international postage cost skyrocketing???

[lukesauctions]

Has anyone else noticed seemingly overnight that the cost of shipping for overseas items (i.e. from the US) has doubled. I had items in my watchlist where the cost of shipping from the US was going to be around $30-40 now costing $70-80. Is this a bug or a ridiculous price increase with the Global Shipping Program?

Luke

[padi*0409]

I'd forgotten about that one tippy, I've seen different postage costs as well in the wach-list and the listing itself with the occasional overseas listings, from memory all US listings.

[lukesauctions]

Hi everyone,

I think the issue has been corrected, as the shipping costs have gone back to what they had been previously. I looked on the US ebay discussion boards, and there had been a few people discussing the issue on there too - it seems the GSP calculator had gone out of whack temporarily. 

I've noticed that too, that the shipping cost on the actual item listing tends to be more than in the watchlist. When I called ebay yesterday to report the issue, the woman on the phone said that the watchlist shipping price is an 'approximate cost' (based on what I am not sure). 

In the end, I managed to get some evidence of the bug, as a listing that had ended a few days prior (that I had purchased and paid for) was quoting a much higher shipping cost then what I had paid, so was able to send a screenshot of the ended listing and the order details to highlight the discrepancy.

Luke

[hus2385]

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@padi*0409 wrote:

I think part of the problem with GSP is maybe that sellers (in the USA anyway, not sure about the UK version) have been opted into the GSP without their realsing it, so if they don't have the size/weight of the item Ptney Bowes is more than likely to guess (in their favour of course) what their postage charges will be........................IMHO.

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Not only are they auto-opted into it, but possibly because of this some sellers have listings with the GSP on items which are probihited to be carried by Pitbey Bowes which they have no idea is the case.

[padi*0409]

Yep, Pitney Bowes would have a wonderful array of steak knives and butter knives in their ebay store over there.......along with guitars.....

[*bmw_rider*]

I must say I agree with your message. I often wonder how many Aussies actually pay those ridiculous charges. Buy an item costing $17 and add $84 freight. You may as well buy it from a local retailer. I also wonder about how one seller will charge $110 freight and for the same item another seller quotes $40. It's a shame the buyer can't stipulate which company does the shipping.

Do Americans sellers get a cut of these shipping charges ? There is one thing in our favour, we don't have to pay those shipping costs if we don't buy.

[hus2385]

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@*bmw_rider* wrote:

I must say I agree with your message. I often wonder how many Aussies actually pay those ridiculous charges. Buy an item costing $17 and add $84 freight. You may as well buy it from a local retailer. I also wonder about how one seller will charge $110 freight and for the same item another seller quotes $40. It's a shame the buyer can't stipulate which company does the shipping.

Do Americans sellers get a cut of these shipping charges ? There is one thing in our favour, we don't have to pay those shipping costs if we don't buy.

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I don't believe the US sellers do - they only pay a small domestic rate to the GSP hub, Pitney-Bowes takes over from there

Being a money-generating scheme with ebay, the cost comes in on a packages trans-continental journey round the US, repackaging costs and the freight when it gets to the destination country (seems to be Fedex here) And from what I've experienced, the Fedex shipping is charged at a premium rate, but the delivery is economy (judging by the sticker on your parcel)

Lets not forget the "import fees" PB charges for where none actually apply either.

All in all, pretty much a scam IMO.

[lyndal1838]

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@hus2385 wrote:

Being a money-generating scheme with ebay, the cost comes in on a packages trans-continental journey round the US, repackaging costs and the freight when it gets to the destination country (seems to be Fedex here) And from what I've experienced, the Fedex shipping is charged at a premium rate, but the delivery is economy (judging by the sticker on your parcel)

Lets not forget the "import fees" PB charges for where none actually apply either.

All in all, pretty much a scam IMO.

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The high shipping costs all go to Pitney Bowes....it is the costs of completing the documentation, repackaging if necessary etc.  PB also pays FedEx at an economy rate to bring the items to Australia and deliver them within Australia.

Once here the items are either delivered by FedEx or handed to Australia Post or another courier company if FedEx does not deliver to the area.

Pitney Bowes does not charge any fees if none are chargeable by Australian Customs.  If there are any charges they wil be separately listed on your invoice, not hidden in the general shipping costs.

[jessicadazzler97]

It's ridiculous. Buying one item of clothing from the UK costs $30-$50 postage, even if the item itself costs like $20.

[jsyl8789]

It's all very strange. I bought a small bottle of vitamins from this site and was charged $20 for freight from the US. Bought a dozen bottles of vitamins from another US site and was charged $8.

[davewil1964]

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@jsyl8789 wrote:

It's all very strange. I bought a small bottle of vitamins from this site and was charged $20 for freight from the US. Bought a dozen bottles of vitamins from another US site and was charged $8.

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I'm sure your vitamins would be available at your local chemist. Assuming they are vitamins and legal to sell/buy here.