eBay

a_c_green · ‎04-07-2023

I queued up a set of listings that started last night and for which I selected eBay International Standard Delivery as the default international shipping method, adding USPS Priority Mail International Padded Envelopes as a secondary, faster choice.

I looked at them today (see any of my listings for Benotto handlebar tape), and found that the eIS shipping I had selected had been changed to USPS First Class Package International across the board, in every listing. Is there some reason I'm missing for why that was done? These are all 3-ounce items traveling in padded envelopes, nothing heavy, high-value or large. TIA for any insight here...

One other detail: I queued them up for a later start time so that I could proofread or make last-minute changes, and when re-opening some that were scheduled but not yet live, they were still showing eIS at that time. It seems that the change was made automatically when the listings went live.

martin2001 · ‎04-08-2023

I don't use ebay for labels but one of the reasons may be that ebay (or whoever they partner with) do not ship to a particular country. Then, they would switch to USPS if you list that as an option. If that was the case, I would think ebay would send you a message about the switch.

a_c_green · ‎04-08-2023

@martin2001 wrote:
I don't use ebay for labels but one of the reasons may be that ebay (or whoever they partner with) do not ship to a particular country. Then, they would switch to USPS if you list that as an option. If that was the case, I would think ebay would send you a message about the switch.

Well, I have no restrictions on shipping to other countries beyond the default list that eBay puts in (no Russian Federation, no Ukraine, etc.), so basically I ship to all possible countries. I don't know how long this unexpected change of carriers has been going on for, but I triple-checked my selection of eBay International Standard for my new listing 334823665132 that started last night, but once it went live, it now shows USPS First Class International instead, so I don't know what to think.

I should mention that I have no problem with using USPS FCI and always did so in the past, but when eIS came along, promising tracking and insurance at a price slightly less than FCI, I said Sure, why not. (FCI does show tracking and Delivery Confirmation to a subset of foreign countries, those using the e-DELCON system to exchange tracking data, but eIS doesn't make mention of any similar limitation on getting DC returned from certain countries.) Products I'm listing now are simply rolls of bicycle handlebar tape, so I can't believe Customs import restrictions would have anything to do with this.