WARNING when BUYING or SELLING from USA Ebay Overseas

[twistedsymphony]

eBay recently started a "Global Shipping" service for USA eBay...

Basically the way it works is the US seller ships the item to "PBI" in the USA, then PBI opens the package to "inspect" it and re-packages it before sending overseas. Apparently they do a a really sh*t job of doing so.

This guy here Luke lives in Japan and ordered 2 separate arcade boards from US sellers who used this service, both arrived snapped in half with crushed boxes despite being packed properly by the original seller:



The worst part is that eBay put the blame squarely on the seller despite the fact that it's not their fault... it's worth watching the video just to see how much crap he went through to end up absolutely no where.

[ingmar1988]

why the hell would they inspect and repackage it?

[SwiftDeath]

Originally Posted by ingmar1988

why the hell would they inspect and repackage it?

I'm fairly certain they have to in order to avoid possible litigation and the likes

Imagine their liability if someone tried to sneak something illicit or dangerous through their program and US customs found out?

Pretty sure ebay would get in trouble as they handle the customs process

Whenever There is a crap ebay policy, usual culprit is liability or profits at least in my experience

And yes the GSP is crap

Honestly had a lot of potential with the full tracking thing but DAMN if ebay didn't ebay it up

Now it serves as just another way ebay gets a higher % of the sale off you the seller and the buyer

Might be worth mentioning that from what I've heard if you turn on (accept) GSP, you can NEVER really turn it off

Everytime you ship international you have turn GSP off manually for each and every sale forever more

Gotta love ebay

[nipperkipper]

Originally Posted by SwiftDeath

I'm fairly certain they have to in order to avoid possible litigation and the likes

Imagine their liability if someone tried to sneak something illicit or dangerous through their program and US customs found out?

I dont understand the need to open up packages to avoid illicit or danagerous items going through their programme

I mean if i send something via UPS/DHL etc they also have the same job to make sure dangerous goods are not being shipped out. They do this by having x-ray machines, scanning equipment, sniffer dogs etc. Surely PBI being the multinational corporation they are have this equipment in place already.

Unless they are being super cheap i just dont see why they cant just scan products the same way every other shipping company does

[SwiftDeath]

Originally Posted by nipperkipper

I dont understand the need to open up packages to avoid illicit or danagerous items going through their programme

I mean if i send something via UPS/DHL etc they also have the same job to make sure dangerous goods are not being shipped out. They do this by having x-ray machines, scanning equipment, sniffer dogs etc. Surely PBI being the multinational corporation they are have this equipment in place already.

Unless they are being super cheap i just dont see why they cant just scan products the same way every other shipping company does

Hmm never thought about it

You may be right although considering how cheap ebay is, perhaps doing it by hand is cheaper than buying a proper x-ray machine?

Do you fill out customs forms as a seller using GSP? Or does ebay do it for you?

Also perhaps it's not as common as thought and PBI did put the packages through x-ray machines, saw the electronics and that sets off alarms?

Not sure what dangerous things look similar too in x-ray machines

Of course also not sure why you would bother repacking them unless ebay is saving on shipping by using less packing material or something

Sorry trying to find the most evil outlandish strategy possible as its the most likely one to be true

[twistedsymphony]

Luke posted an update... it keeps getting better

[vhal_x]

Maybe to make sure that it only includes the stuff agreed on in the original sale? As eBay now charges you import charges up front, so it may be something to do with that xx

[Lemur]

Wow that's total bullshit.

[twistedsymphony]

Originally Posted by ingmar1988

why the hell would they inspect and repackage it?

I have 2 theories:

1. They want to make sure the package is as small and light as possible so they save money by cramming more into their containers.

2. BMI is working as a customs office making sure you're sending what you say you're sending, allowing them to skip the REAL customs office.

or some combination of the two.

Originally Posted by Lemur

Wow that's total bullshit.

Agreed...

To be honest this not only hurts the buyers and sellers but it hurts eBay too, eBay should seriously consider holding PBI responsible or cut them lose and drop the service...

[Cosmic_Link]

Yeah, I bought an item from a seller and this scheme was in place. It was then shipped from PBI and then sent over to me. It was supposed to have full tracking to me and it did, but then when it got to the UK it disappeared completely off the radar. They didn't have the foggiest idea who had it and the item was stated as delivered on the tracking. Contacted the seller and then it was sent to the resolution centre. In the end I got a full refund, but they took the refund from the seller. Was a new seller too, so I felt kinda bad that his experience was a crappy one, as was mine. After a bit of messaging too and from eBay, they eventually agreed to refund the seller too as it was the shipping company's problem.

In my experience, I would avoid the EBay GSP like the plague! >.<