eBay

theoldestfart · ‎08-10-2021

I was curious what several listings meant by "Standard International Shipping" and apparently according to eBay this is the same as "eBay international standard". Why is it that eBay does not seem fit to use consistent naming for their shipping plans?

I want to know what courier/shipper is used for an item and certainly want to avoid any items that uses DHL in any step. In the past, I purchased 2 items on two separate occasions that were using some eBay shipping plan and DHL mucked it up. In neither of these purchases was the shipping method clear and one of the sellers said it was via UPS when in fact DHL generated a tracking # and picked up the item then handed it off to USPS. In that case, the tracking was next to useless. The other item used the same means and there DHL reused a tracking number for another shipment from 2 months earlier again rendering tracking useless.

I want to be able to search for the shipping method indicated in the listing if it is not clear who is handling the item and find out more information. If eBay has a "eBay international standard" then listings that use that shipping method should also indicate "eBay international standard" so that a buyer can find out more information re shipping methods being employed.

femmefan1946 · ‎08-10-2021

The seller sets the shipping price- not eBay (although they may have some suggestions- usually bad ones.)

EBay is used around the world and the Universal Postal Union has some 178 members, each with their own name for any given service.

Just as an example Canada Post has Priority Post which is their premium overnight service and USPS has Priority mail which is basically our ExpressPost, slower, cheaper but it will get there.

theoldestfart · ‎08-10-2021

The thing is in this example "Standard International Shipping" does not convey at least to me that the post office, in this case, USPS is being used. I can not search for "Standard International Shipping" and be assured that it is indeed USPS. The shipping service indicated in the listing should either indicate what method aka Post Office will be used or the shipping service name should at least be searchable on eBay website so that the prospective buyer can determine how the package will be shipped.

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎08-11-2021

@theoldestfart

Part of the bigger issue with programs like GSP and Standard International, they give buyer the options for purchasing product but they don't give them choice. A buyer should be able to choose an applicable shipping option based on the speed and or budget attached to the doohickey they are looking for.

Having a program that is good for sellers but has limited in the way of benefits for the buyer is not a well thought out program. Remember that guy called Ford? You can have your Model T in any color as longs as it's black. Ummm thanks?? And it's well and good that there could be a refund if their doohickey is mysteriously discovered to be unable to arrive. That's of little good for the buyer that finds out after the fact that radio tubes or something was called *eyevory* instead of imitation *eyevory* by the unknowing seller are not permitted and they have to start their search from square one.

-Lotz

PS. Buyers want to know what service will be used because they want to be able to determine if there will be problems/and specific actual costs in it arriving. Not a myriad of surprises. Finding sellers NOT using these programs has become a major road block for buyers and causing many to go elsewhere. Personally, I can't blame them. I have if I need something badly.

femmefan1946 · ‎08-11-2021

A buyer should be able to choose an applicable shipping option based on the speed and or budget attached to the doohickey they are looking for.

Nope.

Well mostly nope.

Shipping must be controlled by the seller.

If buyers had that control, we would all be shipping without (expensive) tracking and at the slowest service (arriving after eBay deadline).

Personally I regard any demand for cheaper shipping to be a red flag for an attempted scam.

Confirmation of Delivery is almost the only Seller Protection we have.

Sellers can, if they wish, give the buyer options but frankly the fewer the better because most buyers will opt for the cheapest but expect the premium.

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎08-11-2021

I've been selling on eBay for almost 15 years. I've always offered multiple options based on an items value and constraints. My buyers appreciate that fact. When I first started buying on eBay buyers had choice. Now? Not so much!! Most of that has been forced on buyers by systems eBay has put in place over the last few years. Cause and effect. Buyers being backed into a corner looking for the best worse case scenario.

-Lotz

theoldestfart · ‎08-11-2021

eBay shipping information being displayed in the listing should though clearly indicate the means by which the item will be shipped to the buyer. eBay loves having shipping plan names that only eBay and the sellers know what means are being utilized. Buyers have no idea how an item is being shipped and only find out that a shipment has been handed off to say DHL for part of the trip and your heart sinks because you detest DHL.

marnotom! · ‎08-11-2021

What’s wrong with the “contact seller” option?

femmefan1946 · ‎08-11-2021

The problem is that with the exception of Canada Post domestic service, every shipper is constantly handing off to other shippers.

Actually, I seem to remember a Canada Post label on a Christmas rush parcel which was handed to me (obviously a couple of years ago) by a Purolator (?) driver.

It is common knowledge that UPS and FedEx will use Canada Post for last mile delivery to rural and isolated locations.

The contracted shipper, I believe , remains the responsible party for delivery though.

So if a GSP shipment goes astray, it is not AppleExpress or Canada Post which is responsible, it is GSP/Pitney Bowes.

In the same way, if an eBay seller ships by Canada Post (or UPS or whatever) the seller remains responsible to her buyer. The shipping company is responsible to the eBay seller, who paid them to make the delivery, but not to the buyer/addressee.

theoldestfart · ‎08-11-2021

Problem is that I did that with two sellers that were using yet another eBay shipping plan. This plan involved DHL in the first mile picking up the parcel then handing it off to USPS who then was responsible to getting it up to Canada. However, when I purchased the items I had no idea which shipper was involved. I asked the first seller who is handling the shipping of the package. He said USPS so I ordered the item. The shipping provided by eBay via DHL was atrocious it kept saying the item was in a depot for 2 weeks.

The second purchase using this same eBay plan for US sellers I was given a DHL tracking # which was again useless. I discovered that the tracking # was actually for another shipment that was in progress of being shipped to a location in Quebec. I contacted the seller and the seller assured me the tracking # provided was indeed correct. That was because again DHL was responsible for assigning tracking #s. Contacting DHL simply resulted in DHL blaming the seller. Again the tracking was useless to me since it was wrong number.

theoldestfart · ‎08-12-2021

So "Standard International Shipping" is the same as "eBay international standard" and includes USPS, DHL, Asendia and Easyship.

https://pages.ebay.com/seller-center/shipping/ebay-international-standard.html

and indeed includes my dreaded DHL. Why is it that eBay does not use consistent naming for shipping plans is beyond me.

I could have sworn someone in this thread had indicated these two services were different. I must have been dreaming. I will have to email each seller and make darn sure that DHL do not have anything to do with the shipping at all.

I see eBay also lumps EasyShip in under "eBay international standard" or that is what eBay CSR told me https://www.easyship.com/integrations/ebay-shipping

DHL is also included under EasyShip.

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎08-12-2021

@theoldestfart

If/when DHL is used, tracking is found as part of their ecommerce division. Separate from their main tracking. From the available information this is not entirely obvious. Tracking site attached.

Track & Trace eCommerce | DHL | United States of America

-Lotz

theoldestfart · ‎08-12-2021

According to @askeBay on Twitter:

"With eBay International standard the seller sends it to us and we move the item based on a few factors (Shipping, speed, Cost, Tracking reliability, Destination country, and Package weight) to the best carrier available."

eBay International Standard is the same apparently as Standard Internation Shipping and eBay gets their paws on the shipment just like Pitney Bowes handles GSP items.

eBay supposedly determines who the carrier will be even though for one of these listings, I asked the seller who the carrier would be and the seller told me that USPS was.

theoldestfart · ‎08-12-2021

Ya and DHL showed that my item was in a depot for 2 weeks for one shipment and another shipment DHL used a tracking number for another Canadian shipment bound for St Laurent Quebec. I am in Manitoba. So the tracking was utterly useless. I had no idea if either of these packages were lost. Hence why I avoid DHL getting their fingers on any of my shipments.

femmefan1946 · ‎08-12-2021

So "Standard International Shipping" is the same as "eBay international standard" and includes USPS, DHL, Asendia and Easyship.

Well...no.

Both are basically meaningless.

They are not equivalent. They are "I'll send this whatever way seems most reasonable when it sells."

eBay supposedly determines who the carrier will be even though for one of these listings, I asked the seller who the carrier would be and the seller told me that USPS was.

And he was wrong. He might ship it to the eBay International address, just as a GSP seller ships to Erlanger, using USPS, but after that he has no idea what will happen.

So the tracking was utterly useless. I had no idea if either of these packages were lost. Hence why I avoid DHL getting their fingers on any of my shipments.

a) Tracking is a Seller Protection and is of no value to the buyer. What is useful as Buyer Protection and the Money Back Guarantee is the delivery window the buyer is given by eBay. If the delivery misses that last estimated date, the buyer can be refunded.

b) to avoid DHL, buy Canadian.

theoldestfart · ‎08-13-2021

I have been given totally erroneous information from eBay's official reps via their @askebay account on Twitter. For some unexplained reason, these reps have themselves drawn a relationship between "Standard International Shipping" and "eBay international standard" and inferred that the two programs were the same. They are not!

I have no idea why multiple reps drew this association but it seems that eBay really needs to spend some time further training their reps that are dealing with the public. Rather than clarifying they are only making an issue worse.

marnotom! · ‎08-13-2021

@femmefan1946 wrote:

The problem is that with the exception of Canada Post domestic service, every shipper is constantly handing off to other shippers.

Direct shipping from the United States appears to be becoming an increasingly rare thing as vendors struggle to keep shipping costs competitive and getting items through the border becomes more time-consuming.

I'd say that most of the items my wife purchases from the United States--from anybody, not just through eBay--comes in with address labels slapped on top of other address labels. These shipping don't have customs forms on them and have a return addresses that appear to be shipping or logistics companies based somewhere in central Canada.

In other words, items that have been forwarded in a manner similar to ones handled by the GSP or Borderfree.

hlmacdon · ‎08-13-2021

That is a big part of what is driving this as the costs for USPS international shipping have shot up considerably. When the new UPU rules for self declaring terminal dues came in USPS essentially eliminated the contract discounts given to the postal wholesalers for international. The aggregation providers like those used by ebay are becoming increasingly popular to cut international costs. Expect the trend to continue.

theoldestfart · ‎08-18-2021

"Standard International Shipping is a generic placeholder that generates an average based on all stated international services. So essentially, an average of an average. " and "We let sellers set their shipping prices, so while I definitely agree it sounds like there was an inflated shipping charge on the items you found, it doesn't necessarily violate eBay policy."

So the price shown for "Standard International Shipping" item is just an average price and does not actually reflect the cost of shipping that particular item from that shipper.

Plus sellers can charge what the heck they want for shipping even if it is an exorbitant amount.