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Feel free to share your thoughts about the Global Shipping Program here.
A few questions to get the ball rolling:
- What has worked well for you with the Global Shipping Program?
- Any ideas to help improve the experience for Canadian buyers?
- What has deterred you from buying items offered using the Global Shipping Program?
- How have you managed to search for items outside the program?
Please try & keep the comments constructive 🙂
If you have any questions about the program, please post them here.
For the last year, eBay has been promoting its GSP to American sellers. We have all read hundreds of negative posts about GSP (including dozens from the same posters). Why do American sellers agree to use the program?
Here is how eBay promotes the program to American sellers:
http://pages.ebay.com/sellerinformation/shipping/globalshippingprogram.html
Increase your sales by up to 15% or more!
*Approximately 13% of sellers who enrolled in the Global Shipping Program during November and December 2012, who had not previously sold internationally, and who enabled more than 80% of their listings with the Global Shipping Program experienced a 15% increase in sales 30 days after enrollment as measured against the 30 day period prior to enrollment. Individual results may vary.
Then eBay makes it sound easy:
The program takes care of customs forms, remits import charges pre-paid by your buyer, and gets the item to your buyer quickly, complete with international tracking
You’re protected from negative or neutral feedback resulting from your item getting lost or damaged in international transit. Detailed seller ratings for shipping and handling charges and shipping time that are below five won’t count against your seller performance standards.
Then eBay offers a link to other sellers success stories:
http://pages.ebay.com/sellerinformation/sellingresources/ss_GSP_Beta_Sellers.html
There was a similar "weekly hour" about three months ago on eBay.com
As you can see, there appears to be little interest on the eBay.com site for the subject with very few questions or comments from American sellers.
And - as expected - the first question asked on that thread has yet to be answered three months later.
From another thread:
http://pages.ebay.com/sellerinformation/shipping/globalshippingprogram/update_faqs.html
Who should use the Global Shipping Program?
The Global Shipping Program is a great solution to streamline your operations if you’re currently selling internationally, your items have an average selling price of $50 or more, and you’re shipping parcels. It’s also the perfect way to get started selling globally regardless of the average selling price of your items.
I think that is part of the problem. Many American sellers use GSP when they should not.
Personally, I view $100 (instead of the $50 suggested by eBay) as a guideline, not a number written in stone. Each listing must be viewed and calculated individually.
So, my question to eBay is: Why do you allow sellers to register for GSP when their average sale is below your suggested average of $50 and/or not shipping parcels? Without seller's education, everybody loses: seller loses - buyer loses - eBay loses. It translates into: short term gain for long term pain.
Pushing and promoting GSP to American sellers without restraint is ill advised and will eventually backfire as many foreign buyers (including Canadians) walk away from eBay and shop elsewhere.
"Increase your sales by up to 15% or more!"
Assuming that claim by eBay is correct and using GSP really increases sales for American sellers, why are all the extra costs paid by buyers instead of sellers who benefit from the program?
"What do you mean by "extra costs"?"
1) extra shipping charge as in many instances it will cost more overall to have a parcel shipped from the seller to PB and then shipped again from PB to the buyer than to have the same parcel shipped only once directly from the American seller to the buyer
2) handling fee charged by PB to handle the transaction where in many instances no handling fee would be charged if the American seller shipped directly to the buyer
My comments do not reflect taxes or brokerage as this is a totally different subject.
"as long as the GSP is being used appropriately"
... and that is the problem. Too many small value transactions are offered through GSP that simply do not make economical sense. The program was not designed for those sellers or transactions.
Of course if one looks for relatively high dollar smart phones, it is easy to justify the program through possible lower shipping costs by PB. But that is not what the average eBay purchase by a Canadian buyer is all about.
"I just don't understand how you figure the charges levied by the GSP for shipping small items are considered to be "extra"."
Example # 1:
American seller mails directly to Canadian buyer in Canada:
Shipping charge (USPS) paid by Canadian buyer: $______
Example # 2:
American seller ships to Pitney Bowes Distribution Centre in USA:
Shipping charge paid by Canadian buyer: $______
Then PB reships to Canadian buyer in Canada: Second shipping charge paid by Canadian buyer: $_______
While the two shipping charges may be combined, the fact remains that two distinct payments need to be made to a postal authority and/or transportation company to pay for the first and second legs of the journey.
I suspect that in most instances - for relatively low value items - the total shipping costs in example #2 are higher than the shipping cost in example #1. That is what I mean by "extra".
