Locked
Discussion interactions are currently paused.
Is anyone in the USA able to ship to the UK?
For anyone who is not aware, eBay international shipping is preventing several categories from being shipped from the USA to the UK. The reason given is something about new 'special product safety markings' that are required by the United Kingdom. I have seen in the forums sellers who are unable to ship Iphones, car parts, clothes, toys, collectibles. I have not been able to find any information about this new requirement on the UK royal mail website, or with UPS, FedEX, USPS; none of these websites have any information alluding to this new rule. Is there any way of getting some clarity on this rule? This is a huge market that many American sellers are missing out on. Can eBay find a solution so that we can come back to a rational playing field?
From what I understand, sellers can still ship to the UK through eBay, using USPS or other carriers. The listing must be updated to either opt out of eBay international shipping or to include eIS and other carriers. My concern is, if eBay is unwilling to ship to the UK using the service that is guaranteed to the seller (meaning eBay is on the hook if the item I ship is lost or held at customs) is there indeed a risk to shipping to the UK, regarding this new rule of requiring 'special product safety markings'? If I ship an item, will it get stuck in customs and held? I get a few messages a week asking me why I can't ship to the UK, and I am losing sales over this. eBay is losing money on this as well.
For those in the USA who are shipping to the UK (without using eBay international shipping), have you had an increase in issues, or with undeliverable items? What categories are you selling in, and for those who are having issues like I am, what categories are you selling in?
Thank you for your time.
kh-vince
·2 years agoHi everyone,
Due to the age of this 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.
Thank you for understanding.
inhawaii
·2 years agoI think I recently sold/shipped a t-shirt to the UK via EIS.
brightlightbookseller
·2 years agoI was curious because I know we had shipped there before, and in the last 90 days we've had 24 orders shipped to the UK through the EIS program.
jessiebelle999
·2 years agoI'm having issues with selling to the UK all of a sudden. And it's just a vintage doll. So I don't understand why there are restrictions on that!
zakstreasuretrove
·2 years agoI've had worse, I've been able to sell, but the buyer is unable to pay. My particular example was an old probe for a Fluke multimeter. It was small and light. I sold it to a guy in Poland through EIS, and he could not complete the transaction. He sent me pictures of the message saying something along the lines of 'this seller does not ship to Poland'.
It turns out that the item was in a category that supposedly couldn't be sold there, much like the OP is saying, however, mine was after the sale was made. Payment was blocked. Why was he able to see the item in the first place?
This was about 4-5 months ago.
ringlord24
·2 years agoI have an interested buyer in the UK for hundreds of yugioh cards I have. He told me Ebay says they cannot ship them there through the international shipping program. It led me to check my listings. I have 1 pokemon card listing, 1Mega man battle chip listing, and all 3 of my yugioh card listings that cannot be shipped to the UK. That makes no sense they are all only cards.
carlmarxx
·2 years agothe Older collectables and toys made before UK's new policy have been opt out excepted and are bought by adult's as collector items . The UK government should have a excepted list of product's ,which they will have . Sellers here may have to opt out of EIS if they want UK buyers, Because it will take time to update their system .
dhbookds
·2 years ago@thinkofsomethingoriginal2 I don't know if a reshipper would work.......Many international buyers use them........you might ask on one of the UK boards for experiences....... The way it works, a US seller mails to a reshipper in the US and then they, the reshipper, handles the shipping to home country.....
As I understand it, the UK laws are what's preventing the shipments thru ebay.....ebay sellers are definitely NOT happy about it.........
dbfolks166mt
·2 years ago@thinkofsomethingoriginal2 I don't know if a reshipper would work.......Many international buyers use them........you might ask on one of the UK boards for experiences....... The way it works, a US seller mails to a reshipper in the US and then they, the reshipper, handles the shipping to home country.....
As I understand it, the UK laws are what's preventing the shipments thru ebay.....ebay sellers are definitely NOT happy about it.........
It's a combination of things the first being the new UK laws you noted the other being the way EIS applies a shotgun approach to complying with the laws. Rather than try to find a way to work within the laws they simply exempt whole categories or items which causes issues for sellers when the item is perfectly legal to ship under the new laws.
The sellers can also setup their listings to ship directly but of course they loose the seller protection under EIS and as the seller/shipper they would be the ones that would have to ensure legal compliance. The same would apply to a freight forwarder who would be the one responsible for legal compliance.
vonbonbon5
·2 years agoExcept no of us in the UK have a clue what ebay is on about
thinkofsomethingoriginal2
·2 years agoI am in the UK and I am trying to but a Disney doll from US and it says may not ship to UK, "contact seller for postage", I contacted the seller but they can't find an option that works, glad I found this post but still no solution? Seems really odd, its a plastic doll, there are loads of collectables etc. not available in UK but were in the US and vice versa, must be a lot of buyers and sellers losing out, I would understand if it was something that could be deemed dangerous but toys? Please let me know if there is a solution, thanks in advance
pushbx
·2 years agoAdd me to the list of someone that just lost a sale due to eBay not shipping to UK.
gamestoysandmorestore
·2 years agoYes! I just got one at 2:00 eastern time from the United Kingdom sending me a message that I do not ship to them. I have not excluded any countries except the ones it defaults to Ukraine, Russia etc. But to find out that the United Kingdom is not on the list of accepted countries either. Then i read this post. I had no clue items were restricted from going from the US to UK. I was trying to sell a plush toy.
outboardheaven
·2 years agoHave not been able to send boat parts. Even a simple rubber hose to UK!
windycitydolls
·2 years agoI have not been able to ship to the UK either - dolls (as in Barbie type). I'm not sure why a play doll can't be sent, and I've called so many times to Ebay, all they ever tell me is they know, it's a glitch, and will be fixed soon. It's 5 months now - ebay customer service is not very helpful unless it's a simple question. But really, they should figure it out, since sellers are losing out on sales.
vonbonbon5
·2 years agoYep, I've tried to buy Sybarite dolls from US sellers who had items I wanted for my collection and been thwarted by this new rule about UK Imports that no-one in the UK is aware of. The great irony being that the Sybarite dolls were designed in the UK, manufactured in China meeting all UK safety regulations, and then shipped to the UK company from where they are distributed.... and yet I can't have one shipped back from the US because Ebay say it will not meet UK safety laws!!!!
ckimodog
·2 years ago@vonbonbon5
This is an old thread from January 2024. It appears the OP worked their problem out as they are still selling. I doubt they'll reply.
Should you have any questions or concerns it is always a good idea to start your own thread to get the help and advice for your specific issue.
jessiebelle999
·2 years agoIt's still not fixed! I'm unable to sell dolls there as well. Its really frustrating
brightlightbookseller
·2 years agoAll or almost all toys are in the restricted category when it comes to shipping to the UK from the US. Nothing you can do about it, you can try direct international shipping but my understanding is they might hold/destroy it at customs and not permit it into the country, which would be worse than never making the sale in the first place.
v6boyo2012
·2 years agoI just came back from the post office this is February the 23rd 2024.
I tried to ship some proof sets of US coins about $30 in value to my sister in the UK they told me and showed me that no coins gold silver anything can be shipped to the UK so I hustle over to the UPS office and FedEx office but they don't ship International from where I am in northern Michigan.
dhbookds
·2 years agoBig discussion since last yr on this:
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Report-eBay-Technical-Issues/EIS-not-offering-shipping-to-UK/td-p/34026140
With answers from blues..........but no resolution that I know of..........
Unavailable member
·2 years agoI've shipped audiobooks on CD to the UK recently. I shipped eIS.