eBay: Global Postage Programme

That sounds horrible and makes me not want to bid on any international items on eBay.

Khamûl, is this for all international items?

If you look at the auction I've highlighted you can go in & read a bit about what it actually is. Yes, it's only really to do with international shipping. There are plenty of US auctions (I'm in the UK, as you know) I'm looking at right now who are just quoting normal postage; nothing unusual. However I only really noticed the "Global Postage Programme" the other day; then I saw the auction I highlighted (which I would have been interested in) with it too. The potential charges are horrendous. It would totally destroy international buying if everyone goes in for it wholesale.

BH

I sell internationally often on ebay and just noticed the global postage option the other day. From what I could tell, after the sell completes rather than simply mailing the item directly to the buyer myself, I would send it to an ebay global shipping center where they would then mail it overseas for me. My guess is ebay has had issues with some sellers not knowing how to get an appropriate tracking number on international shipping. When I buy from the UK and they ship to America, USPS picks up the tracking number without any problem. However, most shipping methods from America to another country via USPS will provide tracking only up to customs and not the whole way. This means some evil buyers can simply claim they never got the item and get their money back because the tracking information is incomplete. It is an OK plan for my grandma who would have no idea which shipping method to choice, but it is pretty useless if you know then ins and outs of USPS and which delivery method will be sufficient to prevent an ebay claim against you.

Sorry, that doesn't really explain why eBay are levying fees as a percentage of auction price. The ABAA & other book groups have, at various times, used methods of bulk posting before; this isn't new. However this was to save money & to provide competitive prices for bulky books, etc. This scheme, although in principal the same, entirely negates any cost saving by levying these charges dependent on the price paid at the proverbial hammer.

As you say, USPS already have facility for tracking & signatures for international posting --but it certainly won't cost this much. If you bought/won an auction for $200 you'd be paying (going by the auction I cited) $70+ in "Import charges" as well as postage!! Utter, utter nonsense. Who the hell is going to pay this?

There is also the problem of this not being disclosed by the seller in the listing. I think sellers are going to find people simply not paying up at the end of the transaction. I can see no advantage to this system for the buyer or the seller, therefore I question why anyone would use it.

BH

Question for those in GB: has anyone actually completed a transaction and received an item using this service?

It seems to me, from the outside, that the "Import charges" could be a charge from the UK government, based on the value of the item being imported. When individuals ship to the UK, likely this import tax does not get reported or collected regularly or correctly, but with a professional shipping service, they likely have to have an agreement with the UK govt in place to rigorously collect every penny due.

I know that when I have shipped expensive books to the UK, the receiver sometimes has to pay the import tax before they can receive the package. I have no idea how often this has happened as usually I am not told.

I've bought a book!! (--but haven't received it yet.) Ain't you been listening?

The UK's tax is managed by HMRC. Books are exempt from any import duty or VAT under their guidelines. I read the guidance fairly recently, after contesting a case; it involved VAT being levied on slipcases DM had posted over. Books are definitely exempt. It's possible something has changed very recently, but I don't think so; I think I'd have read (or someone else would have read) about it in some book-related newsletters, etc.

You may be right though; perhaps there's more to it than first appears...

BH

Forgot to add: a properly declared USPS package, I would suggest, already is a professional shipping service. There is no way that every book I've ever bought from the US, in recent years, should in fact have had import tax levied against it, but slipped through. This is the whole point of the declaration on the front. If it said "book" it did not incur any tax/charge. I don't honestly think this has changed.

BH

I have looked at this, it appears that ebay confirm to any country that you have ordered from, as a buyer you will not have to pay any import tax (or in the UK VAT on items delivered).

Sorry I struggle with ebays statement, they do not control Customs control

Also, check the eBay brief:

The Global Postage Programme makes it easier for buyers in some countries outside the US to purchase items from US sellers. The seller sends the item to a global postage provider located in the US and the global postage provider sends the item to you. Using a global postage provider enables sellers to offer international postage at competitive rates and may allow items to be dispatched more quickly. In addition, your purchase is eligible for coverage through eBay Buyer Protection and PayPal Buyer Protection.

How, in the example I posted, is $18, on top of $17 normal postage, in any way competitive? That book you see, btw, is about the size of GA&U's FGoH; it's a tiny book, where you'd be paying $35+ to ship over. I don't get it...

BH