Should I be paying Import charges on a purchase from US

[madetodance]

I just purchased an item of clothing from the US for $9US with shipping costs of $25.41US and was charged $7.51US in Import charges. Should I be paying this? It seems a large proportion of the total cost, especially when the item itself was only $9US. Could it be because I was logged in to the US Ebay when I made the purchase? Should I ask for a refund? Would love some expert advice on this. 🙂

[madetodance]

What is even more confusing is that 2 amounts have come out of my paypal account. One to .... for Import Charges $7.51 USD and Shipping $19.21 USD, giving a total of $26.72 USD. Then a separate amount to the actual seller of $16 USD. When I made my purchase, the shipping cost was quoted as $25.41 USD and the cost of purchase of $9 USD.  Why do these figures just totally not add up. I must admit I'm totally confused!!!!!

[countessalmirena]

@madetodance,

You've purchased from a seller using the GSP (Global Shipping Program).

Read this thread for the explanation of the charges.

[madetodance]

Thanks for your response. So, can I assume from this that everyone who uses the Global Shipping then use this Pitney Bowes?

[countessalmirena]

All sellers in the US who are opted in to the Global Shipping Program will be posting items purchased by international buyers to Pitney Bowes.

Pitney Bowes will unpack and then repack (often not as well as the seller), and prepare the customs declaration and charge any taxes etc as necessary.

They'll then send off the packages via a non-express method.

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In the UK, it's wnDirect to whom sellers opted in to the Global Shipping Program will post items purchased by international buyers, and wnDirect will unpack and repack and prepare the customs declaration and charge any taxes etc as necessary.

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It may be worth asking the seller if they'd be willing to use another postage method. Sometimes sellers don't even know that they're opted in to the GSP.

In particular, if you're purchasing multiple items from a seller, you should be aware that it is impossible for the seller to combine those purchases into one shipment, if they're using the GSP. That can make the total postage cost even more ridiculous... so it's definitely a good idea to ask the seller in such a case if s/he would be willing to make a "bundled" listing for the items you want, so that you're only paying for one lot of shipping.

[madetodance]

What a crazy system that seems to be and I'm not sure who is benefiting from it, other than the agent. I really appreciate you having gone to the effort of explaining all this to me, and the valuable advice also. 🙂

[lyndal1838]

If you have already purchased the item it is too late to ask the seller if they will opt out of the GSP.....they cannot change shipping methods after the sale.

You must ask before purchasing.

The only winners would be ebay....Pitney Bowes is a logistics company which charges for it's services.  Ebay must be getting a cut for allowing them to rip us off.  The biggest rip off is not allowing combined shipping but the items still get put in the same parcel.