The MLP Arena
TCB => Trader & Shipping Support => Topic started by: Libelle on July 14, 2015, 05:53:22 AM
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Heya everyone!
Last week, I bought a pony from an ebay seller who was located in the US. The seller had opted for the Global Shipping Program.
Earlier today I received the parcel containing the pony. It had the following label stuck to its side:
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In other words, the parcel was opened, checked and resealed by Global Shipping Program employees.
To be honest, I was surprised. (It was the first time that I had used the Global Shipping Program.)
Is the opening and resealing standard procedure? If yes, I believe, it would be good to spread the word. :blush: Just imagine you have bought a MOC pony and the seller uses the GSP: the risk of somebody opening the parcel, unwrapping the item contained within, and damaging the card becomes even greater ... Thankfully, all was well this time around.
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It's been my experience that the GSP does do that. My husband purchased 3 items from sellers that used that program and each item arrived with a notice that it had been repacked/resealed. Luckily nothing was damaged, but I'm truly not a fan of that program for this reason as well as others.
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I really think they need to check the package for the correct item. If they don't, it could be on then if the item is illegal.
I think most, if not all, forwarding services do this. EBay related or not.
Eta: I do worry about the things I safely package if they will package it the same way. :/ but that's the risk
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It may partly be to see what's in the box, but I think the greater purpose is to make the box + item lighter. Because the lighter it is for the GSP to send, the more profit they make.
I've seen sellers on eBay's forums complaining that the GSP replaced their careful packaging of fragile items with insufficient padding, resulting in damage, so it is definitely a risk.
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I hate the Global Shipping Program. Agree they are trying to stint on packaging.
I hate that when you sell something on ebay now- unless you are very careful, the global shipping thing is automatically selected every single time and you have to look for, find and UNCHECK the box in order to NOT ship using that thing.
It slows down shipping, makes it a lot more expensive for your buyer, and then the buyer dings YOU for shipping cost and time. Not a good program. The only thing that is good about it- and something they lobby/leverage quite heavily- is that you are basically fully insured if you use the stupid program, which is not the case if you are trying to save the buyer a few bucks and go first class.
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I've seen sellers on eBay's forums complaining that the GSP replaced their careful packaging of fragile items with insufficient padding, resulting in damage, so it is definitely a risk.
Oh my goodness, that's awful! Definitely a reason to stay clear of the GSP if possible! Thanks a lot for your input everyone! I've definitely learned a lesson today.
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I received a similar package with a NY address on it which I thought was strange as the pony was shipped from the UK. Then I went back in the listing to investigate and saw it was shipped via GSP so figured it had something to do with that. That was the second time a package from the UK was sent like that.
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Wow! That sounds insane! Thanks for the heads up, guys.
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I've gone through the GSP twice. The first was a bait lot, and they lost 2 of the 40ish ponies when they repackaged it. The seller was kind enough to replace them, but I never found out if she took it up with ebay successfully. The second was a Mint in Box comiccon pony. It was repackaged without the bubble wrap and paper that the seller had used, just on it's own inside of a bigger box. The surface of the pony's box was really scuffed up by the time it got to me. I was pretty upset, but it wasn't the seller's fault. I refuse to buy through the GSP now. I will spend more to have someone ship directly.
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I've seen sellers on eBay's forums complaining that the GSP replaced their careful packaging of fragile items with insufficient padding, resulting in damage, so it is definitely a risk.
This happened to me. I bought something that the seller sent through the GSP in its original packaging wrapped in brown paper. I don't think they completely repackaged it though, what they did do was start to slash the paper off and realised they were damaging my purchase underneith so they taped it back up as is... Now with big old cuts all over my vintage packaging.
Granted, I knew the packaging was worse for wear already but I had seen pictures of it from all sides, so the slash marks GSP put in it with their box cutter were really obvious. It then made the rest of the trip safely, no more cuts or dents despite the minimal packaging. But the GSP didn't even care enough after damaging it to add any further protection, though they claim that they open and repackage more efficiently and securely.
Looks like everyone has a bad experience story with the GSP.
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Yep, the GSP is a big ol' turd, IMHO. I won't buy from sellers who use it. If a seller has something I really want, I message them and ask them if they will ship it to me directly. If not, I don't bid.
I have to wonder how much of the 'up front' customs and duty charges actually go to the country that they are collected for. I've noticed that they are being charged on auctions that they shouldn't be (for example, import and duty fees being charged on items going to Canada that should be duty exempt).
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I really don't like the GSP for this reason (as well as it being more expensive for buyers). I never send my items using that- I pack very carefully, do a special gift wrap service and I completely seal my boxes in a special way. I would hate for someones box - especially wrapped as a gift for someone special- to be pulled apart and repacked /possibly damaged and messed up by the GSP.
I've only bought from people using it a few times and my parcels were opened too :mad: One was a plush so it wasn't messed up but another set of 2 MIB dolls had their boxes damaged/dented - and they weren't like that from the seller.
Avoid if at all possible - that's my advice.
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I have to wonder how much of the 'up front' customs and duty charges actually go to the country that they are collected for. I've noticed that they are being charged on auctions that they shouldn't be (for example, import and duty fees being charged on items going to Canada that should be duty exempt).
Oh yes, I can confirm this one! I've been collecting stickers for a while now, and I am 100% certain that for a sticker sheet of about 2 g in weight and 1 USD in value, I would not have to pay any custom charges, let alone the more than 20 USD the GSP has calculated for me ...
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I am so disillusioned by GSP. I ordered some ponies from America over a month ago, and they have yet to show up. I kind of doubt they ever will. I really wanted them too *cries*
But, lesson learnt. No more GSP for me. I'm glad to see some sellers aren't taken in by it either.
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I'm so sorry to hear people's purchases have been tampered with and damaged, especially MIBs. That's just not right. :sad: And it sounds it's just as big a drama for sellers. How mean to undo someone's careful packaging.
I never use it because the prices are wayyyy beyond my budget, and very inconsistent. Sometimes you get what might be close to the actual post-office price for Priority (like say USD $23 for a single pony), other times they've been over $100 for a single pony.
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Now I'm scared. My Mimic is coming via that global shipping program and I really hope it will be okay.
I haven't bought anything that has GSP before so there was already difficulties cause apparently the seller
I bought the pony has never dealt with it and all those weird address and such :/
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Now I'm scared. My Mimic is coming via that global shipping program and I really hope it will be okay.
I haven't bought anything that has GSP before so there was already difficulties cause apparently the seller
I bought the pony has never dealt with it and all those weird address and such :/
I know a lot of people complain about it, but I've never had issues with it. It's a safe bet that more items arrive safe, than damaged. As for eBay, i would rather deal with gsp then some of the other middleman services.
My husband has even sent out a large photo scanner (had to be 20lbs) and it got to half way across the world safely.
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Now I'm scared. My Mimic is coming via that global shipping program and I really hope it will be okay.
I haven't bought anything that has GSP before so there was already difficulties cause apparently the seller
I bought the pony has never dealt with it and all those weird address and such :/
I know a lot of people complain about it, but I've never had issues with it. It's a safe bet that more items arrive safe, than damaged. As for eBay, i would rather deal with gsp then some of the other middleman services.
My husband has even sent out a large photo scanner (had to be 20lbs) and it got to half way across the world safely.
Okay that's good to hear, thank you :) Now little more relieved and eagerly waiting my beautiful Mimic to arrive :happy:
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oh my, this does not sound good at all... another reason not to use the GSP. I have never purchased anything via it because the postage always comes out to be ridiculously high, but knowing that the package also gets opened and repackaged (and not for the better, despite claiming that) has just made me even more certain in that I will never use it.
too bad because in the past half a year or so I'm encountering more and more sellers who state that refuse to ship international without it :( I hope sooner or later they will realise it is not doing them any good - they not only lose potential buyers, they also put their reputation at risk (if the GSP does poor repackaging the buyer will ding their stars/feedback).
ETA: I've just complained about all this to hubby, and he said the next time I encounter a seller who refuses to send without GSP I should go and send them a link this thread with all the seller-risky experiences. sad but true, that is actually an idea worth keeping in mind :/
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Another thing to be aware of, as a buyer, is that the GSP will NOT let sellers combine shipping on multiple wins.
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Avoid the Global Shipping Program at all costs. Anyone who is vaguely aware of how the postal system works does NOT need to use it!
But I can understand the appeal for those who haven't had cause to use a stamp since 1999 when they popped that AOL floppy disk into their computer. :)
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Ughh just another reason to hate ebay, its like the dont take enough in fees already... might as well sting the buyer and seller a little more. Rhanks for the heads up, never will i pay from this program
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Avoid the Global Shipping Program at all costs. Anyone who is vaguely aware of how the postal system works does NOT need to use it!
But I can understand the appeal for those who haven't had cause to use a stamp since 1999 when they popped that AOL floppy disk into their computer. :)
I've had some fun with the GSP this week. Or rather,the last 2 weeks, since my ebay account announced to me that an item that was coming GSP (ugh) was delivered to me on 7th August. It wasn't. I asked Ebay about it, and they confirmed that they knew it hadn't been - but didn't bother to change it on my account and told me to file a report against the seller because it hadn't arrived. Now why would I do that? What has the seller done wrong, exactly? I know some sellers have chosen GSP but a lot were opted in without even realising it. I bought something from someone a while back and she said that every time she changed her listing it came back on automatically and she had to then go in to take it off. Very annoying. So obviously, I didn't file against the seller. I know GSP takes ages, so I decided to wait. I'm not punishing a seller for the stupid slowness of the GSP.
So anyway, my parcel finally arrived today, a week after it would have done had I had it shipped via normal priority mail. The items were not damaged; there was a resealed label on it but nothing had been tampered with. I haven't (yet, there are 2 other things in the post coming that way ><) had anything damaged by the GSP, and our local courier who handles it is nice and fairly reliable, so those are good things - but overall I hate it and wish Ebay had never used it.
There's also the customs charges issue, where they charge us double the actual value of the item's import tax as the UK borders would charge it, so that's another bugbear of mine. (When I spoke to that seller I mentioned above, I would've paid something like $90 on GSP's calculations. She took the GSP off for me, and I bid, and she sent it. Customs didn't deem it worth taxing when they examined it, and so I didn't pay ANY fee. UK Customs have the right to decide that. Ebay doesn't, in my view, and especially not Ebay in another country!
More and more sellers are using it, though. Because I know a lot have been opted in, I cant really rant about or at them - but I have to say, the ones who only ship internationally via the GSP and say it in their auction descriptions are not getting my money. They're too lazy to go visit a post office, so I'm too lazy to bid on their items.
I've never understood that argument anyway, since I have to go to the PO to post everything xD.
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Adding another experience to this since I had an MIB item arrive this weekend (via GSP). Surprisingly there were no import charges even listed on ebay (the item was from the US) :blink: so that was weird but good (in fact since the last time I posted on this thread I had a few items arrive that used the dreaded GSP but I didn't have to pay any customs fees when I did the ebay check out :cheer: However it (and the previous one) did take a long time to get to me after it arrived in the UK. It arrived from the US super fast, went right through customs..and then I waited and waited ...
The item arrived safely with the resealed .GSP (blah blah) sticker on it but wow the tape they used to reseal it? if there had been loose items in there it might not have held them in , it was coming off! thankfully the item was large and not damaged as I said but they didn't do a good job of re-sealing.
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Ugh. It is super frustrating, every second seller has it and about half of them will not post any other way. I'm not sure what difference it makes to them, does ebay come to their homes and collect the parcel for them? Such a nightmare, and so many good ponies I have to turn down. That's the way everything seems to be going... big corporations like ebay get a monopoly, then once you're reliant on them start making life hard for everyone and find ever new ways to squeeze out every last dollar... I bet some CEO is laughing at us right now, lol. *rant over* :pullhair: :dumbpc:
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I'm not sure if it is better or worse than the days 4 in 5 sellers shipped to US only. Pony I received yesterday arrived with her box stinking of car exhaust fumes. Pony also affected. Highly doubt this was the seller as 24 hours in air has greatly improved the issue. Totally believe it was GSP.
If the seller was signed up for it without asking then I don't blame them, but any seller who uses it to make shipping more convenient for them at our expense Im afraid I look on with a tremendous sense of contempt. Shipping internationally is so much easier these days, and there is a lot more protection than the cash in the mail days of old. Unless there is a serious physical reason like disability that prevents going to a PO, or the item is too big and unwieldy to send for less than a small fortune, to me there is no excuse to not ship overseas.
I saw a lot of accessories recently from Canada. Pony wear. Seller shipped to US and Canada but nowhere else as 'shipping was too high'. On ponywear. Which a buyer would pay shipping on. Large playsets, fair enough, but Ponywear? It's really just an excuse.
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I'm not sure if it is better or worse than the days 4 in 5 sellers shipped to US only. Pony I received yesterday arrived with her box stinking of car exhaust fumes. Pony also affected. Highly doubt this was the seller as 24 hours in air has greatly improved the issue. Totally believe it was GSP.
If the seller was signed up for it without asking then I don't blame them, but any seller who uses it to make shipping more convenient for them at our expense Im afraid I look on with a tremendous sense of contempt. Shipping internationally is so much easier these days, and there is a lot more protection than the cash in the mail days of old. Unless there is a serious physical reason like disability that prevents going to a PO, or the item is too big and unwieldy to send for less than a small fortune, to me there is no excuse to not ship overseas.
I saw a lot of accessories recently from Canada. Pony wear. Seller shipped to US and Canada but nowhere else as 'shipping was too high'. On ponywear. Which a buyer would pay shipping on. Large playsets, fair enough, but Ponywear? It's really just an excuse.
I completely understand where you're coming from. Every time I look something up on ebay about 75% of the listings only off gsp for shipping, it really puts me off from purchasing from them considering how the shipping is 2-3x as much not including the import fees. I usually take the time to message a seller and ask if they offer regular USPS shipping if it's an item I really want. Most sellers respond back with a no, but I have had some success with it. Many sellers don't even know that they are enrolled in that program.
As far as Canadian sellers not wanting to ship outside Canada and the US, I think I can help explain that a little better. Sending parcels from Canada to pretty much anywhere overseas it's extremely expensive to begin with, once you factor in tracking, it's unlikely someone would purchase from you. As an example, I recently took part in a swap on the arena and my partners box was heading to Singapore, the shipping cost was $60 for regular airmail, had I added the tracking on, it would've cost me another $70 :shocked: Our postal system and the prices of services here are ridiculous.
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Having looked at eBay's boards, there seem to be two kinds of sellers that use the GSP.
Some of them just don't know any better. They are opted in and are like "Oh. Okay." They cannot see how much it costs their buyers (like, they literally can't see how much the buyer pays for shipping) and basically don't know anything about the program.
The others are the sellers who are worried about scammers. One of the big talking points is that eBay claims that with the GSP, if an item is broken or lost in transit, the seller will be off the hook for refunds and / or negative feedback. Since some sellers get hit with "My item arrived broken, now give me a refund and let me keep the item" scams a lot, this is appealing.
Of course this is also on eBay's head, since they would not have massive buyer scamming problems if they let sellers leave negative feedback like they used to.
And it's not even accurate to say that a seller is "safe" using GSP, as seen by Taffeta's experience:
I asked Ebay about it, and they confirmed that they knew it hadn't been - but didn't bother to change it on my account and told me to file a report against the seller because it hadn't arrived.
The people running the GSP are not technically "eBay", they are a company called Pitney-Bowes, and there seems to be very little communication / transparency between eBay and Pitney-Bowes. So it's easier for either of them to blame the seller than to investigate.
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@MikeysGrrrl...I know CanadaPost have rhat reputation, but I have had 4 beautifully packaged and promptly shipped MIB ponies from Canada in the last 3 months. Shipping, factoring exchange rate and such, was less than if I had tried to send those items to Canada. I guess what I am saying is that most buyers who shop overseas know shipping will be up on domestic costs and deal with it accordingly. I cannot imagine the cost of shipping ponywear would be more than my MIP ponies cost, and the seller ought to give the buyer the choice as to whether or not it costs too much. People don't factor in exchange rates when they make such sweeping judgements. It is always harder for UK folk to sell at a meaningful rate because of the pound, I remember people complaining at the retail price of Holly Dash because £5 is more than $5 in conversion. On the flipside, it also means what is deemed 'expensive' shipping may not seem as expensive in £. It isn't as crazy as the days when £1 was almost $2, but there is still an impact. I never buy in $CDN so am not sure of the equivalent. However new size constraints on UK postage means a jump in cost from £20 to £66 for the same weight if the combined measurements go over 90cm. That's going from $30 to $100 over 1 lousy cm. Given that I suspect Canada Post is actually fine in comparison...
What makes it all the more frustrating is that there are many pony items of all generations not available outside of North America, yet the majority of sellers who don't ship internationally or who use GSP remain there (though UK ebay now also uses GSP ). I saw one state that the buyer had to arrange gsp on the item themselves if they wanted it shipped abroad, and I also find that friendly questions about shipping often get ignored -not even a polite refusal.
Its been a bugbear of mine for some time, too, that a few collectors will buy internationally and expect to be catered to but if the situation is reversed they will ship within their own country only. Now with GSP it has just become more expensive again to shop from abroad.
And yes, as LM said, Ebay's first advice to me was file against the seller. I have also seen on ebay's boards people saying that the only way you can get a proper refund is to do that. It isn't any different to the seller protection, takes longer and the resealing means items are more likely to get damaged. Even sending cash was less annoying than this.
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Nothing has gone astray, but I've been buying a fair bit from the UK in the past few months and the GSP is starting to really annoy me. :huh: Seems like most sellers have it as the automatic option. GSP refuses to ship to my P.O. Box and demands a street address. I contact the seller via "request total" and ask politely if they will consider an exception for me. No, they refuse to use another method for international shipping. I have to have it sent to my home address, and I'm out of the house between 6am - 6pm most weekdays at work. The GSP automatically has "Permission to leave in a secure area out of the weather" i.e. on my front deck on the doormat in clear view of a very busy road. Luckily one box that was left during the day was rather small and not stolen, and the other package my dad was able to receive as he does shift work and happened to be home during the day. I now have to obsessively check for when the delivery date is, and then plan BEFORE that, because all GSP items have arrived one day before the earliest estimate. This could be completely avoided if they would just ship via a regular method to my P.O. Box and it would be held at the local office in their nice, safe, secure back room until I can pick it up on the weekend. :pullhair: I don't know what I'll do if anything goes missing, because the seller is not fully at fault, and corporations don't give a crap if your limited edition item is trashed. You can get the money back, but never mind the emotional investment.
The worst though was an item "resealed" by the GSP. It was a small stuffed animal of under 200g, wrapped in a layer of tissue paper, and put in a plastic satchel. I don't understand how it could possibly have been repackaged to weigh less, but the good old GSP decided to try. They cut a slit in the side with a blade, realised they couldn't scam a few bucks out of it, and then just slapped their "resealed" sticker over the cut, which was an inch longer on either side than the sticker was. Lucky my bunny wasn't gutted by their box cutter and didn't fall out in the mail.
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I am actually watching my acct like a hawk for it to opt me in behind my back now UK ebay is dragged in.
With Petrol Poppy ( as I am now calling my poor exhaust fumed birthflower pony, though she is much less petrol-smelly after 24 hours being aired) the website said she was out for delivery on Saturday. She arrived on Monday. If I had been waiting for it on Sat I would have wasted a day, and am sure tge smell came from sitting in a hot van for 3 days undelivered, as the box was the culprit and reeked of it.
Fortunately Poppy was rescued just about in time, and the speed with which the smell has dropped proves she didn't smell like that when she left her old home.
And yes, UK only shippers exist just like US only ones and while many lately I have seen prevailed upon to change their policy, there is no doubt that sone of them sre just as inflexible and unhelpful. When you consider the difference here is basically a custom form, it really makes no sense. Buyer pays fees and a trip to the PO has to happen anyway, so really, what is gained?
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I am actually watching my acct like a hawk for it to opt me in behind my back now UK ebay is dragged in.
And yes, UK only shippers exist just like US only ones and while many lately I have seen prevailed upon to change their policy, there is no doubt that sone of them sre just as inflexible and unhelpful. When you consider the difference here is basically a custom form, it really makes no sense. Buyer pays fees and a trip to the PO has to happen anyway, so really, what is gained?
I am so mad about the latest affiliation of ebay.co.uk with the GSP! Within a year both of my main avenues for buying MLP (ebay.com and ebay.co.uk) have virtually been barred to me: So far, all sellers from both the USA as well as the UK have refused to ship to Germany with anything other than the GSP - which is insane from the buyer's point of view, because shipping is so, so, so much more expensive with the GSP, plus, time and again, I am calculated taxes, although I wouldn't have to pay any.
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I am keeping watch on my ebay sale items too. There is absolutely no way I want my buyers to be paying insane postage costs (I sell quite a bit internationally. I don't have any country I wont ship to ) and there is absolutely no way I want my completely waterproof sealed completely taped, parcel paper wrapped secure boxed, specially gift wrapped, colour co-ordinated and bubble wrapped items being opened and ruined by being put back in minus all my special wrapping and taped with a single piece of sticky tape along the box edge, then kept heaven knows where until final delivery - which as Taffetta states is some days after the tracking shows it should have been delivered :yikes:
No. Just No. :throw:
ok..rant over ...again...for now .. :P
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I've resorted to keeping a database of all the sellers I've asked whether they will ship regular mail instead of GSP.
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There is at least a clear option in the user profile to turn it off. I dislike the idea of a package I send being in multiple unneccessary hands en route. Imo GSP is an excuse for a seller to be lazy at the buyer's expense.
I think the auctions most at risk for automatic GSP are already own country onky sellers, tbh, which is why there is so much resistancecwhen they are asked.
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I buy frequently from a US seller who uses GSP - personally never had any problems with it so far and the items arrive much quicker. Didn't buy anything pricey such as MIBs through that system though. I will feel iffy too if they're tampered with :pout:
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The Global Shipping Program should be reported to the Better Business Bureau, and furthermore charged with vandalism and tampering with mail.