International shipping rates

[kalgaryklutz]

I am interested in buying a product from a U.S. seller. It is a small piece of plastic that he has for sale at $2.50 US. Shipping is $11.00 US!!! To buy 6 of them is $15.00 and the shipping is $66.00!!! I can order products from the U.K. and the shipping rates are a third of what I pay from my American neighbors. EBAY is shooting themselves in the foot with these OUTRAGEOUS and INSULTING shipping rates. I used to buy a lot of products on EBAY but due to these revolting rates I have almost entirely moved over to Amazon and only buy here when I have no choice. Congratulations EBAY, you are slowly turning international buyers away from your platform.

[marnotom!]

You don't state what shipping method this particular seller (seller, not eBay) is using, but the short answer is that, yes, international shipping is expensive for people who don't have access to some sort of bulk discount shipping rate/service.

I played around a bit with the USPS international rate calculator and the cheapest shipping rate I was able to get for a 100 gram rigid piece of plastic that could be shipped in an envelope to Canada was US$14.25.  Since you know this item better than I do, you may want to try doing a few calcuations and see what you come up with:

https://postcalc.usps.com/?country=10440

What could be happening here is that your seller is using eBay's Global Shipping Program, which forwards items out of the United States for the seller.  In these cases, the shipping cost is made up of the seller's domestic shipping cost plus the GSP's charge for shipping it from the forwarding hub in Kentucky to its final destination.  This can raise the shipping cost of a smaller item a fair bit, although in your case US$11 .00 sounds a bit low for having the item sent through the GSP.  On the other hand, it may be being sent through eBay's International Standard Delivery service, which is a hybrid of postal and courier-type services, which can see some savings over what USPS offers, but not drastic ones for smaller ones.

I'm not sure if you're comparing something sold by an independent eBay seller to something sold directly by Amazon, but keep in mind that Amazon has a lot of clout with shippers and can negotiate some serious deals with shipping companies.  Independent sellers using the Amazon Marketplace have the option of having Amazon warehouse their merchandise, which can improve shipping times as well as cut down on shipping charges, but you're likely going to be paying more for your item to cover the warehousing costs.  eBay has no warehouse network the way Amazon has.

Knowing the difference between how Amazon and its Marketplace work and how eBay operates can help buyers use both sites to their best advantage.

[femmefan1946]

EBay does not set shipping prices, that's the Seller's choice.

Have you asked him for a combined and discounted shipping cost, indicating exactly which items interest you?

If you have and he has refused, you are no worse off.

If he agrees but doesn't know how, you can tell him to make you a listing with the agreed terms (6 widgets at $2.50 each plus shipping of $11.00 (or $13.50 --50c for each additional being a common markup) and using your eBay ID as the title, so no one else can find it.

Americans are nuts about tracking, so he is probably using a tracked shipping service. And yes, that can easily be $11 for a small low value item.

It's true in Canada too. I sent a thin book (258gr) to the US today and paid $10.20 - with no tracking. Sending it LetterPost would have been MORE! Neither service included tracking which would have cost $17.08!!

Don't ask for an untracked service. He will automatically put you down as a scammer and may even Block you.

Here is the USPS rate card for International Shipping.

https://postcalc.usps.com/?country=10440