New Ebay International Shipping

This new international shipping program may be of interest to those who sell on ebay (USA):

https://www.ebay.com/sellercenter/s...nal-shipping

John

We looked everywhere.

Looks like this page is missing. If you still need help,

Works fine for me, Rod. May be ebay USA only.

John

It sounds too good to be true, how can ebay cover refund requests?

I've been waiting for this because International sales have become very difficult especially to the EU. Nearly all my complaints come from there, my shipping is too high or they want me to pay their VAT or they threaten negative feedback. I'm tired of fighting with these guys. Insurance is also a problem. My Insurance company insists I process a USPS search before I submit a claim but this takes far longer than ebay allows me to settle a DNR. I had decided to pull the plug on International sales when I heard about this program. I hope it works!!

Ken

Thanks. Must be US only

I hopped around the world on a VPN and could get to the page from here, and central Asia and Sweden. I'd think Rod could see it.

Interesting stuff. I'm not seeing how it pencils out for ebay, unless driving further international sales will be so lucrative in fees that they can absorb the problems.

I could see if they were adding on a buyer's premium and pocketing it, but it says that there is no additional charge to buyers?

I've used it a handful of times so far with no problems (*knock on wood*). Delivery to Europe seems to take about 2-3 weeks - a bit longer than just sending directly via US Mail, but haven't had any complaints from buyers. I have a shipment to Bangladesh that's still en route after a full month, but using their shipping program to that destination was a no-brainer for me, since I know postal systems can be less reliable in some developing countries.

I opted in about a month ago and have made several international sales this way. Like Ken says, I don't know how ebay covers all INR and SNAD claims out of its pocket and this program lasts, but while it does it's a no-brainer IMO. It takes all the hassle, stress, and worry out of international shipping for the seller.

I actually don't have to keep a blocked country list anymore due to Shipsaver not insuring to certain countries. Now it's all on ebay. I only have to insure to the ebay distribution point... which is only about 3 hours away from me so even the domestic shipping costs are less for me.

Worst-case scenerio is if ebay pulls the plug on the program I go back to the way I used to sell: offering a subset of items to certain countries and that's it.

EIS is actually the first feature ebay has added in a loooooooooooooooong time that is truly a major positive for sellers.

Some interesting extracts from the new terms and conditions:

7. Payment Reversals. If ebay or ebay's third party service providers determine, after your Buyer has purchased an EIS Item, that the EIS Item is ineligible for the Program or cannot be sent to your Buyer (for whatever reason), ebay and its affiliates shall have the right to cancel your sale of the EIS Item in lieu of proceeding with the processing and/or shipment of the EIS Item and, upon exercising this right, shall have the right to reverse the payment that your Buyer made to you for the EIS Item and will process the EIS Item as an undeliverable item and may elect to return the EIS Item to you as described below. If the item is undeliverable and cannot be shipped back to you for whatever reason, ebay reserves the right to liquidate or destroy the item. In those instances, the payment will not be reversed.

9. International Returns. To the extent permitted by applicable law, ebay may choose not to display the returns policy field of your listings to Buyers. ebay may choose to manage any international returns on your behalf. For the avoidance of doubt, if a buyer chooses to return an item that ebay approved for international shipping, ebay may in its sole discretion, choose to intermediate the return to you if your returns policy indicates that you accept returns and will reverse the sale. Alternatively, ebay may choose to liquidate the item rather than returning the item to you and you will keep the proceeds from the sale consistent with Section 7 of these Terms and Conditions.

John

That's muddled enough that it can be construed that ebay has the right to cancel the sale, reverse payment, and keep or destroy the item, all entirely at their discretion. Neat.

If you're shipping a package to a foreign country under this ebay arrangement, do you still have to fill out customs forms or does ebay take care of that? Do you select the shipping service - USPS, FedEx, DHL or whatever, or again do you just ship it to ebay and they take care of that? New ebay seller here so appreciate any help with basic questions. TIA

From your perspective it is a domestic shipment. ebay handles all international aspects including paperwork.

Worthwhile compendium of information on ebay's community boards as of February 2023, compiled after ebay's chats/calls:

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Shipp...d-p/33554891

Note: As of March22, the dollar limit on listings eligible for EIS has been raised to $2,500.

revenuecollector - thank you for the information.

I've sold some small items overseas using this program, but just had my first "major" sale, a collection of Malayan States postal stationery that weighs about 6 pounds, bound for Singapore.

A few things about the fee calculations under EIS that escalate as you get to higher dollar amounts:

1. I listed this item with "free shipping" domestically and the EIS shipping to the buyer was roughly US$48, but that dollar amount is excluded from any fee calculations.

2. Because ebay's shipping hubs are regional (the closest one to me is Glendale Heighs, Illinois), it only cost me $11.87 to ship via Priority Mail, including signature confirmation.

3. If you sell through EIS, you are exempt from ebay's 1.65% international transaction fee that previously applied. On a high-ticket item that can add up.

4. Shorter time in transit during which the seller is liable for loss or damage (liability shifts to ebay once the parcel is received at their hub) is the big win, in my opinion.

5. I no longer have to worry about whether my third-party insurer (Shipsaver) will insure to specific countries or not, meaning I can remove ALL countries from my blocked list in ebay. It's entirely within ebay's purview now... so this potentially opens up listings to buyers in in Russia and other eastern European countries, certain Asian countries, many African and Central/South American countries that I previously had to keep blocked because Shipsaver considered them too risky to ship to.

Following up after more experiences with this program. I don't see this program remaining viable for ebay in the long-term, either because of inherent risks in international shipping, or their own ignorance with respect to international shipping limitations, import restrictions, or potential scammers on big-ticket items.

I've been sending a lot more shipments to international buyers since I opted into this program. Prior to EIS, I would not ship anything worth more than about US$100 intenationally. While most sales under EIS are smaller-ticket items, the two largest sales have ended up being problematic... not for me, but rather ebay.

1. A scarce Indonesian souvenir sheet cataloguing $2500 that I sold for $450. One day after ebay's estimated delivery window (which is overwhelmingly optimistic on international shipping times) the buyer claimed item not received. ebay promptly refunded the buyer. They initially put my funds on hold, but I called ebay and said "Yo! This was shipped under the EIS program. My tracking shows delivered to your regional EIS hub, so y'all are on the hook, not me." Within minutes they reversed the hold. My guess is the buyer ultimately received the sheet and got to keep it for free.

2. The collection I referenced in my previous post above. The value was below the eBay-stipulated limit, but apparently above Singapore's allowed import threshold, so it was kicked back to ebay. I just received notice that they refunded the buyer $1,250 and I get to keep the sale. Where the collection is and what ebay intends to do with it, I have no idea. Perhaps there will be an ebay entity that sells goods that it has compensated buyers/sellers for and thus now owns title to. Had this occurred outside of EIS and it were my problem/responsibility to resolve, it could have been nightmarish.

3. I have two small shipments in transit that while going to buyers in different countries, were shipped on the same day to the regional EIS hub, and apparently ebay swapped the recipients when repackaging the items for delivery (I'm meticulous about these things, so I know it wasn't me). I'm still waiting for the second buyer to send me pictures of the the exterior and interior labeling when he receives his parcel, and then I'll get to duke it out with ebay... lovely.


International shipping is a risky proposition, and I fully understand ebay sellers avoiding that minefield... which ebay is now learning firsthand.