Ebay global shipping question

[tschock]

Originally Posted by irv

What you should notice, is both cards came from the same seller!

Yesterday, I just received 3 PSA graded/slabbed card in a padded envelope, with tracking, and I see the seller paid $3.33 to have the cards shipped from N.Y. to me here in Canada.

Color me confused, but if anyone doesn't think E-Bay is getting rich off of this scam, then they can't see the forest for the trees.

Similarly... I'm confused with how they come up with the shipping cost to if they don't know the weight of the item. Granted some places (like AU) have flat rate shipping as well, but they can't be using that in this case since it is much MORE than they listed for the buyer's shipping cost. Based on my weight estimate, I can ship direct to the buyer for about 1/2 the ebay shipping fee to the buyer.

Hey, I get the fact that ebay is most likely making money on this, or at least breaking even, and the less hassle I have is good for me, but how do THEY come up with the shipping cost? One thing I can think of is your global shipping fee for that slabbed card to Canada is subsidizing (in part) my buyer's shipping fee for his item to get to Australia.

[grainsley]

Agree 100% with Irv.....being in Canada, if I see Global Shipping, I just move on. U.S. sellers lose a fair amount of potential business from up North.

[bobbyw8469]

Originally Posted by grainsley

Agree 100% with Irv.....being in Canada, if I see Global Shipping, I just move on. U.S. sellers lose a fair amount of potential business from up North.

As a seller, I have been ripped off by Canadian buyers claiming not to have received the item, when I believe that they did. There needs to be a happy medium to make both sides happy, and cover the tracking requirements.

[irv]

Originally Posted by swarmee

Irv, get a Comc account and use their mailbox feature to have a u.s. delivery address.

Thanks John, you have mentioned that to me before, and I have considered it, but in all honesty, I am having pretty good luck purchasing cards with reasonable shipping fees as of late, just like yesterdays cards that were shipped to me.

Originally Posted by Donscards

I just had to cancel 3 cards I sold to a collector in Canada--Global charged him $40---he complained to me, stating it costs around $5 ---I also state in my descriptions, I don't ship out of US----but he purchased anyway---But I did cancel his 3 transactions this morning.---Also, you cannot adjust your invoice through ebay when sale in complete.

Good on you, Don. What I have noticed, numerous times, is sellers have in their ad, "May not ship to Canada". Unlike 707, who clearly states in Red, "Does not ship to Canada" it becomes confusing if the seller actually does or doesn't actually ship up here? I ask ahead of time before I bid and I also ask how much.

Originally Posted by tschock

Similarly... I'm confused with how they come up with the shipping cost to if they don't know the weight of the item. Granted some places (like AU) have flat rate shipping as well, but they can't be using that in this case since it is much MORE than they listed for the buyer's shipping cost. Based on my weight estimate, I can ship direct to the buyer for about 1/2 the ebay shipping fee to the buyer.

Hey, I get the fact that ebay is most likely making money on this, or at least breaking even, and the less hassle I have is good for me, but how do THEY come up with the shipping cost? One thing I can think of is your global shipping fee for that slabbed card to Canada is subsidizing (in part) my buyer's shipping fee for his item to get to Australia.

Don't kid yourself, E-Bay is raking in the dough! Most sellers, when I tell them, have no clue what the fees are that I see up here in Canada. When I show them by copying and pasting their ad, they are shocked. There is a reason E-Bay keeps that from them, imo, and that is, because they know if the seller knew how much they were charging for shipping, they would realize how much business they are likely losing and quickly drop Global shipping.
I had one seller state side, who was so thankful, offer me any card I wanted from his list and he said he would ship it for free. He was genuinely p*ssed off that E-Bay was being so secretive about what they charge foreign customers.

[Stampsfan]

I for one simply don't bid or BIN when folks use Global Shipping. Typically the fees are outrageous for Canadian buyers. This topic has been covered on many Canadian boards. And while yes, we are small compared to the population of the US, there are definitely missed sales by US sellers who use this program to ship.

And really, it's not that hard to track a package through USPS that is shipped to Canada.

[bobbyw8469]

Originally Posted by Stampsfan

I for one simply don't bid or BIN when folks use Global Shipping. Typically the fees are outrageous for Canadian buyers. This topic has been covered on many Canadian boards. And while yes, we are small compared to the population of the US, there are definitely missed sales by US sellers who use this program to ship.

And really, it's not that hard to track a package through USPS that is shipped to Canada.

It is if you want to track it the whole way, to fulfill Paypal's tracking requirements.

[irv]

Originally Posted by bobbyw8469

As a seller, I have been ripped off by Canadian buyers claiming not to have received the item, when I believe that they did. There needs to be a happy medium to make both sides happy, and cover the tracking requirements.

I assume, if you have been ripped off by CDN buyers, you have also been ripped off by American ones too?
Don't get me wrong, I would be p*ssed too if I got ripped off, but I can't see having to spend $25 to $40 and sometimes even higher, like $51 I have seen, in order to have tracking. E-Bay is banking large amounts of money with this rip-off/scam.

Originally Posted by bobbyw8469

It is if you want to track it the whole way, to fulfill Paypal's tracking requirements.

That is something I wasn't aware of? My parcel yesterday, which cost $3.33, had tracking as well but are you saying it ended at the CDN border?

[thecatspajamas]

Originally Posted by bobbyw8469

It is if you want to track it the whole way, to fulfill Paypal's tracking requirements.

USPS actually does provide door-to-door tracking now, with the "Delivered" notification that eBay requires, for Canada and a number of other countries. I believe when the Global Shipping program was initiated, this was not the case, and USPS tracking at that time only showed progress to the airport where the package left the U.S.

For what it's worth, I ship many packages overseas, and have had far fewer fraud attempts from international buyers than from those stateside. As long as you're using tracking for your shipments, I really see no reason to use the Global Shipping program. It is just as easy to print out a shipping label for an international shipment as it is for one with a stateside destination.

[thecatspajamas]

For an example of what I am talking about, go to the usps website and put in the tracking number below:

LJ928798085US

This one was bound for Switzerland, and despite taking a wrong turn at Portugal (showing our postal system isn't the only one that makes mistakes), made its way back to Switzerland and shows as "Delivered" about 2 weeks after it was shipped. Notice that it also shows when the package was being held in Customs, and when it cleared Customs (in both Portugal and Switzerland ), which some buyers will ask about whether you shipped it yourself or used the GSP.

The main thing that eBay is concerned with when it comes to disputed deliveries is that there be a tracking number than can be entered on the USPS website, and that it says "Delivered" at the top when they do so. I could have either printed the shipping label to Switzerland myself and entered the tracking number on eBay's website, or printed the shipping label to Kentucky myself and entered the tracking number on eBay's website. As long as my packaging is sufficient for overseas travel either way, there really is no difference to me with respect to eBay Seller Protection, but it makes a world of difference to the buyer's shipping cost.

[bobbyw8469]

Thanks Lance. I was unaware of that. So the $3-$5 shipment actually shows door to door tracking now to Canada?