Ebay Int. Shipping problem and advice
Summary: normanchas shared a frustrating experience with eBay's international shipping system, where unexpected charges led to the cancellation of a sale, which initially resulted in negative feedback from the buyer. However, after an apology, the feedback was revised to positive. dbmm-media and momtoabeautifuldaughter discussed the risk of receiving bad advice from agents and the potential consequences of canceling orders. bdmh-enterprises provided detailed insights into international shipping options and clarified misconceptions regarding eBay's shipping and tracking requirements, helping normanchas better understand how to manage shipping settings effectively. The discussion concluded with additional questions from normanchas about offering affordable shipping options for low-value items, which bdmh-enterprises addressed by recommending the use of 'Economy International Shipping' for lower costs.
I sold a lot for 7.50 yesterday. I was sending out invoices and when I got to one going to the UK for 7.50 it said "Invoices can not be sent for items in ebay Int. shipping" or close to that. Now I have not used that and didn't have it included in my shipping choices as far as I know. So I put that on hold. Later I noticed it had moved from unpaid to paid. So I looked and yes there was a psid invoice with VAT. Now I can only assume Ebay sent an invoice. Ikept going as I thought it would be good to see how this worked with glowing terms of we do everything for you. Customs etc. And a low cost because you only pay for it to get to our US hub and we get it to other countries. All of that sounded good. So I have to buy shipping labels for all US, under $ 20. is fine but I'm on my own cost wise for more expensive items. So I tried to buy a shipping label. and it said my cost would be $ 14.00 This no longer sounded like a good deal. Without any knowledge that this would be used and $ 14.00 to send a $ 7.50 stamp?? I went to help and finally got an agent on the phone. I told her the story and that I wanted to cancel the shipping method as I would be losing a lot of $. SHe said I would have to cancel the sale. I said I had many bad knocks for doing that for out of stock items. She said to cancel it and say the reason was a problem with buyers address, which is a choice. I double checked that it would not hurt me and said no it won't .So I was going to send the stamp to him but of course the sale was cancelled and I had no invoice. I put that on hold to figure out what to do. Apparently the buyer was notified of the cancel and the reason. I was about to send him a message to say what was going on and I saw that I had a Negative feedback. Yes it was from the buyer. This is what he wrote
:
Not happy with you cancelling this order as I regularly buy from the USA and never have problem with my address.
I believe that you expected more money than it sold for so you have founsd a way out.
I wrote him a message saying very sorry and the whole reason for what happened. I implored him to revise his negative feed back. I went to bed upset at this whole deal. When I got up today I saw the negative was gone and a nice positive was there. I'm sorry this got so long. Just wondering how other that use this shipping feel about it. The agent told me the normal charge was 9.50 or so and the $ 14. charge was because of this or that. I would be willing to try it again if I knew the whole charge would be under $ 10.00 as USPS int. package first class is $ 19.00 Thoughts please?
bdmh-enterprises
·2 weeks agoI see you have 'eBay Standard Envelope' as shipping on most of your items, but the one that sold for $7.50 had 'First Class Letter' as the shipping method. That is why the ESE label was not available to purchase and it defaulted to a more expensive service.
Sending items to the eIS hub with a stamped envelope is fine, just be sure to include the entire address as given. If you want to use ESE for everything you should check your listings to make sure others don't have first class selected for shipping as well.
When you qualify for eIS it will show up on all your listings. You can opt out from your 'shipping preferences', but I wouldn't recommend it. Since eIS orders ship to IL, they are effectively domestic sales but with protection from any return claims.
I'll also add that sending invoices is unnecessary in most cases. Unless a buyer wins multiple auctions or requests one from the cart eBay will send invoices/payment reminders automatically.
For eIS orders, multiple auction wins can not be combined and must be shipped separately, on BIN as long as the buyer uses the cart correctly they will combine automatically, anything paid separate will need to ship separate.
normanchas
OP2 weeks agoI put ebay standard envelope on all items $ 20.00 or under because ebay is requiring me to get tracking on all items even if it is for.05 as I had a few yesterday. On most of the items yesterday I think I deleted International sales, so I'm not sure how a UK buyer even bid on it. I am still trying to find out what the charge is for foreign shipments. The promo says " No Extra Charges for Sellers: eBay states that there are no additional charges for shipping items internationally through the International Shipping program. Sellers will not incur international fees when they ship items to the designated domestic shipping hub in the U.S. before eBay handles the international shipping."
This is misleading and not true. The program was going to charge me $ 14 or $ 17. to send a 7.50 item. So I'm hesitant to use it more
bdmh-enterprises
·2 weeks agoAgain, the item that sold for $7.50 did NOT have ESE as a shipping option. It had First Class Letter and shipped to the US, UK and Canada. You really need to check the shipping details of your listings, they're all over the place.
eBay does NOT require tracking nor penalize sellers that don't use it. You simply can not achieve Top Rated level without it and even then you only need 95% to be tracked.
The "program" didn't try to charge you. With eIS you use and will be charged for whatever shipping service you would use to send anything else to IL. Many of your listings have First Class Letter as the shipping option. Since you need to use your own stamp for that, if you go to purchase a shipping label the only options will be for package shipping priced based on the weight and dimensions you input.
What service, weight and dimensions did you use to get $14? A 1oz 6x4x1 mailer should be just under $6.
normanchas
OP2 weeks agoeBay does NOT require tracking nor penalize sellers that don't use it. You simply can not achieve Top Rated level without it and even then you only need 95% to be tracked.
This is NOT TRUE. I don't mean to be argumentative, but I have been dealing with a below standard rating since July. EVERY item that I just sent with out tracking was flagged as "Tracking uploaded on time and validated" this rate was way high just for my above standard rating. I have never been a Top Level. I was also flagged for some times that the post office did not scan an item with tracking. I can't be responsible for what the PO does. Here's a breakdown of transactions in which tracking wasn't uploaded on time or didn't receive a carrier scan. ReasonQuantity%Not uploaded at all 33.06%Uploaded late88.1Uploaded on time but no carrier scan I am now in compliance. They added 8 more on the 9/20 rating that were all paid in one invoice and shipping. I could go on and on, so I have been dealing with 6% extra commission and other things. I now just have 1 too many defects.
The dimensions I used were a legal envelope 9.5 x 4 x 1. This is what I use for my US shipments with no problem for the .78 first class rate. This is what I found for ebay standard international for a minimum UK package they are class 2. and I mis spoke it was $17.00 not $14.00 LBs Country number 1 2 0.5 $15 $17
bdmh-enterprises
·1 week agoNow I see the problem. Your listings are NOT enrolled in 'eBay International Shipping'. The listing in question offered direct 'First Class International Package' with a flat $2.00 shipping charge to the UK and Canada. $14-17 is what FCIP should cost. The 'eBay Standard International Delivery' is a semi direct service, often a little cheaper, that eBay offers. This is NOT eIS.
Perhaps you meant to list it for 'First Class International Letter', but that is not an option and you need to use 'Economy International Shipping' on your listings. Then you can just use your envelope with an International Forever stamp.
Again, check your shipping settings, the few listings I looked at all had different International shipping options.
As for metrics, the 'tracking uploaded on time and validated' only affects top rated status. As you can see in my screen shot there is no red 'below standard' bar for it as there is for the metrics that do count against you. If you are paying a higher FVF that is because of: high rate of NAD or INR requests, cases closed without seller resolution and/or high out of stock cancellations (or false cancellation reasons reported by buyers).
normanchas
OP1 week agoOK.. thx much for the info. I will absorb it all. Norman
normanchas
OP1 week agoSorry to bother you again but questions on Int. Shipping. I sold a stamp to Canada today. It was $ 166.00 In order to try the Ebay Shipping I enabled it. In my listing I had USPS FCMI @ 15.00 selected. I was unsure how this would be billed. But it came back to me as Ebay Standard Inter. @ 15.00 I printed out the shipping label and will give it a try. I will have a question on selecting EIS in my template as I don't see it listed as an option. Only Economy, Standard & Expedited at the bottom. Are these Ebay? I do see this: International shipping
Default service
eBay International Shipping
Send to our hub in the US and reach buyers worldwide with no extra cost or effort.
so even if something else is offered will it just go to Ebay? Thanks for your time. I'm still confused but trying to learn. Norman Hinds
dbmm-media
·2 weeks agodon't cancel orders
normanchas
OP2 weeks agowell I was told by the agent to do that. She stayed on the phone to tell me how.
momtoabeautifuldaughter
·2 weeks agoAgents can give bad advice, you shouldn't cancel orders as too many can get you banned from selling
normanchas
OP2 weeks agothanks.. that what I was worried about. I asked if doing that would hurt me and she said no, not for the reason given. I'll have to be more careful and check what agents tell me.
momtoabeautifuldaughter
·1 week ago · EditedYeah we usually give better advice here than agents..
normanchas
OP1 week agook.. good to know. thx for your time. I just found this chat a week ago