International Postage Costs

[oz-engines]

Why is eBay forcing American sellers to post through their Kentucky Distribution Center??

Why can't sellers calculate their own postage and send direct. Is eBay double dipping making more out of postage.

This is going to restrict buying from overseas completely.

ebay's postage calculator forces sellers to send to me in Australia via "Priority International Post" this is way too expensive when I can get the same delivery time using "First Class Interntional Post and a quarter of the cost!!

i have just been refused buying from three US sellers.

This SUX

[davewil1964]

Apart from the fact that I applaud any measures which might tempt Australian buyers to buy from Australian sellers, you have encountered the Global Shipping Program, run by Pitney Bowes.

For more information, do a board search for Pitney Bowes, or GSP. There is a mine of information out there which I have no interest in finding for you.

[oz-engines]

That is the end of buying from the USA for me.

[davewil1964]

Good

[phorum_junkie*]

There are still a fair number of US sellers who don't use  the GSP and a lot more who will agree to use an alternative service if you say that is the only way you will buy from them. Believe it or not many of them have no idea just how much is added to the cost nor do they realise that they make arbitrary decisions about what is and is not allowed through customs and don't send a lot of things that would be OK.

For every item you may have been interested in send a message to the seller saying you would have been happy to buy from them if they had not used the GSP, if they get told that often enough they may stop using it.

[wendy9456]

I agree Dave BUT sometimes the product you want is not to be found anywhere in Australia. I like you always like to keep the shopping in Oz but there have been times I have had no other choice for a Must Have Item. I really have to want it though as postage is outrageous from the U.S. On the other hand I have found at times it is cheaper to pay for postage for an item to come from the U.K. than it is from the other side of Australia.

[phorum_junkie*]

Presumably the sellers who are posting from the UK at a comparably low rate are not using any of the services that qualify for ebay or Paypal seller protection. The high cost of delivery from the UK by any qualifying method is one of the reasons I don't sell for the half of the year I am here in the UK.

[cq_tech]

Surely that wouldn't prevent you from selling locally in the UK though.

[zanadoo_56]

There are US sellers who find just posting everything to Kentucky to be extremely convenient so they don't seem to mind the loss of overseas customers.  I can see their point, especially as they have no idea what the charges are to overseas buyers.

If I see something I like (and most of my purchases are of fairly low value) I will ask the seller if they will consider using USPS First Class International and I always mention the actual GSP cost to Oz in my request.  So far, some have said no, some don't know how to change it, some haven't even realised they have signed up for the GSP and they can be quite annoyed to find their listing is not 'Posts to US' only (because they don't sell to overseas buyers).....and some have been very obliging and changed the postage so I can buy the item.

For sellers who are worried about tracking parcels sent by USPS First Class Int, if their parcels are sent using USPS E-DELCON they can be tracked both at USPS and Aust Post (I'm currently following the progress of an item which I know has now left the US and is currenly en route to Oz).  Mind you, how well it is trackable probably depends on whether the seller lodged it at a post office and how efficient the PO staff are (I'm guessing....I'm not a seller let alone a US one) as the info can vary.  The last item I received was tracked every step of the way both here and in the US, though ironically it was the USPS site that had my item marked as delivered (which is was) before Aust Post site did, which was kind of weird, 😉

I think it's always worth politely asking a seller if they can post by USPS, but if they aren't willing to then fair enough.  It's their right to decide which method to use, and in that case I thank them for replying to my query....and I walk away from the listing and delete it from my Watch List.  It may be annoying that they aren't willing to change the postage, but then again, as I'm not willing to change to accepting the GSP then we are never going to see eye to eye, and my request may be equally annoying to the seller. 🙂

Still, there's no harm in at least asking.

[beasboutique2]

I did say one of the reasons was the cost of postage, there are plenty of other reasons why I gave up selling here not least  was the amount of competition and the fact ebay stuffed up my original account which meant starting from scratch with zero feedback.  I did consider still listing on the Au site and posting from here but then, just like AP only sooner and pricier, which made it not worth it especially as I have very limited space in my little semi detached house here.