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eBay International Shipping is a rip off for buyers!
I live in Canada and will NEVER buy from a seller using eBay International Shipping (aka Global Shipping Program) and I know I'm not alone. It's a complete and total rip off for buyers. The shipping cost is outrageous and completely random. Two identical items from the same seller will have different shipping costs. I swear someone at eBay throws a dart a board and whatever amount it lands on is what they charge. To make it even worse, there is no combined shipping. If a buyer makes more than one purchase from a seller, they have to pay ridiculously high shipping on each and every item. Doesn't exactly encourage buyers to make multiple purchases, does it? The shipping time is so much longer than if a seller ships directly. A seller mails something that sold to a "shipping hub" where it sits of up to three weeks (that's no exaggeration) before a new label is put on it and it's re-mailed. That's it. A new label. That's all eBay does to rake in more profit at the expense of buyers and seller. Yes, sellers. eBay charges final value fees to sellers based on the total cost of an item including shipping. Higher shipping = higher seller fees = higher profits. Just look at the financial figures. In the 4th quarter of 2023 sales were down 4% over the same quarter in 2022, but profits were up 2%. It's a losing game for sellers. You sell less and pay more to eBay.
This is from eBay's own Q4 report on their own website:
- Returned $379 million to shareholders in Q4, including $250 million of share repurchases and $129 million paid in cash dividends
- In February 2024, the Board of Directors declared a cash dividend for the first quarter of 2024 of $0.27 per share, an 8% increase from the prior quarterly dividend. The Board also authorized an additional $2.0 billion stock repurchase program, increasing the company's remaining stock repurchase authorization to $3.4 billion
It's corporate greed, plain and simple.
kh-shakhib
·1 year 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.
ekrabappel
·2 years agoTo add my 2c worth:
I usually avoid EIS (and its predecessor) as I tend to buy smaller and inexpensive items (coins and photo albums) for which it's very expensive. The problem lies in the fact that that everything sent via EIS is a package. In the case of coins (and sometimes albums) they can be sent as a letter which is always cheaper than a package. I used to buy a lot more from overseas before the introduction of GSP so certainly many of my OS purchases no longer take place. I find most sellers reluctant to send via mail and insist on EIS although it's a bit crazy when they want me to pay $45US to ship a single penny worth $2-3US. It's this mentality that I suspect has caused international sales of small low value items to completely dry up. I'm guessing those sellers on this thread who love EIS are not selling such items. One method I've recently started using is looking out for sellers with multiple albums using EIS. I ask if they could relist all items as 1 listing (usually with a discount). This has worked several times now and the shipping works out OK. One recent purchase involved 4 albums. Each album was listed as $45US shipping but as a bundle it was only an extra $9US so averaged out at around $20US per album. Much more reasonable. At least I don't think EIS uses the term 'priority' like GPS did. It certainly wasn't 'priority' shipping, and the use of that word was misleading. And yes, I wish Ebay would add a search filter to exclude EIS listings but I know they won't because that could mean less revenue.
itscalledapostingid
·2 years agoOf course the EIS properly ships the orders as a package...
Sending merchandise in a letter with First-Class Mail International is explicitly forbidden by USPS.
From USPS regarding First-Class Mail International:
Letters and flats must contain only documents and cannot contain any other goods.
Source: https://www.usps.com/international/first-class-mail-international.htm
It's also mentioned in other USPS documentation about First-Class Mail International.
No merchandise may be mailed with FCMI.
https://faq.usps.com/articles/FAQ/First-Class-Mail-International
(First-Class Mail International and First-Class Package International Service® are two different services.)
deserdog
·2 years agoI don't use EIS. I only sale to the US and Canada. My cost ot ship an 8 ounce package to Canada is $9.99, up to 1 lb. $12.99, up to 2 lb. $16.99, up to 3 lb. $20.99, and up to 4 lb. $27.99. Has point to point tracking.This is all equivalant of first class package international. Just one fee, domestic and international legs both included. Noramally takes 8 to 14 days. Do not do other international sales because for some of their ridiculous distant selling regulations and now packaging regulations.
bomifma
·2 years agoThank you for this post. It is helpful and provides further understanding on how this works for the buyer and seller.
tobaccocardyahoo
·2 years agoSounds just fine with me.
I live in the United States. Before Global now EIS I did not export anywhere. I have no interest in doing customs declarations, learning prohibited product lists and other regulations, and dealing with the delivery variations between various national post offices. And will not have to be concerned about whether the PO has end to end tracking.
EIS allows international buyers who are willing to pay the price to buy from me if they choose, and me to treat them exactly like domestic buyers.
If you choose not to buy from me, I am no worse off than if there was no EIS. I like the extra sales to international buyers, but do not require them.
worldcoinauctions
·2 years agoI feel your pain. If I ship a single coin to Canada in an ordinary envelope to a friend I'll take a piece of cardboard, put the coin actually in it and wrap it in paper because my post office clerk will press her hands on it and feel to see if there is anything but paper in the envelope. If there is the price goes to about $14. I won't do that for ebay sales though, they have to go through the EIS program since I've had too many issues in the past with buyers claiming something did not arrive. If I had a buck for everyone who said "just mail it, it's my risk" I could just quit selling. Sure it is, and when you file the INR and laugh I'm out the whole thing. Nope.
iamalwaysright
·2 years agoPersonally I like the EIS, because I've never used it and have streamlined my international shipping operations for decades now. The only sellers who benefit from using EIS are the ones who don't already have a beneficial or practical way to handle international shipping themselves and would have never offered sales to international countries in the first place. So for a seller like me, it comes down to price and risk.
As the OP pointed out, EIS shipping price is much higher than what I would charge for international shipping. Granted that a buyer might think my international shipping price is high compared to domestic, if put side by side with many EIS listings, my listing would look cheaper by comparison. Having more EIS listings should raise the "going shipping prices" and thus make my listings more attractive in price.
Any issues I'll have with those buyers won't be covered by seller protection like EIS would. But I already added that risk into the shipping cost I charge. So by volume I'll have enough extra profit to just refund the buyer, much like how sellers tell you to "self insure" yourself by raising your shipping price a little for profit vs using that amount to buy insurance.
Combine that with possible quicker transit and my listings would be quite competitive against an EIS listing. Basically EIS listings would make my listings look better by comparison to a buyer since it'll be relatively cheaper.
slati_2013
·2 years agoThe question is what would it cost to ship the same items via the USPS? I am going to go out on a limb and say no matter what eBay charges, it will still be probably cheaper than the USPS. I no longer ship internationally. The only times I do now is when someone buys through eBay's EIS. Without it, you would not be able to buy from many sellers.
marnotom!
·2 years ago@slati_2013, if the item is listed properly with accurate information on the item’s shipping dimensions and weight, eIS will calculate a charge for its portion of the shipping charge that is cheaper than the USPS equivalent counter rate.
The problem is that the buyer also has to pay the seller’s domestic shipping charge (to get the item to the Illinois hub) in addition to the eIS charge, and this can add a significant amount to the overall shipping charge paid by the buyer.
countdrewsky
OP2 years agoYou're totally wrong. I buy a lot is small paper items... stamps, postcards, photographs... US and UK sellers who ship normally don't charge more than $3 or £3 to mail to Canada. With eBay shipping from the US it's usually from $15 to $25 per item and as much as £25 per item from the UK.
marnotom!
·2 years ago@slati_2013 is not "totally wrong," @countdrewsky. Those US and UK sellers mailing postcards are using letterpost to send those small, thin, lightweight items, and because they're sending them as letters, they don't have customs documentation. The practice of mailing merchandise as international letterpost is actually being discouraged by the Universal Postal Union. Several sellers posting to the Canadian eBay discussion boards have reported that their international letterpost shipments of items such as trading cards are now being subject to random checks by Canada Post and being returned to them.
In a nutshell, eIS doesn't use letterpost to forward items because it's untrackable and doesn't have the required customs documentation. You're likely going to find over the next few years that sellers are going to have a harder time sending you merchandise by international letterpost. (Domestic lettermail isn't an issue, however.)
marnotom!
·2 years ago@countdrewsky, once I realized that the old Global Shipping Program was basically a glorified forwarding service, a lot of its quirks made more sense, even though I still didn’t like them.
eIS works on the same principle. The shipping rate you see on the listing page is actually the sum of two shipping charges: the seller’s charge for getting the item to the Illinois hub plus eIS’s charge for getting the item to its final destination.
eIS’s charges are actually less than USPS’s counter rates for similar services. Adding the seller’s charge to the eIS charge, however, can be a deal breaker.
Another thing that can mess up the shipping charge for an eIS-forwarded item is if the seller doesn’t provide the eIS shipping calculator with information on the item’s shipping dimensions and weight because they’re using flat-rate shipping for their domestic sales. In situations like these, the calculator seems to use a category maximum, which looks really bad on smaller items.
I’ve purchased two items that were forwarded through eIS to me on Vancouver Island. The total charges seemed a little steep, but if those sellers used the same USPS flat-rate envelopes they used to get the items to the hub to ship directly to me, I would have paid a lot more than I did to eIS, so there’s that.
Using forwarding and consolidation services for cross-border shipments is becoming more common as shipping costs rise. My wife buys a lot from the US from non-eBay sources and they all come with a label in top of another one. Direct mailed shipments from the US to Canada are becoming a rarity, from what I can see. (Incidentally, the eIS hub does more than just relabel and redirect items. It also prepares items for customs.)
therogue-trader
·2 years agoWith the old GSP, the international leg was insured and the insurance was pretty robust (i.e. not a big hassle where they give you the runaround). I've been on both sides of GSP insurance claims (i.e. as a seller and a buyer) and never had issues with getting a payout and it was a simple process. I assume with the newer EIS program (the one replacing GSP) it's the same, although I haven't had any need for the insurance yet.
tldr; the high shipping cost includes really good shipping insurance
dbfolks166mt
·2 years agoWith the old GSP, the international leg was insured and the insurance was pretty robust (i.e. not a big hassle where they give you the runaround). I've been on both sides of GSP insurance claims (i.e. as a seller and a buyer) and never had issues with getting a payout and it was a simple process. I assume with the newer EIS program (the one replacing GSP) it's the same, although I haven't had any need for the insurance yet.
tldr; the high shipping cost includes really good shipping insurance
With EIS the only time you would have to worry about or deal with insurance is on the domestic leg of the shipment. Once it reaches the hub the EIS program becomes responsible for the international leg and ANY issues or claims from the buyers, including chargebacks.
onlinecentral
·2 years agoYou have misdirected your anger at eBay. Contact the federal governments within USMCA to get cheaper trade on selling websites to benefit buyers and sellers. It costs less to ship to Hawaii than it does 60 miles across Lake Erie.
chapeau-noir
·2 years agoI'm using EIS (first time I've ever tried an eBay program - before I always just shipped international myself) and it seems fine, but I'm thinking of excluding Canada from the program and just shipping there myself - the Canadian border is a hop, skip and a jump away from me (I've even ridden my bike up there a number of times) so it seems a bit much to be sending items through a fancy hub.
toysaver
·2 years ago"Two identical items from the same seller will have different shipping costs."
I have listed identical items that showed different shipping costs because the shipping box was not the same size. I try to recycle boxes. I use what I have. Sometimes I have to custom build a box. I've had things waiting to list sitting around for months just because I can't find the right size box.
itscalledapostingid
·2 years agoI am not concerned about any of the things you mentioned. I am a little confused as to why you think ebay and their share holder's profits would cause anyone to dislike the program.
Many sellers who use the program are those who otherwise wouldn't do international sales at all.
The buyers I get with the program are the ones who simply don't mind paying extra for something they really want. I have never had complaints from any buyers with GSP or the new EIS program.
It's a win for buyers and sellers as far as I'm concerned.
inhawaii
·2 years agoExactly!
We're not forcing it on them, it's an option that they can decline if they feel the price is too high.
ebeths_eclectic_collectibles
·2 years agoYup, I recently sold an item that went to Mexico. Without the program I would never consider shipping to Mexico
countdrewsky
OP2 years agoAnd we don't buy. I guess it's your intention to reduce your sales as you alienate buyers.
robbie31415
·2 years agoSo If I turn it off you don't buy at all.
If I turn it on then I alienate some of you but some still buy and increase my sales.
Sounds like EIS is the way to go. Some is more than none.
asset_liquidators
·2 years agoI tried it for a couple weeks. I quit shipping international 20+ years ago but after reading up on it I figured I would give it a shot. I had two sales, both resulting in cancellation requests within an hour or so of purchase.
Went in after the 2nd one and disabled EIS.
robbie31415
·2 years agoI haven't had any cancels but if I did I wouldn't care.
I use the OOS function so all cancels reflect as an actual sale increasing listing 'sold' count.
Plus eBay gives more advertisement marks for previously sold listings.
It would be different if I did auctions.
edition_deluxe_rarebooksllc
·2 years agoYou must not have been a seller before the shipping program began. Because I personally have lost around 200k per year from my international business drying up. I can't compete with shipping costs that increased 10x or more! Put that in perspective if shipping was $20 it's now $200 for the same weight and size.
The point is you don't know how much better it could be, and it could be so so so much better.
Oh, and you aren't getting complaints from users because the messages, feedback etc are all handled by eBay after you have shipped to eBay's hub. Unless a buyer contacts you through another item, social media etc. you will hear nothing from them, but eBay might, and you'll never know! They also can't leave you negative feedback (or it's not posted). If they are going through all that it's because there is something to hide.
itscalledapostingid
·2 years ago@edition_deluxe_rarebooksllc
So don't use the EIS program and go back to shipping directly!
You know you can do that right?
edition_deluxe_rarebooksllc
·1 year agoYes I know how to change it, and yes shipping TO Europe, etc is a big loser, even with shipping direct through USPS, FEDEX and UPS. (my current available options through eBay)
Buying from there is not, as their shipping rates are somewhat reasonable and there are plenty of deals to be had as a result. I too lost a large bundle of sales to international customers, but I had enough stateside to continue in my business. Many were not so fortunate.
Funny thing is, all the eBay shipping program does is have you ship it to them, then they just ship via DHL and for anyone who has sold on Amazon knows they are often times so much cheaper it's unbelievable, like USPS = $40 DHL = $15. Hence why eBay doesn't let you ship via DHL (or have it as a option), they just run their little scam to pick up the difference. Pretty disgusting that they would ruin all those potential deals just so they could make that money for themselves (seems shortsided), I'm sure they ran some calculation as to business lost vs. profit gain--like when an airline ignores a safety issue because to fix cost less than the potential payout when people actually die.
The current board of directors cares nothing about building the business, nor do they care to make the site better, they only want to grab as much short term cash as possible and are willing to burn the boats in the process. If a board, collectively, owns less than 1% of the shares (stocks) it is a good indicator as to their hope for the future, and generally a good reason NOT to invest in said company.
itscalledapostingid
·2 years agoYou can opt out here:
Shipping Preferences (ebay.com)
gamersbaystore
·2 years agoYep, the only reason ebay's profits are up is because they continually jack up fees and rob their sellers blind.
According to reports from financial analysts and media outlets, ebay has lost millions of buyers and sellers over the past 2 years alone, and the platform as a whole has lost billions of dollars in sales during that same period of time.
Those massive payouts to shareholders and ebay's executives comes at the cost of fleecing sellers for every dime they make. I'm paying 25% on average per sale now, no thanks to ebay's promoted extortion, which forces you to give up half the sale to get so much as a single view.
Not to worry though, ebay's competitors like Mercari are absolutely destroying ebay. Mercari also charges no fees of any kind to sellers, except for $2 for payouts.
I spoke with Mercari's CEO just a few weeks ago, a very kind and caring man, who unlike ebay, actually cares about the wellbeing of his sellers.
I'm getting personally involved to help ensure Mercari's long term success, and could care less if ebay fails. ebay treats its sellers like total dirt and it shows. I wont say what that involvement is, but it does involve the media, lots of surprises coming from Mercari in the near future, stay tuned.
mam98031
·2 years agoYep, the only reason ebay's profits are up is because they continually jack up fees and rob their sellers blind.
If that is your response to the OP's concern, you'd then be incorrect. EIS does NOT cost sellers more money in fees. In fact it costs us LESS. When a seller is using EIS, they do not have to pay the International Fee of 1.65%.
Those massive payouts to shareholders and ebay's executives comes at the cost of fleecing sellers for every dime they make. I'm paying 25% on average per sale now, no thanks to ebay's promoted extortion, which forces you to give up half the sale to get so much as a single view.
You use Promoted listings as a CHOICE and YOU set the additional fee that you are willing to pay for a sale. Those are all choices you have made for yourself. While Promoted listings work well for some sellers and not so much for others, it is a choice for each seller to make. You decided to set your percentage high, that was your choice. Most sellers do not use the program.
Not to worry though, ebay's competitors like Mercari are absolutely destroying ebay. Mercari also charges no fees of any kind to sellers, except for $2 for payouts.
Interesting take on this very unusual change that Mercari has made. From what I've read, Buyers are not very receptive to having to pay the fees. And since this change is only about 3 weeks old, it is clearly way too soon to make a determination if this was a good move or bad move.
Your statement is a bit misleading too. Mercari requires that sellers with listings that predated March 27th either lowers their pricing by the selling fees that use to be charged to them. If they don't, then they are still required to pay the selling fees, not the buyer.
Time will tell how this will work. It is a very interesting to me to watch and see how this works out in the Months to come.
inhawaii
·2 years agoI use it and I love it.
It gets me sales that I otherwise would lose.
I realize it's costly for the buyer.
The buyer has the option to buy it or not.
What's the harm in that?
countdrewsky
OP2 years agoYou do realize you're losing sales by using it, don't you? There are many buyers like me who refuse to be ripped off and will scroll on past. It's a lose-lose situation. Buyers lose out on things they want and sellers lose out on sales. Makes no sense.
marnotom!
·2 years agoI doubt that @inhawaii is losing sales as a result of using eIS. Most US eBayers can make a decent go of it just by selling within the United States, unlike us Canucks who have a much smaller domestic market. US sellers tend to offer international shipping as a convenience, whereas Canadian sellers have to offer international shipping in order to survive. If an international buyer doesn't buy @inhawaii's widget, it's likely that a US buyer eventually will.
I'll grant you that many if not most sellers who use eIS probably don't bother to check their listings periodically to get a sense of just how much eIS is charging on top of their domestic shipping charge.
inhawaii
·2 years agoNot using EIS: Zero international sales.
Using EIS: Some international sales.
How am I losing money?
carlmarxx
·2 years agoWhen ebay started their GSP it cost me my international buyers ,because they though all U.S. sellers would be in it ! Which was never the case . Also with the USPS international 1st class rates kept going up didn't help at all . around 2019 ebay started standard international their 1st class version of GSP which was the better deal then USPS 1st class international . Ebay used DHL international freight shipping
iamalwaysright
·2 years agoI think he's talking about alienating international buyers you never would have had in the first place.
Not using EIS: 0% alienation of your pool of buyers which consists only of domestic
Using EIS: 50% alienation of your pool of buyers which is now larger and consists of domestic/international
I threw that 50% randomly to make a point. It's perspective.
Pessimist might say EIS is alienating 50% of your pool, but not using EIS is alienating none of your pool. Optimist might say 50% of my pool of 100 buyers is better than 100% of of my pool of 40 buyers.
I think we can agree though that an international buyer would probably prefer to buy from a non EIS seller versus an EIS one. That's why I like EIS as stated in my previous reply, because I can blow a competing EIS seller out of the water as illustrated by the OP and their feelings towards it. 💥
inhawaii
·2 years agoGotcha!
In my case (and I think many other sellers) it's EIS or no international shipping.
iamalwaysright
·2 years agoYup. They no stated 3rd choice which obviously contains all the apples. ✋
On that note, it'd be nice for me if ebay allowed a buyer to see if a seller is using EIS or not 😀
itscalledapostingid
·2 years agoIt is shown as "Ebay International Shipping" in the listing's shipping details.
mam98031
·2 years agoI like EIS. I use EIS. And I will continue to do so. It works well for me.
kensgiftshop
·2 years agoDo you realize more sellers are willing to sell to International buyers thanks to Ebay International?
12345jamesstamps
·2 years agoI don't use it either.
It's for bigger items for shipping.
We don't need tracking for inexpensive items under 20 bucks.
Funny thought...items shipped without tracking arrive real quickly...and that's a win for obtaining "repeat buyers" and not one time buyers.
Why would I buy ink, paper and use my printer to print a shipping label?
To save a few cents?
I don't get it.