Pitney Bowes UK Postage Pirates

[onei0403]

I bought a jumper from the UK that cost me 5 pounds and Pitney Bowes charged me 15 pounds postage. I was a bit shocked, who are they and when did they take over from the Royal Mail? 

As an expat from the UK, I occasionally like to buy stuff  that I can't purchase easily in Aus but not anymore 😞

[phorum_junkie*]

Even standard international with no tracking at all £8.45 so again add a packaging and handling charge and I can quite understand why UK sellers would use the PB service. If I sold while in the UK I would probably use it for any item over about £20 (Au$39) just the same as I add SOG to anything over fifty bucks when selling in Aus. As with US sellers a lot of them probably don't even know what the end price to the buyer is, just that it is cheap, convenient and safe for them.

[amber-eyed-girl]

PB is paid to pack. In my experience they have never done any repacking, from the U.S. or the U.K. Maybe that is just coincidence. Even when the original packaging is damaged in transit to PB. They just slapped their label over it. Also, I have not yet had a PB- handled parcel be delivered with a signature. If not delivered by AP, they are also just left anywhere in full view of the street. It is my decision whether or not to take the risk, but it isn't my preferred option. I tend to steer clear if I can purchase the same item another way.

[melbakimble]

I was also recently ripped off by Pitney Bowes / Ebay with a purchase in the UK to Australia. Paid for the item plus postage, then another $50 on top from Pitney Bowes. Complete rip off. I’m SO angry and feel I can do nothing. Other than tell other buyers who use it that I will not buy through them unless they post it differently. It’s a complete con job.

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

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@melbakimble wrote:
I was also recently ripped off by Pitney Bowes / Ebay with a purchase in the UK to Australia. Paid for the item plus postage, then another $50 on top from Pitney Bowes. Complete rip off. I’m SO angry and feel I can do nothing. Other than tell other buyers who use it that I will not buy through them unless they post it differently. It’s a complete con job.

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on all the items I have bought that were listed with GSP shipping the cost of shipping was shown on the listing.

Before buying, ALL buyers have ALL the power in a transaction.  If the buyer likes the total price of the item+shipping they can buy, OR decide to not buy.

You appear to have decided to buy . . . . . . and then come here to complain.  It has upset you that much that you have started to muddle your words . . . . . I mean, why would you tell other buyers who use it that you will not buy from them unless they post it differently.

Please excuse my rather flippant response to your apparent outrage.  Someone else will be along soon to tell of their similar outrage and the problems they too have experienced.  Better get yourself a cuppa and a box of tissues, it will be that upsetting that it will make your experience seem like a perfect transaction.

**edit** welcome to the boards.  You will find them a great place to learn about eBay issues (once you are able to distinguish those sellers who can help and offer advice from those who come here to empathise while offering no real help at all.

A helpful tip, don’t drag up a 4 year old thread to have a whinge.

[padi*0409]

As SLR has said all the postage and import costs were detailed in the description and you were the one to decide on going ahead with the purchase.

I'm assuming it was the Jersey Dress :-

[go-tazz]

Nearly 4 years down the track and it's still a rip off.

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

seeing as PB collects the GST on the transaction about $23 of the $50 would have been GST, making the shipping component around $27.

GST would also be payable on the fees charged by Pitney Bowes, making the GST component even more than A$23

Doesn’t seem as bad once the $50 is broken down into $23 GST and $27 Shipping.

Spoiler

GST calculation is £115 item + £12 shipping = £127 x 10% = £12.70.
On padi’s screengrab it shows exchange rate for £12.34 as A$22.70, making £12.70 a bit over A$23

When this thread was started there was no GST on low-cost imports bought on eBay.

[4channel]

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@phorum_junkie* wrote:

To send a small parcel with tracking and delivery confirmation using Royal Mail costs £12.90, add a packaging and handling fee and PB doesn't appear too much more IMO.

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The problem phorum_junkie is that items that are sent via Pitney Bowes' GSP are often repacked. So that means the parcel is opened. We've already had reports of damage, theft and (as per countess) items confliscated without explanation. Also purchasing multiple items from the seller means multiple postage costs as GSP doesn't allow for combining. A lose X lose situation for the buyer and in the long run for the seller as well.

[4channel]

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@onei0403 wrote:

I bought a jumper from the UK that cost me 5 pounds and Pitney Bowes charged me 15 pounds postage. I was a bit shocked, who are they and when did they take over from the Royal Mail? 

As an expat from the UK, I occasionally like to buy stuff  that I can't purchase easily in Aus but not anymore 😞

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Hi onei0403, I'm saddened to hear about your distasteful expericence. You're just another one of the multitude of people that have had a horrid experience with these in your words, "Postage Pirates". I'm in 100% agreement with you.

I have had sonme success now with contacting sellers to close and re-start the auction with normal USPS or the UK equiv.  That works mostly as many sellers have no idea that Pitney Bowes' GSP has attatched itself to their selling. They're happy to change. I have only encountered a handful of people that won't change. None for the so-called protection. Once guy was just on the power trip, getting off on what he could do to have the power to say NO! Another was an innocent type of tunnel thinking woman who believes the the official version of things (or what appears to be official)  must be obeyed. Another couple thought it was too much hassle to change the aution setting this time but may in the future. Another had no idea what to do. Possibly a couple of others were too usy to reply. Some sellers never reply anyway.

Below is an example of what I had to endure.

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

4channel (612 ) View Listings

Community Member

Posts: 736

Registered: ‎12-30-2002

‎08-07-2017 09:41 AM - edited ‎08-07-2017 09:43 AM

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.

https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Buying/My-latest-experience-with-the-horrid-Global-Shipping-which-w...

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Remember that buying multiple items from a seller can and does mean paying multiple shipping costs. Even if a seller were to sell you some dvd movies, just send the discs in paper slips, flatten out the artwork and send it all in a padded envelope you pay multiple.

[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.

[*tippy*toes*]

Plenty of sellers will refuse to cancel and relist an item because they have used up their free allocation for the month, so will be charged a listing fee. Depending on where they are in the world, depends on what that fee would be. I certainly wouldn't be relisting an item if it meant paying an extra insertion fee because a buyer demanded wanted me to. Especially as the buyer would get very miffed if I then added that fee to the final price.

I have mentioned numerous times, a seller is generally more responsive if you ask them to REVISE a listing to include all the items you wish to buy. Remind them to adjust the price and also add the weights and dimensions to the revised listing to update the postage cost. When they do that, the difference between GSP and regular post is not much at all. You can even suggest that for the listings they have added to one, they could revise those listings to include a different item so they are not losing a listing, or having to pay an insertion fee. 

You are always very quick to mention about asking sellers to change to USPS, but when you get over a certain weight (either 2 or 4lbs, I can't remember), the price to go via USPS skyrockets as the items can no longer go first class international. The price skyrockets to way over the GSP cost in most cases. The items you buy may be light and may fall into the FCI cost, but that's not the case for most people. You always forget to mention that when you go into yet another I hate GSP rants. Give people all the facts, not just your personal opinion.