Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
I have cut way back on what I will offer outside the US.
What sort of things are you selling? If individual stamps or small collections then I sort of understand the reluctance to shell out over $10 in many cases to ship it to them. I have seen listings of individual single stamps with shipping charges of $13. I wouldn't pay that either, sorry.
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I will no longer offer bulky items like albums or books to bidders outside the US. I will offer stamps to bidders from select countries, mostly W. Europe, Canada, Australia and Japan. I will not sell to Eastern Europe, Italy or Spain. Nor to the Middle East. I have on occasion bought from vendors in those countries, it often does not go well.
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I never "joined" Ebays Global Shipping Programme for one main reason:- Control.
No matter what you buy or sell, either on the internet or not, you must maintain control of all aspects of your "business". I have more faith in the Royal Mail than any other delivery system, especially one that only wants more and more of the sellers/buyers money.
One of the problems is that some buyers have no appreciation of the sellers costs. Thats why you get asked to reduce the postage, as well as them just being tight fisted!!
As a seller you have to decide what parameters will apply to your sales. If a Buyer moans and groans or tries to cajole you into something then you must have a pre-decided system to cope with these problems.
Remember:- The customer is always right............"within earshot".
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Thank you Snick1946 and Anglophile for your informative responses. I will opt out of the Global Shipping Program in the future. Out of ignorance, I didn't realize that was an option. And, Yes, what I have been selling is in the $10 to $20 range, and Ebay has been trying to charge the Buyer about an equal amount.
Regards,
Bob Armstrong
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I had so much trouble with international buyers on E-bay that I opted out with the "no international sales" option. Even with that I still receive a bid from other countries every now and then. I called e-bay about a year ago about this and was told those international bids getting through were coming from "mobile devices" and could not be blocked by e-bay. I'm certainly not tech-savvy enough to know if this was a viable excuse or just a bunch of malarkey. So now, although it hasn't happened in a while, I get permission to retract the bid and I write the bidder a letter saying I do not accept international bids. It's just not worth it.
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Can someone explain why Canada and Canadians are so often refused service from U.S. eBay sellers. In all the years since 1969, when my wife I moved to Canada from the U.S., we have never had one item of mail go missing. A few items have been misdirected, but that's hardly unusual. There isn't another country in the world that is so closely allied with the U.S. as Canada, for better or for worse. I get the feeling — perhaps it's unwarranted — that U.S. dealers are simply becoming isolationist in line with current conservative politics. I hope I'm wrong, for all our sakes.
Bob
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The only problem I have with shipping to Canada is that if I put stamps on the envelope I have to stand in line at the post office (sometimes for 20 to 30 minutes) to mail it.
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Webpaper, are you saying that USA does not have postal drop off boxes? or you needing the tracking or recorded delivery.
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Any item with a customs label with postage stamps attached must be handed to a clerk rather than placed in a drop box.
I don't print postage, if I did I believe it can be placed in drop box - but not if it has postage stamps affixed.
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Ok now I understand. Put it down to a senior moment!
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I have only had to use the Global Shipping Program a couple of times. No issues in my very limited experience.
What I'm encountering more is domestic people who simply do not pay - and these aren't expensive items. Go figured.
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I USE THE GLOBAL PROGRAM FOR OTHER ITEMS OTHER THEN STAMPS AND IT WORKS WELL AS I DONT HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT DELIVERY AND I HAVE HAD PEOPLE CANCEL BECAUSE OF THE EBAY CHARGES.wHEN I SELL A STAMP I MAIL IT IN A REGULAR ENVELOPE AS A LETTER AND DO NOT HAVE TO DEAL WITH THE PROBLEMS OF FILLING OUT FORMS HAVE NOT HAD ANY PROBLEMS SO FAR
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I have just received the following two messages from outside of StampoRama, and from outside of the USA.
"The US Mail, the Royal Mal, etc. make much less money as mail carriers than a few years ago. So they made a deal with ebay.com, ebay UK, etc. and all new sellers are STRONGLY SUGGESTED to ship their lots by registered & insured mail. The search results pages are then more more polluted by lots sent for delirious fees..."
"ebay make fear new buyers that their lots will be lost or stolen if no not shipped by registered and insured mail. An as result the search pages are polluted by poorly illustrated material of deceiving quality. It's just stupid to waste money in shipping fees."
Hmmm. There are some strong opinions outside of the USA.
Regards,
Bob Armstrong
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I had quite a story a while back involving Gloabl Shipping. I had purchased a set of stamps from a seller and I had asked him ahead of time what the shipping cost was. When it was time to pay, the Shipping cost was about 10 times higher. His response was "Pay it and I will refund the difference" . Well guess what? He wasn't able to refund anything because he never saw the money in his account. The shipping charges went as a separate payment to Pitney Bowes - the Global Shipping provider. My credit card eventually refunded the charges and it was their loss.
On the other hand, last week I had a CV joint assembly delivered to me from New York through the Global Shipping program for $14 !!!! Everybody else was charging $50-$70 delivery on this item which makes sense as it is very heavy. Three months ago, I had a whole car subframe delivered from the states for some $100 (or less). An incredible price given the size and weight.
So in general Global Shipping is terrible for small lots of stamps but awesome on large items.
In addition, I have never had customs charges on items shipped through the GS program. Not so with the direct shipments of small goods, where I get dinged some $20-$25 on any item worth $50-$100
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I am a buyer on eBay with a 100% positive feedback rating of 5000+ positive feedback. After some very bad experiences, I absolutely refuse to buy from seller using the Global Shipping Program. It is an expensive and utterly useless thing. Not only does it increase costs, but it increases the risk of loss and it complicates tracking of items. And of course it takes about a week longer than direct delivery. For Germany, the program uses the cheapest and therefore lousiest delivery partner available who makes no effort to deliver or sometimes even to leave a note when no one is at home or at the office.
Besides:
The program charges for "customs duties" even when no customs duties are due - for example, items sent within one customs union (like EU / EFTA) , or items sent to me to a country where I am exempted from customs duties.
I can only encourage sellers to opt out of the program.
Joachim
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jduester, couldn't agree more the GSP is ridiculous for small items ,I live in Australia and was looking at buying a couple of sticks of ram $57-00 postage from the US .
If you sell smaller items I think you need to opt out of their GSP ,a $5-00 stamp and $23-00 postage no way in the world.International registered mail is not that expensive.
AFAIK you were automatically signed up for it and you have to go in and manually opt out.
Brian
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The GSP program ‘encourages’ shipping larger items and ‘disfavors’ shipping smaller items. All of eBay policies are slanted this way and with good reason; their cost per transaction (cost of maintaining the servers, routers, security devices, power, support, dispute resolution, etc.) is the same for a 10 cent transaction as it is for a $100 transaction.
It only makes sense that their policies would promote larger transactions. Lower operating costs, higher profitability; this is exactly what their shareholders want (and demand). eBay’s Board of Directors have a fiduciary responsibility to lower operating costs and increase profits. I do not know if it is possible to write a viable business plan which would support selling millions of inexpensive stamps.
And eBay’s business model has always worked on a simple premise; buyers HAVE to feel comfortable in purchasing something from an image online. (This is the exact opposite of what most of us have learned growing up; never buy something sight unseen.) There are only two ways I know how achieve this very high level of buyer comfort. First way, offer a ‘no questions asked’ return policy. Second way, vet the sellers to a very high degree, police them to constantly weed out the bad ones, prevent those who got booted out from coming back. Which one sounds less costly and more effective?
And now we get to the issue with shipping. One of the largest support costs for eBay is mediation of transaction disputes. One of the largest potential dispute points is the ol’ ‘I didn’t receive what I ordered’. I only see one solution, require tracking. You have to prove that the third party shipping company(s) actually delivered the item to the buyer. It is not eBay’s fault that this service is costly. The costs involved with sending an employee to the door, getting a signature, the logistics of notifications, etc. are many times higher than simply putting an envelope in the mailbox and driving off.
Does any of this favor selling inexpensive stamps? No. The answer is obvious, stop listing and selling inexpensive items and bundle them into listings greater than $25 or more. Alternatively, find and use another venue which is willing to try to support a huge number of inexpensive transactions (like Stamporama). But expect eBay to continue to do whatever it can to lower its costs and increase its profits; this is how well run businesses work.
One way to remove some of the edge off being frustrated by eBay policies is to buy some of their stock. That way when they do things which helps their bottom line, you profit. Then use the money you make on buying some more stamps!
Don
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Don,
On some points I agree, but not on all.
90% of my eBay purchases are not from the country where I live (which changes every few years). Two thirds are stamps and postal history, one third are books and memorabilia. They are mostly from the USA, France, the UK, Russia, the Middle East, India, Pakistan, South East Asia and Australia. And the value of individual purchases ist mostly between 20 and 100 US$, the highest individual eBay purchase did not exceed $1.500. After over 20 years of buying on eBay under various IDs, most purchases come from the same 80-120 sellers. At least half of them I have met personally - in stamp shows somewhere all over the world. And with most of the rest I enjoy a long and cordial relationship. I know their e-mail adddresses and their phone numbers. I always find it funny when eBay tells me that I cannot leave feedback on "how good was the communication" - how would they know when and where I communicated with my eBay partners?
My trust in sellers has only been betrayed perhaps once or twice in over 10.000 transactions. And even in these cases it was mere lack of experience on the seller's part, leading to a wrong description of the item. OUt of over 10.000 items only two items got lost in the mail in 20 years.
I have trust in my sellers. Much more trust than I have in eBay, Paypal or freight companies. The latter are only interested in their profit or in shareholder value. My sellers share my passion for collectable items, they are eager to help me to build my collection, to source items for me, and of course they want to sell to me - and not only once!
Tracking does not help much. Ho can you prove what was inside the envelope or parcel?
For very precious items, I would not even recommend registered or insured mail. It is like writing "steal me, I am valuable" on the envelope. Desist from philatelic franking, use definitives or meter franking for valuable items. Envelopes have disappeared just because someone liked the stamps outside, not those inside. If it is something very valuable to you, there is always the chance to ask the seller to hand it to a friend, or to bring it to a stamp show for you. There are items which I have been looking for for 20, 30 or 40 years - so it does not really matter whether I wait a few months more until I get it. I never understood eBay's obsession with speed. 4 weeks delivery time seems still very fast to me. I wish they would replace this feedback criterion by asking for feedback on packaging - this is much more relevant.
I did not understand the idea about heavier items. Who would buy a fridge or a tractor on eBay to have it shipped around the world? The heaviest items from overseas I buy are rare books, and even then I have rarely paid more than $80 for shipping. I always place my bids after carelfully calculating how much the item would cost me, including postage and my transaction costs (which I roughly calculate at $8 per transaction, which is why I despair of sellers offering the same or very similar items in "instalments" instead of putting them on eBay at the same time).
Cheers
Joachim
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Hi Joachim,
Thank you for the feedback, we seem to agree on most everything. Trust is important and it looks like you have successfully figure out how to get past eBays marketing. But note that the eBay Feedback and rating system is badly flawed and virtually useless. I have designed and implemented several ISO qualified vender rating systems and there is no way that their system would ever pass muster in any kind of audit. Instead, it is really just more marketing fluff. Another way to try to get buyers to feel comfortable.
Here is the truth about the eBay Feedback and rating system.
1. There is a thriving 3rd party market for buying and selling of eBay existing accounts. You can be a convicted felon fresh out of prison and go buy a ‘Top Rated’ existing eBay account with 100% feedback with 1000s of transactions. This by itself makes the rating system nearly worthless. No one has any idea who the actual owner of a eBay account might be. If you wanted, you could transfer your eBay account to me today. You give me the password, I switch the associated bank account, and bingo; I now have your rating and feedbacks.
2. EBay allows multiple accounts. Not just 2 or 3, but there are some sellers with 40, 50, or even more accounts. Even worse, eBay Security and Trust Division will investigate and remove a fraudulent seller but they do not prevent them from coming right back on. Perfect example, the British Cartel guy who has been removed several time over the years and he just pops right back up. The issue here is that eBay is not going to actually vet a seller beyond having some bank account. It is not like they are going visit each of us and verify that we are who we say we are.
3. Common sense tells us that no one can possibly have 10,000 seller transactions with 100% positive feedback. Things go wrong and sometimes buyers are simply unreasonable and leave poor feedback.
4. So all large sellers simply call eBay and have any bad feedback removed, this is how they get 100% on 10,000+ transactions. Again, eBay’s motivation is to support these large sellers and send a message of confidence to buyers. So in a heartbeat they remove negative feedbacks for the big boys.
5. And if that does not work, most sellers put right in the listing, ‘don’t leave negative feedback, just contact me’. This is good business but it makes the feedback system worthless. Imagine you own a factory who makes widgets. You want to know the fallout rate of the manufacturing floor. After one year you look at the metrics and it says that you had 100% perfect rate, not a single widget was assembled incorrectly after building 10,000 of them. What happened? Oh, your QA Manager ran around all year and had them fix the fallout at the end of the assemble line. Why bother with the feedback system then? Of course the system will report 100% if you allow an end run around the data collection.
6. The Feedback system is sometimes used as a form of revenge and retribution. This results in great sellers having a bad feedback rating. Say I have some issue with you. All I have to do is use multiple eBay accounts to make a number of purchases from you and then flame your rating with negative feedbacks. You would have no idea that all the purchases were made by the same person, I can easily have them sent addresses across the country by using a forwarding shipping service. I have seen many great sellers get trashed by malicious people doing this.
So you have done exactly what buyers should do, figure out who you are actually buying from and build a solid relationship. The real issue here is that buyers need to invest as much time learning about the seller as they do learning about their stamps. eBay marketing has worked very hard to try to get buyers to NOT think about this, to blindly buy and just trust that they will be covered.
In terms of the GSP, eBay simply washed their hands of the shipping logistics problems by outsourcing the whole mess. While you might have solid relationships and trust levels with those you buy from, this is not the case in the majority of transactions. And while tracking is not perfect, it is the feasible solution available. I also concur with your opinion on the ‘theft attraction’ for specially marked mailings. The US PO has always had this issue and I assume that other countries are the same. If you study the history of registered mail in the US you will find that this ‘special marked’ mail had theft problems even back in the 1800s when it was first conceived. Heck, just putting a lot of stamps (as opposed to metered) on a package today can attract unwanted attention.
Everyone seems to love to hate eBay. eBay is not some monster, they are simply just another capitalistic company. My opinion is that they have had an incredibly large positive impact on our hobby. Yes, they do not care about our hobby, but we have ridden their shirt tails. We have to accept that that they will never cater to our desire to do millions of small transactions. We probably also have to accept the fact that there are logistical issues that prevent any company from ever being able to establish a massive online transaction service which will support our hobby well. Luckily, there are site like this one which are willing to fill the vacuum.
Don
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Although my primary eBay account is coming up on its 20th anniversary, I increasingly wonder if it will be the last. The last ten years have been a gradual transition from being a cool place to sell collectible items as an individual to being "yet another corporate sales market."
I've never used the GSP for stamps, but have for other items-- and it's effectively pretty close to putting "does not ship internationally" on your listings. It's cumbersome, slow and expensive... but "sold" to buyers (and sellers) in a falsely labeled package called "safe." Because the best way to get people to spend money on random fees is to make them feel *fearful* of what might happen if they don't...
As a seller, it adds an element of risk to eBay. eBay-- "stability wise"-- is already risky for stamp sellers because unless we upload tracking information, we can't BE "top rated" sallers... which means persuading buyers (in many cases) to spend $2.85 on shipping a $3 stamp AND in an enveloped with a pre-paid label, rather than a stamp affixed. Both of which make NO sense to me.
However, from a corporate strategy standpoint, servicing the philatelic industry is NOT much of a profit center for eBay.
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Check out Shipsaver Insurance.
I send all of my foreign mail using that insurance company.
For example, it only costs me $1 for items that are valued up to $100. I am here in the USA so I do not know if the company offers insurance for sellers outside the USA. A seller is anyone by the way who is selling stamps.
I believe that for the next $100 in value, the amount I am charged is an additional $1.
The company will not cover mailings to these countries so I exclude them too for obvious reasons:
Excludes: Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Venezuela, Mexico, Angola, Congo, Democratic Republic of the, Congo, Republic of the, Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan Republic, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine
I am required to keep the post office receipt which also matches on it, the customs receipt number I also am required to retain.
Shipments outside the USA must wait 40 days before a claim can be submitted.
The receiver is also required to electronically sign an online form stating he/she did not receive the item/items.
I mail most of my shipments International First Class Non Machinable Letter Rate, costing me in the vicinity of $2.34 postage and $1 for insurance.
And, the company does pay out claims in a timely fashion.
Bruce
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Reckon this is one of those GSP lots, http://www.ebay.ca/itm/RARE-STAMPS-COLLECTION-WORLD-INDIA-SPAIN-HONG-KONG-ROMANIA-SOUTH-AMERICA-/253107930437?hash=item3aee688545:g:bfMAAOSwa2lZfNqF
Mind you for such rare stamps in a photo album could be worth the price!
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01:16:34am
Zero none and Nada..don't care what they will pay..ain't doing it. It is a joke..$15.00 on fees for global shipping for a $3.00 stamp. Customs forms?? That's just a flag for the thieves to see and steal it even before it leaves the post office..
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Placing a customs form on the mailer to foreign destinations is required by law regardless of whatever flag may be waved in front of would-be domestic or foreign thieves.
That is why I add on the relatively inexpensive insurance mentioned above but it is against the law to mail out purchased merchandise without that customs declaration form.
Bruce
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re: Ebay Global Shipping Program
I have cut way back on what I will offer outside the US.
What sort of things are you selling? If individual stamps or small collections then I sort of understand the reluctance to shell out over $10 in many cases to ship it to them. I have seen listings of individual single stamps with shipping charges of $13. I wouldn't pay that either, sorry.
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re: Ebay Global Shipping Program
I will no longer offer bulky items like albums or books to bidders outside the US. I will offer stamps to bidders from select countries, mostly W. Europe, Canada, Australia and Japan. I will not sell to Eastern Europe, Italy or Spain. Nor to the Middle East. I have on occasion bought from vendors in those countries, it often does not go well.
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10:23:41am
Auctions - Approvals
re: Ebay Global Shipping Program
I never "joined" Ebays Global Shipping Programme for one main reason:- Control.
No matter what you buy or sell, either on the internet or not, you must maintain control of all aspects of your "business". I have more faith in the Royal Mail than any other delivery system, especially one that only wants more and more of the sellers/buyers money.
One of the problems is that some buyers have no appreciation of the sellers costs. Thats why you get asked to reduce the postage, as well as them just being tight fisted!!
As a seller you have to decide what parameters will apply to your sales. If a Buyer moans and groans or tries to cajole you into something then you must have a pre-decided system to cope with these problems.
Remember:- The customer is always right............"within earshot".
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Auctions - Approvals
re: Ebay Global Shipping Program
Thank you Snick1946 and Anglophile for your informative responses. I will opt out of the Global Shipping Program in the future. Out of ignorance, I didn't realize that was an option. And, Yes, what I have been selling is in the $10 to $20 range, and Ebay has been trying to charge the Buyer about an equal amount.
Regards,
Bob Armstrong
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re: Ebay Global Shipping Program
I had so much trouble with international buyers on E-bay that I opted out with the "no international sales" option. Even with that I still receive a bid from other countries every now and then. I called e-bay about a year ago about this and was told those international bids getting through were coming from "mobile devices" and could not be blocked by e-bay. I'm certainly not tech-savvy enough to know if this was a viable excuse or just a bunch of malarkey. So now, although it hasn't happened in a while, I get permission to retract the bid and I write the bidder a letter saying I do not accept international bids. It's just not worth it.
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re: Ebay Global Shipping Program
Can someone explain why Canada and Canadians are so often refused service from U.S. eBay sellers. In all the years since 1969, when my wife I moved to Canada from the U.S., we have never had one item of mail go missing. A few items have been misdirected, but that's hardly unusual. There isn't another country in the world that is so closely allied with the U.S. as Canada, for better or for worse. I get the feeling — perhaps it's unwarranted — that U.S. dealers are simply becoming isolationist in line with current conservative politics. I hope I'm wrong, for all our sakes.
Bob
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05:46:48pm
Auctions - Approvals
re: Ebay Global Shipping Program
The only problem I have with shipping to Canada is that if I put stamps on the envelope I have to stand in line at the post office (sometimes for 20 to 30 minutes) to mail it.
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re: Ebay Global Shipping Program
Webpaper, are you saying that USA does not have postal drop off boxes? or you needing the tracking or recorded delivery.
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07:14:28pm
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re: Ebay Global Shipping Program
Any item with a customs label with postage stamps attached must be handed to a clerk rather than placed in a drop box.
I don't print postage, if I did I believe it can be placed in drop box - but not if it has postage stamps affixed.
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re: Ebay Global Shipping Program
Ok now I understand. Put it down to a senior moment!
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re: Ebay Global Shipping Program
I have only had to use the Global Shipping Program a couple of times. No issues in my very limited experience.
What I'm encountering more is domestic people who simply do not pay - and these aren't expensive items. Go figured.
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08:29:29am
re: Ebay Global Shipping Program
I USE THE GLOBAL PROGRAM FOR OTHER ITEMS OTHER THEN STAMPS AND IT WORKS WELL AS I DONT HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT DELIVERY AND I HAVE HAD PEOPLE CANCEL BECAUSE OF THE EBAY CHARGES.wHEN I SELL A STAMP I MAIL IT IN A REGULAR ENVELOPE AS A LETTER AND DO NOT HAVE TO DEAL WITH THE PROBLEMS OF FILLING OUT FORMS HAVE NOT HAD ANY PROBLEMS SO FAR
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re: Ebay Global Shipping Program
I have just received the following two messages from outside of StampoRama, and from outside of the USA.
"The US Mail, the Royal Mal, etc. make much less money as mail carriers than a few years ago. So they made a deal with ebay.com, ebay UK, etc. and all new sellers are STRONGLY SUGGESTED to ship their lots by registered & insured mail. The search results pages are then more more polluted by lots sent for delirious fees..."
"ebay make fear new buyers that their lots will be lost or stolen if no not shipped by registered and insured mail. An as result the search pages are polluted by poorly illustrated material of deceiving quality. It's just stupid to waste money in shipping fees."
Hmmm. There are some strong opinions outside of the USA.
Regards,
Bob Armstrong
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re: Ebay Global Shipping Program
I had quite a story a while back involving Gloabl Shipping. I had purchased a set of stamps from a seller and I had asked him ahead of time what the shipping cost was. When it was time to pay, the Shipping cost was about 10 times higher. His response was "Pay it and I will refund the difference" . Well guess what? He wasn't able to refund anything because he never saw the money in his account. The shipping charges went as a separate payment to Pitney Bowes - the Global Shipping provider. My credit card eventually refunded the charges and it was their loss.
On the other hand, last week I had a CV joint assembly delivered to me from New York through the Global Shipping program for $14 !!!! Everybody else was charging $50-$70 delivery on this item which makes sense as it is very heavy. Three months ago, I had a whole car subframe delivered from the states for some $100 (or less). An incredible price given the size and weight.
So in general Global Shipping is terrible for small lots of stamps but awesome on large items.
In addition, I have never had customs charges on items shipped through the GS program. Not so with the direct shipments of small goods, where I get dinged some $20-$25 on any item worth $50-$100
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re: Ebay Global Shipping Program
I am a buyer on eBay with a 100% positive feedback rating of 5000+ positive feedback. After some very bad experiences, I absolutely refuse to buy from seller using the Global Shipping Program. It is an expensive and utterly useless thing. Not only does it increase costs, but it increases the risk of loss and it complicates tracking of items. And of course it takes about a week longer than direct delivery. For Germany, the program uses the cheapest and therefore lousiest delivery partner available who makes no effort to deliver or sometimes even to leave a note when no one is at home or at the office.
Besides:
The program charges for "customs duties" even when no customs duties are due - for example, items sent within one customs union (like EU / EFTA) , or items sent to me to a country where I am exempted from customs duties.
I can only encourage sellers to opt out of the program.
Joachim
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re: Ebay Global Shipping Program
jduester, couldn't agree more the GSP is ridiculous for small items ,I live in Australia and was looking at buying a couple of sticks of ram $57-00 postage from the US .
If you sell smaller items I think you need to opt out of their GSP ,a $5-00 stamp and $23-00 postage no way in the world.International registered mail is not that expensive.
AFAIK you were automatically signed up for it and you have to go in and manually opt out.
Brian
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re: Ebay Global Shipping Program
The GSP program ‘encourages’ shipping larger items and ‘disfavors’ shipping smaller items. All of eBay policies are slanted this way and with good reason; their cost per transaction (cost of maintaining the servers, routers, security devices, power, support, dispute resolution, etc.) is the same for a 10 cent transaction as it is for a $100 transaction.
It only makes sense that their policies would promote larger transactions. Lower operating costs, higher profitability; this is exactly what their shareholders want (and demand). eBay’s Board of Directors have a fiduciary responsibility to lower operating costs and increase profits. I do not know if it is possible to write a viable business plan which would support selling millions of inexpensive stamps.
And eBay’s business model has always worked on a simple premise; buyers HAVE to feel comfortable in purchasing something from an image online. (This is the exact opposite of what most of us have learned growing up; never buy something sight unseen.) There are only two ways I know how achieve this very high level of buyer comfort. First way, offer a ‘no questions asked’ return policy. Second way, vet the sellers to a very high degree, police them to constantly weed out the bad ones, prevent those who got booted out from coming back. Which one sounds less costly and more effective?
And now we get to the issue with shipping. One of the largest support costs for eBay is mediation of transaction disputes. One of the largest potential dispute points is the ol’ ‘I didn’t receive what I ordered’. I only see one solution, require tracking. You have to prove that the third party shipping company(s) actually delivered the item to the buyer. It is not eBay’s fault that this service is costly. The costs involved with sending an employee to the door, getting a signature, the logistics of notifications, etc. are many times higher than simply putting an envelope in the mailbox and driving off.
Does any of this favor selling inexpensive stamps? No. The answer is obvious, stop listing and selling inexpensive items and bundle them into listings greater than $25 or more. Alternatively, find and use another venue which is willing to try to support a huge number of inexpensive transactions (like Stamporama). But expect eBay to continue to do whatever it can to lower its costs and increase its profits; this is how well run businesses work.
One way to remove some of the edge off being frustrated by eBay policies is to buy some of their stock. That way when they do things which helps their bottom line, you profit. Then use the money you make on buying some more stamps!
Don
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re: Ebay Global Shipping Program
Don,
On some points I agree, but not on all.
90% of my eBay purchases are not from the country where I live (which changes every few years). Two thirds are stamps and postal history, one third are books and memorabilia. They are mostly from the USA, France, the UK, Russia, the Middle East, India, Pakistan, South East Asia and Australia. And the value of individual purchases ist mostly between 20 and 100 US$, the highest individual eBay purchase did not exceed $1.500. After over 20 years of buying on eBay under various IDs, most purchases come from the same 80-120 sellers. At least half of them I have met personally - in stamp shows somewhere all over the world. And with most of the rest I enjoy a long and cordial relationship. I know their e-mail adddresses and their phone numbers. I always find it funny when eBay tells me that I cannot leave feedback on "how good was the communication" - how would they know when and where I communicated with my eBay partners?
My trust in sellers has only been betrayed perhaps once or twice in over 10.000 transactions. And even in these cases it was mere lack of experience on the seller's part, leading to a wrong description of the item. OUt of over 10.000 items only two items got lost in the mail in 20 years.
I have trust in my sellers. Much more trust than I have in eBay, Paypal or freight companies. The latter are only interested in their profit or in shareholder value. My sellers share my passion for collectable items, they are eager to help me to build my collection, to source items for me, and of course they want to sell to me - and not only once!
Tracking does not help much. Ho can you prove what was inside the envelope or parcel?
For very precious items, I would not even recommend registered or insured mail. It is like writing "steal me, I am valuable" on the envelope. Desist from philatelic franking, use definitives or meter franking for valuable items. Envelopes have disappeared just because someone liked the stamps outside, not those inside. If it is something very valuable to you, there is always the chance to ask the seller to hand it to a friend, or to bring it to a stamp show for you. There are items which I have been looking for for 20, 30 or 40 years - so it does not really matter whether I wait a few months more until I get it. I never understood eBay's obsession with speed. 4 weeks delivery time seems still very fast to me. I wish they would replace this feedback criterion by asking for feedback on packaging - this is much more relevant.
I did not understand the idea about heavier items. Who would buy a fridge or a tractor on eBay to have it shipped around the world? The heaviest items from overseas I buy are rare books, and even then I have rarely paid more than $80 for shipping. I always place my bids after carelfully calculating how much the item would cost me, including postage and my transaction costs (which I roughly calculate at $8 per transaction, which is why I despair of sellers offering the same or very similar items in "instalments" instead of putting them on eBay at the same time).
Cheers
Joachim
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re: Ebay Global Shipping Program
Hi Joachim,
Thank you for the feedback, we seem to agree on most everything. Trust is important and it looks like you have successfully figure out how to get past eBays marketing. But note that the eBay Feedback and rating system is badly flawed and virtually useless. I have designed and implemented several ISO qualified vender rating systems and there is no way that their system would ever pass muster in any kind of audit. Instead, it is really just more marketing fluff. Another way to try to get buyers to feel comfortable.
Here is the truth about the eBay Feedback and rating system.
1. There is a thriving 3rd party market for buying and selling of eBay existing accounts. You can be a convicted felon fresh out of prison and go buy a ‘Top Rated’ existing eBay account with 100% feedback with 1000s of transactions. This by itself makes the rating system nearly worthless. No one has any idea who the actual owner of a eBay account might be. If you wanted, you could transfer your eBay account to me today. You give me the password, I switch the associated bank account, and bingo; I now have your rating and feedbacks.
2. EBay allows multiple accounts. Not just 2 or 3, but there are some sellers with 40, 50, or even more accounts. Even worse, eBay Security and Trust Division will investigate and remove a fraudulent seller but they do not prevent them from coming right back on. Perfect example, the British Cartel guy who has been removed several time over the years and he just pops right back up. The issue here is that eBay is not going to actually vet a seller beyond having some bank account. It is not like they are going visit each of us and verify that we are who we say we are.
3. Common sense tells us that no one can possibly have 10,000 seller transactions with 100% positive feedback. Things go wrong and sometimes buyers are simply unreasonable and leave poor feedback.
4. So all large sellers simply call eBay and have any bad feedback removed, this is how they get 100% on 10,000+ transactions. Again, eBay’s motivation is to support these large sellers and send a message of confidence to buyers. So in a heartbeat they remove negative feedbacks for the big boys.
5. And if that does not work, most sellers put right in the listing, ‘don’t leave negative feedback, just contact me’. This is good business but it makes the feedback system worthless. Imagine you own a factory who makes widgets. You want to know the fallout rate of the manufacturing floor. After one year you look at the metrics and it says that you had 100% perfect rate, not a single widget was assembled incorrectly after building 10,000 of them. What happened? Oh, your QA Manager ran around all year and had them fix the fallout at the end of the assemble line. Why bother with the feedback system then? Of course the system will report 100% if you allow an end run around the data collection.
6. The Feedback system is sometimes used as a form of revenge and retribution. This results in great sellers having a bad feedback rating. Say I have some issue with you. All I have to do is use multiple eBay accounts to make a number of purchases from you and then flame your rating with negative feedbacks. You would have no idea that all the purchases were made by the same person, I can easily have them sent addresses across the country by using a forwarding shipping service. I have seen many great sellers get trashed by malicious people doing this.
So you have done exactly what buyers should do, figure out who you are actually buying from and build a solid relationship. The real issue here is that buyers need to invest as much time learning about the seller as they do learning about their stamps. eBay marketing has worked very hard to try to get buyers to NOT think about this, to blindly buy and just trust that they will be covered.
In terms of the GSP, eBay simply washed their hands of the shipping logistics problems by outsourcing the whole mess. While you might have solid relationships and trust levels with those you buy from, this is not the case in the majority of transactions. And while tracking is not perfect, it is the feasible solution available. I also concur with your opinion on the ‘theft attraction’ for specially marked mailings. The US PO has always had this issue and I assume that other countries are the same. If you study the history of registered mail in the US you will find that this ‘special marked’ mail had theft problems even back in the 1800s when it was first conceived. Heck, just putting a lot of stamps (as opposed to metered) on a package today can attract unwanted attention.
Everyone seems to love to hate eBay. eBay is not some monster, they are simply just another capitalistic company. My opinion is that they have had an incredibly large positive impact on our hobby. Yes, they do not care about our hobby, but we have ridden their shirt tails. We have to accept that that they will never cater to our desire to do millions of small transactions. We probably also have to accept the fact that there are logistical issues that prevent any company from ever being able to establish a massive online transaction service which will support our hobby well. Luckily, there are site like this one which are willing to fill the vacuum.
Don
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re: Ebay Global Shipping Program
Although my primary eBay account is coming up on its 20th anniversary, I increasingly wonder if it will be the last. The last ten years have been a gradual transition from being a cool place to sell collectible items as an individual to being "yet another corporate sales market."
I've never used the GSP for stamps, but have for other items-- and it's effectively pretty close to putting "does not ship internationally" on your listings. It's cumbersome, slow and expensive... but "sold" to buyers (and sellers) in a falsely labeled package called "safe." Because the best way to get people to spend money on random fees is to make them feel *fearful* of what might happen if they don't...
As a seller, it adds an element of risk to eBay. eBay-- "stability wise"-- is already risky for stamp sellers because unless we upload tracking information, we can't BE "top rated" sallers... which means persuading buyers (in many cases) to spend $2.85 on shipping a $3 stamp AND in an enveloped with a pre-paid label, rather than a stamp affixed. Both of which make NO sense to me.
However, from a corporate strategy standpoint, servicing the philatelic industry is NOT much of a profit center for eBay.
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12:36:59pm
re: Ebay Global Shipping Program
Check out Shipsaver Insurance.
I send all of my foreign mail using that insurance company.
For example, it only costs me $1 for items that are valued up to $100. I am here in the USA so I do not know if the company offers insurance for sellers outside the USA. A seller is anyone by the way who is selling stamps.
I believe that for the next $100 in value, the amount I am charged is an additional $1.
The company will not cover mailings to these countries so I exclude them too for obvious reasons:
Excludes: Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Venezuela, Mexico, Angola, Congo, Democratic Republic of the, Congo, Republic of the, Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan Republic, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine
I am required to keep the post office receipt which also matches on it, the customs receipt number I also am required to retain.
Shipments outside the USA must wait 40 days before a claim can be submitted.
The receiver is also required to electronically sign an online form stating he/she did not receive the item/items.
I mail most of my shipments International First Class Non Machinable Letter Rate, costing me in the vicinity of $2.34 postage and $1 for insurance.
And, the company does pay out claims in a timely fashion.
Bruce
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re: Ebay Global Shipping Program
Reckon this is one of those GSP lots, http://www.ebay.ca/itm/RARE-STAMPS-COLLECTION-WORLD-INDIA-SPAIN-HONG-KONG-ROMANIA-SOUTH-AMERICA-/253107930437?hash=item3aee688545:g:bfMAAOSwa2lZfNqF
Mind you for such rare stamps in a photo album could be worth the price!
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IPDA past chairman, Sacramento Philatelic Society #2112-past vice president, ISWWSC #2966, Iran philatelic study circle, US Army Veteran, Grandfather of 6, stamp collector/seller!
21 Sep 2017
01:16:34am
re: Ebay Global Shipping Program
Zero none and Nada..don't care what they will pay..ain't doing it. It is a joke..$15.00 on fees for global shipping for a $3.00 stamp. Customs forms?? That's just a flag for the thieves to see and steal it even before it leaves the post office..
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01:32:54pm
re: Ebay Global Shipping Program
Placing a customs form on the mailer to foreign destinations is required by law regardless of whatever flag may be waved in front of would-be domestic or foreign thieves.
That is why I add on the relatively inexpensive insurance mentioned above but it is against the law to mail out purchased merchandise without that customs declaration form.
Bruce
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