Ebay Global Shipping Program

[lludwig]

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Ebay Global Shipping Program

Has anyone used it? If so, what is your opinion?

We recently decided to give the Global Shipping Program (GSP) a try after another book went missing in the black hole of South America. Although we don't sell many books to SA, the last 5 or so in the past year never arrived. We did consider, of course, eliminating South America, from where we ship to but decided to first try GSP.

Also several months ago I had a buyer from Sweden email me about two volumes I was selling. He had recently purchased a large and heavy set of books and his shipping cost was less than what I could offer on just 2 much lighter books. 

When we checked a 7 vol set of regular sized books that we have for shipping to the UK, the buyer would pay about $40.00 in shipping which is less that what a Flat Rate Priority Medium Box would be. For us to ship those to a UK buyer, it would be at least double the cost or more.

Maybe by offering the GSP we might gain back some of the international buyers we used to have before postage costs became so high. GSP now ships to 102 countries.

http://pages.ebay.com/sellerinformation/ship-smart/global-shipping-program/help.html#tab=eligible-co...

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[lludwig]

September was a very good month for international sales for me. I had 6 buyers who bought a total of 13 books. One buyer was a repeat customer from Aug when he bought twice from me and  then came back in Sept. and bought two more times. Keeping my fingers crossed that he will be back this month!

The international customers were from 5 different countries: Switzerland, Italy, Australia, United Kingdom, and Canada.

[lludwig]

October was a slow month in international sales; also a slow month for me in domestic sales.

Sold 4 books to 4 buyers in Israel, the Netherlands, Germany, and Spain.

[lludwig]

End of the year wrap-up of international sales.

In November I only had 3 international sales: Switzerland, Australia, and Canada.

In December international sales picked up a bit and I had 5 international buyers: France, Canada (2), Australia, and Brazil.

It will be interesting to see what happens with the Brazil one since mailing to South America via USPS  had resulted in 4 or 5 lost books over the course of one year and is what prompted me to give the Global Shipping Program a try. Technically, I am only responsible for the book getting to Kentucky and the rest is on Pitney Bowes.  

[potter-more]

I have had them repack a couple of books I ordered from the UK. They put them in a black plastic bag with tape around it. Books destroyed, Seller refunded my money the GSP refunded the seller.

[circlecitydon]

Does anyone besides Ebay offer discounted Global Shipping?

[lludwig]

@circlecitydon - Wow! Long time no see. Nice to know that you are still around. I only sell on ebay and from our web site so I don't know if other selling sites have discounted international shipping. Perhaps those who sell on multiple sites will weigh in. 

Follow-up: The book that I sent to Brazil arrived safely. It first went to Pitney Bowes sorting center in Kentucky and Pitney Bowes then shipped it to Cincinnati where DHL took over the delivery to Brazil. DHL even required the customer to sign for it as proof of delivery. Such a relief to no longer have to hold my breath about shipping to SA. 

[lludwig]

My international sales continue to hold steady as buyers from even more countries buy books. The Global Shipping Program has proven to be an excellent way to increase my interational sales. Once in awhile I still get an email that the shipping cost is very high but then I send them what it would cost to ship via USPS which is almost always nearly double.

In January, I sold 6 books (1 of the 6 was a heavy two-vol slipcased set) to 4 different countries: Canada (3), Australia, Mexico, and Guatemala.

In Feburary, I sold 6 books to 4 buyers (1 buyer bought 3 books) to 3 different countries: United Kingdom (2), Australia, and the Netherlands.

[dreambooks]

Only recently have I sold a few items through Global Shipping. I stopped international shipping long ago. So I am glad to do international business again, LOL. But how does this work? I have never enrolled in this program and the sold items are all the same kind: gun magazines. I wonder why I never sold anything else through this program.

[downtownbooks-milw]

I haven't read all of the posts here, but I'd like to share a personal experience about the GSP.

On a number of occasions we've sold records through the GSP that never made it to their respective buyers because the record albums were deemed "prohibited" (Frank Sinatra and Doris Day albums), and the money was refunded to both the customer and our store. Flash forward a couple months, and lo and behold our items are up for sale by an ebay seller called 8ten1944, using our photographs and descriptions.

I'm not sure what's going here, but I don't like the smell of it.

As for the global shipping program overall, we do have frequent sales through it.

[lludwig]

@downtownbooks-milw- Thanks! Very helpful to know how  refunds are handled vs returning the item to you. Do you recall which countries prohibited Frank Sinatra and Doris Day albums? Also, do you recall where the seller (8ten1944) of those same items was located? I am curious if the seller was located in the same state as where the GSP center is located.

March and April were slow in international sales, but still better than before I opted into the Global Shipping Program

In March, 5 books to 3 countries: Canada, Germany, and France (3 books)
In April, 1 book to New Zealand

I had several requests from China but still unable to sell directly to that country. One buyer in China ended up having it sent to a friend in the US. Another one asked to mail it to Austrilia to a friend who was visiting there but I declined. It most likely would have arrived before the person returned to China, but I didn't want to risk it. I can't believe how many books I could have sold to buyers in China in the last 6 months or so if only ebay would permit it!

[downtownbooks-milw]

IIRC, both were going to buyers in Japan. The reseller is located in Michigan.

[lludwig]

downtownbooks-milw - I thought the seller might have been located in Kentucky and somehow was able to buy from Pitney-Bowes items that would not pass customs, but I thought wrong. It is strange that those two records were not allowed...You may already be aware of the huge interest in Japan in vinyl records, so much so that Sony opened its own record-pressing plant in Japan.

A 2012 article in the WSJ "Japanese Collectors Face a Record Shortage of Obscure Music"

https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10000872396390443696604577647870908169992

A 2017 article in the Japan Times, "Vinyl records enjoy streaming-led rebirth in Japan after three-decade hiatus"

https://tinyurl.com/y94aybhv

My international sales for May and June were strong, thanks to a repeat buyer in Germany.  He buys multiple books at one time. I am hoping he will come back soon since I have more in the genre he purchases. While the GSP saves a lot of money compared to shipping via USPS, we have it worked out where he emails me his list and I put the ones he wants all into one listing thereby saving him even more in shipping.

In May, I sold a total of 6 books internationally: Canada, United Kingdom, and Germany (4 books total to same buyer in two purchases).

In June, international sales totaled 9 books: Canada, Australia, Belgium, and Germany (6 books to same buyer in two purchases).

[taylor_memorial]

In the past three months I have lost half a dozen sales to overseas buyers who simply asked to cancel the order when they received the shipping price.

I have a $210 order pending right now going to Australia that is likely to also fall through because combined shipping to Australia is too high. Each book weighs a pound and a half or so: so I charge for 2 pounds media rate and then they charge for 8 pounds priority mail instead of 6.

I'm going to be offering a choice from this point forward so I can control the process somewhat.