ebays new foreign shipping option bites

Seeing more and more of this lately when (as a canadian) surfing ebay.com
Basically, if the seller has chosen this option, I see a shipping charge as well as a import charge. I think once purchased the seller ships the item to an ebay shipping center in the US, and ebay then ships it out of the US to Canada (for example).
This creates an increased processing/handling costs and shipping costs that are passed on to the (out of country) buyer. Its labeled as an import fee but they are quite a bit higher than taxes/duty if the item was shipped by the seller directly to the buyer. These added fees are substantial and make most items cost prohibitive to out of country bidders and has little to no benefit to the seller. Basically seems like another money grab by ebay. Unfortunately seeing it more and more lately but am hoping the trend doesn't continue as it really sucks for buyers outside of the US.

At Least that ebay shipping center thing is optional, I ship worldwide but I handle all the shipping.

Toucan Mango said:

At Least that ebay shipping center thing is optional, I ship worldwide but I handle all the shipping.

Click to expand...

Yes, thank goodness its optional....unfortunately its being used by more and more sellers.

The cost of shipping something outside of the United States is often a significant expense. I know what it costs to send things to Australia. When it is half of the value of an item, unfortunately that is going to be passed on to the purchaser. Add to that an additional PayPal fee for currency exchange..which is 3.9% + $0.30 on the item AND shipping, and another 3.9% + $0.30 of merchandise and shipping as a business fee, it can quickly make for a significant amount of money. To not insure something or send it as registered means that if something is lost or stolen, the seller is stuck with the cost of the loss. I often ask foreign buyers if they know of a safe and economical way to get something to them.

Some good news with USPS, starting July 28 Delivery Confirmation is now included for First Class Package International Service, and Priority Mail International Flat Rate Envelope and Small Flat Rate Box shipments going to the following countries: Canada, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Israel, Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain and Switzerland. I guess I will be busy updating all my listings on Sunday