Global Shipping Program put into perspective.

[padi*0409]

Here are a few tips that can make the GSP more palatable or explainable for buyers.

1.  If the GSP postage is very high compared to USPS or Royal Mail from the UK. Ask the seller to input dimensions and weight into the listing - this will usually drop the postage rate significantly (though not on heavy parcels where the GSP is usually the cheapest option anyway).

2. If multiple items are being bought as a BIN, ask the seller to make one listing of all the items so that they can be sent together and not incur multiple postage charges,

3. It's also possible to ask the seller to opt out of the GSP and send by their normal carrier - they may not want to do this as it reduces their seller protection significantly.

4. eBay opts sellers into the GSP by default, so they may well be unaware that they are even posting overseas since all they will see as a shipping address is their countrie's GSP shipping hub. Often if the buyer sends a screen shot of the postage amount they will be amenable to enact the steps above.

5. Long delivery times?  Nothing much can be done about that buyers just have to be aware that sometimes parcels will do a scenic trip of the seller's country before being processed.

6. Pitney Bowes (GSP) will confiscate a number of items that they deem to be prohibited exports, these include any knife (even a butter knife), guitars, drums etc.  When they confiscate these the buyer will have to jump through hoops to get their money back from Pitney Bowes, while Pitney Bowes will put those item up for sale on their own eBay sites.

7. Pitney Bowes will often but not always repack items, so if the item is fragile maybe think twice about it and look for a different seller of that item, if the seller won't opt out of the GSP for you.

The GSP isn't necessarily the draconian monster that some members here portray it as, if some of the steps above are implemented.

I don't have the opt-out procedure to hand so if any members do have it could they post the steps here please.

Apologies for the long post, but getting an honest perspective of the GSP to my mind is more important than arbitrarily shooting the system down, and not giving the other side of the story.

[4channel]

---

@padi*0409 wrote:

Here are a few tips that can make the GSP more palatable or explainable for buyers.

1.  If the GSP postage is very high compared to USPS or Royal Mail from the UK. Ask the seller to input dimensions and weight into the listing - this will usually drop the postage rate significantly (though not on heavy parcels where the GSP is usually the cheapest option anyway).

2. If multiple items are being bought as a BIN, ask the seller to make one listing of all the items so that they can be sent together and not incur multiple postage charges,

3. It's also possible to ask the seller to opt out of the GSP and send by their normal carrier - they may not want to do this as it reduces their seller protection significantly.

4. eBay opts sellers into the GSP by default, so they may well be unaware that they are even posting overseas since all they will see as a shipping address is their countrie's GSP shipping hub. Often if the buyer sends a screen shot of the postage amount they will be amenable to enact the steps above.

---

Thanks for taking the time to write this padi*0409 . I'll only adress the above for now. Sadly what you sguuested cannot be done in many cases.

* Even with dimensions, small articles like record 45s and dvds are going to be double, triple, even quadruple the price of postage of a normal post. IE: A record 45 from a UK seller. She has it for $40AU post (Equivalent) when I know I can get 45s from the UK for less than $10 but average around $12. So that's more than 3 times as much.

* With multiple items for best offer, once you have asked the seller to change the settings to normal, you have alerterd the seller to  your interest and there goes your power for making an offer. Even buy it now, you have alterted the seller to your interest as a dealer, re-seller, collector or investor. If items are similar, the seller can make things hard for you. But most of all, on many items buy it now, if they are rare, by the time you wait for the seller to get back to you, someone else has snapped the item up.

* I have asked 3 sellers nicely to please change to nornal. I deal with people via communication on a professional basis and I know how to approach people. Twice I have had people point blank refuse to do this. One guy in the UK was selling bootlegged DVDs an it would cost me more than $20 on Global Shipping  as opposed to $8 max on normal GB Postage. He could have sent the dvd flat as a letter for $3. But he refused and had a ball debating me. No good in the end. And the other one was with a female seller that the 45 will cost me over $40 to post to Australia and she refused to change her stance and even after I had exhausted my best pitch.

Below is an example of the female seller in the UK who even after my most polite and respectful approach with good objection handling refuses. Below you'll see what I mean.

Global Shipping, the problems are never ending, everyone loses in the long run.

on ‎02-05-2018 01:38 PM

https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Buying/Global-Shipping-the-problems-are-never-ending-everyone-loses...

[davewil1964]

One size doesn't fit all.

You are a collector. Most people who buy from overseas aren't.

So the perceived problems you might encounter by signalling your interest prior to purchase are not necessarily those that would be encountered by the vast majority of buyers who use padi's tips.

[marwi5023]

Wow, a vast majority of buyers that never come to the forum know and understand the "suggestions" that padi listed.
How is that? By osmosis

[lyndal1838]

Not all of us rely on information on the boards to tell us how to buy on ebay.  A lot of it is commonsense which unfortunately is not so common these days.

[marwi5023]

Common sense says that the GSP is a rort

[4channel]

---

@davewil1964 wrote:

One size doesn't fit all.

You are a collector. Most people who buy from overseas aren't.

So the perceived problems you might encounter by signalling your interest prior to purchase are not necessarily those that would be encountered by the vast majority of buyers who use padi's tips.

---

davewil1964 , Collector, ordinary buyer or whatever, when there's a bargain, everybody misses out when the item gets snapped up. Obviously not for the buyer that snaps it up. And again, even with dimensions, postage via Global Shipping / Pitney Bowes is still going to be double, triple and even quadruple that of USPS or GB Post. As I said  everybody misses ouit except for those who line their pockets at the expense of others.

[Anonymous]

---

@4channel wrote:

---

@davewil1964 wrote:

One size doesn't fit all.

You are a collector. Most people who buy from overseas aren't.

So the perceived problems you might encounter by signalling your interest prior to purchase are not necessarily those that would be encountered by the vast majority of buyers who use padi's tips.

---

davewil1964 , Collector, ordinary buyer or whatever, when there's a bargain, everybody misses out when the item gets snapped up. Obviously not for the buyer that snaps it up. And again, even with dimensions, postage via Global Shipping / Pitney Bowes is still going to be double, triple and even quadruple that of USPS or GB Post. As I said  everybody misses ouit except for those who line their pockets at the expense of others.

---

If the buyer is in the same country and gets it via ordinary post, how do they miss out?  I used to buy a LOT from the UK and I often missed out because I was bidding against people from the UK who paid lower postage than me and they could afford to go higher on the item price than me.  Did I blame the seller, or the other bidders, or Royal Mail and whinge and whine about it?  No, I realised that's just the way it works.  

If a buyer asked me to send by ordinary post the way you ask, I wouldn't agree either.  Why don't you be pro-active and use a forwarding service for overseas purchases?  It might cost a bit more than normal post but it'd be a lot cheaper than the GSP.  I guess you'd have nothing to complain about then.

I don't know why you use the forums to campaign against the GSP.  You must know it's not going to make a scrap of difference because the only people who hear you don't like the GSP either, and the powers that can do something about it don't even know you're saying anything.  It's a bit like a union leader deciding that everyone should participate in a march or a sit-in, but hold it in the middle of the outback where nobody will see them.

[4channel]

---

tangledstitches  wrote

If the buyer is in the same country and gets it via ordinary post, how do they miss out? 

---

A buyer in the same country does not miss out! That's what I was saying. They are the winers and have the head start as because of Global Shipping, overseas buyers are crippled in the race due to having to wait for at least 12 hours in many cases to wait for the seller to get back to them and tell them whether they will change the aution settings. In the mean time, a lucky local buyer can come along and snap the item up.

---

tangledstitches  wrote

I used to buy a LOT from the UK and I often missed out because I was bidding against people from the UK who paid lower postage than me and they could afford to go higher on the item price than me.  Did I blame the seller, or the other bidders, or Royal Mail and whinge and whine about it?  No, I realised that's just the way it works.  

---

 Intersesting you creativly use the terms "whinge and whine "   

---

tangledstitches wrote

If a buyer asked me to send by ordinary post the way you ask, I wouldn't agree either.  Why don't you be pro-active and use a forwarding service for overseas purchases?  It might cost a bit more than normal post but it'd be a lot cheaper than the GSP.  I guess you'd have nothing to complain about then.

---

 Aaah you now creativly say ...  "If a buyer asked me to send by ordinary post the way you ask, I wouldn't agree either"

Now why would yoyu say something like that? Is it to paint a different picture of me than what I am? I hope notv because I always ask please and am polite and courteous. If not, then please point out where I have?????????????????

???????????????????

??????????????????????

---

tangledstitches wrote

I don't know why you use the forums to campaign against the GSP.  You must know it's not going to make a scrap of difference because the only people who hear you don't like the GSP either, and the powers that can do something about it don't even know you're saying anything.  It's a bit like a union leader deciding that everyone should participate in a march or a sit-in, but hold it in the middle of the outback where nobody will see them.

---

 Not running a campaign. yes I'm vocal and yes I discuss this negative aspect with others about Global shipping. We havea right to do so as that's what the forum is for.  So you analogy about the union leader is meaningless.

[Anonymous]

---

 wrote:

---

tangledstitches  wrote

If the buyer is in the same country and gets it via ordinary post, how do they miss out? 

---

A buyer in the same country does not miss out! That's what I was saying. They are the winers and have the head start as because of Global Shipping, overseas buyers are crippled in the race due to having to wait for at least 12 hours in many cases to wait for the seller to get back to them and tell them whether they will change the aution settings. In the mean time, a lucky local buyer can come along and snap the item up.

---

tangledstitches  wrote

I used to buy a LOT from the UK and I often missed out because I was bidding against people from the UK who paid lower postage than me and they could afford to go higher on the item price than me.  Did I blame the seller, or the other bidders, or Royal Mail and whinge and whine about it?  No, I realised that's just the way it works.  

---

 Intersesting you creativly use the terms "whinge and whine "   

---

tangledstitches wrote

If a buyer asked me to send by ordinary post the way you ask, I wouldn't agree either.  Why don't you be pro-active and use a forwarding service for overseas purchases?  It might cost a bit more than normal post but it'd be a lot cheaper than the GSP.  I guess you'd have nothing to complain about then.

---

 Aaah you now creativly say ...  "If a buyer asked me to send by ordinary post the way you ask, I wouldn't agree either"

Now why would yoyu say something like that? Is it to paint a different picture of me than what I am? I hope notv because I always ask please and am polite and courteous. If not, then please point out where I have?????????????????

???????????????????

??????????????????????

---

Overseas buyers have always been at a disadvantage over domestic buyers, even before the GSP.  If someone from overseas wants to buy an item from Australia they suffer the same disadvantage.  It's life, so get used to it.

I don't know how using the dictionary definition of whinge and whine can be considered creative.

Re how you ask sellers to change their postage method, if you can't see where you're going wrong I'm not going to tell you.  Better for the seller to see your underlying attitude and protect themselves. 

[4channel]

tangledstitches  wrote:

Overseas buyers have always been at a disadvantage over domestic buyers, even before the GSP.  If someone from overseas wants to buy an item from Australia they suffer the same disadvantage.  It's life, so get used to it.

---

LOL, what are you on about. Of course that's obvious that someone misses out on an article.

---

tangledstitches  wrote:

I don't know how using the dictionary definition of whinge and whine can be considered creative.

---

LOL what are you on about here? Your're just adding something to the mix here that isn't making any sense. Just your attempt at having a bit of fun I guess. 

---

---

tangledstitches  wrote:

Re how you ask sellers to change their postage method, if you can't see where you're going wrong I'm not going to tell you.  Better for the seller to see your underlying attitude and protect themselves. 

---

 You're talking trash here. Pathetic. Below is an example of a contact  I made with another seller. Where's my underlying attitude that you mentioned?

**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>*

Hi, I am interested in a record from your selection. The problem is that the postage - GBP 12.90 (approx. AU $22.03) is 3 times the normal amount to post a 45 to Australia by AirMail. Is it possible please that you can change the postage to just normal AirMail. I have a secure mail post office box too. Cheers

https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Buying/Global-Shipping-the-problems-are-never-ending-everyone-loses...

**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>**>*