New International shipping being automatically foisted on sellers.

[junkforjoysc]

Will sellers be able to offer free shipping to domestic buyers and have international buyers pay shipping? As a US seller I offer free shipping to US buyers, but international rates can be all over the place, depending on what country the buyer is in.

[chris13]

Someone correct me if I misunderstand how it works...

Calculate to US might be $7.95, if EIS customer buys they see ($7.95+eBay EIS add on shipping costs)

Free shipping to US = $0, if EIS customer buys they see ($0.00 + eBay EIS add on shipping costs)

EIS will act as two 'legs' in the shipping flow with one leg being to the clearing house where customs papers are generated and add-on International shipping is supplemented, the other leg being charges we dont see as sellers.

Great question.

[pay-7624]

Yes, as a seller, you can offer free shipping to domestic buyers and have international buyers pay shipping. This is a common practice among many online sellers, especially those who sell on marketplaces like eBay or Amazon.

You can set up your shipping preferences to offer free domestic shipping and charge international buyers for shipping. When you create your listings, you can specify that you offer free shipping for domestic buyers and charge a separate shipping fee for international buyers. You can also specify the shipping rates for each country or region where you are willing to ship.

It's important to be transparent with your shipping policies and to clearly communicate any shipping fees to your buyers. This can help to avoid any confusion or misunderstandings and can lead to better feedback and customer satisfaction.

[chris13]

@pay-7624  Thats how it works for setting up your own International shipping options, but is that how it will work for EIS?

"When shipping your item to our domestic shipping hub..."

eBay International Shipping | eBay

"The buyer will be charged US shipping costs that you've specified, as well as international shipping, handling, and other fees as determined by eBay. "

[southern*sweet*tea]

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@chris13 wrote:

@pay-7624  Thats how it works for setting up your own International shipping options, but is that how it will work for EIS?

"When shipping your item to our domestic shipping hub..."

eBay International Shipping | eBay

"The buyer will be charged US shipping costs that you've specified, as well as international shipping, handling, and other fees as determined by eBay. "

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It works the same way. 

I only offer int't shipping on my postcards right now, and I have added EIS just to see what happens.

US buyers see free shipping, int'l buyers see the EIS price to their location. 

@junkforjoysc   Yes, you can offer free US shipping and charge a price for international sales, be it shipping on your own or through EIS.

[chris13]

@southern*sweet*tea I am trying to learn this too, but still confused a bit.

Scenario #1

I only setup Shipping (free ship) to USA, but do not disallow other countries in exclusions, EIS turned ON

Results: 

ALL International buyers see (cost for USA shipping to US Shipping hub free or not) + EIS generated Intl costs I never setup or see.

Scenario #2

I setup Shipping to USA as free, do not disallow other countries in exclusions, EIS turned OFF

I setup International Shipping rates to Germany for $28

I do not setup other international shipping rates.

Results:

Buyers in Germany see $28 (not a combination of US + $28)

Buyers in USA see FREE

Buyers in say 'Egypt' see the 'Seller May allow shipping, contact for rates' text

I dont understand your comment 'Works the same way', could you clarify?

[shipscript]

@chris13 

You are correct, with one caveat. Currently EIS is not applied to listings that already have other international shipping options selected (USPS intl or EISD).

https://www.ebay.com/sellercenter/shipping/ebay-international-shipping

I have not tested whether EIS can be disabled on new listings by selecting an alternate intl option, as we are told that the only way to disable EIS at the listing level is to turn off all countries (all exports).

When EIS is the option, the buyer will see the domestic shipping chosen by the seller, added to the International leg, as a single international cost, while the seller only sees and pays the domestic leg.

When an alternate Intl shipping option is available, the buyer will see the international value based on the seller's intl rate chart, or based on the EISD price.  So if purchasing a USPS label, the seller will pay for the full international shipping. If purchasing an EISD label, the seller will pay the combination of the domestic leg to the export center and the international leg from there to the buyer - and the buyer will pay the entire ticket.

[chris13]

@shipscript  Thank you!

I hadnt thought through the ramifications of the shipping label costs. I assumed eBay was transparently 'buying' the label for the 2nd leg in the EIS scenario and taking an offset out of the buyer's total cost, since I was imagining a new label being added with customs paperwork at the shipping hub...

Also good to know about the relatively unexplored interactions between non-EIS and EIS shipping rules.

One thing I do know, I am glad I wasnt working on this code as a test engineer. Complex!

It does sound like big improvements once the kinks get ironed out since ultimately we can offer worldwide shipping without knowing either about customs or worrying about International shipping rule setups. 

[stainlessenginecovers]

International Buyers ONLY see, AND pay, the 'nternational shipping' cost that EIS has determined; by YOUR size/weight being accurate. 

Does NOT matter, and International Buyers do NOT see what the shipping cost is domestically (if Free or Flat or Calculated) unless they visit the .com and use a US address in the Shipping Tab.

Basically, you can click any of your own items, scroll down and hit the 'shipping' tab; then input 'any other country' and you will see what they pay.

ps; be sure to put back to USA, or anything you look at will show this inflated international shipping price on ANYTHING you look at, going forward. 

[monica-sells]

Lots of good EiS info here....but

I jad to look up "foisted"

LOL

[a_c_green]

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@shipscript wrote:

@chris13 

You are correct, with one caveat. Currently EIS is not applied to listings that already have other international shipping options selected (USPS intl or EISD).

https://www.ebay.com/sellercenter/shipping/ebay-international-shipping

I have not tested whether EIS can be disabled on new listings by selecting an alternate intl option, as we are told that the only way to disable EIS at the listing level is to turn off all countries (all exports).

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I think you have just identified the cause of the weirdness that I've been banging my head against, in a thread of mine over in the Shipping group: 

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Shipping/Listings-scheduled-with-eBay-Int-Std-Deliv-getting-changed-to... 

I was actually trying to use eIS as my default international shipping method on the basis of its promises for both tracking and insurance to (apparently) all countries, as USPS First Class International only promises Delivery Confirmation to countries on the e-DELCON list. I then added Priority Mail International as an upscale rate for buyers in a hurry.

What happened was that I could set up that Shipping options arrangement of eIS and USPS PMI when creating and scheduling the listing, but once it went live, the eIS option was changed to USPS FCI instead. There was no notification of that occurring; I just noticed it some time later. 

I have to say also that I had a recent eIS shipment to Canada that turned into a near-disaster, taking 5 weeks to get there, including a staggering 3+ weeks (2/27 to 3/22) corked up in Customs as part of the international Asendia leg. Fortunately I had a very patient repeat buyer, but we agreed that any future purchases of his would go by USPS FCI all the way.

[inhawaii]

Can you offer free shipping to domestic buyers but charge international buyers a separate shipping charge (going to the seller) on top of the EIS shipping charge (going to ebay)?

[monica-sells]

like a "handling charge" for international only?

[chris13]

It almost sounds like any configuration that creates a 'rule' that applies to a specific International destination causes the whole shebang to fail over to use the old GSP-style approaches. I dont know the ins and outs of all the ways handling charges can be setup but if they apply to everyone (including domestic) then they might work ok, but if just for say France, they might not. Lots to learn still and I would hate to find out the hard way by just winging it.

Thanks everyone for sharing specific corner cases and experiences you've had.

[inhawaii]

Exactly.