eBay's eIS Strikes Again!
Summary: A discussion about eBay's eIS system was initiated by grann-4629, involving multiple participants. The conversation seems to address recurring issues with the eIS system, as indicated by the subject "eBay's eIS Strikes Again!" Various participants, including eoma689485, tobaccocardyahoo, and 12345jamesstamps, contributed to the thread. Some responses indicate follow-ups, possibly discussing solutions or sharing personal experiences related to eIS. However, the content specifics are not provided, so the exact details of each contribution are unclear.
Tried to buy 2 cheap DVD's ($2.49). Seller's listing shows free shipping so I put them in my cart, went to my cart to finish my order, and was faced with a shipping charge of $28+. The DVD's were singles without jewel cases or any artwork. This is what happened next:
unemployed_husky
·4 months agoYou can;t get combined shipping deals on international orders. Common sense.
mudshark61369
·4 months ago@unemployed_husky
"You can;t get combined shipping deals on international orders. Common sense".
That is absolutely not true! However, the seller's have to set up their listings to enable combined shipping. Given the small size and weight of the DVDs they could easily be placed in 1 package for the domestic portion of the shipping to Ebay's International Shipping center. However, there could be customs fees to be paid for each of the combined purchases.
mudshark61369
·4 months ago@grann-4629 ,
Free Shipping only applies to items sent From a U.S. location to a U.S. state or territory location. It does not apply to international purchases where there are Custom fees and/or Tariffs and final mile carrier costs.
tobaccocardyahoo
·4 months agoCanada is a large country with a small population.
If I were to actually want to learn the appropriate rules and procedures to ship to any country, and to rely on their postal system to deliver it, Canada would not be a priority for me.
When I shipped direct to Canada and the shipping address was Thunder Bay, I was annoyed by where's my stuff inquiries by Canadian buyers, all of which wasted my time, which has value.
For years I stopped exporting and could not be persuaded by buyers in any country to put up with the bother. It cost me very little.
I was not the only Ebay seller who chose not to export, and Ebay Global and its followup EIS were an Ebay initiative to get sellers to ship to more international customers. It was designed to overcome seller objections to exporting, and it has not won over every seller who refuses to export.
If you do not want to pay the price of EIS, you can attempt to find a seller who will export or a seller in Canada who has the product.
Feedback I received from a UK customer mentioned the relatively high cost of the shipping for the item he purchased and stated his pleasure having it in spite of the cost.
If it isn't worth the cost of shipping by a service acceptable to the seller, don't buy it. Here in the US there are sellers offering products with ESE which is an inferior service designed to ship worthless items. Most of the items which ship via ESE are items which are not worth my time and effort to sell.
marnotom!
·4 months agoWhere in the listing was “free shipping” stated? I sometimes find that sellers will (unnecessarily) state “free shipping” in either the listing title or description, oblivious to the fact that non-US buyers will see something quite different in the “shipping” portion of the listing.
simba6
·4 months agoPlease note the seller does not get all that shipping. The seller only gets what it costs to send the item to the local EIS shipping center. The rest of the shipping goes to them to ship it to you.
12345jamesstamps
·4 months agoI guess one can ask if the seller has opt-out of EIS before making the purchase.
I, myself opt-out of that for shipping to buyers.
And I find using the good old USPS post office is a lot faster.
grann-4629
OP4 months agoguess one can ask if the seller has opt-out of EIS before making the purchase.
It was more graphic seeing the $28 shipping charge on the invoice when I saw it when I went to my cart to pay. I don't think the seller was trying to hide anything and typically, sellers don't respond to questions about shipping costs especially those that deal with eIS. I believe sellers who use eIS are not aware of the extra costs associated with using it.
powell-collectibles
·4 months agoI am aware of the cost. I understand that it might decrease my international sales. It doesn’t matter to me – I’m not shipping to buyers outside of the country without using EIS.
1786davycrockett
·4 months ago@grann-4629
So, in other words, you want sellers in the United States to eat shipping charges in excess of $20.00 on international sales, so that you can buy two DVDs totaling $4.98.
Despite of what you may have heard or read, not all of us are millionaires.
grann-4629
OP4 months agoNo, I don't want the sellers to do anything other than charge actual shipping costs plus a reasonable amount for handling. As pointed out here, the extra $ for sellers using the service costs them nothing ... the extra money goes to eBay and comes directly out of the buyer's pocket.
I would love to add to my collection by purchasing from US sellers but apparently they are happy with the sales they already get. I agree that the actual costs to ship are extremely high ... adding to that just makes it worse.
1786davycrockett
·4 months ago@grann-4629
"I agree that the actual costs to ship are extremely high ... adding to that just makes it worse."
Since eBay is not a shipping provider (such as USPS, FedEx, DHL, UPS, etc), eBay must PAY those shipping providers for those additional costs.
If the actual postal charge is $26.00, and you were invoiced for $28.00, the additional carrier charge is $2.00.
And the shipping carriers don't work for free, either.
I wouldn't expect expenses to decrease in the near future -- in fact, there is a very good chance that prices will become even worse.
grann-4629
OP4 months agoIs this still current? AI answer from Google. Package would weigh around 5 ounces. Thanks.
grann-4629
OP4 months agoAnother one ...
1786davycrockett
·4 months ago@grann-4629
International Shipping
So the next cheapest USPS service is Ground Advantage, starting at $19.40 USD for a 5 ounce package, valued at $5.00 USD.
marnotom!
·4 months agoGround Advantage isn’t an international shipping service either, though.
The cheapest USPS international shipping service is First Class Package International. Counter and Click n’ Ship rates for Canada start at $19.40.
1786davycrockett
·4 months ago@marnotom!
"Ground Advantage isn’t an international shipping service either, though."
100% correct -- I misspoke.
powell-collectibles
·4 months agoIt is accurate for postage to a U.S. address - that rate would not work for a shipment to Canada.
glenvonnie
·4 months agoI'm aware of the actual costs for shipping internationally.
I'm also aware of the fact that international buyers were notorious for scamming us sellers with fake INR and INAD claims in order to get refunds for items that they wanted to get for free because we couldn't prove delivery with the inefficient foreign postal services and we didn't want to pay high return shipping costs for a brick.
That's why I and many others stopped shipping internationally until eBay took full responsibility for those items with EIS.
grann-4629
OP4 months agoMakes perfect sense for a seller, but I am an eBay 'favoured' buyer meaning that their Policies are supposed to be geared more towards making me happier than making a seller just happy. That's what I see written here many times by mistreated sellers. In terms of buyers getting the best treatment on eBay, they dropped the ball on this one for any buyer living outside of the USA.
This is just my usual rant about the high shipping costs between our countries ... I am only 50 miles from the border! It may make sense for me to get a USPS box in Grand Forks or Fargo and go there once or twice a month to pick up my orders. The only problem with that is dealing with those awhole customs guys. I did that in the 'old days' when I was trading video stuff worldwide, but I don't drive anymore and all of my friends who drove are dead and gone. My partner of 52 years won't drive me as she dislikes my purchasing habits.
Time to go out for a break. The temp has dropped to a balmy +33 C.
Enjoy the evening all 😎😎
kibble-net
·4 months agoI'm not sure what your complaint is. EIS is a service offered by ebay to make it easy for sellers to ship internationally. Shipping costs money. Would you prefer this seller simply doesn't sell to you at all? Or are you expecting international delivery for free?
grann-4629
OP4 months agoNo, I would expect this seller, or any seller, to ship direct to me instead of using eBay's system. As I am a buyer (only) among many of my fellow Canadians, I cannot justify giving eBay money when it offers zero benefit to me ... as a buyer.
btw, I am a buyer.
Did I mention that I am a buyer?
If I was a seller in the US, I would definitely use the eIS system ... all I would have to do is get my item to another State and then wash my hands of it. The seller no longer cares what happens to my item ... nice deal!
My complaint? Charging me $28.00 to mail a package that weighs less than 2 ounces.
In this case, I dumped the items from my cart, and found the complete series in the original case with artwork and an extra CD soundtrack from another seller with $10.00 shipping.
tobaccocardyahoo
·4 months ago100% of the complaints I receive about the cost of EIS are from Canadian buyers.
I'd rather not have the sale than ship via Canada Post. My complaints about recent USPS service are it is becoming too similar to Canada Post.
eoma689485
·4 months agoThere is nothing wrong, it's working as it should - the seller will ship the items for free to eBay's Global Shipping Center, from there eBay takes over, and they charge for that service.
I suggest you find a seller willing to ship to your country - I doubt you will find someone willing to ship for free on a $2.49 sale, but you never know, as stranger things have been known to happen.
The seller does not get any compensation from eBay's eiS program, that $28+ goes to them.
grann-4629
OP4 months agothat $28+ goes to them.
That is exactly my point! eBay is ripping off (not scamming) buyers by providing hassle-free shipping to sellers once it reaches their hub. Tell me again how eBay treats buyers better than sellers 😎
eoma689485
·4 months agoJust took a look over at the USPS postage calculator -
I live in the Cleveland, Ohio area and to mail 2 Cd's to Toronto Canada - an astounding $26.00 for First Class International - and that is the cheapest rate I could find - maybe I did it wrong - but I doubt it. The Tariff number having to be inserted may have something to do with it also.
I suggest you go to the USPS site and try it yourself.
grann-4629
OP4 months agoCould not put text under pic!
Just to add that: "Who said eIS doesn't cost the buyer a huge amount of extra money" for their 'useless to buyers' feature?
Also, who said: "eBay caters to buyers as they already have enough sellers"?
😎