Global Shipping Program.....again

[samoaman]

Why is there such a wide discrepancy in the cost of shipping by GSP for a similar item? Specifically, I am looking at buying a used computer (Dell To 7610) from the US. According to the search results, seller 1 charges $US1,232.61 postage, BUT his item description page says $US292.70! Seller 2, on the other hand only charges $US30.79 for a similar computer, which I find hard to believe!!

Where is the logic in all this?

[padi*0409]

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@samoaman wrote:


Where is the logic in all this?

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If the seller inputs the dimensions and weight of the laptop the shippings costs will fall dramatically.

[4channel]

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@samoaman wrote:
Why is there such a wide discrepancy in the cost of shipping by GSP for a similar item? Specifically, I am looking at buying a used computer (Dell To 7610) from the US. According to the search results, seller 1 charges $US1,232.61 postage, BUT his item description page says $US292.70! Seller 2, on the other hand only charges $US30.79 for a similar computer, which I find hard to believe!!

Where is the logic in all this?

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Hi samoaman, what padi says about seller putting dimensions in and the price dropping would be true. On smaller items like books, records, dvds, tapes etc, it's a horrendous situation with people paying double, triple the cost of USPS. The thing is that Pitney Bowes have been making a killing on the post of larger items that don't have correct dimensions and have been making huge profits. Not an honourable practice. Also if you got 2 larger items from the same seller in different auctions and he/she packed them together, you'd be charged double. And any extras from seller like adaptors that you bought in a different auction from that seller, you'd be charged extra as well.

[samoaman]

Thanks padi and 4channel! True but sad! Just think how much more overseas income would be generated by being reasonable. There is an interesting correlation to this. When the British reduced their letter rate to 1 penny in 1840, their postal income went through the roof, simply because of the sheer volume generated. I'm sure that eBay/Pitney Bowes would experience a similar boon if "they saw the light".

Nevertheless, I still can't see why the search result page should show an almost 4x postage to what's in the acrual description. Surely this is a disincentive to buy!

[4channel]

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@samoaman wrote:
Thanks padi and 4channel! True but sad! Just think how much more overseas income would be generated by being reasonable. There is an interesting correlation to this. When the British reduced their letter rate to 1 penny in 1840, their postal income went through the roof, simply because of the sheer volume generated. I'm sure that eBay/Pitney Bowes would experience a similar boon if "they saw the light".

Nevertheless, I still can't see why the search result page should show an almost 4x postage to what's in the acrual description. Surely this is a disincentive to buy!

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Hi again samoanman. The problem is that Pitney Bowes appear to be running a scam. The bulk of the money is made by the many smaller items which people are over charged for continually. It try as much as I can do to avoid this.

[samoaman]

Yes, a "legal" scam it seems. Fortunately, there are some sellers who aim to please. Just this morning, I managed to save almost $50 on postage by simply asking the seller if he could offer an alternative to the GSP. He could, and did, and we are both happy. The solution is to ask, and to be prepared to look elsewhere, if possible.

By the way, this forum seems to be very Ausie-centric. Have we been isolated from the rest of the eBay universe?

[lyndal1838]

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@samoaman wrote:

By the way, this forum seems to be very Ausie-centric. Have we been isolated from the rest of the eBay universe?

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What else do you expect?

You are on ebay Australia, posting on the Australian boards asking questions pertaining to shipping to Australia.

The responders are Australian.

If you want to ask questions on other ebay sites you are quite welcome to do so but the answers may not be as relevant as different sitess have different rules.

[4channel]

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@samoaman wrote:
Yes, a "legal" scam it seems. Fortunately, there are some sellers who aim to please. Just this morning, I managed to save almost $50 on postage by simply asking the seller if he could offer an alternative to the GSP. He could, and did, and we are both happy. The solution is to ask, and to be prepared to look elsewhere, if possible.

By the way, this forum seems to be very Ausie-centric. Have we been isolated from the rest of the eBay universe?

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Yes samoaman, many sellers are very good  and will offer to help by changing the settings. a problem that can occur is if you desire an item on buy-it-now. Due to the time difference, the seller is likely to be in bed dreaming of nice things. By the time seller comes back to log in, someone else could have snapped that item up before he gets to read your message. 

There was a 45 record I wanted from a UK seller. Polite lady, but she follows what she thinks are the rules and thinks that changing the settings from GSP to normal UK Post would somehow be manipulating things for her and my advantage. . Those are the words she used. (Can you believe that ?????). Well, nobody bought the item and she ended up listing it for a low bid auction. I found a very nice guy in the UK who was willing to help. I bought something from him first. He won the item for the low bid and when it arrived in his mail box,  bundled it into the parcel with the item that I got from him. He was happy, I was happy and the poor woman who believes that there are rules to be obeyed only got a fraction for her item. Oh, and the guy that helped me told me that he used to use Global Shipping. But, after a while he dropped it t and went back to using normal GB / UK post. And, his sales increased again.

Great news that you saved $50

[marwi_3023]

It would be interesting to know what impact the GSP had on items leaving the US and the UK.
It definitely had an impact not so much on me but the local antique dealer was making a lot of money off me.
I would buy broken watches from the States and fix them then sell them to the dealer.
I never made any money as he only paid fifty dollars if I was lucky but usually for thirty and I had to use new parts for the repairs and they cost a lot of money.
He was selling them for a hundred and forty dollars

[collect247]

Very smart dealer you have there lol