Ebay Global Shipping Program

[lludwig]

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Ebay Global Shipping Program

Has anyone used it? If so, what is your opinion?

We recently decided to give the Global Shipping Program (GSP) a try after another book went missing in the black hole of South America. Although we don't sell many books to SA, the last 5 or so in the past year never arrived. We did consider, of course, eliminating South America, from where we ship to but decided to first try GSP.

Also several months ago I had a buyer from Sweden email me about two volumes I was selling. He had recently purchased a large and heavy set of books and his shipping cost was less than what I could offer on just 2 much lighter books. 

When we checked a 7 vol set of regular sized books that we have for shipping to the UK, the buyer would pay about $40.00 in shipping which is less that what a Flat Rate Priority Medium Box would be. For us to ship those to a UK buyer, it would be at least double the cost or more.

Maybe by offering the GSP we might gain back some of the international buyers we used to have before postage costs became so high. GSP now ships to 102 countries.

http://pages.ebay.com/sellerinformation/ship-smart/global-shipping-program/help.html#tab=eligible-co...

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[chagrinbooks]

Lludwig, thanks so much for posting this. I really missed the boat on the program, so I'm gonna try it on for a while.

[lludwig]

lachto5  When we opted in to GSP we had over 550 listings and all but one already had international shipping costs. Only the one without a price for international shipping ended up as a GSP.

We had to use a bulk edit to change all the other listings which already had international shipping costs to GSP. I use turbo-lister and there was a box I had to check for new listings in order for GSP to 'take'. We changed that to a default and now it is automatic. I do not know how it works if you list directly to ebay using their SYI form.

If you want to change the item that you received the inquiry about I would think that you can remove the international shipping you have listed, opt in to GSP, and only that item will show up with GSP. Also even if you do list using the SYI form, if you put an international cost in then the GSP will not override it.

Someone with more experience may be able to answer your question better.

[lludwig]

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chagrinbooks - You are welcome. Since the program has been in operation for awhile now, I would think that glitches and other things have been worked out.  

bestpaperboy - Thanks for your input. It is reassuring to read that you have been pleased with the service.

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[lludwig]

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Just sold another book via GSP that will end up in Canada.

Yesterday I had a request for shipping to Argentina but it is not part of the GSP and I declined. If I had wanted I could have shipped via USPS but as stated earlier I've lost far too many books in SA. If a SA country doesn't fall under GSP, I am not taking the chance.

Although no different from Puerto Rico re: shipping, yesterday I also sold my first book to the US Virgin Islands. This is counted by ebay as an "international sale" so their tally for me in the past 7 days now stands at 3.

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[lludwig]

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Sold a book via GSP to Australia last night. The tally now stands at 3 GSP sales (Norway, Canada, Australia) in the two weeks that we have offered GSP. That is a huge increase in the number of international sales compared to what we had been doing in recent years. It is as if a whole new market has opened up. Hope it keeps up!

In this most recent sale, the buyer had emailed me asking if there were cheaper shipping options. It was a small book and would fit into a Flat Rate Envelope or could be sent by Standard mail. I checked both and the cost to send it either way was the same - $6.00 more than GSP. Not a huge savings, but still better than regular USPS. If it had been cheaper, I would have just unchecked the GSP box and filled in the cheaper method. It appears that the savings increases as books get heavier and larger and can't be sent in the Flat Rate Envelope or by Standard mail.

Once again, thanks to those who had encouraging words about GSP.

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[lludwig]

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Scored another one with GSP. This time the book goes to the Netherlands.

Tally of international sales now stands at 4 (Norway, Canada, Australia, Netherlands) since opting into GSP 3 weeks ago.

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[lludwig]

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Sold another book today via GSP. This one is headed to Canada. Two international sales on the same day is a record in recent times.

Tally of international sales in the last 3 weeks now stands at 5 (Norway, 2 to Canada, Australia, Netherlands).

Have not received any FB yet on any of these, but no emails of  problems or complaints either!

So far, so good with GSP. Looks as if  I'll keep using it for the long haul. 

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[femmefan1946]

Would you be kind enough to let the eBay CANADA Sellers' Board when your book arrives?

Canada Post is on the verge of a labour dispute and we are wondering how GSP/Pitney Bowes will be arranging deliveries.

Normally Canada Post is their go-to, with reports of CanPar and FedEx occasionally surfacing.

Like many dotCA sellers who don't have access to cheap shipping, I have all but one of my Stores On Vacation.

[chagrinbooks]

I'm missing something obvious here. Three international sales since joining the program, but where in the world is the address/link to the address for the go-between? Google searches have amounted to nothing so far. Is it a matter of creating the label off-site?

[lludwig]

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chagrinbooks - On your listing page there is a link at the top titled "View order details". Click on that and at the top it will give you the name of the buyer with the Pitney Bowes center shipping address that you are to use including a reference number. My center is located in Kentucky. That "View order details" is the same as if it were either a non-international sale or when you don't use GPS.  

My spouse creates the labels and when he returns home, I will ask him if that address shows up on Paypal or on ebay labels or what.

If you are curious as to the country that the buyer is from as I am, click on their ID to see where they are registered.

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[lludwig]

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femmefan1946  - I will try to remember to do so as well as posting here about arrival. If you don't see somthing in 2 weeks or so, please feel free to remind me to check. 

[chagrinbooks]

Thanks once again, Lludwig. I have no idea why I had such a devil of a time finding this simple "click here" info.

As an aside, this forum reformat (hopefully temporary) is anything but an improvement. It looks like someone's 1999 usenet web transcription.

[lludwig]

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chagrinbooks - Happy to be of help. BTW congrats on those 3 international sales since opting into GPS. You mentioned that you were going to join on June 21 and here it is only a little over 2 weeks since then.

If you are so inclined, I would be interested in knowing the countries of the sales as well as future updates on international sales. It might encourage more people to give it a try.

I had an inquiry yesterday from Japan. The potential buyer wanted me to confirm the shipping costs. Alas, I guess even the lower rate of GPS was still too much for a large and heavy book. When I first started selling on ebay, Japan was a frequent buyer but in recent years sales to Japan have became rare.

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[chagrinbooks]

Lludwig, I forgot that one sale occurred on the river, which shipped to Canada. The recent 2 ebay books are going to the UK and Australia. I cannot overstate the importance a resurgence in international sales would make. Like many here, my international sales went from a vigorous 25-35% of total sales to under 7% almost overnight when USPS hiked its rates - a nearly devastating impact on my business as I regularly sourced and listed desirable foreign language books, particularly to Europe. Japan sales have always happened in fits and starts for me, even with the intervention of  the "Flight to" agencies. 

[lludwig]

chagrinbooks - Thanks. OMgoodness! I didn't understand what you meant about the forum reformat since mine looked the same. However, when I came back this time and refreshed the page, what a mess!