How does GSP help more for expensive items?

If the item is tracked and insured, then what difference does it make?

You're just causing the buyer to pay unecessary import duties during checkout.

mockingbird wrote:

How does GSP help more for expensive items?

If the item is tracked and insured, then what difference does it make?

You're just causing the buyer to pay unecessary import duties during checkout.

Tracking doesn't come with the first class shipping as far as I know. It only comes with expensive priority shipping and it simple doesn't work in many countries.

If you use the Global Shipping Program It goes to eBay facility first. Then eBay employees check packages before they mail them to buyers to be make sure the item shipped is the one that was listed in order to avoid frauds from either sellers or buyers. If a package gets lost eBay takes full responsibility for it. I see only pluses. I guess eBay had to come up with the program due to high level of frauds.

If only we could opt out of paying the import charges and just let stuff go though customs like everything else...

For me the shipping program has no benefits.

1. It's wayyy more expensive. (A seller once saw the GSP price and wrote on the invoice "What's this? Ebay gremlins perhaps?!")
2. The packaging gets opened, checked, possibly broken, repacked 100% of the time. (In my case, around 30 instances)
3. Distances the seller from the buyer and makes them less accountable. (Can always claim that GSP broke/switched/removed something from the package)
4. Uses more carriers than needed and always arrives in longer delays than 'classic' shipping.
5. Incidentally, more carriers = more pollution and waste of resources/time that could be avoided.

Beegle wrote:

For me the shipping program has no benefits. […]
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For me the shipping program has no benefits.

1. It's wayyy more expensive. (A seller once saw the GSP price and wrote on the invoice "What's this? Ebay gremlins perhaps?!")
2. The packaging gets opened, checked, possibly broken, repacked 100% of the time. (In my case, around 30 instances)
3. Distances the seller from the buyer and makes them less accountable. (Can always claim that GSP broke/switched/removed something from the package)
4. Uses more carriers than needed and always arrives in longer delays than 'classic' shipping.
5. Incidentally, more carriers = more pollution and waste of resources/time that could be avoided.

1. I agree, It's often not cheap, but eBay has to pay its employees. It also depends on item or weigh, because sometimes it's cheaper to ship by using the Global Shipping Program.
2. I guess they only repack an item when its packed poorly in the first place. Then again it's only my guess.
3. Never had this problem.
4. Actually in my experience it arrives pretty fast and at about the same time as regular shipping. Difference may be a day or two.
5. It protects sellers from unfair buyers, so they will use it whether buyers agree or not.

Perhaps it's better when sellers only sell locally and buyers barely have any chances to get their dream items.

Dreamer_of_the_past wrote:

Perhaps it's better when sellers only sell locally and buyers barely have any chances to get their dream items.

I understand the use for GSP, is to make more items available to as many people as possible. I agree with this. That is an upside.

I wanted to point the downsides in my post, because so far my experience has been bad. Sorry if I sounded snarky.

Beegle wrote:

I wanted to point the downsides in my post, because so far my experience has been bad. Sorry if I sounded snarky.

It's all good, unfortunately this is the only way at this time to minimize frauds. Sellers barely had any protection compare to buyers. Sometimes it worth talking to a seller and may be after checking your feedback he will agree to use a regular shipping instead of the GSP.

As a US seller who didn't used to ship internationally, I started using the GSP because eBay activated it by default. I decided to switch to regular International First Class for light, inexpensive items (such as boxed video games). I just selected a small number of countries that I would ship to. It turns out that printing a shipping label to other countries via eBay is almost as easy as it is for domestic sales. I encourage everyone in the US to try it with just Canada to begin with for a light, inexpensive item.

boxpressed wrote:

As a US seller who didn't used to ship internationally, I started using the GSP because eBay activated it by default. I decided to switch to regular International First Class for light, inexpensive items (such as boxed video games). I just selected a small number of countries that I would ship to. It turns out that printing a shipping label to other countries via eBay is almost as easy as it is for domestic sales. I encourage everyone in the US to try it with just Canada to begin with for a light, inexpensive item.

Thanks for doing this for us in the north. I'm glad that some sellers have come to their senses and offered a sensible and fair option to use usps first class shipping instead of GSP.

It's pretty sneaky and tricky that GSP is activated by default IMO. Ironic that some think that GSP protects them against fraud when IMHO GSP is pretty much based on borderline fraudulent practices like this and fraudulent in that people are almost forced to use it and using GSP means you are going to pay much more for shipping in the end (almost double in some cases).

It's surprising how many sellers don't realize that GSP is active and ebay is listing their item with crazy shipping charges and ridiculous unwarranted duty charges for even the smallest items. As I mentioned, i have never had an issue since being on ebay (since 2003) with the seller using first class international shipping. I never once did not receive an item or had any other issue.

I have experIenced eBay buyer fraud. People who know me contact me on AmiBay and I will gladly ship 1st class anywhere. 😀

That's good to hear PeterLI. ..that you offer first class on amibay that is.. 😀

I should look elsewhere than ebay to 'shop'. I may have to join amibay one day soon 😀 . Just fired up my a500 last week too so I may be in the market for some amiga stuff as well.

BTW. What would I need to do to join amibay?

Anyone is free to join Amibay, just be aware of their somewhat ridiculous list of rules (you can't mention what you paid for anything, even on Amibay, period). You have to read about 4 pages worth before your account is activated. I have purchased on there and didn't have a problem. It is "the" place for Commodore related items, but sometimes good deals on Atari, Apple, and PC stuff do pop up. Just be aware that the site is somewhat UK-centric and many buyers and sellers are in Europe vs. the US. You'll see a hack of a lot more PAL/240VAC units there than NTSC/120VAC.

Regarding the GSP, ebay's intent was to open up seller's items to more then their home country by attempting to reduce risk. Nobody said it would be cheap though. Shipping internationally isn't always convenient for most folks. Those stupid custom forms make life annoying and you can't always fill them out online if the buyer doesn't send you complete information (ex: online form requires phone number, but physical form doesn't).