[78-L] The Nuisance of UP International Priority Mail & The Global Shipping Program

[jeffrey smedbron]

For me as a frequent ebay seller sending anything Int. First Class Mail is a disaster. Almost everything is claimed as not received and ebay immediatly takes the money for it out of my account and I never see the item again. You will never win a claim dispute if you use FC Mail. Even had one buyer with the gall to give feedback how nice the item was after stiffing me with the claim, so I know he got the item and all his money back. Ebay does nothing about this and never will. Now if a buyer was willing to make an unassociated to the auction paypal back up payment to me that I would return after the claim period is over then I would do it, but funny how no buyer will ever agree to that.

Jeff S     
--------------------------------------------
On Thu, 10/24/13, Birgit Lotz Verlag <Birgit-Lotz-Verlag at gmx.de> wrote:

 Subject: [78-L] The Nuisance of UP International Priority Mail & The Global Shipping Program
 To: 78-l at klickitat.78online.com
 Date: Thursday, October 24, 2013, 4:26 AM
 
 Sending USPS International Priority
 to overseas customers is an enormous 
 nuisance:
 
 While letter post will be delivered straight away, traceable
 packets 
 must go through customs, where both import duties and value
 added tax 
 will be charged.
 
 One would have to pick up the packet at the customs house,
 which in my 
 case means travelling up to an hour by car during a working
 day, then 
 join a long queue.
 
 The alternative is to email customs the invoice, and ebay
 numbers (since 
 for some inexplicable reason American sellers tend to never
 attach the 
 invoice on the OUTSIDE of the packet, as required).
 
 My local customs office (in western Germany) then sends
 everything by 
 mail to a central customs office some 600 km away (at the
 far end of 
 eastern Germany), where it will be processed further. This
 normally 
 requires another fortnight (!) until the goods finally
 arrive at my home 
 -- with a customs invoice which has to be paid cash to the
 mailman...
 
 On top of that, USPS Priority Mail charges are about double
 the charges 
 for regular uninsured letter airmail. And the advantage of
 airmail is 
 brought ad absurdum by this bureaucratic delay.
 
 I therefore always URGE American sellers to send items as
 letters, not 
 packets, and adjust the invoices accordingly. I am prepared
 to bear the 
 risk of not being able to track the item (an alternative
 would be to 
 send by registered mail).
 
 I just won two items from the same seller. I received what
 might be an 
 automatically generated invoice, charging the postage twice,
 and 
 stipulating USPS international priority mail.
 
 I then contacted the seller:
 
 "Could you please check the charges for combined shipping?
 
 I prefer regular airmail, NOT USPS Priority Mail, because a
 packet will 
 always have to pass customs while letter post is
 unproblematic, and 
 cheaper."
 
 The seller answered:
 
 "Here is the message I receive from eBay when I try to
 invoice your 
 transactions -
 "you can't send invoice for this order .
 
 The item(s) will ship using the Global Shipping Program. As
 part of the 
 program, buyer directly pays international shipping and
 import charges 
 to the third-party shipping provider. The buyer will still
 be able to 
 complete checkout even if you don't send an invoice."
 
 It sounds like you will be hearing from the Third Party
 Shipper employed 
 by eBay as to the shipping charges owed. Hopefully you will
 be able to 
 work it out with them. Sorry I can't be of any additional
 help. Thank 
 you for bidding."
 
 This sounds rather strange to me, actually, this never
 happened to me 
 before. Does any one have an explanation? What can I do?
 
 -- 
 Dr. Rainer E. Lotz
 Rotdornweg 81
 53177 Bonn (Germany)
 
 Tel: 0049-228-352808
 Fax: 0049-228-365142
 Web: www.lotz-verlag.de
 
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