Global Shipping Program - eBay Confiscating Items

[beartailsbears]

I wanted to post a warning to anyone using the GSP to ship internationally.  eBay will confiscate ANYTHING you ship that is made of wood, whether or not it is a CITES protected species.  I purchased an antique box - made of oak - from the UK that was shipped using the GSP and eBay declared it "restricted", refused to ship it to me and refused to return it to the seller so that they could ship it directly.  Their response to my complaint was basically that they're not able to determine whether a wood actually should be restricted or not so they're just refusing to ship anything made of wood.  This is absolutely preposterous!  If you are going to offer a shipping program then you have the responsibility to your buyers and sellers to know what items genuinely need to be restriced from international shipping (such as rosewood, tortoiseshell and ivory), and which are perfectly fine to ship.  Becuase of eBay's refusal to learn a few very simple guidelines, a beautiful antique pieces was confiscated and eBay states it will either be sold off to recoup their cost of refunding both the buyer and the seller, or it will be destroyed.  Surely it would also be less expensive for them to return it to the seller to ship directly to the buyer?  I am honestly gobsmacked by this.  I wanted to post a warning so that nobody else gets caught in this ridiculous trap.

[missjen831]

It wouldn’t be less expensive for them to return it to the seller. Because the GSP has to refund the fees they collected from you AND pay for shipping back to the seller. At this point what’s done is done, the seller keeps his money from the sale and the GSP refunded you. The gsp isn’t run by eBay, it’s run by Pitney Bowes and they can’t be expected to know everything—they handle international shipments to many countries and they can’t poasibly know each and everything that is restricted. Really the seller should be the one to know what he can and can’t sell through the GSP. It’s the seller who chooses to the GSP and they need to read up on it.

[creoleorchid]

Jen is correct. The seller is responsible for this.

I remember a few years back where a valuable antique was confiscated and it was the seller that came here furious about it. I think it was a Japanese sword or some such. Anyway, he was able to find it listed here on eBay by one of the IDs Pitney Bowes uses to resell stuff they confiscate. He bought it back and all was well. Except for the buyer, who really wanted it but it couldn't be shipped to his country.

[beartailsbears]

Thanks both of you for your responses but in this case, I don't agree.  Had the seller researched, they would have found no reason for this item not to be shipped.  It's not a protected wood species and it's perfectly fine to ship.  So how exactly would they have known?  eBay sent me this link:

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/prohibited-restricted-items/prohibited-restricted-items?id=4207#p...

This item does not fall into a single category on this list.  It's not a CITES protected species, so how would a seller know?  They wouldn't.

[creoleorchid]

Rereading your initial post and seeing it was being shipped FROM the UK to the US, there might be different parameters involved.

[beartailsbears]

Well, if there are then I am stumped as to what they would be.  I purchase antique boxes from the UK on a regular basis.  I don't buy anything that is a CITES regulated species and I have never, ever had an issue with customs or anybody else.  So I honestly don't know what issue Pitney Bowes could possibly have that US Customs wouldn't.  It's frustrating.

[creoleorchid]

The only think I can think of then is that there is something else about the item that triggered it. Can you post the full title and description?

[beartailsbears]

Yes, here is the listing in it's entirety.  The seller listed it as mahogany - which is also not a CITES restricted wood species - and I am the one who told her it's actually oak.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/ANTIQUE-MAHOGANY-STATIONERY-BOX-/112810017242?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPage...

[tofu107]

if it is from UK to USA using UK GSP,your seller should find out more from them.

also how did your seller declare the item?

[missjen831]

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@tofu107wrote:

if it is from UK to USA using UK GSP,your seller should find out more from them.

also how did your seller declare the item?

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The seller didn’t  declare the item.

[creoleorchid]

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@beartailsbearswrote:

Yes, here is the listing in it's entirety.  The seller listed it as mahogany - which is also not a CITES restricted wood species - and I am the one who told her it's actually oak.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/ANTIQUE-MAHOGANY-STATIONERY-BOX-/112810017242?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPage...

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Well that explains it. The people at the GPS center get a copy of the title of the item, which states "antique mahogany". Since SOME mahogany is restricted they aren't about to try to decide which tree this came from so they just deny it. They don't know oak from smoke, so don't even try to think rationally about how it should have been allowed because it is really oak, not mahagony. You aren't dealing with experts, just normal people who process hundreds of packages a day if not thousands.

Now that we know it's oak, if the seller gets the box back I would prevail upon them to relist it with the correct title and you can buy it again. Maybe he will even dump the GPS and send it direct.

[beartailsbears]

The seller won't get it back.  eBay refused.  They told me it would either be sold off to recoup costs or destroyed.  They also told me they won't ship ANYTHING wooden.  Nothing.  So it isn't about the title being mahogany either.  It's a sweeping ban on anything made of wood.  I did ask the seller not to ship with the GSP because I've had bad experiences in the past with things being opened, reboxed into smaller, less protective boxes, and arriving smashed.  Sadly, they refused.  Had I known eBay would confiscate it, I'd never have purchased in the first place.  Now if there is something I'm interested in, I tell the sellers what happened and ask them to ship direct.  If they won't, I don't buy.

[tofu107]

GSP worker are not experts on everything they have to repack,do you expect them to pick up every item and decide if it is not mahogany and should be oak,they are blue collar workers paid to ship.

I doubt if they are the ones who decide  to reject,could be GSP software which intercept your package.

Ebay is a person to person venue,many sellers do not know what they are selling,they just see something which look saleable so they list them.

You may want to go to a place where dealers knowwhat they are selling or expect incidents like this ,it is not the end of the world.

[beartailsbears]

Your "it isn't the end of the world" statement is quite invalidating.  You might feel differently if it had been your item.

If eBay is going to make the sweeping decision that they are not going to allow ANY wooden items to be shipped internationally, then they have a responsibility to educate their sellers and let them know that these items are prohibited.  Not just some such as CITES protected woods, but all items made of wood.  This would be an easy addition to their prohibited and restricted items list.  Since "we have banned all items containing wood from being shipped internationally" currently appears nowhere on their restricted items list, they have failed in this regard.   They are very clear about their policies on ivory and tortoiseshell - although apparently all a seller has to do to sell these anyway is put "faux" in front of it even if it is real and eBay will allow it and not even bother to remove it even when it is reported.  They are fairly hypocritical and arbitrary in their policies.

The point of my post was simply to warn against purchasing wooden items internationally if the seller is using the GSP and won't ship directly, as it is a genuine shame to see antique pieces being lost in this way.  It could be easily avoided with a simple addition to the banned and restricted list.  I don't as a general rule use the GSP to begin with.  But I had no idea that breaking my own rule would result in the loss of an item I really cared about receiving and I'd hate to see it happen to others.   This is not about GSP employees, or where I should or shouldn't shop (I've been on eBay both as a buyer and as a seller for many, MANY years), this is about eBay doing a better job with their policy making - and making sure their sellers are aware of those policies.  This is not something anybody should have expected to experience given the fact that it isn't stated anywhere on eBay.

[phono_0490xxxxxx]

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@beartailsbears wrote:

The seller won't get it back.  eBay refused.  They told me it would either be sold off to recoup costs or destroyed.  They also told me they won't ship ANYTHING wooden.  Nothing.  So it isn't about the title being mahogany either.  It's a sweeping ban on anything made of wood.  I did ask the seller not to ship with the GSP because I've had bad experiences in the past with things being opened, reboxed into smaller, less protective boxes, and arriving smashed.  Sadly, they refused.  Had I known eBay would confiscate it, I'd never have purchased in the first place.  Now if there is something I'm interested in, I tell the sellers what happened and ask them to ship direct.  If they won't, I don't buy.

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Sad case this.

I have the same policy of refusing to have anything sent to me via GSP.

No way, never again, no exceptions.

You omitted to highlight the very very expensive shipping cost as compared to safer and quicker and time proven reliable Royal Mail services.

The problem is that ebay have done a proper con job selling this GSP all based on fear and making it 'easy' for sellers to adopt this scam and sheeple believe it.

They haven't managed to con everyone though, but that has come about through buyer complaints to sellers after cases like this and mine [huge cost ripoff].

I question what steps have ebay and these scoundrels - Pitney Bowes International - done to inform everyone that they will refuse to forward any timber products? 

Why isn't there a defult block on timber products shipped via this GSP?

ebay can manage having GSP as a default setting for sellers listing.

No doubt PB get a huge discount on their sell off listings too.

Is there still discussion boards on the UK ebay site? 

If so, better let them know whats happening.

ebay and this Pitney Bowes mob won't.

Pitney Bowes International [UK] have a very poor reputation in the UK due to trade practices.  Just Google search to see the low review rating afforded PBI.

Leave a review there too.