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.
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"Start me up I'll never stop......"
