Global Shipping Program

[jumunjipeter]

 Buyers beware of sellers in the USA who are on the Global Shipping Program. I recently bought 4 watches from the same seller in the USA, and when I went to pay, there were 4 shipping costs - $17.70, $17.40, $17.80 and $17.89. (Try and work out why they were all different???). When I asked the seller to combine the posting, he replied that he cannot as the Global Shipping Program does not allow him to combine.

 When I messaged eBay about this I received a message back that said in part "The seller doesn't know the import cost since it is the global shipping provider that would determine depending on your location. Thus, the US sellers are not allowed to combine postage." That is a load of crock. THERE IS NO IMPORT COST FOR WATCHES INTO AUSTRALIA. I have imported for the last 2 years.

 Talk about getting ripped-off.

 Pitney Bowes are the Global Shippers, and their site reads "AFTER you've completed checkout, you can review these charges on the Order Details page. The Order Details page shows the total charges and the payment amounts to the seller and the payment amount that went to the global shipping provider".

 The seller posts your item to Pitney Bowes and they forward post it to you.

 I read up on this Global Shipping Program and it says that they are not affiliated with eBay, yet eBay obviously gets a kick-back from them. This is what their site reads under "Description of Fees"::

 1. U.S. Shipping Fee

 2. International Shipping Fee

 3. Fuel Surcharge

 4. Transportation Fee

 5. Parcel Processing Service Fee

 6. Distribution Center Management Fee

 7. Loss Management Fee

 8. Transportation Risk Premium Fee

 9. Referral Fee - a variable fee paid by Pitney Bowes to eBay Inc. for referring you to the program.

 I wonder, if ever, when eBay will stop it's quest for greed at the expense of the buyers and sellers. There are millions of items sold and bought on eBay every day. When is "enough" enough??

[imastawka]

If, and it's a big IF, you can get a seller that is reasonable,

to opt out of the GSP simply give them these instructions -  Go to

(My eBay summary page)

account > site preferences > shipping preferences > Offer the Global Shipping Program > edit > no

[stua.mont]

Test

[stua.mont]

I recently bought a 1990 super soaker 100, I've wanted one since I was a kid, and now I have two boys of my own, I look for these when they come up on eBay, they are rare these days as most were broken or simply thrown out over the years, however they are far superior to anything that bears the nameplate these days, anyway the super soaker was around $29 U.S. Plus $72 U.S. For postage under the GSP!! Now if I didn't want this item so badly, I wouldn't have forked over that amount of cash, but seeing as I couldn't find any for sale locally (been looking for years) I finally grabbed this item and reluctantly paid the ridiculous GSP postage fees, as I watched the item through the eBay tracking part of the app, I was shocked to see it working its way in the opposit direction to where I live! I'm on the east coast of Australia and the item was on the west coast of America, the item traveled across USA stopping everywhere along the way and finally after 11 days it stopped in Erlanger Kentucky, and there it stayed for another 4 days before departing for international destination, as the days went past, it didn't appear to move, I contacted eBay and after being transferred several times, I finally got some information, the item had made it to Australia and had been handed over to WNdirect, however the reference number showed no tracking events, so anyway after a few more days, eBay tracking updated and gave me a new tracking number link, that when clicked, took me to the WNdirect tracking page, it showed that item was last seen passing through customs and provided another link that when clicked took me to the Australia post parcel tracking page, it had issued itself yet another tracking number and it was automatically entered into the search field on the auspost page, however it shows invalid tracking ID. The estimated arrival date was Saturday the 13th of February, on the 12th (Friday) I waited for the local postie to arrive and low and behold, no parcel slip. I rang eBay and explained that in Australia the mail man doesn't deliver on the weekends, and enquired if I could open an item not received case as I knew 100% it wouldn't come on Saturday, she told me I had to wait till Saturday anyway, so I did, I rang eBay on Saturday and explained that the service I paid SO much for had failed to deliver the item on time, she told me that I had to ring back on Sunday the 14th as the system wouldn't allow her to file a claim (I guess the system still thought my item might turn up before midnight Saturday) face palm..I rang and emailed Sunday and shortly after I got off the phone, I received an email from eBay stating they had contacted the seller and asked him for a refund, and that he had 48 hours to reply, and to check the resolution centre for updates on the case. WELL I couldn't believe what I was reading, I wrote them a massive email asking them why on earth would the seller have to be out of pocket? He obviously did his part and got the item to Kentucky PBI successfully. Why shouldn't he be covered as a seller using the aweful GSP? I demanded a refund from ebays pocket for both the item and the outrageous postage! I received PayPal notification that both the item and the postage have now been refunded, however eBay failed to answer the specific questions as to why the seller should have been involved in a GSP item that was t received. Anyway Ive had to buy another super soaker from the USA and, you guessed it, item is shipped via GSP 😞 I'm really hoping this one arrives on time! Heck, for all I know the first one I ordered and have been refunded might even still turn up! In which case I will be thanking eBay for my free super soaker - I will also be straight onto eBay if the second one doesn't arrive on time and seeking a refund for that too! Hope they Learn a lesson by having to refund me every time a GSP item doesn't get here on time and do something to improve the program, or better yet, scrap it all together - and before anyone suggests messaging the seller and asking them to send direct, I've done this many times and it seems Americans can't be bothered to opt out, or post overseas

Will let you all know if either of the super soakers arrive

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

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@stua.mont wrote:
Test

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fail

Please consider using paragraphs when you post on these discussion boards.  It makes it easier to read and comprehend what you are trying to tell us.

I'll be honest with you, I haven't read the long paragraph in your other post, and I am unlikely to for two reasons.  These are:

1 - long blocks of text does my head in

     and

2 - this is an old thread (started in 2013) and I don't have the time to read through some previous posts to see what you have replied to.

I did read the small paragraph "Will let you all know if either of the super soakers arrive" and look forward to you updating us on your super soaker saga.

[lyndal1838]

I hope you have thanked your seller for the first supersoaker.....I think you will find they have had the payment taken from them.

And you should not be so quick to demand your money back when an item does not arrive on the very day that ebay estimates.

It is just that....an estimated arrival date.

[padi*0409]

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@stua.mont wrote:
Heck, for all I know the first one I ordered and have been refunded might even still turn up! In which case I will be thanking eBay for my free super soaker -

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Nice piece of free shopping for you I guess, but why on earth should the seller be out of pocket ??????

BTW is that the same seller you've already left a neg for ?  (amongst your others....)

Edit. I'm slow as usual lyndal....................................

[*tippy*toes*]

WOW, I did read that very hard to read post and all I have to say is that I am absolutely disgusted by your attitude and your post in general. How dare you demand a refund on the ESTIMATE date when the tracking clearly said the item was in Australia. Are you going to repay the seller when it arrives, or are you going to keep the item and the money (which I will remind you is theft, which is a criminal offence in this country.

I also suggest you consult the dictionary and learn what the word estimate means. I'll give you a hint. It doesn't mean DEFINITE.

You also made a huge mistake coming into these forums gloating about your blatant theft. There are plenty of people here who would gladly report your to the police. You will also find there are a lot of sellers you can no longer buy from.

[davewil1964]

Save the paragraph.

[stua.mont]

Sorry for any misunderstanding, left five star feed back for the seller and also kept him upto date throughout the whole saga.
So no, I defiantly didn't leave him a neg feedback.

Seller got to keep his money, and I asked eBay if I could pay should the item ever turn up, they told me that no they can't accept payment even if it does turn up. eBay has stated that item is lost en route, and it's only at there end can they see that the parcel arrived in Australia, no where in my tracking can I see past Erlanger Kentucky

[stua.mont]

And how dare I demand a refund 😂😂😂 get real mate, over $100 for postage on a water gun, terrible tracking, long wait times, then my parcel lost en route - yeah how dare I ! 😂