International shipping questions, discussions, fees, cost (eBay and non-eBay)

[justafrog]

There's a thread, I think pinned, in the eBay forum here discussing it at length. It's called the Global Shipping Program (GSP).

[DoNotInsertIntoMouth]

Nope GSP is awesome. It works perfectly. Here goes:

 

You only pay shipping to US center (there is one in kentucky - probably UPS, I don't know where else yet) whether your shipping is free or calculater. Buyer sees cost to ship from the distribution center to them + plus any fees+ your shipping if any.

 

You are only responsible for getting it to the US shipping hub. You are not liable for any damage, loss, etc after that.

 

It is a genius program. I have sent about 10 things internationally. Honestly, I think a lot of international buyers are better about leaving feedback and ratings. 10/10 with them.

[cvail8]

GSP has been fantastic for me. I am selling a lot more internationally and without the hassle of having to deal with customs forms.

 

Plus it's a bonus that the GSP facility is in Kentucky, because it's inside my cheapest shipping zone.

[El Guapo]

So I sold a Crawler to a buyer in Hong Kong using the GSP. Made a mistake with my weight, and I understated the shipping weight. I am assuming that Pitney Bowes/Ebay calculate the shipping charges from their warehouse to the customer using the weight in my listing. Since it was lower, it would be fair to assume that they undercharged the customer. Does anyone know how this is handled? I am hoping they just come back to me and bill me for the difference...that would make sense, but sometimes ebay does things that don't really make sense (well at least to me). Any help would be appreciated.

[justafrog]

I'm a bit fuzzy on the weight thing because for the book categories where I can use GSP, weight is not required - I just started putting weights and dimensions into all my listings a few months ago, and older than that goes GSP all the time without a hitch (and without them having any idea of the weight up front). eBay charges the buyer for the international shipping at the time of purchase.

 

I have had other sellers in other categories tell me that they have had packages returned to them from Kentucky because of weight/size issues. I don't know how far they were "off", but I would expect if you weren't off by a ton that it will simply go through.

[Diabolos80]

Thank goodness the GSP doesn't use USPS. They really count the ounces there lol. Today I had to pay parcel instead of first class because the package was 13.3 ounces. Nice. Guess I used one too many ziplock bags.

[El Guapo]

 

I'm a bit fuzzy on the weight thing because for the book categories where I can use GSP, weight is not required - I just started putting weights and dimensions into all my listings a few months ago, and older than that goes GSP all the time without a hitch (and without them having any idea of the weight up front). eBay charges the buyer for the international shipping at the time of purchase.

 

I have had other sellers in other categories tell me that they have had packages returned to them from Kentucky because of weight/size issues. I don't know how far they were "off", but I would expect if you weren't off by a ton that it will simply go through.

 

Thanks. Good to know. I am going to call Ebay and see what the process is with this. Don't want them to unwind this deal because I owe them an extra $17 or something for shipping. We'll see what happens I guess.

[Coneil21]

So for the people who use the Global Shipping Program, since you are only responsible for shipping to Kentucky do you still feel it necessary to specifically exclude any countries from your listings?  Or do you just ship "world wide"?

[justafrog]

Yes, for any listings where you have GSP enabled, you can remove the exclusions - you're covered for any country GSP chooses to ship to.

[Coneil21]

Yes, for any listings where you have GSP enabled, you can remove the exclusions - you're covered for any country GSP chooses to ship to.

Great!  Thanks for the info.  That makes it a lot easier than researching the postal systems of 8 million countries!

[anon33]

Has anyone ever had to open a case with the GSP program? What was the outcome?

[justafrog]

I have had occasional issues but they were solved simply by calling eBay and finding out what to do about them. All outcomes were good and/or fair.

[donliu]

hey guys I wanna try shipping some Poly bags internationally on Ebay.  do you know if the buyer has to pay additional taxes in their country? do i need to use GSP or can i just use first  class mail? whats the best way to ship items to other countries so the buyer can track the packages? i know read somewhere not to ship to certain countries like Russia-Italy. Are there any other countries I should be wary of? 

[Jackson]

For the USPS First-Class Mail International method, many countries don't offer tracking, so the buyer won't be able to track the package once it leaves the United States.

[MartinP]

hey guys I wanna try shipping some Poly bags internationally on Ebay.  do you know if the buyer has to pay additional taxes in their country? do i need to use GSP or can i just use first  class mail? whats the best way to ship items to other countries so the buyer can track the packages? i know read somewhere not to ship to certain countries like Russia-Italy. Are there any other countries I should be wary of? 

I would use the GSP. It is much safer and you will not have to worry much about the item you are sending. I think that there are some blogs about shipping and eBay written by DNIIM. They are very good articles and I recommend reading them.

[justafrog]

If I didn't know exactly what I was doing shipping internationally, I would use the GSP through eBay. You are protected provided the item you ship arrives safely and with tracking to Kentucky, eBay takes the risk from there.

 

I *DO* know exactly what I'm doing, and I still choose to use the GSP in all categories that are eligible for it. It's very painless as a seller, and buyers can decide for themselves if they want to pay for it or not.

 

Shipping on your own, you can get hit-and-miss tracking with first class international to about 14 countries, I would not rely on it as in my own experience it's only working about 50% of the time (some countries better than others). You can get shipping insurance through a variety of sources if you want. You can get tracking with some priority mail and all express mail packaging.

 

Customers pay customs and duties according to their countries rules (and the whims of their customs departments in enforcing those rules). The GSP again takes care of all that for you and charges the customer up front.

 

Various countries are riskier than others. Everyone has their own list.

 

Basically, if you don't want to use the GSP because your buyer may pay more than with first class international package (though they will pay less than with priority mail and much less than with express mail), you will need to start reading (there are multiple threads on this site and on eBay's shipping forums) - it's too complex for anyone to lay out every bit of info here unless this thread gets a lot of action. :-)

[Jackson]

justafrog, did you notice any decrease in international sales when you switched to the GSP?

[justafrog]

At the time I switched was right when the USPS international rates went up big in January, so I did get a decrease in international sales for both GSP and non-GSP international shipping at that time - as did most other sellers, because our poor int'l customers were in sticker shock.

 

Sales started gradually increasing again as the year has gone on, and now I'm shipping several GSP packages per week, about 75% of what I used to ship internationally. I only occasionally ship a non-GSP (in the categories I can't use it) package, but to be fair that's because those are typically heavier shipments that go over the four pound int'l first class rate and get really expensive for the customer really fast.

[Bernard74]

I know that in my country, everything below

[donliu]

Thanks y'all. Looks like the safe bet is to use the GSP.

[sadowsk1]

Unless you are selling a lot in volume I wouldn't sell polybags internationally unless it's for a high dollar amount or you do a large amount of business and the post office isn't convenient.  Mandatory trips to the post office for international shipping isn't worth the time.

[justafrog]

Unless you are selling a lot in volume I wouldn't sell polybags internationally unless it's for a high dollar amount or you do a large amount of business and the post office isn't convenient.  Mandatory trips to the post office for international shipping isn't worth the time.

What mandatory trips?

Package pickup also covers international, intl label and customs forms can be printed online, and if using GSP it's just like shipping domestically.

[DoNotInsertIntoMouth]

What mandatory trips?

Package pickup also covers international, intl label and customs forms can be printed online, and if using GSP it's just like shipping domestically.

 

It tells you when you print them online you have to take them in - but you are correct you can have them picked up. 

 

I usually just go because I am like 2 minutes from it and I can drop off the other 30 things I am shipping. Lol

[Dallas20]

Good morning!

I am looking for a little help from anyone from the US with experience shipping overseas. I recently had my first international sale via bricklink and went to my local post office to get a qoute.

I am trying to ship a maxifigure, just weighs a couple of ounces in a bubble wrapped envelope. The cheapest option was USPS first class at $6.55. My concerns it that they didn't offer insurance on it....I feel as though requiring insurance and delivery confirmation is a must if an item is going overseas.

 

The cheapest option available to insure was $29!!!! Also, the item was required to be in a wrapped box!!

Now obviuosly anyone buying a single minifigure overseas isn't going to want to pay $29 sooo what methods do you use? Do you ship at $6.55 and hope for the best?

 

Thanks in advance

[Alcarin]

I usually got stuff from US at 6.55$ for figures etc.... had no problem in my hmmm 20 orders from the States. to Europe so far.