Global Shipping Program KILLING trade. seller shipping restrictions for victorinox swiss army knives

[6469buy]

Why is ebay trying to stop people from buying legal pocket kinves from the USA eg. Victorinox Swiss Army Knife

This Global shipping program is not helping people it is KILLING trade!

And stopping Australians from getting the best price.

Shame on you ebay!!! 

[lyndal1838]

It is not ebay.....the decision to refuse to ship any knives to Australia has been made by Pitney Bowes, the logistics company that is responsible for shipping.

They make arbitrary decisions based on their interpretation of Australian Customs rules even when there is absolutely no reason for it.

They no longer ship even table knives and there is no question that they are legal.

Just find a seller who does not use the GSP and you will get your knife.

[6469buy]

The Victorinox swiss army kinves i am trying to buy are collectors items and very hard to find.

So i can not just go to another seller and with the USA being the best place to find these knives you can understand my frustration.

[6469buy]

If it's not ebays fault then surly they can see it is a big problem for them also.

So are they doing anything to help it's long standing and loyal customers???

[lyndal1838]

Yes, I understand your frustration.....most of us are the same.

In the early days of the GSP the only way we found out what Pitney Bowes would not ship was when buyers came to the boards asking what to do as their items had not turned up.

It took a lot of investigating but eventually we found out that PB was just a law unto themselves regarding what they would send.....knives were a no-no as were electric keyboards.

Instead of telling anybody PB just did not ship these items and did not say a word.

Truely pathetic!!!

While you may have difficulty, keep looking for the knives you want from other sellers.  There are a few sellers now waking up to what is happening and are ditching the GSP.  You just may be lucky.

[6469buy]

I tried to tell a US seller about this problem last night he had a knife i was trying to bid on, but he had no idea what i was talking about.

They don't even know they are missing out on bidding competition from overseas.

Which means they are not getting the best price for there items and we are not getting the best prices either.

[lyndal1838]

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@6469buy wrote:

If it's not ebays fault then surly they can see it is a big problem for them also.

So are they doing anything to help it's long standing and loyal customers???

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What I meant was that it was not ebay's fault that PB were making arbitrary decisions on what they would and would not post.

But ebay is nlikely to do anything about it as they make more money from the GSP than if sellers do not use it.

One good thing about the GSP though....it is excellent for large and heavy items....much cheaper than USPS.  But it is a real rip off for smaller items.   I have paid US$25 for a pair of earrings shipped with the GSP....they would have been less than US$10 with USPS with tracking.

[padi*0409]

Sellers are able to opt out of the GSP, if you email them and ask they may do it for you, the way to do it for both the USA and UK are shown below :-

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

[zanadoo_56]

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@6469buy wrote:

I tried to tell a US seller about this problem last night he had a knife i was trying to bid on, but he had no idea what i was talking about.

They don't even know they are missing out on bidding competition from overseas.

Which means they are not getting the best price for there items and we are not getting the best prices either.

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Did the seller even know he was signed to the GSP?  I've struck a few who had no idea, only in my case it was sellers who don't sell overseas who suddenly found they now were.

[padi*0409]

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@zanadoo_56 wrote:

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Did the seller even know he was signed to the GSP?  I've struck a few who had no idea, only in my case it was sellers who don't sell overseas who suddenly found they now were.

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That certainly has happened to a lot of sellers zanadoo, one of mine in the US was opted in by default in the early days of it and as a result lost nearly 75% of his international sales - he didn't have a clue as to why until I emailed him about it........

But it gets better, a few months later eBay "generously" started putting some of his listings back on it despite him opting out ...............to say he was ropeable doesn't even come close to it......................

The only good thing about it is, as lyndal says, it's cheaper for heavy items - so long as you don't mind them going on a world trip before they get to you.