Ebay global shipping question
 

How does ebay's global shipping fee get allocated. If let's say a buyer's invoice shows $100 for the item and $40 for global shipping, does that $140 go to me and later ebay takes out the $40 global shipping fee? Or does just the $100 show up in my paypal account and the $40 goes directly to ebay?

Global shipping goes directly to eBay. You get the sale price plus your cost of shipping to Kentucky minus PayPal fees.

Thanks, John! One additional question on shipping to Kentucky. Does Ebay 'forward on' the package you ship, do they 'repackage' the item itself, or do you ship a 'pre-made' package within the box you send to Kentucky? The item I have is about 14x8x3 inches and I would have concerns with ebay trying to repackage this. Or repackage anything in general as I usually send stuff nuclear proof. :)

Not sure, but I believe they repackage the item. I had a buyer complain about the card being damaged, when I pack up items with foolproof packing. That leads me to believe that they inspect the item and repackage them.

Global...
 

I have used Ebay Global since Day 1 and NEVER had an issue. Granted, the fees to the international buyer are VERY steep but you as a seller are covered 100% on the shipping end. I had a high dollar card ship overseas a year ago and the buyer was saying he never got the card. I simply pointed out to paypal that I had used Ebay Global and they settled the case in my favor within 3 days. That NEVER happens when shipping to USA addresses!

You ship the item to Kentucky and your tracking will tell you when they (Kentucky Ebay Center) get it. They then open the package to make sure it is the correct item, then they repackage according to international specs and regulations and Voila! You are literally only on the hook to get it sent to KY with tracking!

Too easy! Except of course for those pesky buyer fees! Ugh! Nothing's perfect right? :)

Peace, Mike

PS To alleviate your concerns: Package the item as you always do. Nothing more, nothing less. They open it in KY and re-package the way they want to. You have zero control over the way it gets sent overseas from KY.

And those pesky buyer's fees are the nail in the coffee. I've had SOOOOOOOO many International buyers complain about the high shipping fees. So much so, that I stopped carrying it. Although, when I did, I LOVED it!!! Like you said, you are responsible for getting it to KY. That's it!!! Ebay is on the hook for everything else!!! And you are protected if the buyer claims he never got it.

I refuse to purchase from anyone who uses Global shipping as it is way too expensive and there is zero consistency!

Take this Wynn card for example. It sold for $151.50 and it's shipping cost is $46.99 dollars using Global shipping!

Good
“SGC AUTHENTICATED EX/MT EXAMPLE”
Ended: Feb 21, 2017 , 11:00PM
Winning bid:US $151.50
[ 25 bids ]
Shipping: $46.99 International Priority Shipping to Canada via the Global Shipping Program
Item location:Grayslake, Illinois, United States
Seller:
banty_red_tobacco (
http://www.ebay.com/itm/311802686802...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Then take this Hodges card, which sold for $4.00 dollars cheaper, or for $147.50 and it's shipping fees are $27.80??

Good
“PSA EX/MT 6”
Ended: Feb 21, 2017 , 11:00PM
Winning bid:US $147.50
[ 17 bids ]
Shipping: $27.80 International Priority Shipping to Canada via the Global Shipping Program
Item location:Grayslake, Illinois, United States
Seller:
banty_red_tobacco (1785 ) | Seller's other items
http://www.ebay.com/itm/311802673881...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

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

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.

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

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.

Similarly... I'm confused with how they come up with the shipping cost to <insert country here> 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.

I found that out as well (about not adjusting the invoice) as I was trying to save the buyer some money, and I have reason to believe the buyer won't scam and claim to not receive the item when he does (though it actually NOT getting there is another thing).

Part of how I got here was I did not realize the global shipping fee materialized on the buyer's side, which it did. So I quoted him what it would cost to send it (direct) and that's when he questioned the shipping cost difference.

So he knew what EBAY said the shipping fee was going in, but I 'quoted' him a direct shipping fee. I will probably go back to the buyer and let him know that's in the 'global shipping fee' process loop and can't adjust the invoice. I can offer if he wants, to cancel the sale (though he did know what ebay said the shipping cost would be going in), or maybe even offer some 'rebate' on shipping since I messed up on my part.

In any case, thanks to all for the input on this.

Global
 

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.

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.

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.

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.

Agree!!!
 

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.

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.

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

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?

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.

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 :p ), 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.

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

Correct. See tracking results for USPS tracking number LJ928728703US for an example shipped to Canada.

That tracking looks a little weird. It departed West Palm Beach and then departed Louisville one minute later?? And for final destination, it just says "DELIEVERED - CANADA". No city or anything. Just delivered to Canada. That is sufficient for a "item not received" claim??

I agree the tracking is a little weird on that one too, and I'm not sure what was going on in the middle there, but the answer to your question is yes, all eBay cares about is whether that last scan says "Delivered" or not. They do not care about what route it takes in between, or that USPS does not display the actual delivery address with the tracking. See a few more examples:

UA355570274US - Netherlands
LZ630113170US - Italy
LJ929367229US - Australia
LJ929034861US - Austria
LJ928734108US - Switzerland
LJ928735868US - Spain
LJ928734479US - Portugal
LJ928728703US - Canada
LJ927879211US - UK
LJ927638975US - France
LJ926792125US - Brazil
LJ926438677US - Germany

All simply state DELIVERED - [DESTINATION COUNTRY]

I suppose if a dispute arose and eBay wanted to push the issue, I could show them a screenshot from my stamps.com account verifying that tracking number was actually associated with a shipment to the delivery address the buyer had provided, but I have never had that be required with an international shipment. Prior to the USPS providing door-to-door tracking though, I did have a couple of incidents where, even though I was sure the buyer had received the item (due to the timing of them filing a claim and the nature of their communication before and after), because the tracking at that time only went as far as the Miami International Airport, it was a quick ruling in favor of the buyer. Since USPS has begun providing door-to-door tracking, if a claim is filed through eBay, I simply have to reply with the tracking number and indicate that it shows the package was delivered on such-and-such day for quick ruling in my favor. Whether eBay may just eat the cost under the Seller Protection program and refunds the buyer anyway, I don't know, but eBay has always been secretive as to the exact action they are taking with the other party in a dispute. My only concern at that point though is that I am covered, the funds are released back to my Paypal account, and I go on about my business.

My biggest gripe with shipping, like I previously mentioned, can be all over the place.
Take this one, for example, $16.35 from Texas.

Shipping: $16.35 International Priority Shipping to Canada via the Global Shipping Program | See details

Item location:
Huntsville, Texas, United States

Ships to:
United States and many other countries | See details
Delivery:
Estimated between Tue. Mar. 7 and Sat. Mar. 11
Includes international tracking

Then take a look at this one. $12.52 from California.

Shipping: $12.52 International Priority Shipping to Canada via the Global Shipping Program | See details

Item location:
Clovis, California, United States

Ships to:
United States and many other countries | See details
Delivery:
Estimated between Sat. Mar. 11 and Thu. Mar. 16
Includes international tracking

It is all over the place, just like the 2 I posted earlier, a $20 dollar difference between 2 cards of similar value ($4 dollar difference) from the same seller??

From what I have been told by some of the sellers I have contacted, E-Bay makes it very easy for them to choose Global and not so much on the other options. To me, that also reeks scam/manipulation and deceit.

If shipping fees were a little more consistent, I may believe it is being run correctly and truthfully, but since it is not, no one will tell me any differently that this whole E-Bay Global shipping thing isn't a scam and a ripoff. :mad: