parcel forwarding company. Much faster, and much safer!

I’ve not had anything from the US sent to me via the GSP or eIS. I have had two items sent from the UK via eIS but that’s a different kettle of fish.

Good day, eh?  Canadian eBay user here.

It does sound to me as though the salt and pepper shakers are probably being forwarded internationally by the prosaically-named eBay International Shipping service (eIS).  The shipping charge you see is the sum of the seller’s charge to get the item to the eIS forwarding hub (suburban Chicago for us Canucks, might be in the Los Angeles area for you Aussies) plus eIS’s charge for getting the item to its final destination.

The eIS calculator doesn’t always know what the item is.  It relies on information the seller provides for the item’s category, its shipping dimensions and weight, and the “Item Specifics.”  If the seller misses some of this information or stuffs up somewhere, it’s going to foul up the calculator and/or the customs documentation process.

What’s likely going on with the salt and pepper shakers is that the seller hasn’t bothered to provide information on their shipping weight and dimensions, so the eIS calculator has come up with a charge based on the category in which they were listed.

For what it’s worth, I came to the Aussie community boards because we Canadians are seeing several posts on our boards about eIS-forwarded items getting delayed at the hub or either dead-ending at the hub or getting rejected in the customs pre-clearance process.  I was wondering if there were similar posts here but so far I haven’t found any.  I suspect Aussies don’t buy as much from the Yanks as Canucks do 😁 

If I understand correctly, that you received a 4kg package shipped from the USA for  $42,  then someone cut their own throat.

USPS  quote for  4kg to Australia,  starts at  $96 and goes to over $200 depending on service.

$46.50 will get you a flat rate DVD box

If the item is from USA, then I have read numerous times about an independent shipping program available to sellers there. GSP, from memory. Allowed by ebay but not, as far as I know, owned by ebay. 

GSP are the middlemen, they wrap the item, ensure it is the sort of item that is okay to be shipped (and they have a long list of stuff they won't allow to be sent) and this way, the seller is covered against claims. There is a charge for this extra safe service but the charge falls onto the buyer, not the seller. I can understand sellers using this service as selling things overseas can be fraught with risk otherwise.

I wouldn't be surprised if this is what you are striking.

The seller won't be getting any profit from this as far as the postage component goes. They are right, the postage charge is not set by them & they won't receive it at all. It will go to the actual shipping company.

Ebay is fine with the system. From their point of view, any item sent that way is likely to be properly wrapped and documented and tracked etc and less likely to cause ebay any hassles.

Just glad Australian sellers use local services such as Aust Post ...  hate to think how extra Ebay would be charging.....??????