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]

You can get your money back through the Ebay Money Back Guarantee

http://pages.ebay.com.au/help/buy/shipping-globally.html#problems

[gec2002]

Sorry but where did I say anything about domestic sales, the discussion is on international sales.

[imastawka]

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@gec2002 wrote:

Sorry but where did I say anything about domestic sales, the discussion is on international sales.

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Looking at it with my selling hat on, I don't sell overseas as I regard it too risky, and on the odd occasion that I do, I always have expensive tracked, insured postage.  However that doesn't protect me from negs etc, so if I use GSP even if I sell nothing overseas I am no worse off, and anything I do sell is a bonus with no risk attached.

Guess I misinterpreted

[gec2002]

Clearly you misinterpreted,  guess that would be because I wasn't clear enough, so to help you out here a more detailed sentence to help you see what I meant.

I don't sell overseas as I regard it too risky, and on the odd occasion that I do (ie 1 or 2 times a year which is why I said I don't sell overseas, which really should have been I rarely sell overseas) , I always have expensive tracked, insured postage.  However that doesn't protect me from negs etc, (on overseas sales (as referred to in the first sentence by "on the odd occasion that I do" (by which I mean sell overseas ))) so if I use GSP (on overseas sales) even if I sell (overseas) nothing overseas (that is not in Australia) I am no worse off (in relation to my overseas selling), and anything I do sell (overseas) is a bonus with no risk attached (but only for my overseas selling). 

The overseas is inferred from the general topic as well as what was said earlier, but I am sure you will always be able to be selective in what you intrepret to ensure you score points on another eBay forum member.

[imastawka]

but I am sure you will always be able to be selective in what you intrepret to ensure you score points on another eBay forum member.

Okey dokey then   

I thought I was just  commenting.     

But if you think otherwise, then you're entitled to that opinion.

[the_pooze]

Biggest example of the monumental rort that is the GSP I struck about a month ago.

Wanted to buy a watch case from the UK, listed for 7 GBP.  Postage by GSP was 27 GBP.

Contacted the Seller (who just about had a fit when I told him what the postage was) and he arranged (after MUCH drama and hassle on his part) to change everything around and we completed the sale with him shipping via Royal Mail at 5.50 GBP.

Needless to say, very happy Buyer (me) left brilliant Seller applicable glowing feedback (and he opted out of the GSP as he could see it for the rort it is).

[reserves!]

I'll just throw this on the current end, and it's probably already been mentioned.

A UK item, GBP 12.97 to post GSP. Alter the quanity to 2 and and it becomes GBP 26.68. They are seperate (no combined items) and the cost has more than doubled (I checked twice). An extra (prohibitive) fee can not be applied. Is this a small "discourage multiple sales"  measure.

I am tired of having to contact sellers to tell them what they should already know. (Must be time to quickly visit the UK boards again to see what that make of this.)

[lyndal1838]

It has never been any different....the GSP does not allow you to combine items.   Even if the seller is agreeable to posting the items together you still pay the 2 full shipping costs to the GSP provider.  And yes, it is a rort of gigantic proportions.

I must admit I have never seen the shipping more than double though.   Maybe the seller was charging a small fee to ship the items to the GSP hub.

[reserves!]

Yes, it must be something to do with that particular seller.

Two randomly selected UK GSP users found one with GBP 10.86 a single item and GBP 20.60 for a quantity of 2 (short by GBP 0.06 from being double) and another with 16.28 for a single item and GBP 30.30 for a quantity of 2 (short by GBP 2.26 from being double) . 

(The varriations aren't really the point though. I would view not being able to offer a more economical postage rate by putting many little cheap items in the same package as seller non-performance. They chose an inappropriate method ( by default or not). Using the GSP goes against the advice eBay gives to sellers on making their postage charges attractive - it really can end up being the opposite.  This has all been said before. I've never bought anything particularly heavy or expensive where the GSP would have helped, but I was forced into using it for first time recently.)

[*tippy*toes*]

The seller has no control over what the GSP charges the buyer, so seller non performance doesn't come into it. Most sellers have no idea how expensive it is until someone points it out to them. A lot are also unaware that they can't combine postage for you. A lot of people have been caught buying 5 or 6 things and paying a few hundred bucks for shipping, when it should have only been about $25. I got caught and the seller couldn't understand why he couldn't send a combined invoice. Thankfully for me he offered to cancel as he said what I was being charged was criminal. I accepted, he later opted out of using GSP.

The sellers don't have the option to send an invoice, like sellers here do. More and more sellers are becoming increasingly happy to use it as it gives them protection that other sellers don't get.