Hello, everyone, and Happy Holidays!
I asked for advice this past weekend on how best to handle a request from a client in Australia who was interested in purchasing about 30 discrete items that were scattered across 5-6 listings that were active at the time. She requested that I ship her items in parcels whose Declared Value did not exceed USD 670, which is approximately her country’s duty-free threshold. My question then was how to give her accurate shipping estimates for these bundles. The consensus was that I should create three new listings so that we could both see how adding/subtracting items from these lots affected the parcel weights and associated shipping charges.
This worked very well for us both. She was able to advise me on what items to bundle together, and I could send her snapshots of how I intended to “fragile pack” her items. A few days ago, she purchased Lot #1, and I shipped it out yesterday to eBay’s EIS hub in Chicago. This double-boxed parcel was flat – 15 x 20 x 7 – and cost her about USD 93 to ship. (I set this listing to have “Free Shipping” so that I could waive the domestic freight for her, approximately $27 with insurance and Adult Signature Confirmation.)
We then began working on Lot #2, and up until yesterday, her freight was estimated at USD 206. This was based on a shipping weight of 25 lbs. and box dimensions of 19 x 19 x 20 (a basic 18” double-walled cube). However, as I began preparing to double-box this shipment, I realized that the box wasn't going to be large enough. So I asked her whether she’d like me to use the “suspend in Styrofoam method,” or find a larger box (a 24” cube) and continue with our preferred method (double-boxing). She opted for the larger box, the 24" cube. When I went into eBay to key in the new dimensions and weights and revise the listing, all of a sudden the listing said that I, the seller, do not ship outside the US. I contacted eBay to see whether I had exceeded and dimension/weight restrictions for the EIS program, and I was assured that I hadn’t. They consulted a “shipping expert” and an “IT expert,” and after confirming that all my settings were correct, they recommended that I kill the listing and create a new one. (The suggestion was that perhaps having submitted soooooo many revisions had exposed a bug or something.) So I did that, and the new listing is #276242187910. The problem now is that the rate she’s being quoted is even less than what she paid for the much smaller parcel in Lot #1, USD 91. In fact, this rate is the default rate for Australia, meaning that if I shipped an 8” cube to Australia, this would be the rate quoted. I telephoned eBay again, and my call was escalated to another “expert.” After checking again that (1) there were no errors in my settings; (2) there were no EIS program restrictions on my items (vintage pottery) or the size of my parcel; and (3) that both my buyer and I are in good standing, they gave me a Service Requestion number and said someone would be in touch with me. Everyone is just flummoxed as to why this is not working all of a sudden.
I know that it can be easy to side-eye posters who claim that the eBay shipping calculator is giving out incorrect information, but this time, there is a huge discrepancy between what it costs to ship a small, flat box to Australia versus a giant cube that weighs three times as much. My buyer is terrific, but this has now ground what had been a very productive series of communications to a halt because I have no idea how to fix this. I suppose the good news for her is that if she were to go ahead and buy, and an audit later uncovers that she had been undercharged, they wouldn’t come after her for the money – or me either perhaps, since this is the EIS program – but I really have no idea.
I apologize for the long post, but I’m practically ready to ship and my buyer is eager to pay. I’m just nervous about proceeding when the shipping information is clearly incorrect to both me and to the eBay “experts” who’ve looked at this.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Kevin
1 BEST ANSWER
Accepted Solutions
@wastingtime101 wrote:
@boskev wrote:
We then began working on Lot #2, and up until yesterday, her freight was estimated at USD 206. This was based on a shipping weight of 25 lbs. and box dimensions of 19 x 19 x 20 (a basic 18” double-walled cube). However, as I began preparing to double-box this shipment, I realized that the box wasn't going to be large enough.
So I asked her whether she’d like me to use the “suspend in Styrofoam method,” or find a larger box (a 24” cube) and continue with our preferred method (double-boxing). She opted for the larger box, the 24" cube. When I went into eBay to key in the new dimensions and weights and revise the listing, all of a sudden the listing said that I, the seller, do not ship outside the US.
I contacted eBay to see whether I had exceeded and dimension/weight restrictions for the EIS program, and I was assured that I hadn’t. They consulted a “shipping expert” and an “IT expert,” and after confirming that all my settings were correct, they recommended that I kill the listing and create a new one. (The suggestion was that perhaps having submitted soooooo many revisions had exposed a bug or something.)
The problem is your box size @boskev .
- Packages should not exceed:
- 48 inches in length, 84 inches in length and girth
- 44 lbs. in billable weight (not actual weight) for all countries except Canada (maximum billable weight for Canada is 66 lbs.)
Your box, a 24" cube, has a girth of 96" and a length of 24" for a combined 120" in length and girth. The maximum allowable is 84" in length and girth.
Even the previous too-small-for-lot#2 box, 19x19x20 is too large for eIS with girth 76" and length 20" for a combined total of 96" in length and girth.
Hey kyle@ebay elizabeth@ebay devon@ebay (sorry for tagging all of you - with the holidays not sure which of you might be working today). See above in red font. Multiple CS reps told this seller there was no problem with his box size exceeding the eIS limits which is very wrong. Can you have those calls reviewed and proper "coaching" provided to those multiple reps? I assume those reps perhaps don't know how to calculate package length + girth?
Thank you @wastingtime101. I could see where this could be confusing for all involved so we will have the calls reviewed and coachings provided.
Elizabeth,
