International postage & the GSP

[venomous_abyss]

I've contacted the sellers of some items I am interested in bidding on regarding their shipping charges, and they are all happy to use alternative methods to the GSP to send me my items, however I am now wondering whether anything in particular needs to occur prior to me bidding or whether the shipping charges can be easily altered by the seller when the auction ends? I notice when I go to bid on these particular items that the following message comes up in the bid box "By clicking Confirm bid, you are committing to buy this item from the seller if you are the winning bidder and have read and agreed to the Global Shipping Program terms and conditions". Am I correct in assuming this is not binding, and that the seller can alter the postage details if I "request total" at the end of auction?

Apologies if this has already been sufficiently answered in a previous thread, and I have somehow missed it.

TIA

[amber-eyed-girl]

Shortly after the program came in, I didn't know what it was, and bid on three items from one seller.

I won all three. I asked for combined post, as was stated in the listings could be done.

The seller took a while to get back to me...then I received an amended invoice which was fine. I now know (from another thread here) that he would have tried to combine through the program, couldn't, then sent a new invoice where the post was direct.

So...unless things have changed, the seller can do a new invoice, but it might mean they have to opt out of the program, then do an invoice.

Anyway, it was possible to do. At that time, after bidding.

I would email one of your sellers and ask them how they are going to change the shipping, so that they find out how, just in case it is no longer possible and you get stuck with it.

[venomous_abyss]

Thank you for your reply! It seems I have answered my own question by finally using some logic and looking it up on ebay.com - my brain doesn't work so well at this hour sometimes 😉 It would seem you can't alter the postage charges with GSP items

From ebay.com : "Note: The Request total from the seller link is not available for Global Shipping Program purchases. You will see the total, including postage, after you’ve purchased the item."

Now I need to contact these sellers and pass on the news that they will be missing out on an extra bidder.

[amber-eyed-girl]

They might be able to opt out of the program though? I think that is what my seller did.

[venomous_abyss]

Yes, I'm just emailing now to find out *fingers crossed*. I wouldn't be surprised if they aren't even aware of how it works themselves. I'm sure the last seller I contacted would be shocked to know that the quoted GSP postage for one vintage photo is $25.46 USD. Ugh, this is becoming way too complicated.

[amber-eyed-girl]

If you want the items, and the sellers have said it is OK to ship to you directly, then persevere...it is possible to get things shipped outside the program 🙂 when they were listed as being in it.

Good luck.

[venomous_abyss]

Trying to sort things out now, and it's not easy given that one of the sellers I've been communicating with doesn't seem to sell much to international customers. I shall persevere and hope the sellers don't block me for being a pain in the rear and asking so many questions.