eBay

highcards_206 · ‎07-14-2025

Get your act together Ebay gouging people for shipping and limiting people from any sales cross border..
I purchase postage stamps on a regular basis from all over the world; Every country besides the United States the users / sellers are using reasonable shipping methods which often include tracking.. I typically pay between 3.00 and 5.00 maybe 7.00 maximum if the letter is being tracked... These letters have no weight and between Canada and the USA standard shipping charged are 2.50$

For some stupid reason Ebay USA and Canada aren't able to work in sync without us being gouged as the buyers and the sellers have less buyers because of the ridiculous charged behing Ebay International Shipping.. On the sellers end they do not realize that Ebay is charging us the seller 17.80$ to send a stamp... A single stamp...

This is a constant issue between US and Cad and Ebay doesn't seem to give a hoot to make things a little more clear or justify their ridiculous pricing... Not the first time but today I won a stamp worth 3.50... The add stated standard USPS shipping of 0.99 on the lot... I win the auction; Go to my cart and BOOM slammed with Ebay International Shipping which added 17.80 USD on top of 3.50... My total came to be 27.00 Cad$... For one stamp...

Total idiots run this platform and they do nothing at all to update the system to make things clear! It is a constant back and fourth messaging sellers to figure out shipping costs and the sellers I speak to don't even realize we the buyers are being charged so much... Many change shipping methods once they are notified of the charges Ebay is throwing at us....

There are no customs and duty on a 3.50 stamp Ebay... You scammers! It doesn't cost you 17.80 USD to send me a single postage stamp... Absolute trash.. Had to cancel at least a dozen orders now over the years because of this garbage scam Ebay keeps on pushing...

Get your developers to get up off their rear ends and put a fix to this! All you need to do is Google "Ebay international shipping scam or rip off" to see dozens of people who've compalined about this over the years

easoss · ‎07-14-2025

My experience is many US sellers would rather use the international shipping program as it's hooked into their system and basically you print off the labels. And the sellers want everything with tracking information no matter how inexpensive the item is. I agree it's impossible when you collect items that don't have great value.

on a side note my experience with US sellers is a percentage of them don't want to ship outside the country. So they make it difficult because it doesn't matter to them.

femmefan1946 · ‎07-14-2025

There are a couple of things happening here.

First is legal.

Every postal service belongs to the Universal Postal Union, and one of their rules is that "goods" (sales and some gifts) must be declared and import fees paid.

The UPU and postal services have been clamping down on this over the past couple of years.

With the USA there is another attitude in play.

Americans are rather paranoid.

Because tracking is so cheap through USPS, as little as 25c domestically, US buyers and sellers are used to having it.

That very few transactions get to the point of Item Not Received claims is irrelevant. The US member needs in their deepest paranoid soul to have the tracking number because they are convinced they will be cheated.

And then.

International Tracking is expensive.

So if your US seller uses a tracked service, and eBay International Shipping is a tracked service , they are obeying the UPU rules.

In some cases, and I don't buy from US sellers often enough to be clear on when, eIS may include the import fees* in the shipping fee rather than having them charged on delivery.

* which go to Canada (CBSA and Canada Post collect fees for provinces and GST)

marnotom! · ‎07-14-2025

eBay International Shipping does not and will not forward merchandise as a letter. It is technically against Universal Postal Union conventions to send merchandise internationally as letterpost as it lacks customs forms.

The lowest USPS counter rate for sending lightweight merchandise to Canada was just shy of US$18 last time I checked. The sellers sending you stamps as tracked “letters” are either likely using the services of mail consolidators or else they haven’t updated their shipping rates for some time.

eBay International Shipping isn’t generally a good fit for small, lightweight items. As the shipping cost is the combination of the seller’s charge for shipping the item to the eIS forwarding hub and eIS’s charge for shipping from the hub to the recipient, the total shipping charge (what we see in the listing) can be a deal-breaker, and there’s likely a hefty pad in eIS’s charges to underwrite all the perks and benefits sellers receive when they use it.

That said, eIS can’t rip a buyer off who doesn’t purchase from a listing using it.

shadowraptor · ‎07-14-2025

Many times I have received 'offers' from sellers at really good prices. I buy DVD's and the mailing cost from USA to Canada should be around 5 bucks ... that's what it averages when I buy direct from my American friends.

I received a great offer last week for a disc I have been looking for, and even if I countered with an offer of 1 cent, it still would have cost just under 30 bucks Canadian to get it mailed here!

Needless to say, I turned down the seller's 'offer'.

It appears many US sellers don't know how to mail stuff all by themselves ... it's a learning process and may take some time.

highcards_206 · ‎07-14-2025

Which is really stupid considering the rest of the world can actually do it right and not rip people off with shipping costs.. So US sellers would rather limit their sales to people from other countries?
You think that it is justified to charge 17.80 to ship a single stamp? It weight less than a post it note....

You think when I look up postage stamps to collect which often sell for 3 - 6 $ anybody in their right mind is going to spend 18.00 on top to have them shipped?

How is it Australian sellers, German sellers, Polish sellers, Latin American sellers and every other country you can think of that uses Ebay has standard shipping costs? But the United States for some reason uses the biggest scam in terms of shipping there is? Why?

Most sellers aren't even aware the fees are this high either! I have gone back in fourth with a dozen of them as they attempt to fix the shipping options.. They don't realize we are getting charged 5 x more than the actual cost of shipping.. My most recent message history gos back 3 days with a US sellers as he keeps asking me to look at his add to see if the prices have changed... On his end he doesn't know how to fix the problem as it keeps showing up to 20+$ to ship a 4.00 lot.... I told him to set a flat rate to make it simple...

There is NO JUSTIFICATION FOR IT! PERIOD! You can even Google AI the words " Ebay international shipping rip off" and the AI will even tell you it is a rip off.... Then you have the Reddit forums FILLED WITH PEOPLE who have talked about this now for years!

Absoulute trash! I had to cancel 3 auctions this week from multiple sellers... One showed up as standard USPS 0.99 shipping to then somehow change to 17.80.... **bleep**? I better be getting this thing hand delivered by a guy riding his horse from the US to Canada for that price! It's a letter... People send them all over the world every single day for a couple of dollars

highcards_206 · ‎07-14-2025

Which is really sad... It blows my mind actually... I use Ebay.de, Ebay.ca, Ebay.gb.co, Ebay.fr, Ebay.com, Ebay.au etc etc.... The ONLY COUNTRY ON THIS PLANET that charges people this garbage rip off shipping is the USA... I have letters shipped from Australia for 2.50..... Ebay wants me to pay them 18.00 to send me ONE STAMP! Oh and if I win a few auctions multiply that by EVERY STAMP I win because they don't combine shipping! Total garbage!
Absolutely dispise this site sometimes... Wasting both the time of sellers and buyers

highcards_206 · ‎07-14-2025

That country on every level is a thorn in the sides of the residents of this planet... Pain in the behind... Sending a **bleep** letter like people have been doing since 1841.... 18.00 now... What a clown world

shadowraptor · ‎07-14-2025

I think these US sellers DO know how much it costs to send items across the border, and they simply don't care. On many of the offers I receive from US sellers, I tell them they have a sale if they can ship via USPS or anything other than the eBay system. They don't even have the courtesy to respond, so they know their costs are high.

marnotom! · ‎07-15-2025

@highcards_206 wrote:

Absoulute trash! I had to cancel 3 auctions this week from multiple sellers... One showed up as standard USPS 0.99 shipping to then somehow change to 17.80.... **bleep**? I better be getting this thing hand delivered by a guy riding his horse from the US to Canada for that price! It's a letter... People send them all over the world every single day for a couple of dollars

If you paid money for it, it’s merchandise, not a letter, and "postal legally" must be sent as something other than a letter.

The regulations for First Class Mail International (USPS international letterpost) start here and continue onto another page:

https://pe.usps.com/text/imm/immc2_017.htm

242.2 Merchandise

Note: Global Express Guaranteed service is suspended as of September 29, 2024.
No merchandise, whether dutiable or nondutiable, may be mailed using First-Class Mail International service. Items containing merchandise may be sent by Global Express Guaranteed service, Priority Mail Express International service, Priority Mail International service, or First-Class Package International Service; commercial mailers may also use IPA packages (small packets) and ISAL packages (small packets).

marnotom! · ‎07-15-2025

@shadowraptor wrote:

It appears many US sellers don't know how to mail stuff all by themselves ... it's a learning process and may take some time.

International sales tend to make up a small proportion of most US-based sellers’ sales. Canada’s population is about the same as California’s, so you can imagine how infrequently a sale there would crop up for an American seller, unless they have a lot of sales overall.

It’s generally not worth many US-based sellers’ effort to go out of their way to ship directly to Canada, especially when the eBay International Shipping system offers them more protection against shipper failure and buyer fraud than a domestic sale as well as simplifying the return process to the point where returns are pretty much a non-issue.

phc64 · ‎07-15-2025

As others have stated, anything other than documents that is shipped across a border must be shipped as a parcel and must be accompanied by proper customs documentation, even if it is one stamp or one trading card. Although it is easy for sellers to get away with shipping such very small items as a letter, the eBay International Shipping system strictly adheres to these requirements.

easoss · ‎07-15-2025

Take one part Arrogance and add one part Self Importance and you've got the good ol USA. What other country shouts an equivalent to the annoying USA USA chant.

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎07-15-2025

@highcards_206 wrote:
Which is really stupid considering the rest of the world can actually do it right and not rip people off with shipping costs.. So US sellers would rather limit their sales to people from other countries?
You think that it is justified to charge 17.80 to ship a single stamp? It weight less than a post it note....

You think when I look up postage stamps to collect which often sell for 3 - 6 $ anybody in their right mind is going to spend 18.00 on top to have them shipped?

How is it Australian sellers, German sellers, Polish sellers, Latin American sellers and every other country you can think of that uses Ebay has standard shipping costs? But the United States for some reason uses the biggest scam in terms of shipping there is? Why?

Most sellers aren't even aware the fees are this high either! I have gone back in fourth with a dozen of them as they attempt to fix the shipping options.. They don't realize we are getting charged 5 x more than the actual cost of shipping.. My most recent message history gos back 3 days with a US sellers as he keeps asking me to look at his add to see if the prices have changed... On his end he doesn't know how to fix the problem as it keeps showing up to 20+$ to ship a 4.00 lot.... I told him to set a flat rate to make it simple...

There is NO JUSTIFICATION FOR IT! PERIOD! You can even Google AI the words " Ebay international shipping rip off" and the AI will even tell you it is a rip off.... Then you have the Reddit forums FILLED WITH PEOPLE who have talked about this now for years!

Absoulute trash! I had to cancel 3 auctions this week from multiple sellers... One showed up as standard USPS 0.99 shipping to then somehow change to 17.80.... **bleep**? I better be getting this thing hand delivered by a guy riding his horse from the US to Canada for that price! It's a letter... People send them all over the world every single day for a couple of dollars

@highcards_206

@easoss

@shadowraptor

Canadian sellers are and have been getting substantial discounts for shipping internationally. If you check the reverse USA to Intl (including Canada) the same discounts are not available...at least not with ebay. USA to Canada discounts are between 2 and 5 %. Canada to USA are between 13 & 55% currently. They could potentially negotiate a substantial discount but that would counter eIS service where there "appears" to be nothing being applied for international. Try a test (using 1 oz or more) and you will see what I am confirming.

https://www.ebay.com/shp/calc/rates

Numerous options with limited in the way of discounts compared to counter rates. As noted by others, anything with value CANNOT and SHOULD NOT be send just using letter services. Sending that way would risk the chance of your item ever arriving if it got inspected. Customs documentation is required meaning a parcel service. Same happens in reverse for Canadians shipping internationally.

highcards_206 · ‎07-15-2025

Is this why I have orders 500$+ in postage stamps this month from around the world paying 3.00 shipping? I think you are wrong.. There are no customs on a postage stamp... It has no monetary value beyond a collector value.. Customs has nothing to do with it and I receive parcels from around the globe every single week... This is only in America and a vast majority of American sellers are screwing themselves because of the shipping methods they choose... The unfortunate part is most of the time they don't even realize we are seeing prices like 22.00$ on the other end to ship the item they are asking 1.50 for.,...

highcards_206 · ‎07-15-2025

Are you kidding me? Saying Canada doesn't have enough people to offer sales frequently enough to American sellers? Is that some kind of joke? You do realize we have collectors and people with jobs in this country to right? You do realize that countries like Khazakstan are more effective and fair in shipping mail overseas than what Americans are at sending a letter one border to the north to a country they have a free trade agreement with?..... Do you know how many billions of dollars pass through the US / Cad border every single day? Not worth it?

I take it you are American lol.. Not worth it? So they are better off letting their auctions expire time and time again because people aren't buying them? While leaving a shipping cost of 22.$+ on items worth 2 or 3 $?....

The entire world knows how to do it right.... Much of that world has a lower population than Canada so that comparrison is just downright foolish.... We have a F-ING free trade agreement... We are one of the busiest borders on the planet!

highcards_206 · ‎07-15-2025

"Not worth it" EVERY SINGLE DAY the annual GDP of Afghanistan gos through the US / Cad border... What a foolish thing to suggest

highcards_206 · ‎07-15-2025

Sounds like ANOTHER BULL$HIT AMERICAN LAW because the rest of the world doesn't do it like that there buddy... I get dozens of letters per month from all over the globe sending the letters to me at fair prices! I also order from multiple US sellers like NYSTAMPS who offer fair shipping prices! It's about 80% of American users using EBAY scam shipping and they don't even realize they are limiting their own sales...

I have DOZENS of messages going back and fourth with US sellers as they ask me to look at their listing again to see if prices changed! Most of them have trouble fixing the shipping method or understanding it! My message history can verify that easily! I have one seller currently messaging me to look at his add as he fiddles with shipping methods on his end to try to fix them!

I love the Americans making excuses in here lol... The entire world can ship letters at fair prices in envelopes but not the War Mongering, Gas and oil stealing USA.. They label is as merchandise and make an excuse to charge you 8x more than the value of the item to ship it! Real smart country

highcards_206 · ‎07-15-2025

No because I've had more than one of them message me multuple times saying "Can you look at my add again to tell me if shipping prices changed" Or "can you screenshot it so I can see what you see on your end"

My message history is full of it! I've literally spent days with some sellers trying to figure this out as both they and I call Ebay support!

I get some sellers don't care but also a ton of them do not even realize that items they are listing for lets say 1.50 are asking 17.77 - 22.$ shipping on top... I've even had them say "That's why I am getting no sales" and they fix it.. It's so pathetic and it's only the United States