eBay

k1ooo-slr-sales · ‎31-01-2015

There have been many threads about the GSP and how expensive it makes things from the USA, but I thought I would start a thread that shows the stupidity of the GSP rather than just talk about how bad it is.

Use this thread to show the stupidity through screengrabs. If you can't do screengrabs then post the item numbers that show the stupidity and I will do the screengrabs for you as a reply to your post.

I'll start it off with one example of the stupidity. Try not to laugh at postage costs in my example.

afantiques · ‎09-02-2015

Talk about stupid !!!!!

There is a very simple answer to this, and your examples of a camera and a manual are ideal to illustrate it.

If the seller does not specify the weight and dimensions of the item, the GSP applies an average figure for items in that category. If the manual was listed in the camera catagory, as they usually are, then without any information to the contrary the GSP applies the average shipping cost for that category and you get the result of the camera and the manual costing the same to post.

If the camera manual seller had filled in all the details, the shipping cost would have been much lower. This is the sort of advanced stuff that users simply do not know about. They assume, for example, that because their item is 'free' or flat rate shipping, they do not need to fill in all the details for the shipping calculator. A reasonable assumption but in the cases noted above, the answer is often obvious when you know how the system works, and you can see why the shipping is so high.

(Not guesswork but solid information about how it works from a senior UK GSP person.)

Obviously sending one playing card is an absurd use of the program, indeed, sending any item inder 2 kilos is usually an inappropriate use of the program. It is an open argument whether the GSP sellers are to blame for not understanding how to use it,or ebay is to blame

for the lamentable failure to educate users properly, and to implement the software fixes (mandatory fields for sweight and size) that would solve the problem.

It is not really stupidity of the system, if anything it is the stupidity of the sellers and the designers of the listing software.

Now that you understand how these very high costs are generated, it should be easy enough to spot examples, like some above, where it is clear that the average category weight must be much higher than the specific item with the silly shipping price.

Trying to persuade ebay that this is a real problem, that they could cure if they wanted to, is quite another thing.

View solution in original post

k1ooo-slr-sales · ‎31-01-2015

Take a look at the postage on a Pentax K1000 manual using the GSP. Bear in mind that this manual measures 150mm across, 133mm high and only about 2mm thick.

Now, if I bought a Pentax K1000 camera (that weighs over 1kg) with a lens and a manual that is exactly the same as the one above

Talk about stupid !!!!!

zanadoo_56 · ‎01-02-2015

As opposed to one I bought recently from the US for under $6 with postage less than $4.

Item no: 161573461735

zanadoo_56 · ‎01-02-2015

Found something even cheaper (BIN):

Item no: 181642162782

..and they wonder why we don't like the GSP.

k1ooo-slr-sales · ‎01-02-2015

@zanadoo_56 wrote:
As opposed to one I bought recently from the US for under $6 with postage less than $4.

Item no: 161573461735

the postage that shows on that listing is US$21.43. If you got it posted for $4 then you did well.

k1ooo-slr-sales · ‎01-02-2015

@zanadoo_56 wrote:
Found something even cheaper (BIN):

Item no: 181642162782

..and they wonder why we don't like the GSP.

imastawka · ‎05-02-2015

These are single playing cards - not decks. They weigh nothing and could

easily be sent in an envelope(with cardboard) for approx. $US3.

There is no customs duty payable on playing cards

I've given up asking.

2106greencat · ‎05-02-2015

The stupid thing is, they are so not consistant, a friend of mine buys regularly from US, and doesn't even realise GSP is involved, but so far she has not been ripped (much) off considering the things she is buying.

A charge of $17.43AUD for a work book processor that weighed over 3.5kg that she paid over $98 for. She had it in 11 days.

Yet an order (enquiry) I was involved with was shipping quoted at $38.89AUD for a craft item costing $17.00 weighing 590g, and no I did not BIN after that.

I would love to actually see a calculated shipping cost from GSP - all other logistics company's need to provide them, seems this mob just charge what they want (and also think they are customs officers by refusing various items, even when the receiving country has no listed bans)

Not bad work if you can get it.

_________________________________________________________

You can't please all the people all the time, so now I just please myself

cq_tech · ‎05-02-2015

Would it surprise you to learn that eBay own a good-sized portion of Pitney Bowes? Explains a lot, doesn't it?

falconsportspack · ‎05-02-2015

@cq_tech wrote:
Would it surprise you to learn that eBay own a good-sized portion of Pitney Bowes? Explains a lot, doesn't it?

92% is the figure I saw somewhere a couple of months ago.

eBay

GSP stupidity documented on this thread

GSP stupidity documented on this thread

GSP stupidity documented on this thread

GSP stupidity documented on this thread

GSP stupidity documented on this thread

GSP stupidity documented on this thread

GSP stupidity documented on this thread

GSP stupidity documented on this thread

GSP stupidity documented on this thread

GSP stupidity documented on this thread

GSP stupidity documented on this thread

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