eBay U.S. Global Shipping Program: Buyer And Seller Beware
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- Опубліковано 14 жов 2024
- "RACISM" is NOT the main point of this video. Listen to the video very carefully and understand what is being said about Trade, Relations, Current Issues. If you know that what I say in this video is 100% false then please provide me with the proof so I can understand what is going on here, if not then think about what is being said, the possibility of it being true if even a little bit and why it is being said. Any reverences to the topic of Racism is based upon current problems of TPP (trade agreement between the US, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan in which Japan is reluctant to join causing frustration with the US government) , issues with importing, fluctuation with the dollar vs yen etc.
The comment of "Possible Racism" was brought up by another UA-camr and due to my experiences of living in Japan as a foreigner for the last 10 years experiencing these things first hand it is NOT a far fetched idea.
All of this being said, keep in mind that racism is NOT THE MAIN PURPOSE OF THE VIDEO and DO NOT DWELL ON THIS POINT, PLEASE.
The purpose of this video is to illustrate how PBI is taking the goods you ship with care and removing all of the padding you put in the package to make it lighter, they then will crush the box intentionally, put a sticker saying STAT 37 CRUSHED on it before it leaves the country then when you receive your broken goods they accept NO responsibility for the contents, PBI will NOT give you a refund, Ebay will force you to take it up with the seller and sit back to watch you fight it out. This is the point.
******This is a video that is SPECIFIC ONLY TO THE U.S. eBay Global Partnership**** Program.
This is NOT regarding any other eBay shipping outside of the U.S., Only the U.S. here. I wanted to make after having a roller coaster of a painful ride that still has yet to end with eBay.
In this video I want to let both sellers in the U.S. or buyers from other countries who buy something on the U.S. eBay auctions to know about the hidden shipping dangers and unknown happenings within eBays & PBI Pitney Bowes Shipping Global Shipping Partnership Program ( In this case it is with products coming to Japan but I would not put it past other people from other countries experiencing the same things) If you look at some of the sellers negative feedback, if there is anything related to improper shipping, you might want to think twice about it being the sellers fault or eBays fault.
Here is a copy, word for word which the last customer service rep sent me regarding my current open case. See for yourself what you are dealing with when it comes to big companies like eBay:
***Message From eBay Customer Service Rep, Cut and pasted here word for word****
Hello Luke,
I know you are upset and understandably so. I know you feel this case has been decided incorrectly and you have been corresponding with us for quite some time over this case.
I can see that you received a damaged product that can be the most disheartening thing to happen. You have pieced together that it is happening when your item is shipped with PBI which is our Global Shipping Program partner. So when a seller decides to ship internationally they are given the option to opt in to the Global Shipping Program. They pay for domestic shipping within the Unitied States and they have to send the item to Kentucky. From there Pitney and Bowes sends the item on to the proper country, they do repackage and do inspections to make sure all is well.
Which would explain why two of your items came with identical packaging but the sellers were from opposite ends of the United States. They both selected to ship with the Global Shipping Program. My best suggestion is if you are not having luck receiving packages in great shape is to find listings that do not offer this and actually ship directly to your country themselves and see if that offers better luck.
*******END*******
After reading this, decide for yourself if you would like to be a part of the Global Shipping Partnership Program on eBay in the U.S. or if you would like to be a buyer from someone who uses the program.
The key thing to remember here is that none of what is mentioned above is told to either the seller nor ESPECIALLY the buyer when they purchase something off of the U.S. eBay site. I had no idea until now and its not the greatest feeling finding out this way.
I purchase a fair amount of merchandise through Ebay and where i can, I avoid the GSP like the plague. I also inform potential sellers that I will not be bidding on their item due to their insistence on shipping their item through the GSP. That the item would normally cost $16.00 for shipping and through the GSP it will be $32.00 plus the $11.00 import fees, totaling $43.00. Ridiculous when the item itself cost $49.00. (Actual pricing mentioned) I have found it to be exorbitantly costly with their bloated shipping fees and their vague import charges, that are never fully outlined anywhere. I can see a place to use this option. If you were selling heavy appliances or huge objects like pianos or things of that nature. For shipping 99% of the items sold on ebay, there are less costly and better options then this Ebay partnership program. Lets boycott this money grabbing machine Ebay has dreamed up and educate those sellers using it as to its great pitfalls and lack of buyer support.
100% Call!! Vote with your wallet!
Hi Luke - another thing I'd like to throw into the mix with how screwed up eBay Global Shipping is, is that Pitney Bowes is illegally reusing USPS Priority Mail boxes in order to save money from using their own boxes during "re-packaging" and international shipping. According to the USPS, all Priority Mail shipping boxes are considered property of the US Postal Service and cannot be used for anything other than for Priority Mail shipments. The domestic leg of the trip is Priority Mail but then Pitney Bowes ships it again in the same box via their service that they are charging eBay buyers. Thus they are increasing their profits by reducing shipping costs from not using their own boxes. This could very well be considered fraud against the Postal Service, a serious federal crime, and might be your ticket to getting action taken against this horrendous program.
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I'm having this problem as a seller! Just got enrolled in the GSP thinking oh great! I don't need to worry about international shipping! Packaged the hell out of a large projector I sent and the seller escalated the case once he recieved it with paypal, saying it was cracked. I mean this thing was literally enclosed in a pretty strong bubble, inside a strong box - it would have taken a hell of a crack to break it. The thing is it says in their terms and conditions that if they accept the package at their shipping centre then any damage after that is not my responsibility. It's right there in black and white. They assume responsibility. So why the crap paypal are even letting the guy affect my payment when it's ebay/pitney bowes' responsibility is anyone's guess. They need to direct him to those guys automatically if he wants a refund, not screw me out of £230 for two weeks while they mess both of us about. But if this is what they're doing - repackaging things badly before sending them out again - that's it I'm opting out the program. I've never had a problem shipping locally in the UK.
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This has be worried. I bought a kind of rare CIB DOS PC game from a seller in the US (I'm in Canada) and they used this Pitney Bowes shipping and the tracking is still saying November 19th, and as of this post it's December 4th. I've read all these horror stories about ripping packages apart and repacking them to make them lighter and in the process, destroying the contents. Yikes. Thanks for the video Luke
everyone in the rest of the world when buying from USA will see GPS and hit the back button. for American sellers who were opted in their international sales are now much slower, much more expensive and much less. we in the UK have an opt out for GPS, phew.
Luke, sorry to hear about your trouble. I ship internationally and I always just ship directly through the USPS. I live in the South and we love all kinds of people here..
*I WILL NOT PURCHASE ANY ITEM THAT SAYS GLOBAL SHIPPING PROGRAM.*
+ᗒ╬ᗕ1112223333111ᗒ╬ᗕ Exactly.
+ᗒ╬ᗕ1112223333111ᗒ╬ᗕ
Neither will I.
Well done. We, international buyers, thank you. GSP is a scam.
I won a pair of motorcycle forks in the US and paid for shipping and import taxes to be sent to the UK. When I checked my parcel,s tracking codes I found that 'Pitney Bowes' global shipping program has basically stollen my parcels! The message says ' Exception: Undeliverable-SYSTEM_RESTRICTION'.
I googled this and found that they do this all the time. They for some reason say it,s undeliverable and then instead of sending it back to the seller, probably because this cost's them, they KEEP IT and SELL IT! E.bay then send you a refund (which they have yet to sort out) and the seller know's nothing of this .One buyer I read about bought a rare Guitar from the US and had the same thing happen to them. He was told It was undeliverable,was confiscated basicaly and he then found the very same guitar for sale with its original listing and photos on e.bay Italy.
If you are thinking of buying anything that will be sent useing the 'Global shipping program' then maybe you shouldn't...
thank you for this video. been selling for 13 years on ebay and will not be using the global shipping program. I have always shipped my packages internationally directly and will continue to do so. Thank you.
Also, many buyers don't seem to realize that GSP charges the buyers all of the customs fees, VAT taxes, etc up front. That way buyers aren't hit with a separate - unexpected - bill when the items arrive. Also, sellers use the program because it protects them from scam buyers who want to claim their item never arrived.
I hate the Global Shipping Program.
The problem is PBI was stripping the packages to cut down weight and further increase their profits.
Opening the package isn't such a big deal, customs does this regularly no matter how it comes in or goes out of the USA. The real issue is PBI and Ebay sticking the screws to their customers.
DAMN. This video is an EYE OPENER! The uploader is one of the most straightforward and honest people on UA-cam (IMO). My only wish is that I had seen video earlier! I have literally just the other day ordered TWO items from eBay (both shipped through the GPS) and WAS NOT AWARE that any of this stuff was going on "behind the scenes". I was too trusting of eBay to even google search this stuff (MY BIG MISTAKE). I am from South Africa, where corruption and bad service are par for the course. Somehow I was under the naive presumption that any service from the USA (eBay shipping or GSP) would be somehow better... but according to this video it's not at all! OMG.
I am literally on eggshells now, waiting for the items to arrive. I hope my items don't arrive in the terrible condition that this guys stuff did. In fact, what the uploader says is totally true (as the one seller sent me photos of how he packaged the item before sending it to me via GSP). I bet my bottom buck that the stuff will not arrive as packaged in the original photos the seller sent me via eBay, before he shipped with the Pitney "Bowels" (pun intended) GSP. So that means if the item arrives with me all banged up, I need to fight it out with the seller (yet it's not his fault). What the hel??????? Injustice for sure!
This is so damn ridiculous. This world is TRULY getting more and more messed up. It sounds cliche, but whatever happened to good old customer service and the customer is always right. In fact, I should contact the sellers on eBay (ironically referred to in this same video... lol) who I have dealt with, ask them about the GSP and then send them this link for this video (if they have not seen it already)! I will post back here for interest sake if my items arrived (at all) or damaged. Peace
You are probably better off with Global Shipping than with the international postal service, since PB remains responsible for delivery.
If PB does not find the South African mail adequately secure, they will use other couriers.
Unfortunately some sellers dont have it listed if they are using the program or not and you still get burned, it happened to me even recently. it may be safer to request that the seller not use it and ask for other shipping options. what also sucks is paying $60 for express shipping but the package gets sent to Kentucky first to the global shipping area which takes 7 days. it sits there in their possession for 3 more days, then gets released and sent over here. total wait time is 14days to a month which is unreal and on top of that, the packaging is destroyed and the contents inside as well.
I know you don't want to talk much about this shit anymore but what's your thoughts on buyers being hit with import tax after either they have payed it via the listing or there was "$0.00" required on the listing?
i just had to opt out and lost out on Paypal fees due to costs plus refund fees , never knew this was such a thing , then i found out in the uk its automatic unless you op out of the program.
from now on i'll be doing things directly via the local post office.
It's insane that even though this video is now over 5 years old, the Global Shipping Program hasn't improved one bit!
I also had a terrible experience with Pitney Bowes. I bought something from eBay which arrived with 2 big slash marks across it. Inside the package was a note saying that my package had been opened by Pitney Bowes - a company I'd never even heard of until that point. Clearly someone had cut the package open with a Stanley knife, damaged the goods, but then they obviously decided to just package them back up and send them on to me.
I contacted the eBay seller who told me that the goods weren't in that condition when they were shipped (which I believe as he had several thousand transactions, 100% positive feedback, and there was a photo of the item in the listing that showed it to be in good condition) and he refunded me, except he could only refund the cost of the item, not the shipping costs as they're paid directly to Pitney Bowes. Because the seller had refunded me, I was then unable to open a PayPal dispute about the damaged item.
I contacted eBay and they said that I should contact Pitney Bowes. I contacted Pitney Bowes and they told me to contact eBay. I complained on Pitney Bowes' Facebook wall and also wrote a letter of complaint to eBay's head office. Early last week I got 2 emails from eBay apologising and saying that I would be refunded "within 72 hours", but that was 8 days ago and I still haven't had a refund.
They OPEN AND REPACKAGE our items??? Sounds illegal but I'm sure the fine print somewhere has sellers give consent to that.
HighwayStuff so true, i believe they think, they have the right because of the alias "eBay's GSP" so they claim the right to arrange the goods for export, as; are the goods the right goods of the auction, did the seller put the correct price on it, is everthing legal leaving the states etc. but the repacked it shitty too! This must be stopped so we need a crowd yell against this scam.
I wished I had seen this video before I ordered a laptop on Ebay from the US. I just learned it was shipped via GSP. Hopefully everything will go right. Thanks for sharing
Thanks for letting us know about this. I'm from Europe and recently wanted to buy something from a seller using Global Shipping! Glad I didn't. Third party companies who open up packages and use their own crappy packaging materials instead is not a way to do business! And the package will be opened up for customs here no matter if opened up in US or not. In the end all of this might stop international customers buy from sellers using GSP.
I was shipping internationally along time ago through eBay, but people in other countries know that they have to pay import taxes and fees. They just don't want to pay the fees, they want the seller to do it so they can just get by. I had a guy asked me to lie about what I was sending to avoid paying higher import tax (custom fees) I said to him hell no! So that made me stop international shipping anything. When they came up with the GSP I thought good I could start again. But these horror stories I have hear makes me still not want to ship anything internationally again.
It's perfectly reasonable to lower declared value on used or very old new stock items to avoid customs fees on the buyer's end. Unless you're selling brand new product, it is ridiculous to expect your buyers to pay import fees. So, yeah. You most likely should have "lied". You sound like a lousy eBay seller, though. You thought GSP was a good idea. Lol.
XeroShinobi lol true, if it's used, who says it's not worth lesS? lol
The problem is they pay extra non-tax fees that are eaten by the carrier company and also charge import duties on items that are duty free. It's a scam.
You have me worried. I just started using the Global Ship Program not two months ago hardly. Now I'm concerned as I've shipped three items through this program, one item quite fragile and that I spent nearly an hour meticulously packaging to ensure it's safety in transit to Australia. I'm going to have to re-evaluate what to do concerning shipping to international buyers from here on out. Thanks for making this video!
The biggest thank you EVER!!! I watched both your videos and it made me laugh when ebay say's if your unhappy use sellers that don't use PBI. I wonder if they are saying that this us global shipping company uses PBI when sellers get the option to choose if they want to take part as my seller has no idea who PBI is.
Several things:
First, GSP is a rip-off, not only because it takes more time in transit, but because as you said, adding a middle man increases the risk of theft and breakage on the way, either by poor handling or packing. But most of all, PBI taxes items through mysterious calculations that have little to do with what local customs charge (when they do), and since many items are never actually taxed, pockets the service fee AND said taxes. Buyers have no incentive to use GSP for these reasons, and sellers risk losing customers, or accruing smaller bids, because of inflated shipping that drastically reduces their bottom line.
Also, keep in mind damage may occur in Kentucky, but it can also occur in Japan, for the same reasons you mentioned.
I spend hundreds of dollars a month on ebay and only have recently come across global shipping. I have had to cancel multiple orders from sellers after I have won multiple auctions with them. This is due to the fact that global shipping does not offer combined shipping for multiple items. It is complete bullshit that I have to pay individual shipping and import fees on multiple items when I know that a seller can package everything together and ship everything at a combined rate. I collect video games so when I have to pay $10 for shipping + a few dollars for import charges for every game then it really adds up. What end up happening is that shipping and import charges are higher than the actual cost of items I bought.
me as a seller from the UK, if someone like you bought from me I will ask you to do the following.
firstly I would increase what my local postage is for all items so if it was £3 then I may increase to £6 for example. and then ask you to pay for one listing only, so you pay one shipping cost through ebay, then send you a paypal invoice for the rest of the items you bought, without additional delivery costs.
that way you are covered by paypal and ebay. :)
you save the extra global shipping charges, I sell :P
I don't know how eBay's "GSP" worked before, but we're not "locked" into using it when setting up international auctions anymore. I'm a US user who has recently posted a few international auctions for the first time since before the GSP system was introduced. In each auction I'm given the option of either using the GSP method (where eBay will determine int'l shipping + import charges that the buyer is responsible for, calculated according to the buyer's country) or to bypass GSP and handle my own shipping (unfortunately you can't offer both simultaneously and let the buyer decide what's best out of the two). FYI don't sweat it if you've posted an auction with GSP selected; you can edit the auction and change your shipping method at anytime while the auction is still active, which is also important for you non-US users to know as it allows you to ask the seller if they'd be willing to skip the GSP, but be aware this must be done before completing the auction. Once a final bid is made and the auction is completed, the shipping details can't be changed.
I wanted to post this as I think it's important for your viewers to know that they're no longer forced to use GSP exclusively in their international auctions. I initially had selected GSP myself in the aforementioned auctions, being naively convinced after glancing over this nifty new feature that it was in international buyers' best interests and benefit. After digging further, I'm finding that although it supposedly can be mutually beneficial in some situations (such as with very heavy or expensive shipments), in most cases GSP is not the best option for international buyers and they're learning to steer clear of US auctions that use GSP. For example, if I were to list, say a rare US-made CD for $120, under GSP if someone in the UK were to buy it at that price eBay would charge him/her about US$11 for shipping and $33 on top of it all for import charges/fees; whereas if I were to bypass GSP, UK customs would likely not elect to charge the receiver a single dollar (er, pound) for import/customs fees. To extend the example a little further: now say I listed an even rarer CD for $500. eBay would charge a UK buyer a proportionately larger import charge of $137, but a disproportionately larger shipping charge of $15 -- for a single CD of the exact same weight and dimensions. (TIP: you can check these charges for yourself on your own GSP auctions by scrolling down to the "Shipping and Payments" tab, selecting some arbitrary int'l country, and then calculating the shipping rate)
Long story short: GSP can supposedly be beneficial in certain instances (but then again maybe not, considering Luke's dropkicked-package experiences), but in general most US eBayers are better off setting up their own shipping charges and shipping directly to the buyer.
I will not deal with E-bay as a buyer or seller anymore.I live in Canada and refuse to be ripped off by EBay and this shipping racket..I sell in Canada and can sell a lot faster and free on Kijiji or Craigslist.
I refuse to buy from sellers advertising GSP.Got burned 3 times before I realized it is just a money making SCAM thought up by Ebay.I managed to get full refunds after 3 months.I just passed up an opportunity to buy The Beatles VS Four Seasons double vinyl set because the seller s too lazy to go to the post office and fill out the customs forms.He misses out and I buy from another seller.This GSP should be closed down ASAP.I bought a very rare CD and I didn't know that GSP re-wrap everything.The seller posted it in a proper mailer,but it arrived in a brown paper lunch bag,completely destroyed and taped together by our AUSTPOST.never again.
So happy to have found your video. I am shipping a rare poster today from Al to Italy. I am going to take pictures of every step of my packaging and the item. I see now that the seller has to cover themselves. After this item is shipped I will rethink global shipping. Thanks again for taking your time out to inform us.
My beef with Global Shipping is that it is just a money ripoff by Ebay. First you have to pay customs and import fees on everything. Even if the item is exempt. Now I have NEVER had to pay customs or import duties from any Ebay purchase in over 10 years of having things from ANYWHERE in the world by EBay sellers. I will not purchase from sellers who are not willing to bypass the Global Shipping program. Also they have a disclaimer saying that despite the fact that they collect these fees you are still responsible for customs and duties fees!!! Books and USED items are CUSTOMS and DUTIES free to Canada. Also many new Items are exempt depending on the dollar amount and what it is.
omg you have practically verbalized EXACTLY what I am going through right now!
Am seriously considering leaving eBay.
Basically, sellers and buyers are being harmed by this "middle man" shipping system. The best thing that eBay can do is to drop this Pitney Bowes shipping company and let sellers ship and charge for their stuff directly. It is not a matter of racism, politics or economics. It's a matter of incompetency.
1:46 - but yes - eBay packs it - and right now (2015)(and you may already know this) - eBay does pack the item under the GSProgram. The seller has insurance, meaning they are not held responsible for anything - the Seller sends the product to the eBay Global shipping center for processing - the product is repacked - then sent to the buyer.
That said - I am absolutely with you regarding the packing of your keyboard!!!!!
If I were WORKING for that shipping center, and had to pack a keyboard like that, my personal INTEGRITY would not let me do it. !!!!!
I Recently had an item listed on eBay. I have my preferences set to US only and specify in my listings that I will only ship to the US. A few days before the auction ended, I received an email from a guy asking if I would consider shipping to him in Germany. As I am a small time eBay seller (about 50 auctions total in 6 years), and have never shipped internationally before, I politely replied to him that I preferred not to ship internationally because of the extra paperwork involved. I realize that opening up my auctions to international buyers could possibly increase my selling price, but as an occasional seller, I just don't want to deal with it. When I heard of the GSP program, I thought that this might be something worth looking into. Now however, after seeing this video, I am having second thoughts. Thanks for posting this video. It may have just saved me a lot of headaches. If I do decide to ever start selling internationally, it most likely will NOT be with the GSP program. Just did a little more research on this program and found that I was already signed up for it. Funny thing is that I don't remember ever having received an email from eBay telling me so. Since it was initiated in 2012, it would have been nice for eBay to let me know that they signed me up for it WITHOUT my consent! I immediately opted out!
I live in Thailand and purchase via the GSP, when there is no other option.
From what I can work out goods are repackaged by Pitney Bowes or there GSP agents, then reshipped.
The packing is awful, such as fragile plastic parts placed in boxes with no protection at all. heavy items placed in a big box, without packing, boxes arrive with parts hanging out - NOT GOOD
It's being shipped 'all over' because both USPS and the other shipper use 'hub and spoke' shipping. It is widely used and nothing unusual. It looks weird but is actually the cheapest form of delivery, if not always the fastest.
The name is the Global Shipping Program and is run by Pitney Bowes for eBay.
Did you open a Significantly Not As Described Dispute?
The first step is a suggestion to Contact the Seller.
If you don't get a useful response you escalate to a Claim.
Immediately. Don't get bogged down.
Now - the seller is required to send you a Return Shipping Label. Since you are in Japan, he can't. Either you ship on your own dime or the seller sends you money and you use that to return the package.
Now.
The reason they are repackaging is because the Seller did not adequately describe the product and its origin.
You paid Japanese duty and sales taxes (plus a small service fee). The check is to see that the duty is correctly assessed.
Do you really believe that the thousands upon thousands of items that pass through the Erlanger KY plant are opened and repackaged?
The minimum wage in KY is $9.85 an hour. Repackaging would be expensive just in labor alone. The only reason to do it would be inadequate information from the seller about what is in the package.
BTW, when you make a SNAD complaint, if you immediately tell the robots who handle these that this is a GSP shipment, the program will leave out the seller and PB will refund you, without asking for a return.
Your mistake was getting the minimum wage clerks with no authority involved.
The GSP is a terrible program which was put into place because eBay's US sales had flatlined and they wanted to encourage the notoriously provincial and xenophobic US sellers to venture beyond the lower 48 . Yes, many US sellers will not sell to AK or Hawai'i. And forget about Puerto Rico!
It has worked well enough for eBay that it has been extended to the UK, where sellers were even unwilling to ship to Europe.
It is a Seller Protection Program and offers nothing to the honest buyer.
The dishonest buyer may notice there is an easy way to get free stuff without hurting the seller at all.
I've always been very cautious when importing from overseas here to where I live in Australia & after seeing this - wow, what an eye opener. What a crappy experience you've been through Luke, hopefully it all works out for the best :)
I live in Canada and will not be buying anything from Ebay , when the shippers are using Global Shipping. I hope all the sellers using PBI realize how many disgruntled buyers are out there and will not be buying from then any more. I am sure Ebay makes a lot of money by joining with PBI. Most businesses would be very concerned that their customers are not happy with what they are doing, but
Ebay seems to be oblivious!
Thanks Luke for the information. I am also a seller on E-bay and I am furious that they are trying to get us to sign up with their shipping program withing informing their sellers that they are opening what we take the time and care to package to make sure the buyers get their goods in perfect condition, are then opened and carelessly repackaged by e-bay shipping partner, and then don't take responsibility. Thanks so much for taking the time to post this.
I am convinced that GSP is to allow ebay to make extras. I am an overseas buyer and I hate paying the Import Charges based on percentage of final price. Most sellers insisted on GSP.
Because this program is offered by eBay and Pitney Bowes is operating the shipping facility, then Pitney Bowes and EBay are responsible for anything that happens to the item once it leave Pitney Bowes shipping facility. It is not the seller's responsibility they did their job by shipping it correctly to the GSP. Therefore the two companies need to take responsibility for their actions or just get rid of the GSP program until they learn to ship items correctly.
I am a reseller it's nice to hear things from the buyer's perspective,I watch a lot of videos from resellers.I just sold something on Sunday and shipped it on Monday through the global shipping program.It's going to Canada so hopefully it will be alright. I was just accused recently of not packaging things well so I was really careful with this one. It is an electronic doll and I taped bubble wrap around it's head, body, legs, etc. So hopefully it will be just a quick check and they retape it.
Found this on the Global Shipping Program FAQ. "Although you're responsible for getting the package safely to the US shipping center, you won't be charged if the item is damaged or lost during international shipping." "If a buyer opens an eBay Buyer Protection case and the international shipping provider is found to be at fault, the case will not count toward your seller performance." Seems like the buyers are the only ones getting short end of the stick.
I'm from southeast Asia, and as the buyer I think what I hate about the GSP is the high shipping costs, but this directs the parcels straight to my door.
Economy shipping on the other hand takes longer to receive the item, some of the times with no tracking whatsoever, and I still need to wait for the confirmation from my local post office that the item has arrived in the country before I can claim it. But if I'm not in a hurry to receive the item then this setup works pretty fine with me.
What I noticed is that most of the US sellers use the GSP, as much as I could I try to look at sellers outside US just to avoid the high shipping costs. Even though they claim that the item is of free shipping and postage.
Excellent video Luke. I really appreciate the info. I would be devastated, DEVASTATED, if I ordered an arcade board and it arrived broken. Some of these boards are really hard to come by. I still keep an eye out for Killer Instinct. Sigh....some day, I will find one....
Well, I am a seller here in the USA. I just tried to sell my first 2 items through the Global Shipping Program and could not complete either sale. Very frustrating, I worked my ass off going round and round to try and complete 2 sales that totally fell apart due to eBays negligence. There are some SERIOUS bugs in their system, and they don't seem to want to deal with it.
I've been buying & selling on eBay for 12 years now. Generally if the buyer and seller are both honest people, things transpire without a hitch. However if there is a problem eBay always tries to pass the buck. eBay is a rotten company and if there was a legitimate alternative, I'd use it. Probably about 15 years ago I started selling online with Yahoo Auctions. It was a superior service. However in the US I don't think it even exists anymore because eBay had all of the mindshare. Half was another great service until it was purchased by eBay.
I've used the Global Shipping Program several times now. I even shipped an ASUS Transformer Book T100 to Japan and there were no problems. I'm guessing it was because it was shipped in its original box so they probably didn't go through the trouble of repackaging that.
If the seller is responsible for shipping until it gets to Kentucky, then eBay needs to be responsible for shipping from Kentucky to your doorstep. I'm hoping they reimbursed you for the second damaged board.
I once sold a year of Xbox Live on eBay. The buyer used the code, left me positive feedback, and then rescinded payment with his bank. PayPal (another eBay company) reversed the payment. It was a nightmare to get a hold of customer service, but when all was said and done, eBay said that there was nothing they could do about it because I emailed the code instead of sending it via USPS with tracking. This is despite the fact that the buyer used the code and left me positive feedback for the transaction. As we all know you can't leave negative feedback for buyers so I was stuck. eBay is very interested in collecting your money, but when it comes time to do the right thing it's a crap shoot.
As a seller, I'm having big problems with non paying bidders. Why eBay doesn't institute immediate payment like Half did or like Amazon does is beyond me. Why should I be waiting around for someone to pay? The online auction space is ripe for the picking if a legitimate company would just step up to the plate.
Check out Tophatter. Great LIVE auction site. :)
tophatter.com/sign_up?campaign=link-invitation&invitation_id=2d288&source=invite
I have been there for a year or more now and am selling once in awhile. It's new & innovative & I see this format being the future for auctions.
What a great way to create jobs in the USA! Package opening & re-packaging middle men. And if they don't use the seller's original packaging, what the heck do they do with it? Throw it away most likely, recycle some of it at best. There is definitely no option for sellers to opt out of the "shipping partner" that would be easy to notice. Great work on the detective work behind this one Luke!
Thanks Luke! This information is very useful to me, because I'm a huge eBay shopper in the US and internationally. Luke you should try and post a video, of a board that does not get shipped by PBI and show the professionalism of the packaging from the seller themselves. Gotta try to end this little conflict on a good note you know? Thanks again Luke for sharing.
Isn't it illegal to open someone's mail if you aren't customs?
I totally agree with you on this and not only that the courier companies they use here in Portugal are the worst. One week they can find our address and the next our address is not a valid address. We dont have these problems with Amazon i might add. Not only that when a parcel went missing recently and was returned to the seller, we opened a case with ebay and they closed it, not only did they find in the sellers favour but the item arrived back with the seller and he relisted it! So the seller got to keep the item and our money! I had the same problem trying to contact ebay going around and around in a big circle and eventually did the same thing as you contacted them via some obscure fraud thing and spoke to them on the phone and when they said there was nothing they could do because the case was closed, I said that's it after nearly 14 years of doing business with ebay we would close our account because i had checked to see if the item had been returned to the seller and it clearly stated on ebays own tracking system that it had been delivered back to the seller and after 12 hours they decided to refund our money as a gesture of goodwill.
Now it clearly states on ebay that they give 99% refunds, but seriously 99% of how many people who even manage to have the time to contact ebay or are able to find their way around the maze of ebay's circle of 'contact ebay' and then to be able to telephone them only to be confronted with them acting like they are giving us a refund out of the goodness of their heart rather than it actually being my money!
One seller who sent me some boots and she listed them incorrectly when they arrived they were bigger than she had stated, when i said that i had paid £13.00 to receive the boots she said she would only refund me the £4.50 she had paid to have them sent to a UK address...that would be Pitney Bowes, so I paid £8.50 to Pitney Bowes and 4.50 to the seller to receive a pair of boots that its not worth sending back because i would then have to pay for registered and signed for post and would only get back £4.50 from the seller having paid £13.00 this hardly seems fair. The seller wasnt even aware that they had been shipped to an address outside of the UK, so ebay arent even telling sellers that their items could being shipped outside of the UK!
I sell a lot of international packages on eBay -- they more or less forced us into it a while back. I saw my international volume drop very sharply but never connected the dots...I am currently removing GSP from my listings. Thank you SO much.
Shite 18:21 hit the nail on the head i'm still waiting on some optics sent via this PBI all over the place. I damn hope it hasn't been repacked otherwise inexperienced hands will have damaged it. NOW I find your video only 2 years too late. But great for posting to alert all who come here.I was also thinking WHY Kentucky???
watching these videos where you've had issues with packaging from American sellers makes me glad that, for the most part, if I order a CD from an Japanese artist its either from Japan via Neowing(CDJAPAN) or from sellers on Amazon. They definitely take pride in how they ship their orders because I have NOT had an issue with any of those sellers
I honestly feel for you man and hopefully in the future this kind of stuff won't ever happen again
Sellers who insist upon this shipping method are simply missing out on potential international sales. I will NEVER use this method again. A seller may package an item a certain way, only for those working for Pitney Bowes to repackage the items with far less packaging and items will far more likely be damaged. Canadians are better off having their items shipped to US border towns and picking up/clearing their items through customs themselves, as I now do.
Thx for this video! This explains a lot! The worst thing about this is that you need to pay custom charges upfront.... Damn I really never going to buy an item that is shipped via this program..
I've been buying from eBay since 2006 - and the last year I have had about 4-5 packet lost thanks too Global Shipping. They make it all the way to Germany than they go AWOL. I try to avoid the Global shipping program but they are starting to take over.
Thanks, was thinking of selling using gsp, now I'll stay away. I can see why many sellers would use it, it's free to the seller to use.. sort of.. I've shipped out of the country on my own, for one it sucks going through figuring out the weight, dimensions etc. to prep a package for shipping. Also the cost because I always do free shipping to the buyer.. Hard to make a profit in that sense if you're selling something for $200 and it costs you $80 to ship out.. Pretty pointless. Guess I'll have to stick with selling within u.s only.
The seller is responsible from the point you purchase the item till the point you receive if the seller is stupid enough to use such a shoddy shipping service that's is completely their issue which they need to take up with the shipping company they used to ship the item you as a buyer should not be contacting anyone else but the seller for a refund and if they have lost out through it they should then make a claim from the shipping company not the buyer just stand your ground and don't take any flack from the seller and as them for a refund if they try saying it's the eBays fault Jay say to them no it is not it's yours as you sold
This was from Elaine at eBay
"I understand that you are concerned about the shipment of the items 361470214551, 151937415122 and 181976874870 that you bought under Global Shipping Program (GSP). Let me assist you further.
"I checked the tracking numbers provided and it shows that the items
can’t be delivered since it exceeds size limit. At times, there are GSP
purchases that are received at the Global Shipping Center that does not
match the expectations that were set in the listing. Problems can arise
such as wrong item received, item overweight, items damaged, reference
number left off the package, handwritten label illegible, omission of
the seller's name/return address, etc. These problems may result in
shipping delays, additional fees for the seller, or items being
returned." For these items, since the items exceed size limit, the shipment of the
items can’t push through. This is the reason why you have been refunded
for these items to cover up the problem. You may refer below regarding
your refund."
yeah right... none of these were oversized or overweight.note the last sentence?
They admit a cover up.
I have lost a lot of business due to the global shipping program . they charge extra to the customer and then the customer cancels and does not pay . i opted out and i dont have that problem anymore
It sucks because I wouldn't have to pay tax normally, as they don't collect it on orders under a certain amount, but with this GSP thing they will take it anyway.
Now that's a video that needs to be spread!
I've honestly never thought about something like this... Open and repackaging items? And then also this way? That's crazy! It looks to me like that the shipping company want to save as much money as they could by packaging items wrong and in very small packages. Here in Germany, this would be even kind of illegal because the company sure is not authorized to do that.
Luke: Maybe try to contact your two sellers again and tell them this story too.
The question in my mind is why you as a buyer would pay for the insane jacked up price of global.
The seller needs to ship item to Kentucky and dont care about anything after this, once it confirms that it has arrived in Kentucky its over with for the seller.
This is what ebay tells the seller. Get it to us and we will do the rest for you, it is up to ebay to get the item to you after that.
I would never sell global I ship directly to my international buyers. My buyers do not need to pay more for shipping I charge what usps charges and thats a wrap.
Dont use the high cost of global!!
We wouldn't sell internationally if not through the GSP. Too much risk and cost. Yes, everything gets sent to Kentucky and gets repackaged after inspection. Their are other other reshippers that do the same and you will end up with the same results if you use them. But once the package gets delivered to the reshippers (GSP) as sellers we are now off the hook for anything that happens. If you use the GSP as a buyer you should be insured if anything happens (far as my understanding). (Yes, in your case things got really messed up and you didn't get your money back. ) and If you didn't use the GSP you will have to pay to send the item back to the seller and hope it gets their not damaged, or you're s.o.l. At any point if you you a reshipper the seller if off the hook if it gets damaged during shipping, even if it was with the sellers shipper.
I totally agree and Iv had a friend who got charged import tax when it arrived in Uk even though he was charged it through the listing Pitney Bowes.inc. they never passed the money on to the customs
I can feel your pain. It's a complete mess. It took me near fifteen minutes just to be able to email them, then when you do they often just copy and paste what you have already fished through to get to that point.
My first GSP service experience was 140 dollars worth of luxury capacitors. Not only was the shipping more expensive than usual, but it arrived with a huge hole in it that was taped over by a single piece of tape.
sorry to hear that man.. I sell things internationally and didn't know that they open the packages.. that blows that's how honest sellers get bad feedback too
Luke, I know this is an old video but it was referenced and linked in the Ecommercebytes newsletter, a blog for ecommerce sellers. Let me try to explain something. The information you received about sellers "CHOOSING" to ship through Pitney Bowes is only half true. Yes, some sellers DO choose to ship through them, however the majority of sellers are opted in to the program by eBay without the seller's knowledge or permission automatically. Often times the sellers do not know this until a problem arises.
Another thing is that under the contract with eBay sellers and PBI it is SUPPOSED to be eBay/PBI that takes responsibility for any damages or problems with international packages sent through the service. As you found out, that is not the case for the buyer and once again eBay blames the seller even though it was eBay's contract reshipping company that caused the problem. This leaves the buyer hanging AND leaves the seller subject to the dissatisfaction of the buyer, all the while eBay makes money on both ends.
PBI also repackages items with intent. If something is overpacked in order to protect the contents PBI will reduce the packaging and boxing in order to save weight so that PBI can increase their profits. The buyer still pays the same amount for shipping but PBI pays considerably less after they downsize the package and pockets the rest.
As for blaming the seller and finding a seller that does not use PBI... that is becoming increasingly difficult. PBI is NOT the seller choice. PBI is an eBay contractor, hired by eBay and supported by eBay. The seller has no choice to send to a different company when they are enrolled in the Global Shipping program. It is ONLY PBI. Since this is a money maker for eBay and PBI this program is increasing in use due to the shady programming on eBay that opts sellers in to the program without their knowledge. I have been opted in three times already after I have continually attempted to opt out. ALSO, eBay will opt a seller in instantly but when a seller attempts to opt-out it can take days for this to take effect and if the seller has any other items listed those items are still subject to this abusive program unless the seller just closes all of their listings until the opt-out takes effect.
This is a devious program created by eBay and contracted to PBI solely to make them both money while leaving sellers and buyers on the short end of the stick. Unfortunately it will not be long before eBay makes this program mandatory for all international sales.
Dam that is fucked up. Thanks for doing the hard work and bringing this to light for us! The fact that eBay can partner with a 3rd party company for something like this and then just use them as cover to wash their hands of any involvement is sick. And to further not tell you to contact PBI but not even mention them and continue to say the shipper may be at fault when they probably know of many many such cases is really really shady.
I doubt the type of people who work at a shipping center are so politically active to have a understanding of what is happening with international trade between US and Japan
That really sucks!! Thanks for bringing this problem to light!
the global shipping program is a rip off for canadian buyers. you pay a high shipping cost plus an import fee. and the import fee depends on the cost of the item. so if you are buying a $500 watch, you pay like $30 shipping plus $80+ import fee. I am literally refusing to buy from us ebay sellers that use the global shipping program. Plus people in canada need to be aware of UPS and fedex who also charge a 'handling/brokerage' fee which they mail an invoice for down the road. The shipping costs should have covered it. But all in all this guy Luke is living in dream land who thinks corporations give a shit about customers and asking for apology.
Darn, I fell for this. I was happy that it was sent via FedEx although it wasn't mentioned. But when it went to Erlanger, I started to get worried. Yes, this is 2017 and this is still going on. I hope the service is better now although it seems like a slim shot.
the service still is horrible unfortunately, items still get damaged in postage. and it's usually the seller who gets the blame from ebay
Thanks. I'm so far just a buyer, but If I would sell something I think I would contact the buyer mailing a picture of the packaging, then also print the packaging on paper and put it in the package before sending it.
hey luke,
I had a similar problem. I bought a cgc graded comic book. the seller used gsp. the book arrived damaged. devalued the graded book extremely. those s.o.b.'s even tried to open the cgc case , cracked the corners and scratched it all up. I put up one heck of a fight with the seller and ebay. eventually ebay admitted it was the fault of the shipping company . plus many who buy from a seller using the program have to pay higher shipping and an additional import charge . WTH ebay?
I concur. the ONLY package I had sent from the US that arrived damaged was through the GSP. A nice big hole in the middle of the box, in which there were two laptop screens. Fortunately, whatever tried to destroy my screens got stopped by the bubble wrap, but it was a close one. When confronted, eBay responded with the exact same BS as the video poster said and the seller said they just sent it to eBay like he said. That and their outrageous prices ($42 to send a one ounce laptop screen cable that fits in a letter sized envelope) is making me search for ways to EXCLUDE US sellers from my search results.
good thing I google searched this topic and landed here before actually shipping an expensive item using global shipping program.
For some reason, I usually choose "no international shipping option", but lately ebay has been pushing global shipping program silently by automatically selecting global shipping program for international orders, which I had no knowledge of.
It seems that insurance only covers you until it gets to the distribution center in the U.S. but when it leaves U.S. it might not cover the item any more. Correct me if I am wrong.
I am probably not going to use this service even if it's going to attract more buyers.
Thanks man. I too noticed that one seller is opening multiple accounts when the auctions look so similar in format
The scary part is that this also happens with domestic shipping as well.
I just sent a Lenovo laptop and in the course of shipping it was split open, power supply removed, put back in the box and then the thing was crushed before it arrived to the buyer.
As a seller I have no idea what in the heck to do here, this mess is just frustrating as I do not want to bone the customer, nor do I want to take a loss as it is part of my business that is just starting out.
I would love to know what in the heck is at the core of this problem.
*Note I am in Ohio and even local shipments get damaged from USPS with an alarming frequency so I can only assume it is tied to something going on at the sorting facility.
I hate to hear what your going through. It sounds to me like Ebay is just saying "screw you". I had already decided previously to not risk using their Global Shipping which sounds too risky. I'll just continue selling within the US. Keep us up to date & keep fighting back.
hello everyone i just finished watching the video up above and when Luke said that he got 2 damaged boxes that was shipped and that the sellers had no obligation over it but the company did the easiest way to prevent this from happening in the near feature is the seller should take a picture of the item packaged before they send it out and send the picture to the buyer's email address so the buyer can see how the seller ships the product. then when and if it goes to the company such as pbi and you get the packaged damaged/ torn wrecked/ or flattened then you already have prove that it wasn't the seller that the company is 100% responsible for the product that was damaged and you know from there that the seller had nothing to do with it but the company it self. thanks for your time i hope this helps most of you with out this stuff happening again. the way i see it, that's the easiest way to prevent this again in the future.
HEY! I was given a link to your vid by a viewer from my channel - LOVE this info - thanks - I am adding this to one of my channel playlists!
I feel your pain on this issue. Many years ago I did some work at an Aboriginal settlement and needed parts delivered. Only to find on opening it that a postal worker had defecated in the package, thinking it was for a local Aboriginal person. Well did sh*t hit the fan over that one. So racism yes it can happen in this form. I really wish racists were made blind for a time so they forget what color a persons skin is. Hope Ebay picks up these complaints and does something about the issue.
Thanks so much for making this video. I have just bought something on eBay using this Global Shipping method. I am also in Japan, so I just hope I get my item!!
Was gonna buy some expensive equipment with GSP, im glad i got curious and did some research on it. Will avoid it like the plague, turns out they not only package the goods poorly, they're scamming countries out of VAT taxes too.
Good video. Avoid GSP like the plague.
Man Luke ! Putting it out there for tha Masses! Bro...got over 2000 friends from around the world on face book...asked them all too share this ! Really need's too go viral Luke.. !
I have problems with eBay global shipping program. I bought a Christmas tree the 16th December from a U.K. Seller, to Spain, and still waiting, plus today I have a email saying it's send from EEUU, doesn't make sense. I agree that GLOBAL SHIPPING PROGRAM IS THE WORST OF ALL, it was better how it was before, sending it by the traditional UPS, TNT, or DHL, so now buyers we have to see each seller which shipping they are using, and if it's global shipping program, just don't buy from them.
Now no tree, no money, and if it arrives from the US, I shouldn't pay taxes if it's from the U.K. Originally. Stupid global shipping program.
Last time I sold something on eBay they really pushed to use their Global shipping service, I had to explicitly tell it NO 3 separate times. I didn't know how it worked and didn't feel comfortable using such a service... I'm glad I did.
thanks for the heads up. I sell small things,and over pack my packages that go via International. I will disclaim this on listings. I will also take pics of the packaging. Buyers do beg me to use said shipping service, and I will. I've yet to have a problem.
Thats the ebay way, sellers should pay for all problems.
Im impressed you got in touch with a real person on ebay. It took me over a week myself to reach that.
Oh wow Luke that's serious stuff, opening packages can be considered a serious privacy infringement, can you imagine if it was something sensible or private, I would be really pissed. Thanks, your video was extremely informative, because I had no idea on how this whole Global Partnership worked, I'll take that as advice when buying things from US. I'm just glad the 3DS I ordered from eBay arrived in perfect conditions, I think the seller sent it directly to me, since it didn't take too long
hi Luke, I just watched the entire video and you made a good case. I also made a vid about the GSP a few months ago. I am a 14 year ebay TRS and NO WAY would I opt in to the GSP. In theory it sounds good, but in practice is it a major fail.
Just received a message from a gsp sale to Australia. Could customers says item was broken in pieces and that everything was loose inside the box. When I shipped this to Kentucky I had to repackage several times to insure there was no movement. The item was also shipped in its original packaging into another heavy duty box. I centered the original box into the original box and filled spaces so that there was no movement. I believe gsp removed some of the packaging to reduce weight or the person who repackage item was lazy and did not use all the packaging I had placed inside.
My order was not delivered as Global Shipping did not recognize address of mine. Now package is somewhere in my city, but I cannot reach it, 5 days now. No one contacted me, nor left note for the package. I will not use ebay Global shipping again.
Insurance is for the sellers protection; not yours. You'll be refunded regardless via Buyer Protection if you don't receive the item/damage.
The seller has the responsibility to make sure you get the item as it was described/pictured. You just need to file a case via Buyer Protection; insurance is not necessary if you’re the buyer.
Global Shipping is covered by Buyer Protection too. Paying by credit card via PayPal will also give you Charge Back Protection effectively giving double coverage.
Luke, I really think you should compile this information and send it to a large law firm in the United States. I had to pay $400 in customs and fees to Pitney and Bowes but when I received the item it was declared as being under $1000 AUD which constitutes no payment being made to Customs in my country.
They repackage everything and take out all the padding and protection to make it lighter therefore cheaper to ship, saving them money?
BrutalBarracuda Money that PBI/eBay pockets?
Single human in this world we share..needs too show respect for one another.Like the way your not being swept under the proverbial rug! Keep Us posted bro...glad too know you Luke!
Cheap and nasty eBay global shipping service resulted in my overseas parcel being delivered to wrong address TWICE, and getting stolen TWICE as result! Then because the cheap service requires no signature on delivery, eBay dodges the responsibility, and leaves you high and dry, claiming that as far as they are concerned, the parcel was delivered somewhere , and they cannot care less after that! I did not get my parcels, and eBay refuses to open a case because the tracking number says the item was delivered! I hate this dodgy service, they will not support you, they shamelessly claim they do, but they don’t.
I received an item loose in a cheap cardboard box. I bet the seller packed it properly. GSP itself should have its own feedback rating.
Thanks for this video, I almost bought something off a seller in US using Ebays GSP. I am now avoiding at all cost. I choose not to take the risk. Thanks again for the video, appreciate it.
In Indonesia, when their mailing providers receives a package that had come from the United States, they'll open it to steal any of your valuables, leaves a couple of your prompt mail within your mailbox; but they'll leave a note on your door saying to come over to receive your package, The receiver will receive the broken package as broken wide open with no insurance was applied to it.