business policy templates do not include EIS?

[argy_eyes]

Experts,

Recently I got a message from eBay saying how useful and important it was to set up business policies (or "business policy templates").  So I "tapped" the link and tried to do it.  My issues:

• Under shipping, I don't see EIS as an option (nor GSP).
• Under return policies for international, there are only two options: seller pays return postage or buyer pays return postage.  "EIS pays" (a major feature of the EIS program) is not there.

Am I missing something?

Mike

[buyselljack2016 · Accepted solution]

Wife's selling account had "business policies". 

Total pain in the wherever for a small volume seller as far as I am concerned. Some like it. I found it to be an annoyance.

Not sure how it happened, but one day "business policies" were no longer there when doing a listing.

It was a great day.  At the time I did not know how to "opt out" of business policies, or it would have happened sooner.

I have been opted into EIS. The "return policy" is generated/displayed automatically.

[buyselljack2016]

To add:

As I understand it, the shipping, as it would just ship to the eBay hub domestically, will be there if an "international" buyer makes the purchase. Nothing for us to choose when doing a listing unless for some reason we want to exclude countries from buying. Does not seem there is a need for that because eBay takes the heat for any issues after the hub.

[argy_eyes]

@buyselljack2016 , @suzysemporium 

The business policy template problem with EIS was also described in a recent post by SuzysEmporium. As per that post, and consistent with your observations, if you want to set EIS in a business policy shipping template, you set the shipping pulldown to "no international shipping." ( ! ) There is even an eBay video stating the same and apologizing for this being "counterintuitive."

Why not just add an "EIS" option to the pulldown?

Mike

[wastingtime101]

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@argy_eyes wrote:

Why not just add an "EIS" option to the pulldown?

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Because it's one of the major EIS down sides right now. You can't select it on a biz policy or listing because it can't be set at the listing level. It's an account-level setting, all in or all out.

[argy_eyes]

Thanks @wastingtime101 for the explanation. Is that different than GSP? I recall (?) being able to specify that in the listing app.

[wastingtime101]

Yes, it's different. You could set GSP at the listing (and biz policy) level. Can't do that with EIS.

In the beginning eBay said they'd be changing that. Don't know if it's still in their plan.

The only work-around is a big PITA which is blocking every country within your biz policy as a way to "turn off" EIS for all listings tied to that policy.

Aside from the inability to set EIS at the listing (biz policy) level, the other major issue is the lack of combined shipping.

[suzysemporium]

Sometimes I feel dense. It took me awhile to figure it out. If you select international shipping in business policies, you are shipping international on your own. If you select no international, you are using EIS. To opt out of international completely, you have to opt out at the account level settings in shipping preferences. Why couldn't they stated this more clearly in the video? Do they pay people to make things more difficult and muddled than necessary?

[suzysemporium]

Combined shipping was not allowed with GPS either. You have to ship on your own internationally to do combined shipping. You loose all protections EIS gives  you. I'm sure there are sellers who ship to other countries directly.

[ms.rodriguez*]

The ONLY way to combine under the new international program is to cancel ALL of the buyer's wins and then rewrite ONE ad with all of the items in it and put in a new shipping charge for the new weight to ship to Illinois.  Of course, you will need to explain all of this to buyer .  Hopefully , they understand English.  

When you do the new listing, make sure that you start it at a time that the buyer can bid rightaway.  If it's a buy it now, start it at a ridiculous price and tell the buyer to make an offer at the agreed total and then accept it. If you start it as an auction, start the ad at the agreed price. Have the buyer bid.  Then close the ad BUT make sure that it's your bidder that is the high bidder.  It's a pain in the butt.   But in the end, the buyer gets a discount on the combined items being shipped as 1 parcel and you unloaded several items at the same time.

[pjcdn2005]

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@suzysemporium wrote:

Combined shipping was not allowed with GPS either. You have to ship on your own internationally to do combined shipping. You loose all protections EIS gives  you. I'm sure there are sellers who ship to other countries directly.

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The GSP automatically combined the international portion of the shipping if the cart was used and items were paid for at one time. EIS doesn't do that.

[steady2304]

EIS really needs to be able to be activated on a per listing level and not be the automatic default shipping method.  If you want to use it fine, if not you don't have to but it's available.

I have a lot of international customers (UK, Australia, New Zealand) who like to purchase 2, 3, 4 items at a time and EIS makes that dang near impossible without multiple emails back and forth, writing new adds, deleting existing adds and then hoping when they see the total with shipping and any fees they actually decide to purchase. USPS 1st Class International package is definitely cheaper than EIS and items can be combined in the cart without all the hassle.

Customers should be able to add the items to the shopping cart and as long as sellers have their shipping weight discounts applied correctly be able to use the cart to check out. That way each item is listed on the invoice and would have it's Harmonization code and Customs or Duties could be collected when it arrives in the buyer's country if applicable.

I also have customers from the EU and with all the new Package recycling laws being enacted across Europe EIS would be a great option for them as EIS takes the responsibility for the new package regulations once the package reaches the International Shipping hub and sellers don't need to purchase a LUCID number according to an eBay podcast with Griff and Chad as long as sellers ship with EIS.

Hopefully eBay will get things ironed out at some point.

[potomacestore]

I completely agree Suzy. It's very confusing and customer service doesn't have a clue either. All of my policies have been updated to no exclusions and no international. What I was finding is that only certain categories were opted in for a given policy. For example, LCD replacement screens were opted in under a Free USPS First class policy while Vintage Vacuum Tubes were not opted in under the same policy. eBay customer service claimed it was because the tubes "looked like a battery". I switched the policy to Free UPS Ground and it was instantly opted into EIS.