My latest experience with the horrid Global Shipping which was hiding under a stone (so to speak)

[4channel]

Well, I haven't been here for a while and I wasn't going to come back but sadly a distasteful experience that both the seller and I have tried to rectify, stll lurks.

Prior to bidding, I contacted a U.K. based seller about an item he was selling.  The auction said nothing about Global Shipping and some past bad experiences , plus listening to the many horror stories about Global Shipping / Pitney, makes me stay away from those auctions unless I can get seller to close auction and re-start with normal AirMal postage.

Anyway, seller had item at   GBP 14.56 (approx. AU $23.99 for   Express Postage to Australia. Contacted seller and he got back to me and said he can do it for GBP 4.75, (approx AU $7.82775 for normal AirMal). Well folks, you don't need to be a mathemetician to know that seller can do it for one third. Cool !!!!! I though!!!.  I'll take 4 items and with combined postage, I doubt if I would pay any more than say GBP 9.50 aka AU $16. Most likely less than that.

Well, it wasn't to be. Apparently seller cannot combine postage and system insists that he send each item individually via their Global Shipping programme and says he can't offer combined. Well, he's not happy about it and guess how I feel!

So if they were to be sent individually, would I have to pay 4 x GBP 14.56?. Well that would be GBP 58.24 ???? In Aust dollars that's $95.94.  Surely that can't be right, paying $95 in postage for something that would normally cost me around $14 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Even if this wasn't the case and I only paid a 3rd of that, as is uusually the case with small items, I'm paying 3 times too much.

What a damned nightmare!   Anyway, the seller and I are stuck.  He wants to work with me but there are other issues as well.  It never ends.

[jellybirddesigns]

I thought the seller could opt out of the GSP. Many don't even know they're signed up for it.

If he can opt out, perhaps you can repurchase once he has sorted out the postage side of things.

[lyndal1838]

Unless the seller formally opts out of the GSP before you buy then you are obliged to use the GSP.  The seller cannot just agree to use USPS while still showing the GSP on his listings.

All I can suggest now is that the seller should cancel your purchases and then relist the complete order as a special listing for you with the USPS costs.   As long as he sends you the item number, you can buy it as soon as it appears...before anyone else gets to it first.

[kopenhagen5]

In this case UK Royal Mail instead of GSP.

[imastawka]

Two threads??

Seller instructions for opting out of the GSP is on this thread -

http://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Buying/A-bad-experience-with-Global-Shipping-which-caught-me-unaware...

[lyndal1838]

OK, but the UK seller has to opt out of the GSP before the OP buys the items.  Same rules as the GSP from the USA.

[4channel]

---

@lyndal1838 wrote:

Unless the seller formally opts out of the GSP before you buy then you are obliged to use the GSP.  The seller cannot just agree to use USPS while still showing the GSP on his listings.

All I can suggest now is that the seller should cancel your purchases and then relist the complete order as a special listing for you with the USPS costs.   As long as he sends you the item number, you can buy it as soon as it appears...before anyone else gets to it first.

---

lyndal1838, the problem was that there was nothing on the page to indicate that Global Shipping Pitney (The Monsanto of posting as it's referred to sometimes) was involved. It just said Express Postage to Australia.

Nowhere on the page, even on the things you click on did it say Via the Global Shipping. If it did, I'd avoid the auction as I have had past issues with this rip-off vile scam. The items are in the UK and postage from there to here in Aust is even much cheaper than USPS which is much cheaper than Global Shipping Pitney Bowes.

So we'll see what the seller and I can work out.

BTW: for 4 items that cost less than AU $8, I should only pay AU $14 (approx) . Via the Global Shipping Pitney Bowes scam, I would end up paying AU $95 approx. Any normal person on this planet should feel disgust at this.

[lyndal1838]

Can you post an item number please?

I would like to see for myself how it is worded....several posters have said that it is not clear when the GSP is being used from the UK although on the 2 occasions I have used it there has been no ambiguity.

[imastawka]

If the item stated in the postage section that there were no customs duties payable,

then that's the clue it was posted  via GSP

As lyndal asked, can you post an item number please?

[4channel]

I'll C&P what I can from the page.