02-12-2023 06:38 PM
EBAY INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING (EIS) - Seller Reference & FAQ
(Information current as of Feb 2023)
EIS reference pages: Seller Center | Help Page | Seller Terms of Service | Buyer Terms of Service
Important to note upfront:
eBay International Shipping (EIS) is not the same as eBay International Standard Delivery (EISD). The process and policies are very different. Check here for info on EISD: Seller Center | Help Page | Terms of Service
EIS is (slowly) replacing the Global Shipping Program (GSP) and it's being rolled out to sellers in phases. For info on GSP click here: Seller Center | Help Page | Buyer Terms & Conditions
Comparing EIS, EISD and GSP: Feature Comparison Table
To find out whether you're enrolled in GSP or EIS, check your shipping preferences page: (link)
To request enrollment in EIS, click the "I'm Interested" link on this page: (link)
Once you're switched from GSP to EIS you cannot switch back to GSP.
SETTING UP YOUR LISTING
RATES & COMBINED SHIPPING
PACKING, SHIPPING & INSURANCE
TRACKING
PROHIBITED ITEMS
RETURNS & CLAIMS
FEES
MISCELLANEOUS
Disclaimer: this post is intended as a consolidated reference for informational purposes as EIS info is scattered throughout multiple locations. Please refer to eBay's policy pages linked at the top of this post for official EIS terms and conditions which are subject to change.
02-12-2023 06:41 PM - edited 02-12-2023 06:43 PM
The info on EIS is scattered throughout so many places, many of us felt it was important to have a centralized reference which is why I spent a ridiculous amount of time putting this all together. This process has resulted in a few questions about eBay International Shipping.
devon@ebay kyle@ebay elizabeth@ebay
Could you guys liaise with the shipping team and help us get answers to the below questions?
1. Does the $500 cap on EIS shipments include shipping & handling - if yes, just domestic shipping or also international shipping? Is VAT/GST factored in to the $500 cap?
2. After a bunch of testing, we (sellers on this forum) have discovered that eBay is displaying EIS on items priced over $500: both fixed price and auction format with $500+ minimum bid.
Why EIS is appearing on listings priced above $500 and is the seller expected to ship (out of their pocket) directly to the buyer on those items, bypassing EIS, if they don't proactively utilize international shipping exclusions on those listings?
The way I see it: if eBay can turn off EIS when an item is restricted, there should be no issue with eBay turning off EIS when a fixed price listing exceeds $500 (auctions are another matter unless the starting bid is over $500 in which case EIS should not appear there, either). Why make this harder for sellers?
As it's currently programmed this is a fail on eBay's part.
3. What happens when auction format listings start below $500 but exceed $500 when bidding concludes? How is a seller supposed to handle the situation when the buyer is located overseas and the listing was set up with EIS?
4. If an item has to ship in multiple boxes due to size, weight or lot quantity, the fine print in the TOS is contradictory on what to do.
On the one hand it says, "You will ship all EIS Items contained in a single order to the US Shipping Hub in one package."
On the other hand it says "If a single order requires multiple packages, each package requires a separate, unique label"
So which is correct? Can we ship a single order in multiple boxes?
5. For items the EIS US hub returns to sellers, the TOS indicates the seller is responsible for loss or damage that occurs during transit. Does this mean sellers will be billed for return shipping and will these be insured shipments so sellers can file claims if necessary?
P.S. Because this is so involved, it would really help us follow responses if you could number them 1-5 the way the questions were presented. 🙂
02-12-2023 06:46 PM
FYI @simply-the-best-for-you @pjcdn2005 @gurlcat
Can't remember who else wanted to be tagged on this, sorry if I forgot anyone.
Add your own questions/comments as you see fit. There's a lot to digest in this. I hope this will be a helpful guide for sellers. If I got anything wrong please call it out.
02-12-2023 07:04 PM - edited 02-12-2023 07:06 PM
Great work @wastingtime101 ! Thank you for doing this!
With EISD if they decided to ship you back a package that they decided was ineligible for international shipping they would say that you would not be charged for the initial shipping label. I have to wonder if that's going to be the same with EID.
02-12-2023 09:52 PM
@devin@ebay
1. We also need to know if all "used parts" in eBay motors are on the banned list.
2. If not we need an actual category by category breakdown
3. If used parts are ineligible now , what is a hard date that they will be made eligible- if gsp can do it why can't eis?
4. We need real and accurate answers before we are switched.
02-13-2023 07:57 AM
@wastingtime101 Thanks for pulling all that together---that was a lot of work!
02-13-2023 01:39 PM - edited 02-13-2023 01:40 PM
@siamjane8 wrote:1. We also need to know if all "used parts" in eBay motors are on the banned list.
2. If not we need an actual category by category breakdown
3. If used parts are ineligible now , what is a hard date that they will be made eligible- if gsp can do it why can't eis?
4. We need real and accurate answers before we are switched.
Just corrected the tag name. Please respond to @siamjane8
02-13-2023 01:48 PM
devon@ebay kyle@ebay elizabeth@ebay
From the fine print in the TOS, but not stated on the general EIS help pages:
- Packages must meet or exceed 7.25 inches in width and 10.25 inches in length
The same statement is in the Ebay International Standard Delivery pages yet many sellers have said that
they have shipped smaller packages than that through the EISD without any problems. Is this something that just copied from the other program without any thought put into it? Could you please check to see if those measurements will be strictly enforced? It seems silly that packages that are 4" or 6" can't be shipped this way.
Also the EIS mentions that a packing slip should be included in the package. Since this is something that a lot of sellers don't include you might want to put that information front and center when a seller is printing a label for EIS.
02-13-2023 02:03 PM
devon@ebay kyle@ebay elizabeth@ebay
Sorry I realize this thread is for sellers and how they use the EIS but I would like to make a couple of comments from a buyer's point of view...
The lack of any combined shipping is very disturbing and for buyers that is giving them a very poor first impression. It is also affecting sales as many of us will only order international items if we order multiple items to combine the shipping cost. Until this is available, sellers and ebay's profits may be affected.
I assume that this will change in the future just as it did with the GSP. Although it was great that the gsp combined the international cost of shipping when the cart was used, please consider also finding a way to combine the domestic portion of shipping whenever the seller has specified combined shipping rules. Or for a way for the seller to combine the domestic shipping at the time of purchase. Just a suggestion that I think would make the EIS appealing to more buyers.
02-14-2023 06:38 AM
@wastingtime101 wrote:
The info on EIS is scattered throughout so many places, many of us felt it was important to have a centralized reference which is why I spent a ridiculous amount of time putting this all together. This process has resulted in a few questions about eBay International Shipping.
devon@ebay kyle@ebay elizabeth@ebay
Could you guys liaise with the shipping team and help us get answers to the below questions?
1. Does the $500 cap on EIS shipments include shipping & handling - if yes, just domestic shipping or also international shipping? Is VAT/GST factored in to the $500 cap?
2. After a bunch of testing, we (sellers on this forum) have discovered that eBay is displaying EIS on items priced over $500: both fixed price and auction format with $500+ minimum bid.
Why EIS is appearing on listings priced above $500 and is the seller expected to ship (out of their pocket) directly to the buyer on those items, bypassing EIS, if they don't proactively utilize international shipping exclusions on those listings?
The way I see it: if eBay can turn off EIS when an item is restricted, there should be no issue with eBay turning off EIS when a fixed price listing exceeds $500 (auctions are another matter unless the starting bid is over $500 in which case EIS should not appear there, either). Why make this harder for sellers?
As it's currently programmed this is a fail on eBay's part.
3. What happens when auction format listings start below $500 but exceed $500 when bidding concludes? How is a seller supposed to handle the situation when the buyer is located overseas and the listing was set up with EIS?
4. If an item has to ship in multiple boxes due to size, weight or lot quantity, the fine print in the TOS is contradictory on what to do.
On the one hand it says, "You will ship all EIS Items contained in a single order to the US Shipping Hub in one package."
On the other hand it says "If a single order requires multiple packages, each package requires a separate, unique label"
So which is correct? Can we ship a single order in multiple boxes?
5. For items the EIS US hub returns to sellers, the TOS indicates the seller is responsible for loss or damage that occurs during transit. Does this mean sellers will be billed for return shipping and will these be insured shipments so sellers can file claims if necessary?
P.S. Because this is so involved, it would really help us follow responses if you could number them 1-5 the way the questions were presented. 🙂
Hey @wastingtime101! We reached out to the Shipping Team with your questions and this is what they wanted to share:
"Sellers are responsible for items damaged in transit on the way to the domestic hub. Because sellers have control of label and carrier choice (on and off platform labels) insurance is only included if selected at the time of purchase. Photos of the damaged parcel will be provided in the event"
02-14-2023 08:16 AM
Thanks for this devon@ebay!
1. Does the $500 cap on EIS shipments include shipping & handling - if yes, just domestic shipping or also international shipping? Is VAT/GST factored in to the $500 cap?
"No, the cap is based on item price. Also side note we just increased the ASP cap for NEW listings to 1K last week. We will re-evaluate all existing listing in the future once we confirm there are no issues."
OK, this makes sense and explains why all of our testing on new listings showed EIS as an option for listings over $500. I take back what I said about a programming failure. 🙂
-----
2. & 3. "Auctions can go up to $2,500 if the buyer bids above this they will bid themselves out of being able to use the program. (this is how GSP works today)"
Can you clarify this point? Does this mean the system will block the international buyer from placing a bid over $2.5K? Does it also mean that auction items are eligible up to $2.5K even though new fixed price listings are capped at $1K?
-----
4. If an item has to ship in multiple boxes due to size, weight or lot quantity, the fine print in the TOS is contradictory on what to do. On the one hand it says, "You will ship all EIS Items contained in a single order to the US Shipping Hub in one package." On the other hand it says "If a single order requires multiple packages, each package requires a separate, unique label" So which is correct? Can we ship a single order in multiple boxes?
"In the T&C it says all items need to be a single box. If it does not fit in a 1 box without being oversized, the best solution is to cancel the order and relist it per box. (From the T&C’s it says; i. You will ship all EIS Items contained in a single order to the US Shipping Hub in one package. II. You will not combine multiple orders (either belonging to the same Buyer or different Buyers) in a single package.) This is due to taxes and duties collected we are unable to split those, so the first box to clear the hub will have all the taxes and duties associated with it, each additional box would require additional payment upon delivery."
Noted that purchases of multiple items in a single order will have to be cancelled and repurchased separately if they can't be safely shipped together in one box that meets the size requirements.
But the TOS also says: viii. If a single order requires multiple packages, each package requires a separate, unique label;
Is that an error? Does that text need to be removed from the Seller Terms of Service?
-----
5. For items the EIS US hub returns to sellers, the TOS indicates the seller is responsible for loss or damage that occurs during transit. Does this mean sellers will be billed for return shipping and will these be insured shipments so sellers can file claims if necessary?
"Sellers are responsible for items damaged in transit on the way to the domestic hub. Because sellers have control of label and carrier choice (on and off platform labels) insurance is only included if selected at the time of purchase. Photos of the damaged parcel will be provided in the event"
The question is not about packages sellers ship to the hub. The question is about packages the hub returns to sellers. However, I just re-read the text and see that I misinterpreted it initially.
"5. Risk of Loss. The passing of risk of loss or damage to an EIS Item shall remain with you until the EIS Item is accepted at the US Shipping Hub or has been returned to you from the US Shipping Hub."
My fault. I initially read it as the risk of loss or damage would remain with the seller until the package was returned to the seller. I now realize it means once accepted at the Hub, EIS takes responsibility until the package is returned to the seller. So this question can be ignored. Sorry for the confusion. I was bound to make at least one error combing over so much fine print.
02-14-2023 08:20 AM
@siamjane8 wrote:1. We also need to know if all "used parts" in eBay motors are on the banned list.
2. If not we need an actual category by category breakdown
3. If used parts are ineligible now , what is a hard date that they will be made eligible- if gsp can do it why can't eis?
4. We need real and accurate answers before we are switched.
Pasting Devon's response from a different thread on the Selling board.
02-15-2023 07:42 AM - edited 02-15-2023 07:44 AM
@pjcdn2005 wrote:devon@ebay kyle@ebay elizabeth@ebay
From the fine print in the TOS, but not stated on the general EIS help pages:
- Packages must meet or exceed 7.25 inches in width and 10.25 inches in length
The same statement is in the Ebay International Standard Delivery pages yet many sellers have said that
they have shipped smaller packages than that through the EISD without any problems. Is this something that just copied from the other program without any thought put into it? Could you please check to see if those measurements will be strictly enforced? It seems silly that packages that are 4" or 6" can't be shipped this way.
Also the EIS mentions that a packing slip should be included in the package. Since this is something that a lot of sellers don't include you might want to put that information front and center when a seller is printing a label for EIS.
I wish he would answer these. At first I was most concerned about the $500 limit thing; now that's resolved enough for me (I rarely have anything worth over $1k and if an auction item can go up to $2.5k that's great). But now I'm MUCH more concerned about this goofy 'minimum' size thing, as most my items ship in either a small vinyl envelope or the small flat rate box. And I have those dimensions stated in all my listings, and weight as well. My listings APPEAR to be EIS, but that's only looking from my own domestic account; I can't see if they show in searches to international buyers or how much they're being quoted on shipping cost, beyond the hub. All I know is, I haven't made a single international sale since being switched from GSP to EIS. I'm not even sure when that occurred but it was at least a week ago, and for me it's starting to get a bit 'weird' statistically.
I have no intention of doing packing slips unless not including them would result in getting the items sent back to me from the hub. My printer is not near my computer so it would be annoying to have to travel to and from it repeatedly on days where I have multiple packages to ship, to load alternating copier paper and sticker label sheets.
02-15-2023 08:58 AM
Yeah my main three still unanswered questions are the size of the package (can we send 6"x4" packages like seems to be fine with EISD), is it packing slip really needed, and will we get credited back the price wr paid for shipping (like EISD does) if they need to send us back our package (because it is ineligible to ship overseas but they still allowed it to be sold via EIS).
02-15-2023 10:20 AM
You could print your packing slips through sellers hub. That way you could do them all at once before you do anything else. It does take a few extra minutes though.