GSP
Summary: ier120 expressed confusion about an unexpected £2.69 charge for a postage label after making their first international sale through eBay's Global Shipping Programme (GSP). They noted that this cost makes selling low-value items internationally less profitable. jonatjonatjonat explained that ier120 likely chose to purchase postage from eBay rather than using funds received from the buyer's payment. sml192 added that the difference could be due to the item being listed with Custom Postage rather than Simple Delivery, where eBay covers more of the postage costs.
It's often said that when using eBay's Global Shipping Programme (GSP), "all you have to do is post the item to the Shipping Centre and pay the cost of that postage – just as you would when sending to a UK buyer."
However, today I made my first international sale, and when I went to purchase the label, I saw the following message:
Buy postage label Total: £2.69
We'll deduct the amount of this transaction from your funds.
I wasn't expecting this £2.69 charge.
When I sell within the UK, I don't normally pay postage out of my own funds, as the buyer covers it. If this additional cost applies to all GSP sales, then selling low-value items internationally doesn't seem profitable. In this case, the item sold was a DVD worth only £3.
Can someone please explain whether this is normal and where eBay makes sellers aware of this cost before the sale?
sml192
·2 weeks ago · EditedWas the item listed with Simple Delivery or Custom Postage? You seem to have a mixture of both. If it was Simple Delivery then the buyer pays eBay for both the domestic and international postage but if it was Custom Postage then the buyer pays you for the domestic postage (only the international postage is paid to eBay) and you then need to purchase the postage label either through eBay or outside of eBay.
Note, you have several DVDs listed with Custom Postage - Royal Mail 2nd Class Letter @ 92p which definitely isn't sufficient to cover the actual postage on those items. Most DVDs would need to be sent as Large Letter Up to 250g @ £1.90 if using Custom Postage.
jonatjonatjonat
·2 weeks agoIf it was the Saints and Sinners DVD that was listed with custom postage at £0.91. Your other recent listings have been with Simple Delivery.
In this case you would have received 91p as part of the proceeds from the sale with which to purchase your postage.
In your case you chose to purchase the postage from eBay, where you were likely offered the £2.69 postage.
You did not have to purchase this.