quote:

Originally posted by Neilsy:
Just an update, my card arrived fine but took 11 days to arrive! Twice as long as normal.
I expected it to take a little longer, but to charge you higher postage than normal and take an extra 6 days to deliver it isnt acceptable.

I've had cards sent non-GSP and they've taken 11 days.... to be honest I don't expect anything much before 7 days from the US.

I certainly don't see 5/6 days as the norm.

If I sent something to someone, anywhere, I would not worry if I did not hear from them for a couple of weeks.

yes my packages from usa have been opened and on the tracking they seemed to have been sent all over the place and took over 3 weeks. luckily the seller had sealed the cards inside another packet so whoever opened it could not see it without opening that too which clearly they didn't bother.

Pretty easy to double your wages with a few cards from work that are easy to slip into a pocket !

quote:

Originally posted by WarriorBabe:

quote:

Originally posted by Neilsy:
Just an update, my card arrived fine but took 11 days to arrive! Twice as long as normal.
I expected it to take a little longer, but to charge you higher postage than normal and take an extra 6 days to deliver it isnt acceptable.

I've had cards sent non-GSP and they've taken 11 days.... to be honest I don't expect anything much before 7 days from the US.

I certainly don't see 5/6 days as the norm.

To clarify, I ordered two cards from the same dealer, both were posted the same day, one through global mailing and one direct to me.
The one sent to me arrived 5 days later, the one sent through global mailing 11 days later.
So the global mailing was dearer and took 6 days longer than the one sent through the normal postal system.

Ok I see what you mean now.

International mail is a finnicky thing though, i've had various eBay wins posted in the US (non GSP) on the same day which then arrived here in the UK on different days.

Clearly GSP does add time by the processes it goes through but for me cards posted out on the same day tend to arrive at different times anyway without it

my take on GSP is that it is to be viewed from the US standpoint - US sellers are hesitant about shipping overseas for the reasons I stated before - loss, theft and lies about non receipt - I personally stopped shipping overseas due to those factors and I am sure I am not alone - the shipping time means nothing to us - all that matters is protection of the seller from loss and the renewed ability to ship overseas with confidence - time & cost to the non us person is really not an issue as we have no control over when the item is relayed overseas - all the seller wants is a successful transaction

quote:

Originally posted by sherlock2:
my take on GSP is that it is to be viewed from the US standpoint - US sellers are hesitant about shipping overseas for the reasons I stated before - loss, theft and lies about non receipt - I personally stopped shipping overseas due to those factors and I am sure I am not alone - the shipping time means nothing to us - all that matters is protection of the seller from loss and the renewed ability to ship overseas with confidence - time & cost to the non us person is really not an issue as we have no control over when the item is relayed overseas - all the seller wants is a successful transaction

It may be a successful transaction but the selling price will be lower because you will have less bidders. I absolutely agree with you that valuable items have to be sent by registered mail but you can do that by USPS or UPS without involving Ebay and it then gives you the option to not use it on less valuable items and attract more buyers. By blanket using GSP you lose the vast majority of non US bidders.

get your point but did that MANY TIMES USING REGISTERED MAIL BUT BUYER STILL FELT ITEM DID NOT NEED IT AND GAVE ME LOW SHIPPING RATINGS STATED HIGH SHIP COSTS - so what was I to do trust a $100 item to regular ship I think not - so GSP protects seller from these low ratings - and I as a seller only want to protect my item ebay protects the buyer with protection and refund if item is not received but the seller if he or she ships overseas with out registered mail is screwed (I guess the sad thing is that unscrupulous and overcritical overseas buyers resent US sellers for wanting to protect their product with proper shipping techniques and costs) - so long live GSP

quote:

Originally posted by sherlock2:
get your point but did that MANY TIMES USING REGISTERED MAIL BUT BUYER STILL FELT ITEM DID NOT NEED IT AND GAVE ME LOW SHIPPING RATINGS STATED HIGH SHIP COSTS - so what was I to do trust a $100 item to regular ship I think not - so GSP protects seller from these low ratings - and I as a seller only want to protect my item ebay protects the buyer with protection and refund if item is not received but the seller if he or she ships overseas with out registered mail is screwed (I guess the sad thing is that unscrupulous and overcritical overseas buyers resent US sellers for wanting to protect their product with proper shipping techniques and costs) - so long live GSP

Oh I am sure GSP is here to stay, it's making Ebay lots of money . Just pointing out it may be costing you money in lower prices realised for your sales. If you have had bad experiences in the past I certainly don't blame you for using it as it is a good safeguard for sellers. Did not realise it meant buyers could not give you low ratings.

I would never bid on an auction that was using GSP. It simply makes anything I am buying far too expensive to even consider.

If the seller refuses to send out of the USA without it I suggest you get yourself a friend in the USA and have the seller send to them, then they can forward it onto you at a normal standard postage rate or next time they send you something or you do a trade.

This way the buyer gets his item without paying silly money for it and the seller has a much easier and safer time about it.

That's how I see it, if I am wrong in this I feel sure someone is about to tell me.

I'm always here to help my UK friends!

I wouldn't use GSP as a seller, but when overseas bidders express interest in an item, I let them know they can provide me their actual email address (it can be done, if they send it broken up in a couple of messages), the item can be shipped to them for regular postage without the $13 added on for the Registered mail tracking number.

I tell them this is specifically not an Ebay transaction and that the item cannot be replaced if lost in the mail, nor the money refunded, but here is the important part that does provide the buyer peace of mind: As soon as I have mailed them the item, I will send a scan of the dated post office receipt along with the matching postmarked and dated Custom Form so they can be assured the item was mailed FOR SURE, and exactly when.

I have no interest in cheating Ebay out of fees, but by making a seller charge $20 to send a single card (the card itself being often worth less than that) if they are to protect themselves, Ebay has cost themselves more fees over these last couple of years with lost bids as a result of that policy than any one could ever take from them by pursing direct transactions with overseas buyers.

This system of providing the buyer with inarguable mailing details works well since the vast majority of items sent by regular mail internationally arrive with no problem at all, in my experience.

If Ebay really wanted to open up the international market again, they would get rid of the GSP and instead allow sellers to upload the pictures of the postal receipt and customs form as I described earlier and accept that as proof of mailing.

Then, in the rare case when an item was reported by the buyer as lost on the way, Ebay, and not the buyer or seller would be responsible for replacing the cost of the missing item. Ebay would be out a bit for the items claimed lost, but they would make all that and a lot more back in the increased fees they would reap from all of the additional transactions. Plus, with Ebay having all the information about any claims that were filed would additionally allow them the ability to see who was potentially gaming them for fake losses and put a stop to it by telling those people, "OK, we've covered you a couple of times, and since items that were certainly sent have a way of not reaching you, we can no longer guarantee your purchases. You can still buy things, but as long as the seller has uploaded the mailing details, you're on your own."

Problem solved.

quote:

Originally posted by chesspieceface:
I wouldn't use GSP as a seller, but when overseas bidders express interest in an item, I let them know they can provide me their actual email address (it can be done, if they send it broken up in a couple of messages), the item can be shipped to them for regular postage without the $13 added on for the Registered mail tracking number. I tell them this is specifically not an Ebay transaction and that the item cannot be replaced if lost in the mail, nor the money refunded, but here is the important part that does provide the buyer peace of mind: As soon as I have mailed them the item, I will send a scan of the dated post office receipt along with the matching postmarked and dated Custom Form so they can be assured the item was mailed FOR SURE, and exactly when.
This works well since the vast majority of items sent by regular mail internationally arrive with no problem at all, in my experience.
If Ebay really wanted to open up the international market again, they would get rid of the GSP and instead add sellers to upload the pictures of the postal receipt and customs form as I described earlier and accept that as proof of mailing.

Then, in the rare case when they were lost, Ebay would be responsible for replacing the costs of the item. They would be out a bit for the items claimed lost, but they would make all that and a lot more in the increased fees they would reap from all of these additional transactions. Having all the information about any claims that were filed would additionally allow Ebay the ability to see who was gaming them for fake losses and put a stop to it by telling those people, "OK, we've covered you a couple of times, and since items that were certainly sent have a way of not reaching you, we can no longer guarantee your purchases. You can still buy things, but as long as the seller has uploaded the mailing details, you're on your own."

I need more of you around! Hate paying over $10 for shipping for a single card!

Haven't brought anything in a long time for this reason! I'm trying to find stuff Canada side.... not going well

the culprits in this case are the postal service when there is actual loss or damage and unscrupulous buyers who played the system and won by lying to ebay and indicating the item was never received - costing the sellers double for item loss and $$$ loss - if all buyers were truthful and all postal workers worked for the ridiculous amount they are paid and did work that complimented that pay the GSP would NOT EXIST!!! VIVA la TRUTH!!!!

whatever you believe the truth to be the truth is that this system will cost sellers lost bids, lost sales, lost profits, lost customers and once those customers have gone elsewhere they will not be coming back.

I totally get it's the sellers prerogative to use whatever means they feel necessary to protect themselves and run their business as they see fit.
But for the average international customer GSP is a rip off and unaffordable.
Buyers will go to sellers who don't use it.

an fyi what is the cost of ship for an item $50, weighing 2 lbs.???

To the UK from the United States it would be

$24 and change for 1st Class plus $13 and change for Registered mail, so about $38 sent that very safe way.

By priority mail, it's $48 just for shipping and you can't get the Registered service. The upside is, sent that way, the package is in the mail for less time, and I think there is some insurance included.

I'm not sure what the costs would be to send the same item from the UK to the US.

quote:

Originally posted by wolfie:

I would never bid on an auction that was using GSP.

Having made this bold statement I have just won an auction in America that is using this system, how two faced is that.
I am enjoying watching the tracking though, seeing where it is going.

I am now 3 for 3 lost items from the UK through Pitney Bowes New Jersey.

Only this time boxes were switched and I got an empty tuck box with nothing taped or sealed. It did have a really nice block of hay in it. Sent pics of the container to the seller with the assumption that this was not the original box...it wasn't.

The company has a one star customer service rating and yet is given an A+ BBB score.