Let's talk about eBay's "eBay International Standard Delivery" service. Thumbs up or thumbs down?

Discussion in 'Marketplace Discussions' started by giantleech, Jan 29, 2021.

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  1. Mr Bass

    Mr Bass Chevelle Ma Belle

    Location:
    Mid Atlantic
    GSP is a solution to sellers and Ebay's problem of buyers claiming they didn't receive an item as well as varying importation rules. Of course as the OP found out, the GSP doesn't proactively do anything about customs except include known fees into its cost structure. GSP could load that automatically for the seller without anything else.As to the first point there is already a solution, namely the international tracking system used by national postal services. Also Ebay allows sellers to exclude buyers from countries the seller doesn't want to ship to.

    So the GSP actually doesn't solve any problems really except give sellers freedom to ship to countries they wouldn't otherwise. GSP of course charges substantially more for the shipping than other forms sometimes up to 50 0r 60% more. In return the buyer gets for their money excessive delays, inaccurate or no tracking information, lost items, and damaged parcels. Not once for me has a GSP item come in on even their excessively extended due date. They lost 2 items, damaged one and the rest came in late, very late. Part of the problem seems the high rate of handoffs that occur within GSP. On some items I had 4, I repeat, 4 different tracking numbers applied to 1 item

    Therefore I have stopped buying from Any seller who uses the GSP program. I select tracking by their postal service and get it twice as fast as GSP.
     
  2. thewonders

    thewonders Someone that I used to know

    I've gotten complaints from buyers about how expensive eBay Global Shipping is for them. I don't use it anymore and use https://www.pirateship.com for both domestic and International shipping.
     
  3. Chee

    Chee Forum Resident

    Location:
    Denver
    GSP is a joke. Imagine buying a $15 used album then getting hit with GSP. Just charge $24 USPS or better yet don't ship international.
     
  4. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA
    eBay has started printing all the costs on the invoice/receipts you print.

    I am kind of shocked. I knew it was costly to buy something from the US via this service, but I didn't realize HOW costly. I mean, the buyer knows up front this is how much it is going to cost. So there are no surprises to them. But I was surprised at the cost when I saw it.

    This is an LP being sent to Switzerland:

    [​IMG]
     
  5. tlowe

    tlowe Life Explorer

    Location:
    somewhere
    Not going into details, definitely thumb down. We are now in 2021, not 80s or 90s, and I have three packages, posted between 30 May - 1 Jun to Singapore, are still in the US as of today 17 Jun.
     
  6. giantleech

    giantleech Lord of all fevers and plagues Thread Starter

    It's been a while since I've been in this sub-forum (and my own thread here) but I would like to say that my discovery of Pirate Ship, which I have been using now since early February, has been an absolute Godsend. You have to request "Simple Export Rate" and when that service is then instantly "switched on" for your account it basically renders all other basic international shipping services/providers obsolete (it has also allowed me to completely eliminate using ANY of eBay's shipping label services; both foreign and domestic.)

    Pirate Ship's "Simple Export Rate" service has brought me back completely to offering international sales on Discogs, eBay and other stray sale venues. The prices are reasonable (certainly compared to every other service, completely blowing away the USPS's direct international shipping prices) and the service could not be any easier to use. All à la carte and no monthly subscription service fees! I'd seriously do one of those on camera "satisfied customer" testimonials (like the ones you see for insurance companies or personal injury lawyers) for this company if ever asked to do so.
     
    Dave, thewonders and chazz101s like this.
  7. R. Totale

    R. Totale The Voice of Reason

    I got something from them in March saying that Simple Export Rate was changing to a scheme where you ship domestically for consolidation. I haven't used it since the change - how has that affected transit time?
     
  8. giantleech

    giantleech Lord of all fevers and plagues Thread Starter

    I was apprehensive at first (thinking to myself, "Great. Here's where a good thing goes bad") but everything has worked out absolutely swimmingly. I have had several hundred international shipments since that change (which all go "2-Day Priority Mail" first to the "Pirate Ship Export Sorting Center" in either Illinois or California) and all of them have been delivered without a hitch. Highly recommended!
     
  9. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA

    Then you might as well use eBay's international shipping program, which does the same thing AND indemnified you for any claims for lost or damaged goods once they leave the US.

    If a buyer makes a complaint for lost/damaged good shipped through the eBay program, you usually don't even see the complaint. If they leave a negative feedback related to shipping, eBay will remove it.
     
    Last edited: Jun 27, 2021
  10. R. Totale

    R. Totale The Voice of Reason

    Not sure about the newer ISP, but the enormous tariff eBay added to the earlier Global Shipping Program postage over the cost through USPS would have guaranteed I wouldn't have any international damage, because I wouldn't be shipping anything. They put it on one of my items once without my knowledge when they first started it up, and my $25 postage to Europe changed to $60. The Pirate Ship scheme stays at the slightly lower than USPS rate to the buyer.
     
  11. AmadeusMozart

    AmadeusMozart Forum Resident

    After reading about horror stories from sellers I have not engaged in selling on ePray. I will only buy on eBait when there is a Buy Now and I will then have it shipped to the New Zealand Post freight forwarder in either UK or the USA. (Shipping through eBay is more expensive than using a freight forwarder.) Makes it easy for a seller since there is no paperwork involved in shipping it outside of the country.
     
  12. EarlJameson

    EarlJameson New Member

    Location:
    Boston
  13. Chee

    Chee Forum Resident

    Location:
    Denver
    Imagine ordering an LP to Australia and getting hit with $47 shipping charge. No, I'll charge $24.50.
     
  14. Wally Swift

    Wally Swift Yo-Yoing where I will...

    Location:
    Brooklyn New York
    I only use this service for international shipping. I sell things via this service somewhat frequently and I have yet to have any complaints about the packaging being compromised en route. In fact here is an example of a recent feedback I got from Sweden for a large order;

    "A first class lesson in how to pack records properly! Records arrived without any damage at all, all the way to Sweden. Many thanks for a good deal. Top class seller!
    Ace Frehley 16 LP 1 7" Vinyl Lot Many Sealed New KISS Frehley's Comet Not TMOQ"
     
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