US sellers are digging their heels in and sticking with the GSP I've found recently.  So frustrating when buying small lightweight items. 

 

Even the UK GSP sellers are increasing in number.

They've probably had too many claiming INR when the item hasn't travelled halfway around the world in less than a week.

Doubt it, USPS charges roughly the same as Australia Post, as we're currently stuck with a weak dollar so it is currently a lot cheaper for American buyers to buy from Australia - if we actually had anything decent to begin with (in 99% of cases it's still cheaper to buy the exact same item from China or Europe).

The Global Shipping Program only allows parcel rates with tracking, thus it costs a lot more compared to a regular (non-tracked) international parcel or large letter. If you send a parcel overseas and absolutely need tracking on the item, it costs around the same amount. The only thing the GSP is good for is seller protection on more expensive (and/or heavier) items.

Correct - they don't see the total cost of postage using the GSP.  A seller I came across recently stated it only cost her less than $5 to post the item to Erlanger, and she would not consider an alternative postal arrangement.

 

There are also some US sellers out there who still don't realise USPS 1st Class International has eDelcon tracking to certain countries (Oz included).  There are conditions to be met (parcel weight, lodgement etc) but it's there and has been for a while now.  Sigh.

 

I recently bought an item on eBay from a US seller who uses USPS 1st Class Int and also dosn't inflate the postage charge.  It has become such a rarity to find someone on eBay who doesn't use the GSP that I might add the seller to my Saved Sellers list.

https://www.ecommercebytes.com/2019/06/15/understanding-next-weeks-postal-rate-hike/

Very interesting.

 

Thankfully the stuff I like is not so bulky. 🙂

 

The biggest issue I've found is trying to assess whether books are too heavy or not for USPS int.