Had it with Ebay - forced my account to enroll in Intl Shipping

[rugerskick]

I don't ship international.  All my Ebay policies I have had set FOR YEARS! - are set up to not ship international.

Today they messed with my account.

First, I had to log in about 5 consecutive times in a row, I mean after logging in, they sent me to...the same login screen again!  Multiple times.  I get several emails from ebay saying a new device logged in.  Its the same tablet I have used the last two years.

Its gonna be one of those days, I thought.

I did not see any warning or notification email from them saying they decided to enroll my account in Intl Shipping program.  So I had no idea they pulled this garbage move.

I go to create a draft item.

I see in the shipping area, where my default policies are, gee I appear to be shipping international despite no shipping policies or business policies set to do anything international.

So I go into my preferences right away and opt out.  They need to know a reason.  Good grief.

And now it takes up to 24 hours for the opt out to take effect.

THIS IS SO WRONG TO FORCE PEOPLE INTO THIS.  ALL MY SETTINGS WERE SET TO NOT SHIP INTERNATIONAL YET THEY OPT ME IN TO INTL SHIPPING AND DON'T EVEN TELL ME.

NOT A GOOD MOVE EBAY.  NOT GOOD.

[dqdistribution]

I thought the new program was basically you only dealing with the domestic side.

Any disputes after the fact eBay is eating the costs for

I don't see the issue. :S

I want all my customers to be EIS if eBay is going to pay for all my refunds.

[lightlily_arts]

I quit shipping internationally back in 2008.   That was when eBay changed the return policy  and decided that sellers had to pay for the return shipping on claims.  I felt that the cost of international shipping was more than I cared to pay especially for frivolous returns.   I noted that eBay enrolled me in their international shipping program as well.  I just opted out.  None of my listings allowed for international sales so I wasn't worried.  Just another eBay annoyance.  The only way my stuff leaves the country is through a freight forwarder.  The buyer is stuck paying for the return shipping back to the states as I'm only obligated to the domestic shipping address.

[nuclearomen]

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@cardxcraft wrote:

@asset_liquidators

@nuclearomen 

Definitely understand.  Luckily, I sell postal history, and all of my items are flat...largest is 12x9 at 5 ounces, and 8x6 at 3 counces.  I've been pushing EIS pretty hard without taking in to consideration the factors you both brought up.

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@cardxcraft One issue with shipping weight is the boxes / trays I use... boxes are obtained through few suppliers and each one has a different weight of the box. For instance, newest boxes I have are from Uline, after packaging a release of single vinyl, single jacket, insert, record sleeve, plastic sleeve, sealable plastic sleeve, bubble wrap, cardboard tray, side cushions (bubble mailers cut to size and rolled) and then topped with packing popcorn the final weight has been coming out to 1 lbs 15oz - 2 lbs 2 oz - when I use boxes from Avante same exact packaging method always is used - final weight is 1 lbs 13oz - 2 lbs. The tiny difference in oz's to 2 lbs usually doesn't make shipping charge change but 2 lbs or more does. 

[joseh1445]

@dqdistribution 

Its not the case.  People from outside the USA, can still claim "Item Not As Described".  To be honest, ebay has had my back multiple times in the past when I ship abroad.  But this can change at any time.  Because of this, I stop selling to people from outside the USA. 

Just because ebay says something, it can change to some thing else in a day or two.

[buyselljack2016]

Mine only leave the country if a buyer uses FF, but I see this EIS as a better deal. Not presently using it, but there would be no return at my expense with EIS.

[marnotom!]

One of the problems with the old Global Shipping Program (GSP) was that some, if not many, sellers didn’t even realize that their listings were subject to being handled by the GSP if they didn’t have international shipping methods/rates listed but didn’t exclude non-US addresses from their shipping locations, despite this being mentioned as a possibility in the User Agreement.

I’m guessing that eBay is opting sellers into this program as a way of communicating the availability of the new program to those who may have missed all the fanfare about it.  From my perspective as a Canadian buyer, it seems straightforward enough to click the “opt out” link if a seller can’t or won’t make their items available to a larger market or if they want to ship internationally under their own steam.

Don’t sellers on eBay potentially ship internationally by default anyway unless they set their buyer requirements or exclusion lists to indicate otherwise?

[nuclearomen]

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@buyselljack2016 wrote:

Mine only leave the country if a buyer uses FF, but I see this EIS as a better deal. Not presently using it, but there would be no return at my expense with EIS.

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i have buyers who use FF, it works for me. But EIS can charge you return if INAD - at least that is how i understood it. I opted out of the EIS tonight just to double ensure they don't pull any funny stuff with my sales but noticed on the shipping section of create listing, for international, they had statement saying they would show listings to int. buyers, then under that where they state policies for shipping it said Int. Return Accepted ebay handles them. 

I know using EIS can increase sales and all that, never argued that fact, point is I don't care about that, I sell inside immediate US only for various reasons. I gave up selling outside US 12 yrs ago when I liquidated my distribution/label. There is no need for what I sell as a lot of it comes from overseas to begin with. 

[buyselljack2016]

EIS  INAD is covered by eBay at no cost to the seller.

[nuclearomen]

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@marnotom! wrote:

One of the problems with the old Global Shipping Program (GSP) was that some, if not many, sellers didn’t even realize that their listings were subject to being handled by the GSP if they didn’t have international shipping methods/rates listed but didn’t exclude non-US addresses from their shipping locations, despite this being mentioned as a possibility in the User Agreement.

I’m guessing that eBay is opting sellers into this program as a way of communicating the availability of the new program to those who may have missed all the fanfare about it.  From my perspective as a Canadian buyer, it seems straightforward enough to click the “opt out” link if a seller can’t or won’t make their items available to a larger market or if they want to ship internationally under their own steam.

Don’t sellers on eBay potentially ship internationally by default anyway unless they set their buyer requirements or exclusion lists to indicate otherwise?

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@marnotom!  you must define your shipping locations in your shipping settings of account. You can pick and choose what countries want to sell/ship to and exclude the ones you don't. Any buyers registered with US shipping address can order from you, i.e. someone in spain orders from your listing, but is going to a US address, residential or Freight Forward Service - ebay charges you the International fee on the sale because buyer location is in Spain, but they are shipping to US address. For the record, I've done US only since started on ebay this account, have buyers from out of US order and use US address / FF srv - never once had an issue. Just saying. 

[dqdistribution]

I don't know I've heard different stories.

From last I heard people open an INAD and you don't respond to it, you let it get escalated to a case that is handled by eBay. (Which seems scary because it's the last thing you want to do is for it to become a case)

But then the case gets closed and if a refund get issues it's not at the sellers expense. 

At least this is what someone told me they dealt with.

[dbfolks166mt]

     I will agree that the transition process has not gone particularly well there have been multiple issues reported with the unilateral modifications to sellers listings. The notification has also been a hit and miss some people received notification that they were being transitioned and some did not. 

     I was initially cautious about the new program because the seller protections they were offering with the program sounded too good to be true. However, there have been several postings on this forum that indicate eBay/EIS is standing behind the seller protections they are advertising. I opted back into the program recently but have not had any issues either good or bad to report at the moment. 

     There are a couple of drawbacks to the program the two main ones being that you cannot combine shipping at the moment, they are supposed to be working on that, and the size and weight restrictions are considerably less than the USPS limits and what you could ship under the GSP. There is also a considerable list of restricted items that are applied universally rather that being based on the import laws of individual countries. 

     The other issue is the domestic shipping leg to Chicago. The limit on first class for domestic is under 1 pound while for international first class, in most cases, the limit is under 4 pounds. If the seller was shipping directly they could use first class international, which I would assume the EIS program could/would use, for the international leg. 

     I am waiting to see a posting with regards to how eBay handled a NAD claim, either a direct eBay claim or a chargeback, under the EIS program and if in fact they protect the seller as advertised. I check the EIS policy at least once a week for changes, and they have changed it several times, to make sure they are not reversing directions on the seller protections. Given over 50% of eBay's transactions are now international it only made sense for me to opt into the program but if the program goes sour it will be easy for me to simply opt out. 

[splendidthreads]

A question about EIS for those who have already used it.  The shipping cost shown on the listing, with the destination changed to that country, is the full amount the international buyer pays? Or is it the amount to get the item to Ebay and then there is a hidden amount the seller doesn't see paid to get the item from Ebay to the buyer?  

Also, final value fees and promoted listings fees have the same format as domestic listings do?  If a buyer buys a $10 item that costs $10 to get to ebay and another $30 to get to them, the final value fee would be on what amount? $20 or $50?  Thanks!  

[marnotom!]

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@nuclearomen wrote:

@marnotom!  you must define your locations in your shipping settings of account. You can pick and choose what countries want to sell/ship to and exclude the ones you don't. 

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But is it possible to skip this step?  I’m pretty sure it was in an older version of the “Sell” form and that meant that the seller’s listings were potentially visible to all users, even if they didn’t have international shipping rates.

[marnotom!]

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@dqdistribution wrote:

I don't know I've heard different stories.

From last I heard people open an INAD and you don't respond to it, you let it get escalated to a case that is handled by eBay. (Which seems scary because it's the last thing you want to do is for it to become a case)

But then the case gets closed and if a refund get issues it's not at the sellers expense. 

At least this is what someone told me they dealt with.

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My understanding from a read of the terms and conditions for sellers is that how an eIS INAD is handled differs depending on the nature of the case.  An item damaged in transit is a different kettle of fish than a red widget that was described in the listing as blue.

[marnotom!]

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@dbfolks166mt wrote:

 There is also a considerable list of restricted items that are applied universally rather that being based on the import laws of individual countries. 

     The other issue is the domestic shipping leg to Chicago. The limit on first class for domestic is under 1 pound while for international first class, in most cases, the limit is under 4 pounds. If the seller was shipping directly they could use first class international, which I would assume the EIS program could/would use, for the international leg. 

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Re: Your First Point

Restrictions and prohibitions for eIS-forwarded items aren’t just based on the receiving country’s import laws but also carrier and insurance limitations, so there may be other reasons why certain items can’t be forwarded through eIS.  Also, given the number of countries eIS serves, it’s unreasonable to expect employees with limited training to keep abreast of every little difference between the import laws of all these countries.

Re: The Second Point

Since you’re sending the item to the eIS shipping hub as a domestic item, domestic shipping methods apply to that leg.  I’m not sure what your point is, to be honest.