What does 'Your excluded shipping locations will soon be managed by eBay' mean?

[tkmops]

What does 'Your excluded shipping locations will soon be managed by eBay' mean?

I just got a email 'Your excluded shipping locations will soon be managed by eBay' that states:
'We're writing to let you know that starting May 16, your eBay International Shipping settings will be updated to automatically manage excluded shipping locations for your listings. This change will help you reach even more buyers on a global scale, as your items will be available to locations based on their export eligibility. Our International Shipping Policy has also been updated to reflect this change'

I currently do not ship to 219 countries, as eBay and the post office do NOT track packages beyond the US border to those countries, and do NOT offer any kind of 'protections'. I use 'international shipping', just not to those 219 countries.

What does this new policy mean?

1) that eBay now offers tracking/protections to all countries world-wide?

2) that eBay will now allow all buyers world-wide to buy my items(even if I have those 219 countries excluded), but will not track/offer protections?

3) something else?

Thanks

[popch3]

Because there are more than 219 countries(which eBay/post office used to not track to, but they may now with this new policy)

[steady2304]

kyle@ebay devon@ebay elizabeth@ebay

If I have my listings with flat rate and no EIS shipping enabled, will I still be able to block certain countries and geographic locations (ie. Africa, S America, Middle East, France, Germany etc.) or will eBay override my exclusions list to those areas and show those with EIS shipping.

I am currently not enrolled in EIS shipping.

[chrisp22]

My experience with international shipping last fall was a surprise. Ebay turned on international shipping without my realizing it. So when I got an order using international shipping, it was a surprise.  I contacted Ebay, due to confusion about shipping and pricing - since the receipt posted extra shipping costs that I did not receive. When I learned that the package was going to the Hub, and I had no idea where the package was going after that - the Ebay rep told me 'not to worry about it', because I 'didn't need to know where the package was going.' And at that point, all communications were between Ebay and the buyer; no feedback would be posted for that sale. That is, I was completely out of the loop. 

While a sale is a sale, this process seems creepy. I like knowing who my buyers are. And I have no idea how Ebay is handling any potential issues.

Thanks for posting about this; I'll check for messages from Ebay about this new wrinkle in international shipping.

[marnotom!]

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@steady2304 wrote:

kyle@ebay devon@ebay elizabeth@ebay

If I have my listings with flat rate and no EIS shipping enabled, will I still be able to block certain countries and geographic locations (ie. Africa, S America, Middle East, France, Germany etc.) or will eBay override my exclusions list to those areas and show those with EIS shipping.

I am currently not enrolled in EIS shipping.

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If you currently are not enrolled in eIS, then you don't have any eBay International Shipping settings to update or modify.

[marnotom!]

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@chrisp22 wrote:

My experience with international shipping last fall was a surprise. Ebay turned on international shipping without my realizing it. So when I got an order using international shipping, it was a surprise. 

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My sense as a Canadian buyer (and past seller), @chrisp22, is that eBay really wanted to make sure that eIS was an option for sellers and if one missed the seller updates or news that made mention of it, they'd be sure to know that the program existed once they received a sale with it.

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@chrisp22 wrote:

When I learned that the package was going to the Hub, and I had no idea where the package was going after that - the Ebay rep told me 'not to worry about it', because I 'didn't need to know where the package was going.' And at that point, all communications were between Ebay and the buyer; no feedback would be posted for that sale. That is, I was completely out of the loop. 

While a sale is a sale, this process seems creepy. I like knowing who my buyers are. And I have no idea how Ebay is handling any potential issues.

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You and your international buyers are still able to message one another just as you would your domestic buyers.  eBay hasn't taken that away from you.  Unfortunately, there are some sellers who don't want anything to do with international buyers and go so far as to not want to sell to them, not just avoid shipping to them, and even the eIS system won't placate them.

As far as issues go, eBay often removes possibly problematic international destinations right on the listing page already for listings where eIS forwards the item.  For shipments that may seem problematic in other ways, the hub usually catches them and they dead-end.  The problem there is that sometimes the buyer isn't notified of this and as a result they're not automatically issued a refund out of eBay's pocket, and that's where you may end up hearing from your buyer first.

[adamcartwright]

If you opt out of EIS, you're on your own all the way around.

I don't know why anyone would opt out, though. Seems nuts.

[marnotom!]

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@adamcartwright wrote:

If you opt out of EIS, you're on your own all the way around.

I don't know why anyone would opt out, though. Seems nuts.

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Some stuff doesn't ship too well through eIS, @adamcartwright, due to restrictions on what eIS can handle.  Also, some stuff can be shipped much cheaper through direct shipping rather than eIS.  For example, a seller using the right postage provider and carrier can get a CD to me here in Canada for less than half of USPS's counter rate for First Class Package International.  If a seller is selling low-risk merchandise, it seems nuts to make international buyers pay more to receive it.

[stainlessenginecovers]

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@popch3 wrote:

Because there are more than 219 countries(which eBay/post office used to not track to, but they may now with this new policy)

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@popch3 The  VERY MOST amount of countries you can exclude, (not counting the US- what would be the point, not counting US protectorates. PO Boxes, APO's etc.) that a seller can exclude is 218 countries. 

[adamcartwright]

@marmars 

Ahh, thank you.

I was looking at the seller protection angle, but you've made a good point.

[quicksilverdiecast]

If you prefer not to sell to a certain country for whatever reason, and is on your sold chart you can always choose cancel order - something wrong with address.....