Im interested to hear from other buyers who purchase from America about shipping rates.

I am interested to hear from other buyers who live in Australia and have purchased from America.

I am finding some of the shipping costs excessive. Similar items with the same shipping details, but very diffrent prices. 

Does eBay not have a reasonable cap on shipping costs?

I am not talking large items either, I have been looking at coach wristlets of late and one seller wanted $54 au shipping? no special kind of shipping either. I purchased a very similiar item and the shipping was half of that. 

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Re: Im interested to hear from other buyers who purchase from America about shipping rates.

I rarely buy, from the US or anywhere else, but if I want something and the seller uses GSP then I ermail them before bidding/buying to say that I want to buy but using their shipping method it is going to cost me $XX so would they be prepared to list it with USPS shipping. A lot of sellers don't realise how expensive it is because they are only sending to a depot from which the items are sent on by PB. If they won't do that then I go elsewhere.

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Re: Im interested to hear from other buyers who purchase from America about shipping rates.

Just to add to PJ's post, the GSP (or Global Shipping Program) is something run by a company called Pitney Bowes, and what basically happens is that the seller themselves do not ship overseas directly to the buyer, but send the package to a facility where Pitney Bowes process (and typically repackage) the item before sending them on.

 

In those cases, these high postage charges are decided upon by Pitney Bowes, and the seller either receives $0 for P&H, or I would suppose whatever the price of their domestic rate is (eg say they charge $5 to ship an item to another US buyer, the seller receives $5, but Pitney Bowes add their own amount on to that, and that is the final charge you see on eBay when you're looking at an item. If the item is very expensive, then import charges can also be added on to the final charge so that they're not payable when the item arrives in Oz).

 

I agree the amounts can be outrageous for small items. I buy quite a lot of craft supplies, and the packages can be very small and light weight. Before the introduction of the GSP, I could regularly pay around $4 postage for the items and get additional items for free or very little extra, but if the seller is using the GSP, not only is postage suddenlly $30 or more, but combine postage isn't an option, so if I want another similar item, the charge could be $65 rather than $5. 

 

Many sellers find this program attractive, as it reduces the risk (to them) involved in sending items overseas, but it's not very cost-effective for the buyer of smaller items. Other sellers don't actually know they've been opted into this program, so sometimes you might find that the seller either never meant to make overseas shipping available, or that they'll agree to bypass the GSP and send the item to you directly using normal postage methods (better to ask before buying, though). 

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Re: Im interested to hear from other buyers who purchase from America about shipping rates.

Definitely avoid buying from anyone using the GSP.  Sadly I am finding an increasing number of US sellers unwilling to post by USPS instead of the GSP when asked.  I've also had sellers really make up the postage costs when they don't use the GSP.

 

I've been looking for a particular item for which there doesn't appear to be a local seller (unless you count a seller with 'au' in the name, ships this item from the US and has a discouraging record of unhappy customers), so my only hope was the US.  Nearly all would only shop via the GSP, and those (two) that didn't were selling a secondhand item when I wanted new.

 

I've still got the PayPal voucher.  The last time they offered it I spent it right away.  Now I'm wondering if the expiry date will beat me to it.  It just shows how bad things are I guess.

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Re: Im interested to hear from other buyers who purchase from America about shipping rates.


@justagirlinmelbourne74 wrote:

I am interested to hear from other buyers who live in Australia and have purchased from America.

I am finding some of the shipping costs excessive. Similar items with the same shipping details, but very diffrent prices. 

Does eBay not have a reasonable cap on shipping costs?

I am not talking large items either, I have been looking at coach wristlets of late and one seller wanted $54 au shipping? no special kind of shipping either. I purchased a very similiar item and the shipping was half of that. 


GSP IMO is dreadful & expensive. If you see an item in the US they you may want to purchase ask the Seller if they would post it by another means. Most will be happy to oblige. If not, well I would leave it alone.

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Re: Im interested to hear from other buyers who purchase from America about shipping rates.

I've also had sellers really make up the postage costs when they don't use the GSP.

 

 

How's this for making up your own postage costs -   Utterly ridiculous.

This item weighs less than 100 gr.   They will be paying more for fvf than

the item is worth.

 

 
Price:
US $2.49
Approximately AU $3.29
Buy It Now
 
Postage:
US $42.00 (approx. AU $55.43) USPS Priority Mail International 
 
Item location:
Nassau, New York, United States
 
 
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Re: Im interested to hear from other buyers who purchase from America about shipping rates.


@justagirlinmelbourne74 wrote:

I am interested to hear from other buyers who live in Australia and have purchased from America.

I am finding some of the shipping costs excessive. Similar items with the same shipping details, but very diffrent prices. 

Does eBay not have a reasonable cap on shipping costs?

I am not talking large items either, I have been looking at coach wristlets of late and one seller wanted $54 au shipping? no special kind of shipping either. I purchased a very similiar item and the shipping was half of that


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Re: Im interested to hear from other buyers who purchase from America about shipping rates.

It's also an old trick that a LOT of O/S Sellers used to use (& a LOT still do).  They drop their Selling Price to compete or better local prices but make up for it in the excessive Postage....

 

Since the introduction of FVFs on Postage most have stopped doing it but there are still quite a few that are continuing... It's a psychological ploy ..... Buyer sees initial lower price & just jumps on it only to find that in the end he/she has paid more because of excessive Postage....

 

ALWAYS check & compare...

 

I also agree with staying away from Global Shipping - IMO it's just another ploy by Ebay to make more out FVFs

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Re: Im interested to hear from other buyers who purchase from America about shipping rates.

How do you figure that? Our US friends don't pay FVFs on overseas postage, but where eBay make the bulk of their money is in the fact that they actually own Pitney Bowes. Increased FVFs has nothing to do with it.
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Re: Im interested to hear from other buyers who purchase from America about shipping rates.

pitney bowes dont know what they are doing. the same item, same state, same postage option, different sellers  vary from $22.00 to over $100.00.

 

same is happening with global shipping in the U.K.  pitney bowes charged me only GBP 26.00 to have a 4 kilo item sent , similar items different sellers up to GBP 60.00. its all over the place...

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