Global Shipping Programme SCAM !
Summary: savoirfaire2002 shared a frustrating experience with eBay's Global Shipping Programme involving a vintage motorcycle fuel tank sale to a US buyer. The item was initially blocked for being hazardous but later processed, leading to its seizure. Eventually, eBay refunded the buyer, but the tank reappeared for sale at a higher price by another UK seller, raising scam suspicions. Other participants noted the incident's oddity but pointed out the seller's potential misunderstandings of the programme's terms. Despite efforts to escalate the issue with eBay, resolution remains elusive.
Ebay are not interested in dealing with this, so I'll start here. I'm wondering if anyone has had a similar experience , and if so then what did they do about it.
I'm UK based. I recently sold something to a buyer in USA via GSP. The transaction was allowed, however the payment process was blocked and he was unable to pay me for the item. After investigation it appeared that the item I sold would potentially be deemed as hazardous (vintage motorcycle fuel tank) and that GSP probably flagged it as an unshippable item. So I explained this to the seller and told him I will cancel the order as it's a bit too risky.
So, because the sale was an offer which I accepted, then the only way the order can be cancelled is by expiration. I spoke with an agent who advised me to just let the offer run its timescale and if the payment isn't actually received after 3 days then it will cancel by itself. This was fine by me.
But.... about an hour before the transaction was due to automatically cancel, the payment miraculously went through. I contacted the buyer and asked what he did, and he said NOTHING, it just went through last minute. This is very strange because if eBay had reservations about the suitability of the item being shipped, then why did they allow the sale to go through? Has someone reviewed it and pressed a button to allow it to happen???
So, assuming all is well I just shipped the item to Litchfield GSP centre as normal and forgot about it.
Then a week later the buyer contacted me and said there's a problem, and could I look into it. And indeed there was. The item had been seized and deemed as unsendable!!!. I contacted eBay again to see what the hell is going on, and was told that GSP are refusing to send it ??? and that the item will be sent back to me. So not a happy bunny at this point, I waited and waited, and eventually got an email to say that GSP have reviewed the situation and decided to refund my buyer, and that I can keep the money but the item wont be returned.
So now, I'm beyond gutted because this Fuel Tank is a one off which I personally painted and not only was it rare, it was sentimental too. I wasn't really interested in the money, it was about passing on this item to someone else who wanted it. It could have been avoided because it was flagged before payment, but someone somewhere overruled it.
Fast forward 2 weeks or so, the very same tank magically appears for sale by an eBay seller also based in UK, but for a considerable amount of money more than what I sold it for. And it sold for £125 extra on top of what I sold it for !!!!
So by this point I'm fuming. Once the rage subsided I looked into things and noticed that this seller seems to have a lot of vintage fuel tanks for sale. It doesn't take a genius to get suspicious at this point. When you look back at the whole process, this looks to me like a premeditated scam where someone intercepts valuable items at the point of GSP processing and has found a way to allow transactions to happen that will then be refused at the courier, then offload these items back onto eBay for an additional sale.
I contacted eBay and managed to get through to an investigations department, and having explained it all the agent agreed this looks very fishy and that he will be opening up an investigation into this seller and everything surrounding them.
This was 3 weeks ago now.
I just contacted eBay again but I'm hitting a brick wall as the agent I'm speaking to is saying its not possible to connect me to the investigations department and there is no record of it anywhere.
So here I am. I'm hoping I can get this in front of someone who can contact me about it, because there should be an investigation into this.
department28
·1 week agoIt is a pity it was a 'best offer', or you would have just gone ahead and cancelled straight away, as you had originally decided to do. Having to wait for the offer to expire, then unexpectedly having the payment go through, understandably - if erroneously - gave you the impression that it was ok to go ahead with the sale.
If an item is deemed to be hazardous or unsendable, I assumed those listings would be automatically removed, like sharp/pointy items?
Whether it's due to a misunderstanding, or poor advice, or not double-checking something, it's one of those 'with hindsight' situations that most of us have been through on eBay at some point.... 😬
roger_roger_over_and_nowt
·1 week agoSo you listed an item and eventually got paid for it even though you knew by then that the item was restricted and would be stopped at the hub.The biggest issue is that you didn't read in full the terms/conditions of using GSP.
savoirfaire2002
OP1 week agoThe point is, eBay already flagged it before the payment was processed and blocked the buyer from paying. It was at that point we decided that it was not worth the hassle and I tried to cancel the sale, but eBay wouldn't let me and told me I had to wait for the non-payment period to expire. It was during this period that someone decided that the sale can go through, I had no way of cancelling it. In hindsight, yes I suppose I could have just refused to send it, but it wasn't unreasonable of me to assume at that point that Ebay and GSP have agreed to send it seeing they decided to let the payment process after having blocked it.
4_bathrooms
·1 week ago · EditedIt has happened before and it is something you agree to in the Global Shipping Programme's terms and conditions:
"eBay and Pitney Bowes shall have no liability and shall have, in their discretion and in any manner that they prefer, the right to dispose of or liquidate GSP Items that eBay or Pitney Bowes conclude are undeliverable, for whatever reason.
If eBay or Pitney Bowes concludes that a GSP Item is undeliverable and elects to dispose of it or sell it, title to the GSP Item shall transfer automatically from you to a third party that eBay and Pitney Bowes may designate and you will keep your Buyer's payment.
Alternatively, eBay or Pitney Bowes may elect to return to you at any U.K. address that you have on file with eBay any GSP Item that eBay or Pitney Bowes concludes is undeliverable and require reversal of the payment that your Buyer made to you. If an item is returned to you, you may be responsible for a return postage fee.
You acknowledge that eBay's or Pitney Bowes’ election to dispose of or sell the GSP Item and to allow you to retain your Buyer's payment for the GSP Item is sufficient consideration for the transfer of title to any third party that eBay and Pitney Bowes may designate."
papso22
·1 week agoThere is nothing to investigate. You should have cancelled the sale after the payment went through as you knew it would probably be stopped at the hub.
Items seized at the hub are sold off and can then be sold on ebay, quite legitimately.
You got to keep the original sale proceeds so I can't see the problem.
savoirfaire2002
OP1 week ago · EditedSo Ebay allowing a restricted item to process after having previously refused it, then seized it and sell it on for a profit - You don't see a problem? And then saying it's my own fault? That's just Gaslighting
cobwebcottage
·1 week agoIt should never have been listed with international postage and when it was stopped, you got to keep the payment for the price you asked for.
It was then sold to a third party, usually via an auction house, to recover their losses. It was bought and sold for more than the original price which is probably why you are upset.
savoirfaire2002
OP1 week agoI'm upset because eBay wouldn't let me cancel the sale, they advised me that the offer would expire if payment not processed in 3 days, which they were blocking themselves, and then they allowed it to go through last minute. Does that not seem strange to anyone else???
jonatjonatjonat
·1 week agoNot really no. Unless someone has specifically told you that payments can be blocked because the item might be internationally restricted.
Payments can be blocked on the buyers side for any number of reasons - see below
https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/buying/buying-limits-restrictions/buying-limits-restrictions?id=4012
sml192
·1 week agoEbay didn't refuse it, there was just a problem with the buyer's payment.
Seller's are responsible for ensuring that items listed are not prohibited for shipping (UK as well as international).
The fact that it ended up being sold for more is no different to selling it to someone in the UK and them reselling it for twice the price. You could have asked for more in the first place.
savoirfaire2002
OP1 week ago · EditedThat's not what they told me !
jonatjonatjonat
·1 week agoYou wouldn't ever find out the outcome of the investigation anyway - as they wouldn't be able to advise you due to GDPR.
Unfortunately - you'll just need to let it go. You got the money back, yes your buyer missed out and it does all seem odd - but if ebay have done anything to the reported seller - you won't find out.
Or it is possible the agent 3 weeks ago just told you what you wanted to hear to end the call. That is highly possible.