Automatic Enrollment in International Shipping

[dusabwl]

Just got a message that eBay automatically enrolled me in International Shipping, even though I have specifically excluded international shipping in my preferences. Had to go back in and "opt out," which could take a few days to process. Aside from the recent fee increases which eBay charges, it's unfair that eBay gets to decide how small sellers like myself choose to list, then puts the onus on me to "opt out." Seller Beware!

[1richdoug]

i opted out immediately!  the cost of shipping an envelope even a 5- 10.00 sports card!  a disaster waiting to happen!

[inhawaii]

You don't pay the international shipping, your customer does (if they choose to buy the item).

You only pay to ship to the ebay's US hub, the same as any other sale.

So "cost of shipping" should have no bearing on your decision.

[buyselljack2016]

yup, for those shipping low cost items without tracking it wouldn't work well. "opt out" is pretty much the best solution in those situations.  PWE isn't going to work for EIS.

Going in to "exclude countries" on a listing by listing basis would also not be a seller friendly process.

[monster-deals]

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@dusabwl wrote:

 even though I have specifically excluded international shipping in my preferences. 

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If you are enrolled in the new program you STILL don't ship internationally.

Why not just let buyers spend their money?

[stuff4divas]

@dusabwl   yea, announcement and emails sent out April 27 with links to opt out, easy to do

[dusabwl]

My gripe (aside from the fact that I didn’t receive the email) is that I shouldn’t have to do something because eBay changed my preferences — let the Seller “opt in.”  

[buyselljack2016]

being addicted to the community boards I was aware of the impending EIS program implementation, but to this day I have yet to be notified of my enrollment by email, or eBay message.

I have been watching. Checked a couple of days back. Lo and behold, there I am one of the latest inductees into EIS. (Only on 1 of 3 accounts)

No harm, no foul. I have 214 destinations blocked with my exclusion lists.

[stuff4divas]

@dusabwl  I understand, but then you would have the other side saying

"why didn't eBay just automatically enroll me instead of my having to go into xxxxx listings to upgrade the int'l shipping method?"  You know, some of the people, but not all of the people LOL

 

 

 

[trainup027]

I was distressed to receive this email the other day.  I didn't know much about the new program, I'd just heard that sellers who were in it got their listings hidden and messed up by the bugs not yet worked out (this possibly being the reason for traffic weirdness on the whole site). 

I'm not ready to take on international shipping, especially without fully understanding what's going on, and especially if I'm going to be an unwitting test subject for the new program.  I opted out as quickly as possible.  They should give us a choice to opt in - NOT tell us we're enrolled, whether we know about it or are interested or not.

That being said, if they get the kinks worked out, this would be a great thing for my business.  I'll keep my eyes open and see how it goes.  Maybe it will be worth opting in at some point. 

[monster-deals]

I'm not ready to take on international shipping

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If you stay in the program you won't be shipping internationally.

Why can no one understand that?

[reallynicestamps]

The big problem that US sellers are going to have is not the cost- as noted, your buyer pays that.

It will be that EIS does not charge import fees in advance, as the GSP did.

Which means that your overseas customers are going to be paying duty and sales taxes on their doorstep.

It also re-opens the "customs delay" scam which the GSP pre-payment of import fees protected against.

More to the point, US sellers pay a 4% (?)"international fee" when the buyer is registered outside the USA/ uses a non-US credit card.

The concern about customs paperwork is a wash, as long as the seller, lists in the right category. Any paperwork is minimal in any case, and automated at the EIS plant.

The concern about high shipping costs is unnecessary, not only because the buyer will be paying those, but also because USPS has very very low fees on their services, lower than most Western nations.

And shipping FVF is charged, not on what the overseas customer pays , but on the seller's chosen domestic shipping rate.

[childrensbooksandmorebyray]

This is total **bleep**. I feel sorry for the people who don't want this and don't read there ebay messages. I don't waste my time reading most of there junk.

How about a plan to not pay a percentage on sales tax and shipping it sucks, 

[marnotom!]

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@reallynicestamps wrote:

The big problem that US sellers are going to have is not the cost- as noted, your buyer pays that.

It will be that EIS does not charge import fees in advance, as the GSP did.

Which means that your overseas customers are going to be paying duty and sales taxes on their doorstep.

It also re-opens the "customs delay" scam which the GSP pre-payment of import fees protected against.

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Possibly, but as eIS takes responsibility for the shipment once it reaches the Illinois hub, wouldn't it be eIS who has to deal with this problem rather than the seller?

Besides, eBay is now collecting and remitting sales taxes/VAT on sales to most major international markets (Canada being a glaring exception) at the point of sale, so if the item is duty-free this shouldn't be an issue anyway, at least in theory.

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@reallynicestamps wrote:

More to the point, US sellers pay a 4% (?)"international fee" when the buyer is registered outside the USA/ uses a non-US credit card.

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Sales shipped through eIS are not subject to the International Fee.

[lestatsbggstfan77]

I did NOT receive an email regarding this and was automatically enrolled in it.  I’ve ALWAYS chosen not to ship internationally and eBay should NOT decide where I ship my items.  If eBay wants to run their site as a dictatorship, sellers like myself can decide to close their ebay accounts and move to formats such as Mercari.  Just saying!!