Another Casualty Of The Ebay Global Shipping Program

[Goudy]

For the second time this year, I've received a package with a gaping hole in it, courtesy of the eBay GSP. This is the latest victim:

 

http://i.imgur.com/mai96E5.jpg

 

You can see where the bag has been slit open and resealed with clear tape, which has come unstuck. Amazingly, the pen was still inside the package. On the previous occasion when I received a parcel in this condition, the padded bag was empty. That time, I complained to eBay. I don't think they believed me, but they reluctantly gave me a partial refund for the lost item.

 

Almost all the parcels I have received through the GSP have been interfered with, usually hacked open with a knife like this one. Pitney Bowes, the company who runs the GSP for eBay explain their policies on opening parcels here. They say they do it for a number of reasons, including customs checks, but also to repackage into smaller parcels to reduce costs.

 

I'm mentioning this partly so that eBay sellers reading it can be aware of the risks they (and their buyers) take when they send items through the Global Shipping Program. For what it's worth, I've noticed that the deliveries most likely to survive the ordeal are the ones packed in proper USPS cartons, rather than padded bags.

 

 

[Cryptos]

Isn't it a Federal offence to interfere with the mail in the US?

 

That Pitney Bowes does this, when it is not deemed necessary for any other international courier, is quite alarming.

 

This is something else that one feels is necessary to communicate to eBay sellers in future. They may say they use GSP for security (as opposed to USPS First Class) but it is clearly not secure if a third party is going to open the package anyway and then take no responsibility for breakage or loss.

 

Quite, quite disturbing.

[dan in montreal]

This is alarming, yes, but it is not new. I've received a few very badly packaged articles, courtesy of Pitney Bowes. No more.

I don't think sellers are obligated to use this bad, bad, bad service.

I for one have stopped buying sellers who use the GSP and I don't think I'm the only one. I'm hoping sellers will opt out of this thing. The worse thing is the fake "customs charge" - seems like a pseudo-legal scam.

[migo984]

I avoid any US seller who uses GSP, like the plague. In addition to the alarming experiences of the OP regarding opening packages, it is a complete rip-off on prices and PB also do not allow sellers to combine items to reduce postage.

 

Despite Ebay saying they are not affiliated to Pitney Bowes they get a "referral fee", from them on each GSP transaction. Yet they will do little to assist if problems arise

 

Here is the reason the GSP is so expensive: This is what their site reads under "Description of Fees":

 

1. U.S. Shipping Fee

 

2. International Shipping Fee

 

3. Fuel Surcharge

 

4. Transportation Fee

 

5. Parcel Processing Service Fee

 

6. Distribution Center Management Fee

 

7. Loss Management Fee

 

8. Transportation Risk Premium Fee

 

9. Referral Fee - a variable fee paid by Pitney Bowes to eBay Inc. for referring you to the program.

 

Remember, the referral fee they make from PB is on top of the eBay sellers' fees they take. You can make up your own mind if this is a value-for-money service or yet another example of greedy EvilBay.

[mike.jane]

I've never bought anything off of ebay with this shiping method for the very reasons mentioned here. To elaborate it: The shipping charges and customs surcharge offered have never seemed anything but riddiculous to me (That is, riddiculously high)

And why am I supposed to pay a customs charge when my country has never asked me for a penny on all my imports in the past.

 

I don't like this kinda thing, it feasts on people being ill-informed, gullable, and conformist. Do not like.

 

Edit: The term 'fuel surcharge' is also sure to tick me off. Like on a plane ticket. You arrive at the airport and they have the audacity to ask you to 'chip in on fuel'. Well wait a second, are you saying, when I bought the plane ticket, that was just for the stationary seat on a stationary plane, and the moving and the flying costs extra? Oh, I see, surely then there would be a 'pilot's flying lessons' surcharge', too, 'rubber tire surcharge' then? How about 'My bag actually being transported into the plane surcharge' Sounds so reasonable.

Edited December 6, 2015 by mike.jane

[wastelanded]

GSP is nothing but a bold-faced moneyspinner. As if Pitney Bowes wasn't already evil.

 

Wouldn't touch it with a barge pole. Why would there be a customs charge on a 60 year old Esterbrook selling for $20, when CRA says writing instruments valued under $30 are duty-exempt?

 

Big brass ones.

[Chrissy]

I never buy from any seller who offers the service. As soon as I see it, I press the back button.

 

As a seller myself, I know opt-out is available and I have opted out, but was annoyed to see that as soon as it started ebay automatically opted me in. That is the default in preferences. I bet there are some sellers who don't even know they can opt out.

[ian1964]

I have bought from sellers using this system (not many it's true) but include the P&P cost to the maximum total I am prepared to pay. I am no worse off but the seller is because I suspect there are a lot like me . Having said that thought, the goods do arrive significantly quicker.

[Left FPN]

I never buy from any seller who offers the service. As soon as I see it, I press the back button.

 

As a seller myself, I know opt-out is available and I have opted out, but was annoyed to see that as soon as it started ebay automatically opted me in. That is the default in preferences. I bet there are some sellers who don't even know they can opt out.

I phoned ebay customer service and had them OPT me out..I also had a good whinge at the way they have opt-in by default.

[Cryptos]

I have bought from sellers using this system (not many it's true) but include the P&P cost to the maximum total I am prepared to pay. I am no worse off but the seller is because I suspect there are a lot like me . Having said that thought, the goods do arrive significantly quicker.

 

EoC was forced to accept GSP on one item and disagrees with the last part of the above quote. The item arrived more slowly than other items sent from similar destinations but using alternative carriers.

 

This one no longer accepts GSP as an option and has no issue with letting sellers know the why of it. Most sellers seem surprised and are quick to offer an alternative (USPS is perfectly good for most things, for example), though a minority believe that the GSP is there to protect them and they stick staunchly to it. With the majority of sales happening in the US perhaps this is not so much of an issue for sellers as it is for overseas buyers?

 

There is also variability in delivery time no matter which carrier you use. As an example, EoC ordered some books from the UK that arrived (by good old Royal Mail) in 2 days, in New Zealand! TWO DAYS Usually this would have been about 10 days. Similar, though not quite so dramatic, timings have occurred occasionally on items from the US.

 

Japan EMS is one of the best carriers EoC has ever used. They deliver on their promises and are a fantastic price. Recently had a Pilot pen sent. Cost $11, took 4 days.

[migo984]

Japan EMS is one of the best carriers EoC has ever used. They deliver on their promises and are a fantastic price. Recently had a Pilot pen sent. Cost $11, took 4 days.

Absolutely agree. Very competitive delivery costs, and the most efficient carrier. Regularly receive goods to the UK in 4-5 days. Their standby-by (economy) service is also fantastic.

[ink-syringe]

If you use the Global Ripoff Program I won't buy from you. Period. I don't care if you are selling a six pack of NOS Sheaffer PFM for a dollar. I absolutely refuse to give PB money and pay import fees my ship to address DOESN'T ACTUALLY REQUIRE.

 

The whole thing is a scam.

[stephanos]

I agree. I have never bought from a seller using the "global shipping program", and never will.

 

To me it looks like a good example of a product that was invented as a 'solution' to an invented problem and which, once it was accepted as a solution, has moved to be an assumed necessity (hence the automatic opt-in).

[Chrissy]

I fail to understand how all of the US sellers who use the service are happy to ship their goods off to Pitney Bowes via USPS, with no idea what will happen to their parcels when they get there.

 

Maybe they are even unaware that they will all be opened and checked and resealed badly, before being dispatched to their original buyers.

 

And they could just as easily ship the parcels to their customers themselves. I'm not sure why sellers wouldn't want to do that and maintain as much control as they can.

 

I would have thought it's bound to take more time via Pitney Bowes, as they have to receive it, open it and repackage it before it goes on it's way again.

 

I wonder how many sellers have received poor star ratings or feedback due to this service?

 

Maybe if ebay had built in a system where they would remove all negative feedback left for sellers, due solely to Customs charges, the Global shipping program might never have been necessary.

[Goudy]

I would have thought it's bound to take more time via Pitney Bowes, as they have to receive it, open it and repackage it before it goes on it's way again.

 

A GSP delivery from the US also takes a lot more time to be delivered even when it reaches the UK, due to Pitney Bowes using cheap local couriers rather than Royal Mail. All my recent GSP deliveries were left on my doorstep or pushed through the door by a company called 13Ten. They never even try to get a signature.

 

On the other hand, US sellers who bypass the GSP and send direct by USPS First Class International know that the package will be treated as Royal Mail First Class Tracked and Signed once it arrives in the UK. Door-to-door, GSP is about twice as slow as the direct method, and a lot more risky for delicate or valuable items.

[mike.jane]

It's too bad really; sure enough it would have been nice to come up with a system that actually saves international customers money, and/or speeds up and/or at least simplifies the process.

I mean, call me old fashioned,but when you present an 'improvement' to me I'd kinda expect it too actually be better. (Looking at you there, youtubeXgoogle+ intergration)

 

Good for that company though (and ebay), they can milk that scammy cash cow for a few years, before the majority of users finds out that it actually really sucks. Then it'll be canned and no one's the wiser.

Edited December 26, 2015 by mike.jane

[BOOGIT]

THE GLOBAL SHIP PROGRAM IS THE WORST THING TO HAPPEN TO EBAY EVER!

I Hate it as a Buyer and refuse to buy if Seller insists on using it

I Love it as a Seller as I get lots of sales especially International buyers who Are Thrilled to pay $16.00USD FOR SHIPPING

Most countries are not a problem - I live in Canada and almost every seller who uses Global agrees they never lost a shipment to Canada using Regular Mail yet they use Global

Most Sellers do not even know what buyers are being charged

Keith

[northlodge]

Most Sellers do not even know what buyers are being charged

Keith

Since ebay have started charging a % of shipping costs I have noted that (as a buyer) a huge increase in the number of occasions I get the message "this seller does not allow combined postage"

 

On almost every occasion the seller has discounted postage once I have been able to get a message to them, andthey uusually claim they have no idea why ebay would say otherwise. I suspect this is another ebay default setting that the seller knows nothing about

[oneill]

I am glad to see more complaints about an e-bay practice, try getting them to

respond to a genuine complaint, I have posted my experiences with them re items I have queried in the recent months where a seller is listing something as GENUINE when in fact further down the page the material is listed as SYNTHETIC and when I complained again the seller changed the listing to all genuine when in fact it was not and ebay took no action against the seller in fact they stopped responding to me completely, NOT GOOD ENOUGH

[Goudy]

As a seller myself, I know opt-out is available and I have opted out, but was annoyed to see that as soon as it started ebay automatically opted me in. That is the default in preferences. I bet there are some sellers who don't even know they can opt out.

 

I'm noticing this more and more: sellers who have the GSP shipping option activated with international shipping and import charges quoted, and who then state in their listing "No international shipping".

 

Here, for example, is a seller who is clearly infuriated by the whole idea of global shipping ("NO SHIPPING OUTSIDE THE USA [do not bid if your address is outside the US]"), and yet his listings are all linked to the Global Shipping Program:

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Delta-Dolce-Vita-Fountain-and-Ballpoint-Pen-Limited-Edition-2005-Oscars-/331792389940