eBay Launching GSP Replacement, eBay International Shipping

[tailrustedtealeaf]

Ecommerce Bytes Article

eBay is launching a brand new international shipping program. eBay CEO Jamie Iannone broke the news during a keynote address at day-one of the eBay Open seller conference on Wednesday.

“Efficiency is a key concern,” Iannone said. “We value streamlining and simplifying processes, and we know you do too. This is especially important as we help you sell globally.”

But oddly, the CEO provided few details about the program, and eBay has yet to officially announce it. However, we found the landing page describing the new program.

It appears it replaces the current Global Shipping Program. It states on the landing page: “At launch, all new, eligible listings will automatically default to eBay International Shipping.”

And in the FAQs, it states:

“If you’re currently using the Global Shipping Program, you will be automatically enrolled and your listings will default to eBay International Shipping. If you ship with another international shipping service such as eBay International Standard Delivery, you will need to update your current listings to take advantage of eBay International Shipping benefits.”

However, there will be a 12-month transition period: “Sellers will be enrolled in phases over the next 12 months. You’ll be notified via email and Seller Hub when you’re eligible.”

It goes on to describe the steps:

1) Once you get an email inviting you to the program, you’ll be able to select eBay International Shipping on all listings that are eligible for export.

2) When your item sells to an international buyer, you’ll only be responsible for getting it to our domestic hub. We’ll handle customs and international shipping for you.

3) Sell with more confidence and enjoy the profits. Save on the selling fees for international transactions, and say goodbye to international return hassles.

The FAQs also state the buyers “will have the choice to pay import charges, including duties and taxes, at checkout or at delivery.”

Here’s what eBay CEO Jamie Iannone told attendees at Wednesday’s eBay Open keynote address about the new program:

“You’ve told us you want it to be as easy to ship internationally as it would be to ship domestically, and that you want cross-border trade to be a simple and seamless experience. And we listened to you.

“In response, we’ve created our new shipping program. Now every element of shipping, including returns, will go through our platform. We’ll take care of all the international shipping details, like currency conversion, customs, and delivery dates – making the entire process incredibly easy to use. And as a result, your inventory will be seen by millions more buyers around the world.”

eBay uses a third-party company (Pitney-Bowes) to power the current Global Shipping program. We have yet to determine if eBay is switching vendors or will stick with Pitney-Bowes.

The new program is called eBay International Shipping, or EIS.

I figured I'd pass along, I'll keep an eye out for more information on it. Not sure what makes it different from the GSP yet, I have a suspicion it's the way that sellers will deal with returns.

[Taffeta]

The major difference that jumps out to me is the choice for a buyer to pay import duty at checkout or on delivery. Right now it's all charged (and inflated massively by pitney-bowes handling) at checkout. It means they are able to deliver items without actually getting it signed for, because they have no collect charge to handle.

But I wonder how they will enforce pay on delivery. Do they expect people to give cash at the door? With a card? Paypal? I don't really know how it will work.

With royal mail, international parcels are held at a depot and we get a notification to pay fees to release a parcel for delivery. That might happen here, too, however...our depot also often signs for the parcel before claiming the fees to deliver it.

I don't really trust Ebay's delivery agents to decide it's been delivered before actually delivering it. It could easily lead to abuses. Right now GSP uses a separate courier in each country to deliver items.  It feels like it could be messy.