eBay

angeldeeze · ‎09-01-2015

The Global Shipping Program is a joke, 1st, how is it Priority if it takes two months from the USA to Australia, it used to only take ten days, 2nd, the prices are rediculous, how can they charge $58 US to post an item that will fit in an envolope, 3rd, the tracking number is anything but, I purchased an item that is very rare only for Ebay to not be able to tell me know where it went or what happened to it, what is the point of bidding & winning if it is only going to bring dissapointment & have your money tied up with some huge company for two months.

Bring on the Ebay competitor.

zanadoo_56 · ‎09-01-2015

@angeldeeze wrote:
The Global Shipping Program is a joke, 1st, how is it Priority if it takes two months from the USA to Australia, it used to only take ten days, 2nd, the prices are rediculous, how can they charge $58 US to post an item that will fit in an envolope, 3rd, the tracking number is anything but, I purchased an item that is very rare only for Ebay to not be able to tell me know where it went or what happened to it, what is the point of bidding & winning if it is only going to bring dissapointment & have your money tied up with some huge company for two months.

Bring on the Ebay competitor.

Rather ironically eBay's best competitors are already here....and it's the good old postal service.

Compared to the GSP I'd say USPS with E-DELCON / Aust Post are a far far better option in terms of costs, speed, tracking and overall reliability.

And since the GSP has been rolled out in the UK, give me Royal Mail / Aust Post any day to get my purchases from there to here.

mark.wooba · ‎10-01-2015

The one good thing about the ebay global shipping program is the coverage in case something goes wrong. A few years ago I had a valuable item (Husky pole pruner) go missing while shipping, and got an immediate refund.

lyndal1838 · ‎10-01-2015

How is that different to a paypal dispute? I have always had a refund for items going missing....and with a lot less hassle than a dispute for a GSP item?

mark.wooba · ‎10-01-2015

As I said, refund was quicker and less hassle overall (since item was in eBay's hands, essentially, no proof required).

kopenhagen5 · ‎10-01-2015

Angel, just buy form sellers that don't use the GSP or ask a seller if they will use USPS instead, many will oblige.

zanadoo_56 · ‎10-01-2015

@kopenhagen5 wrote:
Angel, just buy form sellers that don't use the GSP or ask a seller if they will use USPS instead, many will oblige.

Some sellers initially refused my request because they still thought there was no tracking with USPS 1st Class Int.....but if the purchase meets the criteria for E-DELCON tracking <http://pe.usps.com/text/imm/immc2_022.htm> I've been lucky that a few initially reluctant sellers had decided to give it a go after all....and it worked perfectly. (My purchases are not expensive or large and the sellers already print the labels electronically).

Unfortunately I've now come across a few sellers who use USPS 1st Class Int, but through a postal site that doesn't include E-DELCON as an option. Sigh. I've now got a parcel due that for the first time in ages I can't track beyond the fact that it has left the US. It has really brought home to me how useful E-DELCON has been.

conder41 · ‎03-02-2015

I have just been stung by the Global shipping program and it is a joke. I purchased 3 small items from the same seller yet had to pay 3 lots of postage based on the weight of each one. Even the seller said these items should have been combined to make it cheaper to post the 3 items together bus she did not know how to get out of the program (I have since sent her advice how to). I have no doubt when I receive my parcel all 3 items will be in the one parcel. How can they get away with this and does a buyer have a case when they do this or do we just have to cop it? I know my postage cost of almost $100 that I paid should have been around the $34 mark.

lyndal1838 · ‎04-02-2015

If you buy multiple items from a seller who uses the GSP then unfortunately you are stuck with 3 lots of postage.

The GSP states that postage cannot be combined.

i-love-my-sheep · ‎07-02-2015

@conder41 wrote:
I have just been stung by the Global shipping program and it is a joke. I purchased 3 small items from the same seller yet had to pay 3 lots of postage based on the weight of each one. Even the seller said these items should have been combined to make it cheaper to post the 3 items together bus she did not know how to get out of the program (I have since sent her advice how to). I have no doubt when I receive my parcel all 3 items will be in the one parcel. How can they get away with this and does a buyer have a case when they do this or do we just have to cop it? I know my postage cost of almost $100 that I paid should have been around the $34 mark.

In future, if you want multiple items from the one seller, BEFORE you bid/buy, send them a message telling you want x, y and z items and to avoid paying ridiculous postage costs, could they relist the items as a bulk lot in one listing for you, so it only attracts one postage cost.

You used to be able to bypass the GSP by requesting an invoice from the shopping cart, but I believe they have closed that loophole now. If that option is still available, again, BEFORE you bid/buy, send the seller a message and ask if they would post via USPS instead of GSP.

Sadly, a LOT of people are being stung big time by postage on multiple orders. Before I knew about the shopping cart loophole, I was up for nearly $300 in postage. Thankfullly the seller also thought that was ridiculous and offered to cancel the sales for me.......which I happily accepted, even though I really wanted the items I had purchased. I avoid the GSP now unless it's for a single item that is large and heavy. It actually works out cheaper to get it through the GSP on larger, heavier items......sometimes a LOT cheaper (my thing was $69 postage compared to around $150 via USPS).