Friendly advice to ALL U.S Ebay seller and ALL buyers outside the U.S

[Pegleg]

So heres the deal. Ebay now offer a "Global shipping Program".

This has benefits for both buyer and seller. As a buyer you get absurdly low shipping rates. I know exactly how much import duty i am going to pay. Ebay take the import fees at point of purchase. This means that when my item arrives in the U.K it is not sat 7-14 days with the 1000's of other items waiting to be inspected and have custom charges raised and then wait while the post office send out a letter stating the charges which is usually another 3 days before you pay and another day for delivery. With Ebays GSP my item goes straight through customs without any hold up. Here in the UK we pay import duty on the item and the cost of shipping so if the shipping is cheaper the import duty is cheaper.

As a seller you attract more international customers because of the low shipping and customs charges the buyer pays. If a item is lost or damaged Ebays GSP cover any losses incurred. So as a seller you are not chasing USPS for compensation after you have reimbursed the buyer. GSP pay the buyer direct with no loss to the seller. There is tracking that is up to date so both seller and buyer can track their precious purchase.

Just so you all understand the MASSIVE difference i am going to add 2 links to sellers with and without GSP. Both are bumpers. Although not the same year i have chose these two items to show price variation. Both are examples of the average costs across many sellers ;

2 bumpers http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-1964-1966-FORD-Mustang-Chrome-Bumper-Front-and-Rear-Kit-w-Deluxe-Bolt-Set/262594150059?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D41376%26meid%3Dda1b8b3553fc4879a13603c2cb56f50b%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D4%26mehot%3Dlo%26sd%3D262795367894

1 Bumper http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sherman-465-90-Ft-Bumper-Chrome-fit-Ford-Mustang-65-66-/311702160932?epid=657623108&hash=item4892e58624:g:ex0AAOSwLnBX4F0U&vxp=mtr

So what would the shipping cost be if the seller selling one bumper sold 2 bumpers the same as the first link?

This is just one example of the MASSIVE savings available to all of the buyers living outside the U.S.

The first place i look for parts now is Ebay and then look for sellers offering the GSP. This offers me a great deal and peace of mind as i have paid all my duty at point of sale and i can track my parcel all the way and it will arrive with without any delays.

 

[Pegleg]

For all members in the U.S if you click on the "shipping and payment" tab on the Ebay sales page and change your location to United Kingdom or any European country and click "get rates" you will see the shipping rates outside the U.S

 

[Vinnie]

24 versus 261. That's a bit insane innit? Is that for real? It says the amount isn't guaranteed until check-out, I don't wanna take it that far right now...

 

[Pegleg]

24 versus 261. That's a bit insane innit? Is that for real? It says the amount isn't guaranteed until check-out, I don't wanna take it that far right now...

That price is based on exchange rates at the time of day. Exchange rates fluctuate. Yeah the difference is insane but a fact. $24 with global shipping program and $261 without. Most are $300 without GSP.

 Marylandmg ($24) will sell 100 times more than the other seller. Check out his other items as he has a good range for our years; He sells a Chrome hood molding which ships at $13.50 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-1971-1973-FORD-Mustang-Hood-Lip-Molding-Chrome-Plated/262795367894?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649

A Pair of Chrome fender moldings ship for $13.27 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-1971-1973-FORD-Mustang-Chrome-Front-Fender-Trim-Moldings-Right-Left/122300561874?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649

 

[midlife]

If shipping and import duties are reduced by eBay, how do they get around the actual costs of shipping? Remember, there is no such thing as a free lunch.

 

[Fabrice]

Thanks for posting this Pegleg, just been robbed by dutch gov of +-500 this month, as the taxes are calculated on top of shipment costs as well.

I mean last week a stupid sending unit + 8 screws for fenders: made the thing go from order price in Ohio go from 68 dollars to 170 via FedEx at my door.

then received the custom costs and ended up at a total of 240!

Most absurd is that I needed to cut it just to have the fitting+inner tube for my Sniper install...

Here's the dutch grand theft calculator if you want to compare with UK

http://www.invoercalculator.nl

So yeah lets hope US sellers will use/think of this...

 

[Pegleg]

If shipping and import duties are reduced by eBay, how do they get around the actual costs of shipping?  Remember, there is no such thing as a free lunch.

If a seller in the U.S offers free shipping to buyers within the U.S then the cost of sending the item to the Ebay international hub which is based in the U.S is free. Ebay then charge for shipping the international leg of the journey only. They probably work on the same basis as shipping in a container by sea freight If i ship a wheel and jack by sea in a 12x18 box it costs me $30 whereas by USPS it costs me $150. I am paying for the space i take up and not the weight.

As for import charges; If i buy a item for $200 plus $300 shipping equaling a total of $500 i have to pay import duty charges 5% plus 20% VAT(Tax) So i pay a total fee of $125. Whereas if my item cost $200 plus $50 shipping equalling $250 i pay 5% import and 20% VAT on $250 which means i only pay $75 fees.

Thats a extra $75 to spend on more items

I sell a variety of things on Ebay and since i opted in for GSP my international sales have risen. All my international sales are to mainland Europe. I don't have to fill out any customs forms when shipping to Europe with GSP but not sure if it would be the same outside the free trade area. I am pretty sure Ebay fill out all the customs paperwork worldwide.

If all the sellers using GSP see a increase in sales that means Ebay revenue rises which may offset the cost of international shipping. Just a thought.

 No matter which way the coin lands the buyer, seller and Ebay are all going to be a winner

 

[midlife]

Most of my international shipments cost only $45-60 via USPS for 3-7 pounds, which seems reasonable to me. FedEx and UPS international rates are far, far above those prices.

 

[Carolina_Mountain_Mustangs]

I have not been selling on eBay for about a year. I got fed up with their software doing the shipping calculations wrong. Especially if it went UPS. I have an accurate digital scale that always agrees with post office or UPS. I sold a space saver spare tire and as always it was already packed and exact weight was entered into the eBay page that calculates the shipping. The wheel sold the PayPal payment received using eBay to calculate the shipping and then next day I went to UPS not an independent store. They checked weight agreed and I had already printed the label and paid the shipping based on eBay. Two days later I get hit by UPS for and additional $25.00 in shipping cost because eBay was wrong. It wasn't pennies it was $25.00 I quit selling.

The way they do the car auctions sucks also. Probably 95% of bids on cars are just people with nothing to do but play on their computer. They bid on all makes and models of cars and retract bids. All they do is run the prices up. I sent communication to eBay that if you are going to bid on a car that you should have to put up $500 that goes toward the purchase if you win or refunded once your are outbid and fall out. That would stop all the BS but eBay replied with nothing. They do not want to fix easy things to fix. I do not trust them. Like has been stated who pays for the shipping it cannot drop that much for a discount for using them to ship. Shipping is already a competitive business and no big padding there. Something fishy here. When I shipped stuff international I did customs paperwork for Post Office and stated it was a gift so no duty. That was on shipments to Africa other countries might be more strict.

 

[Bentworker]

The GSP is pretty slick. I have purchased some parts from overseas and it was pretty cheap and fast to get the parts here.

Honestly I don't sell anything overseas becasue I don't like sticking my social security number on anything. I wonder if the GSP is diffrent, maybe you get to use eBays tax id number instead.

 

[OzCoupe72]

Thanks for the write up Pegleg, being outside the US I also have to cop high shipping charges

I usually buy from CJ Pony only because I can get a shipping quote straight away and they usually give a few options but not a cheaper sea freight option though

For example I ordered a trunk floor which would have been over $300 US in shipping alone but by adding some other parts it worked out a little cheaper

Great if you want something in a hurry but will need a second mortgage for the shipping

Haven't bought from Ebay USA yet but looking at your examples I probably will in the future especially as I will want bumpers soon

Be interesting to hear what other members do to save on shipping

 

[gpierce]

I have bought a few things via GSP where a seller probably would never have shipped outside the US without that service. I have never checked with the sellers but my packages as far as I know they just send it to the US processing Center and I'm sure they don't have to do any extra paperwork.

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[Pegleg]

I have bought a few things via GSP where a seller probably would never have shipped outside the US without that service. I have never checked with the sellers but my packages as far as I know they just send it to the US processing Center and I'm sure they don't have to do any extra paperwork.

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Yeah your right all GSP are sent to processing centre and no extra paperwork for the seller. Unless the seller knows the centres address they never know it is being shipped international. I am sure once the big players on Ebay like CJPony see a big drop in sales they will jump on the GSP. The GSP is a new concept and i reckon in around 12 months the international side of Ebays business will rise exponentially. Then they will be chartering a cargo plane instead of buying space.

Amazon and Ebay are always trying new ways all the time to increase revenue and i am sure this GSP won't be the last innovation in online shopping. One thing for sure it can only benefit customers.

Although i have just closed my Amazon account and will not shop on their site again. I used to order bulk cat food regularly. The order was over £20 so it was free delivery. Now i have to join up to Amazon prime to place the same order. If you calculate i order 4 times per year it equates to around a extra £25 per delivery as Amazon Prime costs around £100 per year

 

[Vinnie]

Link for sellers: http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/shipping-globally.html

Link for buyers: https://pages.ebay.com/help/buy/shipping-globally.html

 

[Hemikiller]

Interesting....

I stopped using the GSP several years ago in part from stories of my buyers getting completely hosed on shipping rates and import duties. Maybe it's time to revisit this, since I have have set aside a bunch of parts to sell off.

 

[rackerm]

I never would bother with overseas shipping too much of a hassle, but I decided to try eBay's new GSP international shipping service a year ago. eBay had me ship to their international hub in Erlanger, KY 41025 thru USPS. My shipping cost the same as it would be shipping packages anywhere else in the US. I track it to KY and I am done. eBay takes it from there and lets me know when it has arrived to its destination. I don't know much about how or what the international buyer has to go thru with customs and additional cost, but its no problem on my end. I've shipped about a dozen packages overseas with no issues.

 

[gpierce]

As an international buyer, we don't go through anything really, same as buying from anyone else, but we get pretty good tracking info. I had a package that was lost (by ebay) and they refunded strait away. It's a pretty slick system and a great service.

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[Pegleg]

I never would bother with overseas shipping too much of a hassle, but I decided to try eBay's new GSP international shipping service a year ago.  eBay had me ship to their international hub in Erlanger, KY 41025 thru USPS. My shipping cost the same as it would be shipping packages anywhere else in the US. I track it to KY and I am done. eBay takes it from there and lets me know when it has arrived to its destination. I don't know much about how or what the international buyer has to go thru with customs and additional cost, but its no problem on my end. I've shipped about a dozen packages overseas with no issues.

Ebay take the customs fees at point of purchase. This means no 7-10 waiting for customs clearance. Ebay present the manifest to customs and everything goes straight through. My local parts store has the same deal with customs when he imports from the States every 3 weeks. Although the package may sit at Erlanger for a few days. I can only assume from this observation that ebay wait till they got enough to fill the space they bought on the cargo plane