I'm thinking about going to ebay and selling my sketch cards that I'm no longer interested in keeping. Has anyone used ebay's global shipping service? Obviously you get more bids if you ship internationally. I'm hesitant to ship them directly because I've had mail go missing a few times. Thoughts?

I've been stung a couple of times with wins from sellers that use this farce of a program. I had bills from UPS because there hadn't been enough charged for customs duty.
If you use this service, you send the item to a broker that has the right to open the item, inspect it, and then repackage it. I, as a buyer, have to pay for this as part of the calculation for shipping abroad. It adds about two weeks to the shipping time. UPS, like USPS, can't track the parcel accurately until it's signed for.
If I have to pay Value Added Tax and handling, then fair enough, but there is a chance that an item won't get stopped, therefore only costing me the original postage.
I can't see any advantage to this system and actively avoid auctions / BIN's that feature it.

I also avoid sellers who use it.

The vast majority of my purchases would not be chargeable customs wise (£15 +) so seeing a $9 Global Shipping Program fee on a $.99 card just sends me looking for someone else.

Lots of cards i've had from the US recently get sent usps and there is a service now where they get international delivery confirmation for free. Tracking once it gets outside the US is not guaranteed but speaking as someone in the UK i've been impressed with the numbers which do track all the way and record delivery.

Electronic USPS Delivery Confirmation® International I think it's called.

Agreed!
Not paying through the nose for shipping when it only costs $5 max to ship.

I will avoid those sellers who adopt this new way of shipping.

I wouldn't mess with it...I know you may get slightly more for the card by shipping internationally, but it's not worth the hassle.

As others have said, I avoid sellers using that rip-off shipping plan. I have occasionally groaned when things get caught in Customs, but to be honest, in the UK, it's cheaper to pay the Customs fee and the £8 Royal Mail handling charge than all that rip-off fee they somehow calculate in that Global Shipping Prog. AND I've heard a lot of people have ended up still having to pay a Customs fee as it wasn't recognized in the UK as having had the fee cleared already even when they've paid the Global Prog fee, so I don't trust it and avoid sellers who use it at all costs!

I never buy from international sellers who use eBay's Global Shipping Program. It usually costs at least 10% more than paying to have it posted by a Tracked USPS method and then paying the UK Customs and handling charges. They add 20% VAT from Customs and an £8 or £13 handling charge from Parcel Force or Royal Mail.

I ship internationally all the time. Yes, a few cards go missing. Anything over about $100, I track. If you are worried, perhaps you can start with some of the lower value items and see how it goes.

If you do decide to sell internationally, avoid the global shipping program. Like many of the others who have already commented, I won't bid on cards listed that way. Why would I pay $50 for shipping a $20 card?

quote:

Originally posted by WarriorBabe:
Lots of cards i've had from the US recently get sent usps and there is a service now where they get international delivery confirmation for free. Tracking once it gets outside the US is not guaranteed but speaking as someone in the UK i've been impressed with the numbers which do track all the way and record delivery.

Electronic USPS Delivery Confirmation® International I think it's called.

Yes, I have seen that too in my research for potential international shipping of my items on ebay.

This new feature includes free electronic international tracking (as you have described) for sellers who print labels at home. The problem I see with it, other than it being a little time consuming, is that you need to be able to print the customs forms and place them inside the customs pouches that you need to obtain from USPS. Now, if I'm sending cards in a small bubble envelope, the customs pouch is way too big for the small package.

On the plus side, it saves a trip to the post office, and...TRACKING!!

If anyone has any experiences with this, and can help with this process, please share your findings.

To sell a card internationally while covering your behind, basically just send it by 1st class airmail in a padded envelope with some cardboard on each side of it to prevent bending. The shipping cost is about $7. Then, add the Registered mail service. This provides online tracking and includes up to $47.47 insurance. It costs $13. That means the shipping cost is $20. Not cheap, but as cheap as it gets if you don't want to be on the hook for the whole amount should you send the card without Registered mail and then the buyer claims it did not arrive (whether it did or not). Without tracking, though, you'd never know, so it is a must. I've never once has a package sent with Registered mail go missing, although it can slow down shipping times.
Most International bidders I think would be willing to pay the $20 shipping on a higher valued cards, but not so much on lower priced cards which is understandable. That's why I pretty much only open auctions with higher starting prices ($60+) to international bidders. If less than that, it's US sales only. I wish it were not the case, but here we are.

quote:

Originally posted by WarriorBabe:
I also avoid sellers who use it.

The vast majority of my purchases would not be chargeable customs wise (£15 +) so seeing a $9 Global Shipping Program fee on a $.99 card just sends me looking for someone else.

Lots of cards i've had from the US recently get sent usps and there is a service now where they get international delivery confirmation for free. Tracking once it gets outside the US is not guaranteed but speaking as someone in the UK i've been impressed with the numbers which do track all the way and record delivery.

Electronic USPS Delivery Confirmation® International I think it's called.

Good to know about the int'l tracking, WarriorBabe. Thanks for that. And thanks everyone else for your 100% unanimous 'no' vote for the Ebay shipping. It's been a while since I sold something on Ebay, and I just needed a little helpful advice.

If you use USPS online or eBay's internal shipping you get international delivery confirmation for free. You cannot get it when you take an item to the post office to ship.

The GSP is a farce.

I will argue that it does cost more than $5 to send something properly. If a card is worth buying it better be worth a padded envelope, cardboard protection, and a printed label. All which cost money. 2 ounces worldwide is $6.55 plus shipping supplies and the fees eBay now charges you for the shipping charges.

Ed

Just had a $23 card from ebay expedited shipping!
Took 7 days longer than they estimated and
Just dropped through door-no signature!
Its a waste of time!

First class international purchased online includes Delivery Confirmation to the following countries:
Australia
Israel
Belgium
Italy
Brazil
Latvia
Canada
Lithuania
Croatia
Luxembourg
Denmark
Malaysia
Estonia
Malta
Finland
Netherlands
France
New Zealand
Germany
Portugal
Gibraltar
Singapore
Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Spain
Hungary
Switzerland

Although they only guarantee delivery confirmation, my experience has been that it usually includes tracking all the way.

So far I've never had to use a pouch and just tape the label onto the front of the package.

I can also give it to my mail carrier now and no longer have to take it to the Post Office.

For higher priced items I still use Express Mail insured but it saves me a lot of time and money for most of the international packages I ship.

quote:

So far I've never had to use a pouch and just tape the label onto the front of the package.

Taping the label is one thing, but what about the custom forms? How do you deal with attaching that? And how would you do so on small bubble envelopes given the size of the printed customs forms?

quote:

Originally posted by Starchild:

quote:

So far I've never had to use a pouch and just tape the label onto the front of the package.

Taping the label is one thing, but what about the custom forms? How do you deal with attaching that? And how would you do so on small bubble envelopes given the size of the printed customs forms?

The customs information is included in the label. I think you may have to use the separate forms if it's over a certain value but so far I haven't needed them.

quote:

Originally posted by Chrisahend:
The customs information is included in the label. I think you may have to use the separate forms if it's over a certain value but so far I haven't needed them.

Thanks for the info. I'll have to look further into this and see if it's a viable step for me.

We have been down the "international shipping" road a number of times on this forum and every time it just freaks me out. About 80% of my cards come from the US and the other 20% from the UK. If you sellers decide that it's all too difficult to ship internationally then bang goes my 25 year long obsession. I may as well pull up tent pegs and go home. You will kill the hobby in a large number of countries not the least mine.
The answer has got to be cost. Who's going to pay $21 for a $1.50 card (which someone offered to me yesterday)? No one of course, but there is room for compromise.

I have stated before that in 25 years of buying cards I have never once lost a packet as either a buyer or a seller. I'm not saying that it doesn't happen but it has got to be considered a rarity and not the norm.
So, any card(s) with a value not exceeding (say)$10 should always be sent in a stiff plastic sleeve inside a bubble envelope. Total cost? about $3-5.
Sure go ahead and add in insurance, tracking and all the bells and whistles that Ebay dreams up if the value of the contents justifies it but if you sell a $2.00 card internationally does it really matter if the buyer says it never got there?
Come on guys, lets keep this whole shipping debacle in perspective.When you consider the amount of transactions going in and out of the country from this forum's members alone, the odds of "missing" parcels are astronomically low. Even the rip off artists aren't going to claim against you for a card worth a buck.

quote:

Originally posted by btlfannz:
We have been down the "international shipping" road a number of times on this forum and every time it just freaks me out. About 80% of my cards come from the US and the other 20% from the UK. If you sellers decide that it's all too difficult to ship internationally then bang goes my 25 year long obsession. I may as well pull up tent pegs and go home. You will kill the hobby in a large number of countries not the least mine.
The answer has got to be cost. Who's going to pay $21 for a $1.50 card (which someone offered to me yesterday)? No one of course, but there is room for compromise.

I have stated before that in 25 years of buying cards I have never once lost a packet as either a buyer or a seller. I'm not saying that it doesn't happen but it has got to be considered a rarity and not the norm.
So, any card(s) with a value not exceeding (say)$10 should always be sent in a stiff plastic sleeve inside a bubble envelope. Total cost? about $3-5.
Sure go ahead and add in insurance, tracking and all the bells and whistles that Ebay dreams up if the value of the contents justifies it but if you sell a $2.00 card internationally does it really matter if the buyer says it never got there?
Come on guys, lets keep this whole shipping debacle in perspective.When you consider the amount of transactions going in and out of the country from this forum's members alone, the odds of "missing" parcels are astronomically low. Even the rip off artists aren't going to claim against you for a card worth a buck.

I'm sorry, but yes, it does matter. It may just be $2 to you, but it's not just $2 to me. Especially when I have put forth the cost of shipping supplies, ebay fees, paypal fees, etc., not to mention the potential neutral or negative feedback because the buyer didn't get his item, or claims he didn't, whichever the case may be.

Two years ago, I had an international buyer who claimed he didn't get his card. Whether he either really didn't or he scammed me, I'll never know. Either way, I was out the card itself, the $8 for the card, ebay listing and final value fees and paypal fees and the cost of the bubble envelope, so that $8 turns into $10+ rather quickly. I will not put myself in that predicament again.

Stating that we're going to kill the hobby in a large number of countries is very unfair. We're killing the hobby because we want to protect ourselves? I'm not about to take any more chances. I don't care if it's a $2 card.

What if a seller sells 5 items at $2 each and unfortunate circumstances occur and all 5 packages are in the same lot that gets lost somehow. There's more than just $2 at stake here for that seller...and again, the feedback to worry about. Believe me, I am very happy for you that you have never lost a package. But it's not like that for everyone.

Part of the reason I am going to look into the online label purchasing is to help both the buyer and myself. So, some of us are attempting to offer other options, but you really shouldn't be blaming any of us for not wanting the stress of worrying about packages and for trying to protect ourselves.

I concur with Starchild. It is no fun when Ebay takes money out of your account, even the shipping cost which you can prove you spent the money on and gives it back to the seller the moment they find you have no tracking. The fact that the buyer may actually have the card makes it worse, and for those with a particularly fine-tuned sense of fairplay, just the chance of that happening is often times too much to bear in exchange for the meager reward.

If sellers sell $2 cards and mail them with a stamp in a regular envelope with a top loader, they can be sent for $1.35 I think it is. That's well and good, but remember Ebay is taking 20 cents off the top and then another 13.5 cents out of the postage. Not a lot of people have the time to mail even simple letters for which they make $1.50. Add to the fact that the card isn't very well protected, and it's just not worth it. A little padded envelope with the card between two thin pieces of cardboard that comes in under 2 ounces still costs $7 to mail because it is considered a package and not a letter.

I can still sell dollar cards worldwide, no problem. I just need the buyer to buy about 50 of them at once, or it's just not worth the time and risk. I don't like to sell anything for less than $12 even in the United States where I am, because if I can't clear $10 on something after fees, it's not worth the time. That doesn't mean I try to get $10 for a $1 or a $2 card, but rather, I make all listings have that much value in them, for instance, if it's dollar cards, the listing would have 10 or 15 of them in it to justify the transaction. If I have something like that with 40 cards in it, and the cost is higher accordingly, that's the only way I can sell those kinds of cards internationally anymore, so those listings I open for international bids. With that said, the vast majority of my listings are U.S. only when I used to send a large percentage of items overseas.

But the days of $1 and $2 cards sold internationally, one at a time, through Ebay anyway, are over for just about all sellers, and you are right, it does suck.