Question about eBay's Global Shipping Program

I sold a clearly marked REPRESS with matrix info of Dennis Coffey Trio's Hair and Thangs for $24.99. Sold it through the GSP. 30 minutes after I mailed it the buyer tells me "oh, I didn't know it was a repress. If you mailed it already I'll be sending it back"

WTH?

Am I basically screwed? Do they even have to ship it back?

 

With respect to legit claims (as defined by eBay or paypal) the fact that you used the GSP is irrelevant. So this isn't a GSP question but rather a buyer wants to return an item situation.

If eBay feels the buyer has a legit claim then you'll be asked to pay for the return shipping if the buyer asks/pushes for that. That will definitely be more than the USA portion you got for the GSP program.

But this does not sound like a legit claim to me. You specified it was a repress and the buyer clearly made the mistake.

As a result, I think you have a good chance of escaping any claim.

If the buyer tried to file a claim via eBay I think you'd be safe here. If he claimed it was misrepresented you could point out that the auction ad said it was a repress. If he tried to file a claim for a different reason you have evidence that he intended on sending it back because he failed to realise it was a repress (and you could prove it with the eBay message). The fact he told you that does not help his case IMO, at least in terms of you having to pay out. What might happen is a courtesy refund from eBay to him (they have done this before in a claim I was involved in) with no cost to you.

If an eBay claim failed and tried something via Paypal, paypal will tell him to return the album at no cost to you for a refund. If he wanted to, he could claim a postage refund from Paypal directly, but Paypal, unlike eBay, doesn't force sellers to pay for return shipping.

Personally, although it might require a few phone calls to eBay to explain your side of things, I think you will be alright here.

But whatever you do, don't engage this guy at all right now. Just wait till he receives the lp and contacts you or files an eBay claim. If for some reason he messages you again about it, stay calm, leave out any accusations and stick to the facts e.g. "I mentioned it was a repress in the auction ad. If you want a refund, return the lp at your cost and I'll refund you" Or something along those lines. I know you don't have to refund him but if this knob head (yeah that's what I think he is and he gives good buyers like me a bad name by annoying sellers) is willing to pay for return shipping then you might as well go through with a return at his cost.

This seller sounds like he's going to be a real hassle though so don't be surprised if you need to make some phone calls. Don't even wait too long either. As soon as he files a claim, call eBay and tell them you aren't sure what to do and then explain what happened. I've done that in the past and they escalated the claim and it was cleared up pretty quickly from there.

 

Thanks for your thorough reply eddiel!

 

Sage advice from @eddiel. Good luck Wally!

 

Now this imbecile is chastising me for my "rip-off" shipping charges which I have nothing to do with. It was shipped via the GSP, not by me! That too was clearly indicated in the listing. This is why I don't ship abroad without GSP. No protection from asshats like this.

 

Great advice above. I'll add a couple points.

1) Regarding shipping charges, yes...that is totally between the GSP and the buyer. If as a seller you want a preview of what buyers overseas are faced with, just click on the destination country of choice within the listing and the amount will come up. And yes, the charges are indeed rather high. From what I understand, any feedback or "stars" ratings related to shipping costs are subject to removal by eBay. In other words, you shouldn't bear the brunt of that part of the transaction.

2) I think the initial communication from the buyer should be golden should he try to change his story later and claim a condition issue or something like that. I agree, stick to the facts and don't over-engage at this point. The ball is in the buyer's court.

Also agree that this stinks, that a rogue buyer gives the entire process a bad name. GSP is actually great for sellers because it allows for transactions that otherwise would not have taken place absent reasonable protections for overseas shipping. Good luck, I'll be interested to hear how this turns out.

 

Interesting perspectives. As mentioned above it certainly does not sound like a reasonable reason for a return. Also buyers need to read the description and terms of the sale including shipping process.

Having said that I have been collecting for some 45 years (yes I'm old school ha! ha!) and I never ever buy from a seller that uses the eBay global shipping program. I should add I am in Canada so it's an international shipping issue.

Why is this. It's because the GSP adds time and expense to every transaction. This does not affect the seller only the buyer. I have found that the GSP postal rates can be higher by 20% compared to seller shipped items. This is bad for business.

When I purchase an item from outside Canada about 30% of the packages get pulled aside and I pay additional duty and taxes on the genuine declared value. With GSP I pay that duty on 100% of the purchases. If for some reason the item needs to be returned I cannot get a refund for the duty and taxes paid. Very very bad for the buyer.

I have had so many problems with the GSP process. Sellers ship to the depot. The depot opens the package (why?) Maybe to verify contents, repack or retape and send it. I bought two rare McCartney Columbia acetates and the GSP employee sliced right through the protective cardboard into the acetate completely ruining the item. And it took over 2 weeks to get to me. Normally it's a7 day turnaround.

Perhaps GSP is good for domestic shipments but it's very bad for international shipments.

 

Never heard another word about this. Including feedback.

 

I agree totally. The US postal rates to Canada almost tripled a few years ago - I used to be able to buy a handful of 45s from the US seller and pay only $4 or $5 shipping. Now, it's about $14- 16. That's bad enough, but many sellers seem to use this crap Global Shipping program and it's even more expensive, plus the duty charges if applicable (and it almost always is).

I don't know why US sellers can't just use the regular Post Office to ship to Canada. I can understand GSP for overseas, but Canada should be an exception.

I believe it only costs the seller about $2 - 3 to ship GSP, then they add about $15 to the total. It's such a ripoff. I don't know why they can't bring their fees down to something more reasonable.

I'll only buy from a seller who uses GSP if it's something I haven't been able to find elsewhere - and I certainly WON'T leave feedback for anyone who uses it.

 

Using GSP offers at least some seller protection which is pretty much non-existent absent sending by registered mail (if available...and you thought GSP was pricey!).

I'm not an apologist for eBay or GSP but it allows for some international transactions to take place where otherwise they would not because I will not ship directly to any international buyers (was burned by a buyer in Argentina well in excess of $50).

Yes, the cost to send to the GSP depot for up to 4 ounces is $2.61, $2.77 up to 8 ounces. The cost of international shipping whether from GSP or direct is what it is. Just don't fault sellers for adapting as best they can.

 

I to have had similar experience from a guy in South Korea and so I was a matter of fact and never heard anything. He promised positive feedback if he got what he wanted ( that never happened). But I have also had good buyers so its hard to know what you run into even in the US eventually it might not be worth the time and aggravation to make a few dollars.

 

I think that might be country dependent though. Perhaps to Argentina but to Canada the postage with GSP is always higher than USPS with tracking and once you account for the automatic duty/taxes and brokerage fees that are added on it makes it not worth while at all.

Given the choice, even if the cost was the same, I'd rather pay more for the registered shipping than give Pitney Bowes/eBay money. I still haven't been able to calculate how they work out what is owed.

 

Good luck, I'll be interested to hear how this turns out.

 

GSP is invisible to the seller who only sets the domestic rate to ship to KY. The GSP charge is set by eBay. Sellers don't want to deal with calculating global prices when they can just as easily sell the item domestically. It greases the wheels somewhat to keep it as simple as possible for them (they are taking giant risk with overseas customers to begin with).

 

I see ebay global shipping now and I don't purchase.

More expensive and despite what it says, is NOT tracked like USPS or Royal Mail. Best of all.... it takes a week or so extra time to arrive. So you pay extra to get lesser service and reliability. I talked to our local postal office and carrier and they explained how the process works.

 

Sign me up - I totally agree with everything you have indicated in your comment. In addition the items shipped via GSP take almost twice as long to arrive. I’ve had more items arrive damaged that we’re shipped via the gouging GSP program. Very poor service.

In Canada you can have Canada Post pick up your shipments for a mere $3.75 Cdn. A great service. Do everything on line and don’t waste anytime driving to the post office.

You may not be far off on your “class action suit”. I received notification that I could participate in a class action suit against UPS for over charging the fees for goods imported into Canada. I joined and got a refund of $150 Cdn. So someone should seriously look into this eBay / Pitney Bowes scheme.

 

The problem with their charges is that you can't see how they calculated the total. You have no idea if there's duty charged or just sales tax or both, plus whatever their fees are on top of that for collection. Even if there's no duty involved there would be sales tax involved (above the threshold and I've never been charged a thing when I'm below the threshold). So we really have no idea what duty they made be adding, legal or otherwise. I think it's perfectly reasonable for a buyer to get details regarding any charges they are paying. Canada Post, Fedex, UPS, etc all provide that. Not Pitney Bowes. I gave up trying to work it out and I stopped buying from sellers who use the program.

Annoyingly they've rolled it out to Ebay UK as well.

 

Why I personally use GSP for items I don't feel are worth sending by registered air mail is Ebay will refund me if the package gets lost between Kentucky and the buyer, they take responsibility for the shipping mistakes/buyer claiming they never received something. If I am shipping that myself to a country that doesn't have tracking you have to refund the buyer the cost of the item plus the postage. I realize Canada has tracking to all the provinces, but you can't insure anything unless you step up to Priority Air Mail.

That is the largest class action pay out I have ever heard of I usually receive checks for a few bucks at most, even in cases where the settlement is in the hundreds of millions. Senior partners in big law have to pay for that racing gas in their Koenigsiggs some way I guess

 

I had a total of 5 cheques for what must have been 5 separate importations. I was also surprised in a good way.

 

GSP imo is just a cash grab nailing us canadians for nothing,usps priority never fails when i buy off of ebay and i don't do business with any seller that uses it..their loss not mine.