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5 Apr, 2013
2013-4-5 7:55:47 PM UTC
I think you have it almost in full now:


These fees are in addition to the customs duties and taxes imposed by country tax and customs officials.

And


The first payment goes to the seller and consists of the item cost and the domestic postage costs. The second payment goes to the global postage provider and consists of the international postage costs and any import charges.

Between those two, I think the fees are summed up. The seller ships (domestic) to a third party. The third party handles international shipment, and collects their own fees, which appear to be based on the value of the item being shipped (so "insurance" based on value is included).

I would never use a service such as this, personally. If I really needed to, I would ask eBay, PayPal, the shipping service and the seller - "Who is responsible for the item, and when? If I need to file a claim, where do I do so, and who is responsible for investigating/paying out? If an item gets lost or damaged, where did it happen in this process? How can that be confirmed or investigated? Is domestic shipping tracked? International? Separately or together?" I could think of ten more questions, and I don't think most of them could be answered to my satisfaction.
5 Apr, 2013
2013-4-5 8:02:41 PM UTC
Although there is one point to note, as you point out Jeremy. The seller is meant to be collecting (from the buyer) only the domestic postage, apparently. Therefore, you shouldn't really be getting quoted a "international shipping" price within in the postage section, even though you are in the UK. Still, even if this was just a domestic quote the charge is going to be more than normal USPS international postage for anything costing over $50; as the example I posted shows.

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12 Apr, 2013
2013-4-12 3:38:21 PM UTC
I was looking at another item the other day & this damn Global Postage Programme thing came up again!

Check how ludicrous this price is:

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12 Apr, 2013
2013-4-12 3:50:48 PM UTC
LOL
I was glad you brought this up because I too was watching an item and must admit i didnt really pay too much attention to postage thinking it would be the norm from US. I checked mine and it was similar to above.

As a result cant be bothered, will not buy, not watching any more!

What a mad system. I can understand the thought process of why introduced but the figures have to be realistic otherwise who would risk it? too late once brought in theory !
14 Apr, 2013
2013-4-14 11:10:38 AM UTC
I can understand it too laurel. My guess is, if you asked, they'd cite insurance etc. The problem is this charge, in the example above, is more than the value of the item (--unless that quote is assuming checkout at the Buy-it-now price.) Either way, when you use USPS (I guess) or Royal Mail, insuring a book to value (& tracking) does not currently increase the cost of the posting to levels near the value of said item.

Literally every item listed using this Global Postage Programme is going to have no international bidders, if people understand the detail. This is a big market (assuming you list internationally) for a seller to loose. And just damn annoying for collectors who cast the net beyond their own small shores...

BH
5 Jul, 2013
2013-7-5 9:25:30 PM UTC
I'm still quite confused as to how eBay is displaying postage & packaging in listings that use the Global Postal Programme, within it's listings vs. externally.

Check these two images out. The first one shows the item displayed after searching i.e. "externally", before you actually view the specific listing. The postage is displayed as $35.15. However when you go into the listing the postage appears as $28.86. Ahh, add on the "Global Postal Programme" you say! But no --the GPP is estimated at $14.39 at this time, which would equal a total $43.25 in postage.

I don't get it.

BH

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5 Jul, 2013
2013-7-5 10:09:21 PM UTC
The search view can lag behind the item view. Maybe that is what you are seeing.
6 Jul, 2013
2013-7-6 12:41:50 PM UTC
I don't think so, as it still looks like the above (both) today (--that would be quite a lag.) I'm just curious; and, obviously, annoyed --as I'd actually be bidding on some of these items, but won't while sellers use GPP.

BH
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