HEADS-UP: eBay buyers outside the USA, and USA-based sellers too...Under a specific circumstance, eBay buyers outside the USA are being grossly OVERCHARGED by eBay for packages shipped via the eBay Global Shipping Program:
1. The seller is in the USA and ships internationally via eBay's GSP
2. The item is listed as a
multi-quantity fixed price "Buy It Now"
3. The listing is configured to use calculated shipping
4. Calculation is configured to be a base rate plus a specified additional amount for each additional item
5. The buyer purchases a quantity greater than one.
(NOT different items from different listings, a multiple quantity of one item from one listing.)
For example, let's imagine some small widget is listed buy-it-now for $5.00, and for shipping to destinations in the USA the seller specified $3.00 plus 0.25 for each additional, and the buyer purchased 10 widgets...
Two scenarios:
A) The buyer is in the USA: In checkout, the buyer is invoiced for $55.25, which is the sum of: $50 for merchandise, $3.00 for base shipping, $2.25 for 9 additional items.
B) The buyer is outside the USA: In checkout, the buyer is invoiced for the cost of eBay's GSP plus $80.00, not plus $55.25 -- WTF???
![Shocked :o](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/shocked.gif)
Yeah, WTF!!! --- the $80.00 is because eBay's GSP
multiplies the base shipping rate by the number of items purchased, which is $3.00 X 10 = $30.00, plus $50.00 merchandise, which equals $80.00.
How bad is it: For scenario "B" let's say the cost of eBay's GSP was $20, thus the buyer was invoiced $100.00 when they should have been invoiced $75.25 -- WTF!!!
![Shocked :o](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/shocked.gif)
Yeah, WTF!!! And the qreater the quantity you buy, the more you get hosed!!!
Here's how to figure out if you have been, or would be, hosed by eBay:
1. On the item's listing page, switch to the "Shipping and payments" tab.
2. In the "Change country" selection box select "United States"
3. If you see something like "Shipping and handling US $X.XX, Each additional item US $Y.YY" then...
4. In the "Quantity" box enter the quantity you purchased, or want to purchase...
5. Enter any USA ZIP Code; use 90210 (Beverly Hills, CA) if you can't think of any cute ones...
6. Click the "Get Rates" button, and make note of the rate.
7. In the "Change country" selection box re-select your country...
8. Compare the rate for quantity 1 to the rate for the quantity you purchased, or want to purchase...
9. Is the difference between them equal to the rate you noted in step 6? If not, then eBay is hosing you!!!
I don't know if eBay has more than one forwarding depot, but I'm told to ship to Erlanger, Kentucky, 41025. Try using that as a destination ZIP code for calculating a USA-based seller's shipping rate to the GSP forwarding depot.
Before any USA-based sellers chime in to complain that they'd enjoy getting all that extra moolah from buyers, realize that eBay's overcharging is most likely causing you lost sales, which most likely totals way more than the few additional debauched-USD you'd be getting.
I learned about and reported this eBay rip-off today; it took me two phone calls and an hour to overcome the small-brain factor at eBay and get to someone with a brain just big enough to understand the issue.
If you're a buyer who's been fleeced, or an honest USA-based seller, check this out for yourself and then get on the horn to eBay.
MAKE SOME NOISE!!! And if you determine that you have been hosed, demand that those bloody eBay
![Evil >:D](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/evil.gif)
wankers refund your money!!!
![Fighting :box:](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/fighting0030.gif)