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Hi all! I just (finally!) pulled the trigger on global shipping and it’s already paying off (hooray!). Thank you Jay and Ryanne for convincing me to take the leap. However, I’m feeling a bit paranoid that I don’t know the rules to follow when shipping off the item. I haven’t found any place on eBay or otherwise that lists the actual REQUIREMENTS to follow when shipping. I did locate the eBay GSP Best Practices sheet, but nowhere does it state that any of the suggested steps are required. I’ve shipped my first 3 items in the past 3 business days and now I sit with my fingers crossed that I didn’t screw anything up! Any direction you fellow scavengers can provide would be fantastic. Thanks in advance!
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Howdy.. To make a clear distinction. You did say the “GSP” [global shipping program right? That is different than a seller just shipping Internationally.
If you did join the GSP program which we did years ago, there is nothing for you to do or screw up differently than shipping to a US buyer.
That is because Ebay has contracted with Pitney Bowes to handle all of their International Shipments and they are located in Erlanger, KY USA. So when something sells to a foriegn buyer in a country that is included in the GSP list of countries Ebay ships to, all you do is pull-pack-wrap-box just like you always do for US buyers, go to Ebay labels and select what method you want to use to ship to Erlanger, KY. Either USPS First Class package, Priority Mail or Parcel post. Click on print your label and apply to the package. That is all their is to it. Ebay and Pitney Bowes handles everything else for you. Customs forms, VAT [value added tax] charges your buyer those fees plus import fees and custom fees, etc, etc. In many cases the fees are more than the cost of the item. But you don’t have to do anything except box, label, select carrier method and ship to Kentucky.
Erlanger is just a few states up and over from Atlanta, GA so usually costs us about $7 to $8 depending on the weight.
Also as a member of the GSP program you can look at the shipping tab of any listing and Ebay will have changed the way it looks. You will have 2 sections, one will say “we ship to these countries” and the lower section will say “We do not ship [excludes] these countries. That is beacuse due to certain political issues or civil war, etc., etc. Ebay will not ship to those and we don’t care because there are enough of the larger countries they do ship to that will get you extra sales.
Now, you can, if wish to, can go to your preferences and change those and include those excluded countries, but we never have over ridden Ebay because they know where the trouble spots in the world ae and if Ebay says don’t ship there then that is good enough for us. BUT if you want to include Brazil and the like, go ahead, but many of those countries are horrible at completing their on mail services.
If want to ship items yourself, as some do and some here on SL go ahead, but you will have to do your own custom forms and handle any issues that pop up.
The GSP program handles all issues for you.
So simply box and print a label and ship like you always do for anybody and then you can wash your hands of the whole mess unless your item is not as described or you misled the buyers.
Hope this helps somewhat…
Mike at MDC Galleries and Fine Art in Atlanta
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As someone who buys regularly through GSP (I’m in Canada) I’ve had packages of all shapes, sizes, and packing methods come through with no issues. For Canada, the items get shipped to Erlanger, KY and then truckloads are brought to a warehouse near Toronto where they are re-labelled using local shipping labels on top of the label you would use to get it to Erlanger.
All taxes/duties/etc. are charged separately to the buyer by Pitney-Bowes.
I think it is an excellent program for buyers like myself – it simplifies the international buying process for both the seller and buyer.
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Worth checking exactly what the buyer is being charged. I’ve moved over to a mix of GSP and “roll your own” after some buyers were charged ridiculous amounts, like 20 GBP for one magazine from UK to Canada. For example, got some single coins listed at auction starting at 1 GBP; the GSP shipping was £15, whereas Royal Mail signed-for was £9.50.
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One note for shipping direct (in particular to US sellers): some countries do not provide tracking for first class packages. So, the tracking disappears once it leaves US soil. The buyer can then easily open a case that the item was not received, and the seller would not have any proof.
I’m not as sure about priority shipping, but, like Mike says above, I won’t ship direct to any country that isn’t in the global shipping program.
If someone from another country requests a direct shipment of something under 4 pounds, I will agree to do that only if their country will provide tracking for first class. I have a specific business policy set up with first class shipping that includes only those countries.
Here is the USPS link:
https://pe.usps.com/text/imm/immc2_022.htm#ep3032639 -
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