The MLP Arena
TCB => Trader & Shipping Support => Topic started by: kCherry on December 04, 2013, 01:02:04 AM
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Wow, haven't needed to post here in TS in a lo-ooooong time! Ahhh, eBay, you punk! LOL
So, I've never used the ebay global shipping thinger and it seemed nice and convenient, thought I'd give it a try. HA!
I sold one of my alternate rehairs a couple of days ago to a member in Australia. She contacted me before bidding to inquire about some pretty outrageous shipping quotes, so I just used the USPS shipping calculator and sent her a "real" quote and assured her that should she win I would ship direct to her and not use the global shipper thing. I hadn't realized that once the auction was over I would be "locked out" of the invoice having chosen the global ship thing.
So, eBay is trying to charge this poor Aussie $19 and some change to ship a package that I can send for under $10. What gives??! Should I contact eBay directly and tell them to get their grubby hands off of my auction? *snicker*
Obviously, I have since gone and taken the global ship option off of all of my auctions and will be handling International parcels myself, thank you very much eBay! Not too sure what to do with this auction, though... Any advice floating around out here?
Thanks ponies!
:bunny:
Cherry
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It definitely sucks and we have a ton of topics on it already. In fact there is one floating around in here right now on the subject.
I am going to leave this one open and not merge it because tootie tails has a question on it that never got answered in the last thread.
http://mlparena.com/index.php/topic,344830.0.html
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Researching these things could have saved me a ton of grief. You'd think I'd forgotten how redunkulus eBay can be! XD
Thanks for the link, PL. :hug:
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Ew GSP! lol, you can just call ebay and tell them you want to opt out for that specific transaction.
I buy little pony outifts from this seller on ebay that uses the GSP and she just opts out after I win the auction, sometimes she can set up the shipping on her own and sometimes she has to call ebay and have them do it for her.
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http://pages.ebay.com/sellerinformation/shipping/globalshippingprogram/faq.html
This link is from eBay's help pages hopefully it can somewhat help answer your question. If not I would probably phone eBay and ask??
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Thanks Mikeysgrrrl, it is good to know that people have successfully opted out after the auction has ended.
PL, I did look through the GSP page briefly, but I didn't really find it helpful. It did make me get off of my PC for a minute and go get another cuppa! :P
I sent the buyer a paypal invoice with the correct shipping amount but she said that she was not comfortable proceeding outside of eBay, which is understandable, I guess. I have a feeling that I'll be calling eBay soon.. yay. XD
This program reminds me of legal jargon; it's too dern complicated to understand if you aren't fluent in lawyer-speak. :mad:
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I am pretty sure you are not able to opt out of it after the auction is over. I have done a bit of research on the subject and I believe that you will have to cancel the transaction and relist without global shipping program as an option, unfortunately.
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I am pretty sure you are not able to opt out of it after the auction is over. I have done a bit of research on the subject and I believe that you will have to cancel the transaction and relist without global shipping program as an option, unfortunately.
Noooooooooooo!!!!!!! That's... on par for eBay....
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The GSP is a huge mess for everyone it seems.
Ponylady gave me permission to repost in here so...
My first question - are people still having problems opting out - I pretty much concluded from babylicketys case that yes there are still problems. Other people too have reported they tried to opt out and it "came back".
But, my second question - combined shipping in the GSP - I haven't been able to find anything anywhere. I read the threads and ebay info pages, combined shipping has not been mentioned anywhere.
A seller told me combined shipping is impossible in the GSP.
If you win say five auctions from a seller, with identical-ish items (like five ponies), they will all be shipped separately!
True? It just seems so weird. And bad. :|
I'm curious why no one has brought this up before, as the GSP has been on for about a year now.
Combined shipping is such a common practice, and there are so many ebay sellers and buyers on the arena, so someone must know something...?
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I am pretty sure your friend is right about combined shipping :(
Combined shipping discounts for items sold through the Global Shipping Program won't be supported at this time.
As far as there still being issues, it appears there still is for some folks. I personally have not had any problems since I opted out in the beginning.
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I am pretty sure you are not able to opt out of it after the auction is over. I have done a bit of research on the subject and I believe that you will have to cancel the transaction and relist without global shipping program as an option, unfortunately.
Noooooooooooo!!!!!!! That's... on par for eBay....
I had this happen to me and I had to cancel, opt out and relist and the buyer had to "buy" my auction again. It's such a pain. And yes, eBay sucks. I had to go through and double check my auctions after that because some were opted into the program and others weren't. So silly!
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I am pretty sure you are not able to opt out of it after the auction is over. I have done a bit of research on the subject and I believe that you will have to cancel the transaction and relist without global shipping program as an option, unfortunately.
Noooooooooooo!!!!!!! That's... on par for eBay....
I had this happen to me and I had to cancel, opt out and relist and the buyer had to "buy" my auction again. It's such a pain. And yes, eBay sucks. I had to go through and double check my auctions after that because some were opted into the program and others weren't. So silly!
Really?
That is so strange. Like I said, the seller that I buy all my pony outfits from does that for me all the time, otherwise it would be $17 shipping for each tiny outfit (which is insane). I really dislike the GSP. Shipping is expensive and there is NO combined shipping >_<
I hope you get it all fixed up kCherry
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I am pretty sure your friend is right about combined shipping :(
Combined shipping discounts for items sold through the Global Shipping Program won't be supported at this time.
As far as there still being issues, it appears there still is for some folks. I personally have not had any problems since I opted out in the beginning.
I just googled that quote so I wouldn't have to bother you yet again about this and it turnes out it's from the Seller Information Center FAQ. Which explains why I, as a buyer, didn't find it.
:duh:
Well I guess that settles it, it actually is impossible.
Really?
That is so strange. Like I said, the seller that I buy all my pony outfits from does that for me all the time, otherwise it would be $17 shipping for each tiny outfit (which is insane). I really dislike the GSP. Shipping is expensive and there is NO combined shipping >_<
I hope you get it all fixed up kCherry
I take it your seller is not in the GSP then?
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That really is strange, the seller that I'm talking about is in the GSP, all of her listings are set up using that shipping program. The first 2 times I bought from her she went around it manually and the very last time (3 days ago), she had to call ebay and get them to do it for her.
Maybe it's changed recently?
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Would it maybe be possible for her to pay the full cost ebay's demanding, then you refund her $9? (Or whatever the proper amount is) It shouldn't be necessary, but it may be a way to salvage this transaction.
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That really is strange, the seller that I'm talking about is in the GSP, all of her listings are set up using that shipping program. The first 2 times I bought from her she went around it manually and the very last time (3 days ago), she had to call ebay and get them to do it for her.
Maybe it's changed recently?
Oh that's strange :| Just when I thought I had figured it all out... Are you sure she called ebay and had them do something? Not that I don't trust you but it does sound kind of strange, not like evilbay at all, I mean they are hardly known to make exceptions like that... :wacko:
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That really is strange, the seller that I'm talking about is in the GSP, all of her listings are set up using that shipping program. The first 2 times I bought from her she went around it manually and the very last time (3 days ago), she had to call ebay and get them to do it for her.
Maybe it's changed recently?
Oh that's strange :| Just when I thought I had figured it all out... Are you sure she called ebay and had them do something? Not that I don't trust you but it does sound kind of strange, not like evilbay at all, I mean they are hardly known to make exceptions like that... :wacko:
I'm absolutely certain, because after she called them I got the following email:
Hello mike_and_pamela_forever ([email protected]),
We have been contacted by your Seller “madseizon” and they have expressed interest to ship the item(s) that you purchased outside of the global shipping program. This is normal and we would appreciate if you’d follow the simple steps below:
- Navigate to your "Purchase History"
- Locate the item that you purchased from madseizon
- Click on the link that says "1 bid" (located to the right of the winning bid amount)
- Find your winning bid and click "More Actions"
- Then select "Request total"
- Confirm the items and your address on the next screen and continue
By following these instructions, your seller will be able to issue an invoice with the shipping cost for the service they choose. This may lead to lower prices and/or more convenience for you and the seller.
Please feel free to contact us if you have any additional questions.
Thank you,
Erin S.
eBay Global Shipping Team
So yeah it was weird that they did it that way, because like I said before she was able to do it without contacting ebay. It is or at least it was entirely possible 3 days ago to opt out on a per listing basis by calling ebay, without applying it to all listings.
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I was thinking maybe we could do a test auction/listing between two of us. I could list a false BIN with the GSP and see what hoops we have to go through to change it??? We would know for sure then? Of course we will just cancel it in the end but it might give us more insight into it since it obviously has been done but eBay claims it can't be.
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I would be willing to participate with you if you need a volunteer ponylady?
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I was thinking maybe we could do a test auction/listing between two of us. I could list a false BIN with the GSP and see what hoops we have to go through to change it??? We would know for sure then? Of course we will just cancel it in the end but it might give us more insight into it since it obviously has been done but eBay claims it can't be.
That sounds lke a good idea to me ^^ :awake: the GSP is so confusing and stupid and so many seem to have issues and its not really easy to figure out what can and cant be done about it. Testing them out definitely seems worth a try ;)
Make sure no-one else buys the item before Cherry does though PL! I guess you 'll have to arrange to be online at the same time and BIN as soon as the listing goes live... or else make the price so crazy high that no-one else will be tempted before cherry can do a BIN :P
ETA or MikeysGrrrl - whoever wants to try it out - sorries i was typing at the same time as you :)
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OK awesome MG! Are you going to be on later today? I have some stuff to list if I ever get off my bum later today. So I will take a false picture, link you to it and we will go from there. Sound good?
:lol: Ringlets no more pain meds for you!!!
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Sounds fabulous ponylady :) I bounce on and off the arena all day :P
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*gets popcorn
My buyer has agreed to simply cancel the listing and I'll relist with a BIN opting out of the GSP. We'll see what happens.
It's my experience that eBay does in fact does make some decisions kinda 'by the seat of their pants' and they do often take into consideration the individual accounts and situation. Obviously they have their set rules and will usually go strictly by those, but they have heaped on so very much grey area with the GSP that I don't find that communication between you and the eBay rep. that odd, Mickeysgrrrl.
Great idea to do some detective work. If I wasn't getting ready for a (very wet) weekend away I'd happily jump in it meself. I'm quite interested to see what kinda results ya'll get. :lookround:
I hate it when eBay changes things with an end result of their patrons running off, in this case buyers and sellers, as I have been a huge eBay fan for over a decade. I hope that they can get this program on the level or scrapped and much sooner than later! This is not the type of hassle people need shopping for the holidays!! :crazy:
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I'm curious to see how things will turn out with this little experiment :)
I only found the communication from ebay strange because I didn't receive any communication from them on the previous purchases. Honestly that program has been out for quite some time now and the shipping prices are insane, especially when you can't combine shipping :shocked:
Like the 2 items I bought cost less than $8, if the seller hadn't the GSP portion of the listings I would've paid $38 shipping for 2 tiny items coming from the US, plus import charges that are auto added on. That's craziness, I'm surprised so many sellers are using it, or so many buyers are cool with it.
Has anyone noticed that the prices quoted through the GSP are drastically different on items that are similar coming from the same seller? Since I don't use the program, I'm a little ignorant in figuring out who puts that shipping cost in there.
It's great that your buyer is willing to work with you it. I'm going to assume ebay either refused to help or you couldn't get a straight answer from them?
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Folks need to be careful with what ebay is doing. I opted out ofer GSP from the start. I get a e-mail in my inbox on this past monday:
visitors can't see pics , please register or login
Thought it was typical ebay spam like they tend to send at this time of year. It was in fact an email welcoming me to the GSP. Which i DID NOT sign up for myself. Ebay signed me up!
visitors can't see pics , please register or login
I had to re opt out. Bad thing is, is that it takes 72 hours to take effect.
So please please double check your seller account settings folks.
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Oh good heavens himmie :faint:
MG I have everything ready to go but we will have to do it in the AM. My vacuum cleaner decided to blow up. In which I mean when it blew, it blew crap all over the place. I have been dusting ever since :blink:
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Ew that's not good about that vacuum :huh:
Morning sounds fine, I'm up bright and early with hubby anyways :P
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:lol: Ringlets no more pain meds for you!!!
*giggles* Pain meds + cold meds + plenty other meds = yep my brain was pretty fried yesterday wasnt it? :facepalm: LOL I didnt realize I'd lost the plot until after I'd posted my response :lol:
*grabs popcorn with Cherry and waits to see what happens with the experiment* :popcorn:
Thanks for the warning about that too HawaiianRain - sneaky evilbay! :crazy:
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Oh gosh that stupid GSP.. it's totally ruining ebay for me right now. Not only is the shipping ridiculous - $30 or more for a $7 toy - But they add import/custom fees on top of that which are always WAY more than what I'd pay if I were to pick it up at the customs myself. :(
A general question from a poor euro-girl: Would using a middleman in the US help? It's impossible to me to see what an auction/shipping does look like to someone in the US. Do they have to pay those crazy fees and have their item shipped via ebay as well or do they get the good ol' first class shipping?
It would still suck, for I'd have to pay 2x the shipping, but I suppose 2x first class is still better than Priority+customs fee+ebay fee. x_x
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Have you tried contacting the seller to see if they offer alternate shipping? GSP is strictly for countries outside the sellers country.
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Have you tried contacting the seller to see if they offer alternate shipping? GSP is strictly for countries outside the sellers country.
I wrote to like 3-4 different sellers in the past and they never even replied. (rude!)
Another one said they'd not be covered against PayPal-fraud w/o the GSP and I get that.. it's just that paying $50 extra is not worth it to me. xD;
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I think some sellers are misinformed as to whether or not they will be covered, in order for them to be covered the item has to have tracking, it doesn't need to be done through the GSP.
I know it's really expensive and the custom fees are ridiculous. I guess your only other option would be to find someone in the US that will purchase on your behalf and then mail out to you.
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I am so done with this- a buyer from France bought 2 things from me, she asked for combined shipping and I told her I can't. She asked for the package to be marked as a gift, and I can't do that either. It's such a waste of time for us. And the tracking is super confusing- so the seller has tracking only until the package gets to the US shipping center, then they ship it with another number?
She was trying to tell me that she buys lots of stuff from the Us, but I can't seem to get my point across saying that the international price doesn't even go to me- it goes to them, so I can't refund her if I try to combine because I don't even know what they are charging her.
I am so confused, annoyed.
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What a pain! :(
GSC - another great idea from ebay *insert sarcasm* :rolleyes:
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Omg what a huge mess this whole thing is... i can't believe ebay are not realizing that..! I mean even ebay do change things when they have tried something and it didn't turn out well. Because whatever doesn't work for the buyers and sellers will eventually catch up on ebay and be an ordeal to them too, right? Causing a lot of of extra work and so on to keep it all running...... So how can they *not* see what a mess the GSP is? :|
I also find it unbelievably rude how ebay apparently re-enter sellers after they opted out :|
update on my purchase:
Spoiler
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!! :argh:
But I will still get the item in the end, right? Right..? ^^;
:facepalm:
Shipping was more than $30, said to be "priority mail", and it took a month. :|
If it had been shipped outside of the GSP it would have been around $7 and had taken about a week to get here.
>_<
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It must be hard at that shipping center- they get the packages and have to figure out where the final destination is... Ugh, I am so opting out permanently.
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So I just went through this whole hassle this weekend and I ended up calling eBay.
Here's what I learned and what (I don't think) has been posted here yet.
1. For Canadians logging in to ebay.ca and ebay.com show two different interfaces.
This is important because when I logged in to both I saw that shipping costs were different even though its shipping to the same location no matter what account I log into. I assume this might be the same for other regions as well.
2. Logging in to ebay.com gives you different options
So, logging in to ebay.com I was given the option of combined shipping on items I bought from the same seller, it automatically lumped them up together in my shopping cart at the top right corner. (For Canadians we don't have a shopping cart)
Also, there is a small greyed out bar that says "request invoice" that you can select. This allows you as the buyer to cancel the GSP shipping option and sends a note to the seller to send you a proper and more acceptable USPS shipping quote if they choose to do so. This gets you out of the outrageous fees, doesn't cause any trouble at all and you can process your order like normal.
Ebay assures me that they are working to correct this issue because the site should be displaying with the same options no matter what region you are logged into and in no way should shipping be more expensive on one version of the site and cheaper on another. They have filed my case to look into it further along with someone else who complained that day as well.
Hopefully this helps others, its really quite easy to get out of once you know where to look and once you know the site displays differently for all the regions. Also, your login information works the same for each site as well.
For my personal case, GSP was trying to charge me $45 for 3 ponies. Obviously more than the ponies are even worth and way more than I paid. LOL hence, why I needed to get to the bottom of this ASAP. In the end I paid $5 shipping. Silly GSP. :P
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Thanks for posting that info ashlite :)
For my personal case, GSP was trying to charge me $45 for 3 ponies. Obviously more than the ponies are even worth and way more than I paid. LOL hence, why I needed to get to the bottom of this ASAP. In the end I paid $5 shipping. Silly GSP. :P
eeesh! what a ridiculous price difference! :whoa: i think ebay needs to get rid of GSP ASAP
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I agree Ringlets. It doesn't seem to be working for anyone. Buyers and sellers alike are disappointed with the service it seems.
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Here's one for ya folks. From my Model Horse group. It's MHHR a reference for buyers and sellers as well as feedback on each end:
reds to ebay's global shipping program
I received an item I bought but it was the wrong item (a Barbie doll instead of Affirmed). Turns out when the global shipping people relabelled the box, they labelled it wrong so I got someone else’s item and they got mine. Ebay did give us both refunds, but I’d rather have had my horse. L So, not only does the Global Shipping option cost the buyer more, they can screw up the orders. That’s the last item I’ll buy from anyone using this terrible system.
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I just had to cancel 2 transactions- now I won't be able to relist and send before the holidays. Ugh.
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Omg what a huge mess this whole thing is... i can't believe ebay are not realizing that..! I mean even ebay do change things when they have tried something and it didn't turn out well. Because whatever doesn't work for the buyers and sellers will eventually catch up on ebay and be an ordeal to them too, right? Causing a lot of of extra work and so on to keep it all running...... So how can they *not* see what a mess the GSP is? :|
I also find it unbelievably rude how ebay apparently re-enter sellers after they opted out :|
update on my purchase:
Spoiler
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!! :argh:
But I will still get the item in the end, right? Right..? ^^;
:facepalm:
Shipping was more than $30, said to be "priority mail", and it took a month. :|
If it had been shipped outside of the GSP it would have been around $7 and had taken about a week to get here.
>_<
Did you complain to ebay? I'd be demanding a shipping refund if that had happened to me!
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Reading these stories made me go double check that I had opted out of this stupid program. Even though I specifically remember opting out when it first came about (I even remember what I was eating at the time!), somehow we were still signed up for it! Mr. Skeen has been doing some selling recently and we haven't had any problems, but we also haven't been offering/being stuck with GSP on his auctions, so we had no idea! So, everyone, go make absolutely sure you're NOT signed up for this thing.
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With all of the complaints and hassles that this program has caused to both buyers and sellers, I'm honestly surprised that ebay hasn't canned it yet. I do believe that the majority of US sellers (not sure if it's offered worldwide since it's never been offered to us) don't realize that they keep getting auto enrolled in it.
I was looking for ponies the other day and np word of lie out of 20+ auctions/listings I was interested in, at least 15 were set up with GSP, better yet, at least 5 of those stated that they ship within the US.
Talk about frustrating shopping.
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I've had a mixed bag as far as the GSP has gone for me as a seller.
My first experience with it was a pain, but I understood from the buyer's side that she didn't want to have to pay all this money. Calling ebay it was explained to me that the buyer was able to "opt out" of the program by requesting an invoice, but I as the seller couldn't do anything about it.
There is no way to combine shipping. I learned this through my boyfriend's experiences with the program.
The cost is high because you are paying to ship the item to the GSP hub, and then one to you, and all of the customs fees rolled into one.
Other than that first buyer that was a bit gun shy about the program, I have had no buyers contact me trying to opt out of the program or about the cost.
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I really think it's hit or miss with the GSP. Although I still believe that a lot of buyers and sellers are misinformed about what it does or doesn't cover. It doesn't cover all of the taxes, duties and customs fees.
I have no qualms about contacted a seller to see if they'll ship outside of the GSP, simply because import charges are auto added on even though in reality you wouldn't have to pay them. For example, I looked at an item for $20 a few days ago, the shipping was $25 plus $10 in import charges. That's crazy, there is no way that it would cost $25 to ship from the US to Canada on an item so small, and secondly we don't get charged import/customs/taxes for items of such a low value.
The program wouldn't be so bad if it only added those fees on once the item was at a certain amount and if the shipping costs were more accurate.
It's also silly that they don't allow combined shipping.
In the end, it's working for some people and not so much for others. To each their own right :)