eBay GSP (Global Shipping Programme)

[John Jones Jr]

Guys,

Can anybody enlighten me as what this eBay GSP actually is? Is it anything to take note of?

I ask as everytime I buy something on eBay and it delivered by the GSP system eBay make a big fanfare out of it, loads of emails and I always seem to receive an email telling me the item is delivered well after I've received it. And to top it all off the delivery times are not particularly quick either.

 

[Red C220]

You buy something in America, it's shipped by the seller to a local delivery depot where it is then sent to the national eBay handling depot, sent over the pond, handed to a third party courier and delivered to you.

It centralises the process and hopefully smooths out any import issues that may arrive.

It allows sellers that would otherwise only sell domestically to be able to sell worldwide.

I find it a nuisance and we do our own worldwide shipping so it's not something I chose to take part in.

 

[davidjpowell]

I think they also collect the import taxes from memory.

It's a right royal pain when something needs returning. I ended up several hundreds of pounds out of pocket the one and only time that I used it.

 

[whitenemesis]

Similar to Amazon's global shipping. Buy from Amazon USA and they sort the shipping and import taxes. If the taxes are less than they estimate you get a refund, if more they bear the cost.

 

[John Jones Jr]

Cheers guys for the info. I now feel empowered to buy even more crap on eBay!

 

[ftb]

I've sold a few things privately on ebay and had to send some to the GSP depot in Derbyshire. Was unsure at first but after a couple of times it was no different than sending to local buyers. I never signed up for the programme so just figured it might be ebay's doing.

 

[John]

Any time we've been required to send via it - it's bleedin' expensive for the buyer it seems!

 

[toolman1954]

I have an Ebay Shop and often send things abroad using GSP. Once you have posted things off to Pitney Bowes in Derby who run the GSP scheme, then control of the posting is out of your hands. Only recently I posted off 3 packets of Eclipse Hacksaw Blades to a customer in America ( you would think he could buy them there, especially after adding on the inflated postal charge ) then a few days ago he was complaining of non receipt. But what could I do? Nothing. 2 Days later I had an email saying that they had been delivered,did that help the customer who wanted to take the blades to South America the next day. The system works but only up to a point. I could also tell of a horror story with a Mortice Chisel to Slovenia. But at least the customer finally got it about 6 weeks afterwards.
Steve.

 

[John Jones Jr]

Any time we've been required to send via it - it's bleedin' expensive for the buyer it seems!

I have to agree. The last item I purchased from the U.S. and shipped by GSP cost £24 for delivery for 1L of oil. A moot point but the oil itself was only 12 bucks.