Does anyone ship with Global Shipping anymore?

[pickermall]

I have been offering the Ebay Global Shipping program since it was a pilot program years ago.  I just realized that I haven't shipped anything using the GSP for maybe going on a year.

I like having the option over USPS shipping since once an item gets to the Kentucky hub, I don't have to worry about the shipping from that point.

But none of my international customers are using it. I'm wondering if that's the norm or if Ebay doesn't really use it much themselves.

[jillsconsignment]

I use the GSP ... frequently. The reason it's not used more by international buyers is because they have to pay the customs/duties. They can't ask the seller to mark as a gift or to lower the value. I like it because as you said, you ship to Kentucky and that's it. It's very easy. I know my international customers don't like it because they have to pay customs.

[pickermall]

I think they ALWAYS have to pay Customs fees, though... whether up front or at the post office... maybe it's the up front they don't like. And yes, I don't like telling people I'm not going to lower a value on a Customs form, so I like that feature, too

[marnotom!]

---

@pickermall wrote:

I have been offering the Ebay Global Shipping program since it was a pilot program years ago.  I just realized that I haven't shipped anything using the GSP for maybe going on a year.

I like having the option over USPS shipping since once an item gets to the Kentucky hub, I don't have to worry about the shipping from that point.

But none of my international customers are using it. I'm wondering if that's the norm or if Ebay doesn't really use it much themselves.

---

I'm in Canada.

Do you also sell under a different ID?  I just checked your current set of listings and only one of them has the GSP applied to it.  The others I checked offer direct international shipping via USPS as the shipping method.

One can't offer both direct international shipping and the GSP on the same listing.  It has to be one or the other.

[marnotom!]

---

@jillsconsignment wrote:

I use the GSP ... frequently. The reason it's not used more by international buyers is because they have to pay the customs/duties. They can't ask the seller to mark as a gift or to lower the value. I like it because as you said, you ship to Kentucky and that's it. It's very easy. I know my international customers don't like it because they have to pay customs.

---

While there are some international buyers that misunderstand the nature of "import charges" levied by Pitney Bowes for a GSP sale, I think a bigger impediment is the shipping charges levied by Pitney Bowes.  Many sellers using the GSP don't provide PB with enough information on the nature of the item or its packaged size and weight, and as a result PB's GSP bot has to guess or apply a category average to the shipping charge.  This is great if the item is large, but more often than not the item is small enough to ship economically by First Class International and the PB shipping charge is way overinflated in comparison.

[mkaczorsee]

Yes.  30% of my sales are international. 

It is actually more affordable for my buyers.  

If I was shipping directly to them it would be via USPS Express. 

The GSP uses priority rates which is a significant savings for them. 

[hafoster]

There's also the GSP labels swapped, then shipped to the wrong buyers --

and seller-packed packages opened, then repacked at the GSP centers.

[marnotom!]

---

@mkaczorsee wrote:

Yes.  30% of my sales are international. 

It is actually more affordable for my buyers.  

If I was shipping directly to them it would be via USPS Express. 

The GSP uses priority rates which is a significant savings for them. 

---

Well, it's a significant savings over Express, but if it's a fairly small and lightweight item, First Class International is even better in terms of pricing.  And, yes, First Class International does have delivery confirmation for a number of international destinations if the postage is purchased online.

By the way, what Pitney Bowes offers is not "Priority Mail International" but "International Priority Shipping" which is a largely meaningless term describing its network of freight forwarders, logistics companies, and carriers within the destination country.  Items get shipped from Kentucky to the destination country as international freight, probably in a badly-stacked shrink-wrapped palette that sees a lot of smaller, less-robustly packaged items flattened.  (See earlier post.)

[marnotom!]

---

@hafoster wrote:

There's also the GSP labels swapped, then shipped to the wrong buyers --

and seller-packed packages opened, then repacked at the GSP centers.

---

The labels I see on the pictures you've posted only say that the items were "resealed", not repacked.  They don't look repacked, either.

The official word from Pitney Bowes is that items need to be resealed if they have to go through customs clearance in Kentucky and inspected for anything that may provide the item's country of origin/manufacture.  Sellers don't tend to provide this information on a listings' item specifics.  It would be interesting to see if GSP-forwarded items do actually bypass this "resealing" process if the seller lists them with the country's country of origin/manufacture stated.

[robot-hands]

Heavy or expensive has to be GSP.

I wouldn't risk it otherwise.

...if an overseas buyer wants what I have that's the price of admission, like it or not.

[pickermall]

No.. just the one... I have always offered both USPS AND Ebay GSP and never been an issue... maybe ebay changed things? Buyers could do one or the other. All my listings have both options!

[hafoster]

Sigh.

---

@marnotom! wrote:

---

@hafoster wrote:
There's also the GSP labels swapped, then shipped to the wrong buyers --

and seller-packed packages opened, then repacked at the GSP centers.

---

The labels I see on the pictures you've posted only say that the items were "resealed", not repacked.  They don't look repacked, either.

---

I think in this situation "repacking" refers to opening the box, taking the item out and putting it back in the same box.

Post 8 recped

Post 9 7606dennis

Post 10 marnotom!

bennett4612

In regards to packages being open/repackaged at the shipping center in Kentucky -- 

NOT every package is opened/repackaged. However there are times when this will happen.

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Archive-International-Trading/Ebay-Global-Shipping-Opens-Packages/m-p/...

[collectablesofliberty]

Actually, I am able to offer both GSP and Direct Shipping, I just add an alternative shipping option.

[pjcdn2005]

---

@pickermall wrote:
No.. just the one... I have always offered both USPS AND Ebay GSP and never been an issue... maybe ebay changed things? Buyers could do one or the other. All my listings have both options!

---

Since gsp started a seller can offer gsp OR to ship directly, you have never been able to offer both.  You may think that you are but if you have gsp, that always overides any direct option.  But in your case, it looks like all or at least most of your listings have direct shipping. When I quickly glanced at your first 200 listings with a Canadian address, I see no gsp listings..just those that offer first class international or USPS Priority.

You do have the option of offering gsp just to some countries and direct shipping to others but not both options to the same countries.

One odd thing, when I look at your listings the search page shipping is shown as $16.50 which is the first class shipping charge.  But when I open each listing, the shipping charge at the top shows as being $37.30 for USPS Priority and I don't see the lower cost unless I click on the shipping tab which I doubt that most buyers ever do. Do you have the first class or Priority listed first?

[missjen831]

---

@pickermall wrote:
I think they ALWAYS have to pay Customs fees, though... whether up front or at the post office... maybe it's the up front they don't like. And yes, I don't like telling people I'm not going to lower a value on a Customs form, so I like that feature, too

---

Buyers don’t ALWAYS have to pay customs fees. It varies by country and not everything is subject to customs fees. Some countries have a threshold that must be met, here in the US our threshold is $800. The GSP charges customs fees to buyers in countries without import fees and in some countries on items that aren’t even subject to customs fees.