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.

[forgotmylastid]

I'm another dissatisfied potential Ebay buyer, who has run into the GSP brick wall.

Went to buy a new chainsaw from a USA Ebayer. Ebay refused to complete the transaction, then tried to claim it was a problem with the restrictions my country (New Zealand) imposed on the importation of such items. This is, frankly, quite absurd.

They later claimed it is a blanket restriction of the shipper they use, but haven't provided any further information.

I have shipped many chainsaws, new and old, to and from USA outside of the Ebay bubble, so have a fair handle on IATA rules including IATA special provisions. Of course chainsaws are allowed (there is a special provision with conditions that if met-and it's basic to do so- allow the shipping of chainsaws). This blanket restriction on Ebay, either of all saws internationally or just to New Zealand,  does not follow IATA guidelines and I've had no further guidance from Ebay about which carrier they use so I can dig into the matter a little deeper with that carrier directly.

No seller on Ebay that I have asked so far, is willing to ship USPS or outside the GSP. Some are citing getting ripped off by buyers who claimed the item never arrived (surely there is a proof of receipt shipping option at USPS?) and only GSP offers them adequate protection from such claims.

I've never had anything shipped USPS from USA go missing and have a 100% feedback rating but it's not enough.

All this hassle just because Ebay's GSP blindly refuses to ship what IATA actually allow for.

Really dissapointing.

[phono_0490xxxxxx]

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@forgotmylastid wrote:

No seller on Ebay that I have asked so far, is willing to ship USPS or outside the GSP.

I've had some success with getting a seller take a closer look at the buyer ripoff due to shipping cost. 

You need to highlight the fact the seller has a commercial advantage over competitor sellers by offering cheaper shipping rates.

You find UK sellers seem to have a higher level of critical thinking and the ability to reason. 

Some are citing getting ripped off by buyers who claimed the item never arrived (surely there is a proof of receipt shipping option at USPS?) There sure is 'Notification Of Delivery'... in fact the NOD is derived from the post office if the parcel ends up being handed over to the likes of NZPost system [or in my case AusPost.] and only GSP offers them adequate protection from such claims. Which is a crock of 'it, frankly.

Perhaps whats needed is an official statement from the likes of USPS, DHL, Royal Mail, Australia Post and NZ Post to debunk the myth that their postal and NOD systems can't be trusted.

It is false and misleading for eBay and cohorts Pitney Bowles to suggest this is the case and that only they offer this 'protection'.  More like a protection racket.

I've never ever had anything shipped USPS from USA go missing and have a 100% feedback rating but it's not enough.

Same here! 

Nor anything shipped from the UK, Germany, Belgium, France. go missing in the mail.

I've had more problems than not with non-AusPost deliveries - articles delivered by couriers - so just note that Pitney Bowles can and do use undisclosed 3rd party contractors in the shipping process. 

My FB set to 'private' 99% of the time for justifiable reasons, and only one case over many years I've been ethical obliged to post a Neg [due to a dangerous, sub standard electrical repair component and false item/seller location].  

Some narrow minded sellers may question that and 'block'.... but now I have been taught that I get around that by changing FB to 'public' and returning to 'private' soon after bidding. 

All this hassle just because Ebay's GSP blindly refuses to ship what IATA actually allow for.

Really disappointing.

Not your loss really.

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@forgotmylastid

Is there a way around this blanket refusal [if you really want to buy into this GSP scam] by having the seller drain all fluids [fuel and oils] and remove chain bar etc. and then shipping in 2 consignments -  thus sending 'repair components' - to get around this stupidity? 

Might be too much of a challenge for those who have been conned by the GSP sales pitch from eBay.

[forgotmylastid]

What you are suggesting, and thanks for that, is more or less what IATA Special Provision A70 is for. I've used it a few times when shipping saws overseas. If the consignment is purged of all fuels and oils, contain no flammable gasses, and the shipper signs what we call a purge certificate here (merely a signed declaration of conformity with the special provision) that accompanies the consignment, then carriers will accept it.

[michaeljacobs56]

In a similar vein, does anyone know why GSP would have refused to ship a 78-rpm record?

[fu-494]

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@michaeljacobs56 wrote:
In a similar vein, does anyone know why GSP would have refused to ship a 78-rpm record?

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@gramophone-georg

[mr_lincoln]

@beartailsbears  I am a bit confused ... if our country has restrictions on certain materials and said materials are on the customs form wouldn't an item be stopped at the boarder and NOT the eBay GSP hub in Kentucky???  Or am I missing something?  If customs lets an item cross our boarder and enter the country then the job of the next carrier(s) is to deliver the package ... again, am I missing something here?

[gramophone-georg]

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@fu-494 wrote:

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@michaeljacobs56 wrote:
In a similar vein, does anyone know why GSP would have refused to ship a 78-rpm record?

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@gramophone-georg

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I'm sure it would depend what's on it and where it's going. Is it Nazi themed going to Germany or France, for instance?

[beartailsbears]

@mr_lincoln, yeah, you're missing that it was stopped by the GSP while still in the UK and not in the US. 🙂

[mr_lincoln]

@beartailsbears

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@beartailsbears wrote:

@mr_lincoln, yeah, you're missing that it was stopped by the GSP while still in the UK and not in the US. 🙂

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Thank you!  I thought I was missing something!!!

[castlemagicmemories]

OP 3/2018 necro thread

[kh-leslie]

Hello Everyone,

Due to the age of the thread, it has been closed to further replies.  Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thanks for understanding!