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??

[lyndal1838]

Ooops, sorry afantiques.   Now I know I will not make the same mistake again.

It seems that a lot of reports of GSP problems are anecdotal....no-one has any proof of anything.

I am not a seller but several very reputable sellers on the Aussie boards seem to be able to work out who gave them low stars.

And just to follow up a comment you made on another thread...that reports of poor packaging by PB are greatly exaggerated.   There have been several reports on the boards by different members of examples of PB's repacking skills or lack thereof.  I can see no reason to disbelieve them.

As well, I have spoken to several members who have mentioned bad packaging of items sent through the GSP....and they did not post and never have posted on the boards.

In view of the recognised low number of members who even know about the boards I think it is safe to assume that the reports are not really exaggerated to any great degree.

[cupcake15]

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You can leave feedback as usual about the transaction in general but you cannot say for example "Great item but slow & expensive shipping" (referring to the GSP). You cannot make a comment about the cost of the GSP or the length of time it takes to arrive.

But go your hardest if you get the wrong item.....that is nothing to do with the GSP.

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What if I make a comment such as 

"The item has one crack and the shipping was slow"?

So basically I can leaving a feedback for both the item and the shipping, I need to let the seller know that buyers are not happy with the shipping service, since it is us the buyer who pay for the shipping, then we have the right to choose which shipping service we use.

[lyndal1838]

No, the buyer does not have the right to choose the shipping service used.

The seller lists the service used for that item and if the buyer does not like it then he does not buy.

You can ASK the seller if they are prepared to use a different shipping service but it is entirely up to the seller if they will oblige.

You can only say that shipping was slow if the seller did not post within their stated handling time.  You cannot blame the seller if the shipping service is slow once he has posted the item.  If the seller proves to eby that he posted within his stated handling time the feedback will probably be removed.

If you want to let the seller know you are not happy with the time taken by the shipping service or the cost you do that through the message system, not through feedback.

[cupcake15]

Then, I'll just give a neg for some minor flaw, then message a hint him the neg was for GSP without explicitly stating it. He'll learn his lesson not to use it in the future. 

I don't care if the laptop arrives on time or not, international shipping without tracking makes me anxious as, I rather it be late and trackable, than be on time and untrackable.

It's common sense for sellers not to use GSP given how sh17 it is for the buyer, if they use it then they should expect a retaliatory neg.

[lyndal1838]

Well it seems that you have made up your mind to give a negative no matter what happens with the transaction.

IMO it is rather petty to "hint" that you don't like the GSP.....you chose to use it and now that you are having difficulty tracking the parcel you blame the seller.

I am sure you will find your way to a few seller's Party Lists.  Good Luck!!

[cupcake15]

I have multiple accounts so I'm never worried about that.

What are you talking about, I never chose to use GSP.

[i-love-my-sheep]

If you buy something from me at 10am and pay for it immediately, I post it at 11am and it takes 6 weeks to arrive, you would give me a negative? Since when does the amount of time the postal service take become the responsibilty of the seller? It's not the sellers fault that the postal service takes their sweet time to deliver items. 

As for the GSP, a lot of sellers don't even know they are signed up for it. Sellers have to opt out of it, not opt in. There are quite a few sellers who don't post internationally, yet get international buyers because eBay has opted them into the program. That is often the first indication that their items are appearing on international sites.

I have seen quite a few things I want to buy from the US, yet the seller uses the GSP. I have sent them a message BEFORE bidding/buying to ask if they would post using USPS and all bar one have said yes. Especially when you tell them the postage price that's shown in the listing. The one that refused was a high volume seller and it was probably more convenient for them to not change it. That's OK, that's their choice and I bought somewhere else. 

As for leaving negatives, seems you're already pretty good at that on this account. Go ahead and leave a neg for a seller using the GSP. It will be you that has egg on your face when it gets removed. If the rip off GSP is such an issue for you, why even bother buying from a seller that uses it? There are plenty of sellers who don't use it. I personally just scroll over sellers that have it showing in the search results. If a seller has a one off item, then as I said above, I will send them a message and ask if they'll post through USPS.

[cupcake15]

Of course it is the responsibility of the seller. 

If there are two postal services companies, both same price. Company A is faster and more reliable than company B. The seller than have the duty to the buyer to choose the better company. 

The seller did not sign up for it, but the seller certainly did post it. I don't live eBay depot in America do I? So the seller certainly knew he was posting to eBay and using GSP because he was not posting to my address in Australia. 

How was I able to tell if a seller uses GSP, this is the first time I have encountered this.

[i-love-my-sheep]

This is what shows in the search results.....

This is what shows in the listing. 

If a seller doesn't normally post internationally, or does it very rarely, how are they supposed to know which is the quicker option? People are very deceived by the word 'priority shipping'. They think it is a faster service than 'standard'. For someone who doesn't know, such as someone who rarely posts overseas, it would be easy to assume that priority is the faster option, because they assume it is given priority over other mail.

Again I will ask, if you buy and pay today and I post within an hour and it takes 6 weeks to arrive, how is that MY fault? Especially given that we only have Australia Post? I have fulfilled my part of the obligation, I have posted the item within an hour of payment. How is it my fault if Australia Post takes 6 weeks to deliver it? Would you prefer I travel to your house and hand deliver it? Would you prefer US sellers jump on a plane and hand deliver it?

[cupcake15]

And once again, I will answer with the same reply, the seller has the obligation, at least morally, to chose the best shipping service at a particular price.

If you knew it would take a particular company 6 weeks, where an alternative would only take 2 weeks at a similar price, then you have the obligation to use the 2 week company.

If the company normally takes 6 weeks but because of an accident, it took 6 weeks, then the seller is not responsible.

This is a simple common sense. The seller had a choice between GSP and USPS, both were 79 USD ish which I paid.