eBay Global Shipping Help Appreciated

[Eric72]

Originally Posted by BillyCox3

To all American eBay sellers who refuse to use nothing other than GSP:

Please stop.

There are safe shipping methods which are far more cost effective to your customers. You're costing yourselves potential business using GSP. Do a little bit of research to find the option(s) that work best for you. GSP only serves to make eBay even more money while simultaneously costing your customers ludicrous amounts of money. It's a complete rip-off and unfair to all parties, yourselves included.

Do any of these methods cover the seller (again, we're talking eBay sales) if the buyer claims to have not received their package?

Not being snarky; I'm genuinely curious.

[Tabe]

Originally Posted by Eric72

Do any of these methods cover the seller (again, we're talking eBay sales) if the buyer claims to have not received their package?

From USPS.com:


The international shipping services for which free online tracking is available include:

• First-Class Package International Service
• Priority Mail International Flat Rate Envelopes
• Priority Mail International Small Flat Rate Boxes

The free online tracking feature is available for these items sent to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, Great Britain, Germany, France, Netherlands, Croatia, Denmark, Spain, Switzerland, Israel and Brazil.





So, to answer your question:

It depends.

As you can see, the list of tracked international destinations if you're using USPS is not particularly long.

[Tabe]

Personally, I use the GSP because it means I don't have to go to the post office during regular business hours. International mail, even if you pre-print a label through Paypal or whatever, has to be handed to a clerk at the counter. With the GSP, I can use the 24-hr self service dropoff.

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

A very important piece of info to know:

(This has been my experience. Not sure about any of you.)

When shipping to Canada from the U.S., do not use your own printed labels/tracking from stamps.com and other similar shipping services. These tracking numbers only work within the USPS system. Once it leaves the US, there is no way to track via Canada Post. This was a very costly mistake which I learned the hard way, as when a package is lost, each postal system will just blame the other and wash their hands at your expense. You'll want to take your mailings into the post office and have the USPS issue their own tracking numbers which will carry over into Canada via the Canada Post website.

Some of you will see this as a big "pro" to continue to use GSP. Just remember that if you do want foreign customers, many of them will see that you're using GSP and pass your items by. Even if you are selling a 99 cent item, the GSP cost is ridiculous--I want to say the cheapest I've seen is $11+ per item, but the usual starting point has been over $14 per item more often than not. Of course, this cost just escalates based on the sale price of your items.