@bitsofsiliconvalley wrote:
I'm returning to eBay after several years away, and I'm trying to adjust my shipping policies to suit the services now available. I'm faced with a conundrum: Pirate Ship's Simple Export Rate offers uniformly better prices than eBay's International Standard Delivery, but eBay's shipping calculator can't be made to account for the rates it charges.
I'm thinking I might define shipping policies that specify International Standard Shipping, but ship using Simple Export Rate instead. That way the shipping calculator could compute shipping charges that at least roughly track my actual shipping costs. But I'm concerned that this might make me appear to be engaging in a dishonest business practice by offering one service and providing a different one that's cheaper and arguably inferior.
Just what does a listing and its rate calculation look like to an international buyer if it offers two shipping options: Priority Mail International and International Standard Delivery?
Once I know this I can judge for myself whether using the rate calculator this way would be misleading.
Hey @bitsofsiliconvalley. EISD is a comparable service to what PirateShip offers through Asendia, and the rates are pretty close. There is no issue offering EISD then shipping through Pirate. In fact, some EISD shipments will actually go through Asendia (others DHL, etc). But it's the same type of process/timelines where a package is shipped to a hub in the US then gets forwarded internationally. EISD is the closest match within options you can select on eBay.
Personally I list with USPS First Class International and ship through Pirate. This way there's a cushion on the ship cost to cover: eBay fees, higher fees paid due to international VAT, shipping supplies which are often upgraded for international vs domestic sales. Shipping times are comparable and Asendia generally uses the same international carriers that USPS does when packages are transferred for the international leg of the journey. USPS First Class Package will go USPS to the domestic hub and when it gets to the UK for example, it's transferred to Royal Mail. Asendia will also use USPS domestic transferred to Royal Mail in the UK. So again - pretty comparable service-wise with similar transit times, just the rates are different.
