How Can I Tell How Much The Global Shipping Program Will Cost An Overseas Buyer?

[livecheapordie]

As the title says.

A prospective European buyer has asked me how much something, that I do not currently have up for sale, would cost.  I know how much I want for it.  I can go on the Post Office website to determine the cost for direct shipping, which seems prohibitively expensive.  But I don’t know how much the buyer would pay for shipping through the Global Shipping Program.  Does anyone here know how I could find out?  Would it be more or less than direct shipping?

[ittybitnot]

Would it be more or less than direct shipping?

@livecheapordie 

It is likely going to be more.  You may be able to see the total cost by going to your live listing, select "shipping" and on that page change your country of origin to the destination country.  BE SURE TO CHANGE IT BACK TO THE US WHEN YOU ARE DONE.  

There is no more "Global Shipping" Program.  I assume you mean EIS (eBay International Shipping)? 

[kensgiftshop]

The best way would be to set up a test listing with the correct weight and dimensions of the packed item and add EIS to the listing.

Then go to the listing and change your location to the buyers and you'll see how much it'll cost.

[toysaver]

Don't forget to add VAT. 

[steady2304]

It seems you are already using EIS shipping on your listings. All you have to do is create a listing for the item and instead of actually listing it, schedule it to start on a different day a couple weeks from now and then hit submit. That way you can see exactly what it would cost the buyer by changing the country in the scheduled listing. You can then contact the buyer and give them the cost and if they want to purchase all you have to do is go back and activate the listing.

[caldreamer]

If you ship "direct overseas" and item gets lost or damage you will be forced to give the customer a refund.    If you ship through EIS you will NOT be liable if item gets lost of damaged (EBAY will pay customer).  With EIS you are only responsible for getting item to USA location.

When you list item with EIS your customer can see what "total costs" will be.   You do NOT need to figure this out in advance.

[marnotom!]

Since you have a number of eIS-supported listings up right now, what you could also try doing is take a look at a listing for an item that's similar in size and change your shipping location in the listing to the buyer's country.  Assuming you're going to be using the same shipping method to get the item to Illinois, the price you see should be roughly the same as the price for your unlisted item.

You could also look at similar items from other sellers that way, although they may be using a different domestic shipping method than you so that could affect the total shipping cost to that particular country.  If you find shipping rates that are stupidly high, it could be the result of the seller using flat rate shipping within the US and not providing eIS information on the item's shipping dimensions and weight.

Having said all that, creating a test listing as @steady2304 suggests is probably the best way to get the most accurate shipping cost.

[marnotom!]

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@toysaver wrote:

Don't forget to add VAT. 

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I thought eBay added the VAT, not the seller, @toysaver.

[toysaver]

The buyer may assume it is included.

[marnotom!]

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@toysaver wrote:

The buyer may assume it is included.

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Then it's probably best that the seller simply say that the quote might be "before VAT".

[reallynicestamps]

Frankly , it's not your responsibility  to know that.

That"s between the buyer /importer and his country.

The GSP is no longer available. The replacement program is called eBay International Shipping.

Both are freight forwarders.

You can choose to have eIS include the import fees for overseas buyers or to charge them separately.

This is the big difference in "shipping and handling".

You would pay to have the product shipped to Illinois and the eIS plant.

They take it from there.
If you have opted to have import fees included, eIS does that automatically.

If you prefer to make the transaction seem cheaper, you can leave import fees out, and the customer will be surprised by a further charge on his doorstep.

Including the import fees is the sensible decision, both to avoid the surprise, and to avoid the customs delay scam.

If you want to know-- list the item for your potential buyer.

(I do this using their eBay ID as the title)

Then if the price they see is too high, they don't buy.

You can after an agreed period of time (48 hours?) revise the Title and leave the listing up, open to purchase by anyone who finds the total price acceptable.

Would it be more or less than direct shipping?

Generally less, because the overseas shipping is done en masse, not as a discrete shipment. Pallets are cheaper than single envelopes.

It's the import fees that are the question.

Given that your customer has revealed himself as a cheapskate, I would strongly advise you to use the eIS, which protects you against the aforementioned customs delay scam, since you are only responsible for delivery to the eIS plant in the USA.

But it's the cost of the import fees that are in question not the cost of shipping. And you are not responsible for knowing those.

[12345jamesstamps]

I am in a USPS post office every week...It's like entertainment sometimes.

People mail items all the time while I might be standing in line.

I see and hear everything....

Some people even mail their belongings USPS to a new place. LOL.

If  it's too complicated just use the USPS and you won't get an additional billing charge by eBay.

USA to other countries...please...I see people mail these big old very big boxes to other countries.

What's in them? Heck if I know. I find those shipping to Asian countries interesting with no problems.

As well as South America.