Help! ebays ridiculous global shipping program

[babylicketysplit]

  a buyer purchased a very expensive g4 pony from me, and i didnt even agree to global shipping!  i opted out, and it reinstated without my knowledge. how can ebay do this?  i will ship international but only if contacted ahead of time to get the right price estimate.   

now my problem.  someone from russia bought the item.  i have 4 addresses!  none are the same and half arent in english. i cant even type it in due to russias unique lettering system.   

i messaged the buyer to see if there was a verified address i can ship to but im so confused as to what i do.  one says kentucky airport!>     what in the flip.     

im about done with ebay selling wise all together. its too complicated now. i want control over the items i sell.

[Tenar]

I posted something the other day on eBay and someone from Russia bought the item.  I guess I didn't exclude worldwide but like you, I wanted to be contacted about it first.

This person had 0 feedback and had a new account.  I didn't feel comfortable shipping the item.  The person could have said they never received the item and I would be out for the money.  I decided to contact them and cancel the transaction.  It was very difficult to speak with them as they did not write English very well (and of course I couldn't speak Russian).

I opened a case on ebay and selected to cancel the transaction with the reason being "I don't ship to Russia"  I had to wait 7 days but it closed fine.  I think you might still need to pay ebay the fee as technically it still "sold"

It might have been legitimate but was too much risk for a new buyer.  Now I've excluded everything except US and Canada.

[Navi]

The Kentucky shipping address is the Global Shipping Program. You ship the pony to KY, and ebay ships it to Russia for you. It's kind of weird, and I think it's kind of expensive for the buyer, because they're pretty much paying to have it shipped twice.

I did it a few times before I turned off the GSP - it was too expensive for buyers.

[MikeysGrrrl]

Have you tried looking at their paypal confirmed address? I don't know much about the GSP, other than the fact that I don't like it. However I was under the impression that with that program the seller didn't have to worry about anything because you ship it to somewhere in the US and they take care of the rest for you I'm not too sure.

Hopefully someone comes along that can offer more assistance, the other option is to call ebay and speak with a rep there

[babylicketysplit]

i have requested to cancel.  just waiting now   i feel bad but this just doesnt seem safe to me!

[Sunshine]

Ugh, I've always wondered about that global shipping option... I've seen the checkbox get clicked back on a few times while helping my mother list stuff on eBay, we try to opt out but it seems like if you aren't paying attention it "comes back"... not sure how they can do that.

 I'm so sorry you're having issues with it! I hope you can get everything straightened out!

[babylicketysplit]

i seriously just wiped my ebay sales out. i took everything down. as i cant handle the confusion.  im sticking with etsy and selling non vintage here from now on.  just dont need the stress.

[apanda0622]

I posted about this international buyer situation a month ago.  I have had two international buyers bid on my items.  The one from last month bought my item and I asked them to cancel it.  I had contacted ebay and I did EVERYTHING right to block international bidders and it still happened.  Ebay had NO explanation how it happened.  And then today it happened again.  A UK buyer bid on my item.  So I cancelled the bid.  Again my settings are all set correctly.  So this is my theory:  Ebay has this new Global Shipping program and they are secretly trying to force sellers to ship international by having the settings not really work.  Its honestly the only explanation.  I've about had it with ebay treating sellers horribly while letting buyers get away with anything.

[tulagirl]

Yea that is why in my listings I say, "no international bids will be accepted." I watch the auctions like a hawk and will cancel any international bids.

[Shenanigans]

Yea that is why in my listings I say, "no international bids will be accepted." I watch the auctions like a hawk and will cancel any international bids.

I do this as well. I've had a few international people buy my items, but they've always had a US address to send it to because I will NOT ship overseas. Too much of a hassle and too expensive. Especially since you have to pay ebay a percentage of your shipping money

[tootie_tails]

Are you a victim too?   As a buyer and/or as a seller?

Until recently I had not bought anything from the US for some time so I didn't realize how huge a mess the GSP has turned out to be.
Does anyone like it? I know I hate it (buyer here) and from what I read here in trader support sellers don't seem to like it either.

I have some questions I didn't find answers to in ebay's help pages:

1 - Do sellers still have trouble opting out?
I see some people here report they did opt out and yet international people are able to buy from them.
On ebay I see lots of auctions that say "Ships to United States and many other countries" (with a shipping quote to my country displayed) - but when I scroll down it also says "I only ship within the US".
So when browsing ebay now I have to constantly remind myself not to bid on anything without double checking with the small print description first!

2 - Is combined shipping not an option in the GSP?
I just messaged a US seller and asked if they combine shipping. They replied and told me they do ship worldwide but not combined as that is impossible within the Global Shipping Program. What!?




Additional rant (warning, reading will give you a headache):

In October I bought an item from a US seller who shipped with the GSP. I have been waiting three weeks now and have yet to receive the item (which I paid Priority Mail shipping for).
During these three weeks there has been no contact at all at this end - no package or pick up slip in our mail box, no phone call or visit from any mail carrier.
Ebay keeps replacing the estimated delivery date (yes, they are changing it, moving it forward in time). It originally said Estimated delivery Nov 7 - Nov 14, currently it says Estimated delivery Nov 9 - Nov 21.
The Global tracking number keeps giving me inconclusive information. It says both "In Transit" and "Delivered". It takes me in turn to three different tracking pages, giving me three different new tracking numbers of which the last one turns out to be a dead end. "Sorry, the tracking number you entered does not exist"
(and of course the seller is clueless as in the GSP there is nothing they can do once the item left their hands)
Way to go ebay!!

But I will still get the item in the end, right? Right..? 

[ponylady]

I am going to merge this with the other ongoing topic already floating around in here on the subject.  PL

Post Merge: November 19, 2013, 11:19:38 PM

Also here are several other threads on the topic you can check out.

http://mlparena.com/index.php/topic,336432.0.html

http://mlparena.com/index.php/topic,337091.msg884221.html#msg884221

http://mlparena.com/index.php/topic,321684.msg616089.html#msg616089

http://mlparena.com/index.php/topic,315354.msg512707.html#msg512707

http://mlparena.com/index.php/topic,330479.msg767731.html#msg767731

[babylicketysplit]

ok what in world seriously!!!!! this buyer is evil.  i refunded them and sent a request to cancel transaction and they AGREED.   and i thought everything was finished.   but now they have left me a negative saying i am a horrible seller and that they havent been refunded which is UNTRUE!  ive never even received a neuteral    im so upset   i reported it to ebay but i have no idea if they will remove it.  how can they leave me feedback if the transaction was cancelled.

[Shiromisa]

Now I wonder if I've unknowingly fed into this. :x Sometimes I buy an item from a seller who doesn't have US shipping specified--is it possible they've been accidentally opted into the GSP? For what it's worth, I've never have anyone ask to cancel, but I still feel bad thinking I may have caused someone trouble.

[babylicketysplit]

no shiromisa you havent done anything.  the system pretty much implements it. not the buyer. 

my problem is i requested to cancel the transaction due to my unfamiliarity with the program. and the fact it opted me in even after i opted out. :/    and the buyer agreed, i refunded. and the transaction was cancelled.  and then they left me this awful negative.   i think we may be getting lost in translation a little bit. but i don't understand why they did not message me before leaving feedback saying they were unhappy :'(    i would have just relisted the item after calculating shipping.  but its in russian.  i feel awful i have never gotten a negative