Cannot sell items to America due to high tariffs.

[seasidebooks]

Hi,

I accepted some offers on a range of books last night, but the buyer from America informed me that they were unable to check out and buy them using the GSP.

I spoke to an Ebay rep this morning, who informed me that I am unable to sell to the US at the moment due to the high tarriffs that are in place.  She told me that she would send me a link to some information about this, but the link was not in her email.  Has anyone else experienced this?  Does anyone have the actual link or the info related to it.  Thanks in advance.

[j.p.greenwood]

Forget all the drug related stuff, that's just the excuse

https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/04/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-closes-de-minimis...

[plpmr]

" informed me that I am unable to sell to the US at the moment due to the high tarriffs that are in place"

Really?

Surely it's up to the buyer if they want or don't want to pay the extra?

[seasidebooks]

That's what she told me on the phone. 

This is the message the buyer in the US saw when she tried to buy the books.

If anyone else manages to sell something to the US today, pls let me know.

[papso22]

Whatever the reason there is definitely something going on with GSP and the US at the moment, judging from the number of posts.

[swiss_expert_uk]

This is making me paranoid today. I don't use the Global shipping program, but I accepted two offers from the USA and neither have paid which is unusual.

[swiss_expert_uk]

at the moment this only applies to items that were made in China or are shipped from China and are over 800 US Dollars. 

[swiss_expert_uk]

Whether you use the global shipping program or not if you offer shipping to the USA the buyer should be able to pay, (regardless of any taxes or duties) this message that you posted shows that they cannot pay and that you do not ship to the USA I think this is another eBay technical error dave@ebay 

[clothesforkeeps]

Not so, unfortunately. If I go on ebay.com and look at my listings, none of them are showing GSP to the USA - it's been removed from the country list. And on each listing is the message: 'May not ship to United States. Read item description or contact seller for shipping options.' This applies to every one of my items whether they are made in China or Europe, whether under or over $800/£600. Plus I made sure to add the correct country in the Item Specifics/Country of Manufacture box. Ebay has clearly decided to stop GSP shipments to the US (for now? Will it be reinstated? Will they give a statement?) I'm not holding my breath. 

[clothesforkeeps]

If I look at my items for sale on ebay.com, USA has not only been removed from the country drop down list but also the 'Ships to' country list, & the same applies for ebay.ca, even though I haven't excluded North or South America from International Locations in my account settings/postage preferences. This applies for each of my listings no matter where the item was made, in China/HK, Europe, UK or USA, and irrespective of its sale price. The only option (for now?) appears to be to offer direct shipping to the US independently of GSP, but without the seller protections ebay offers, and the high tariffs some buyers may not realise they'll get hit with until their parcel lands in the US, coupled with the real risks of long customs delays (two of my GSP items have already been held in customs for over a week with no updates) and therefore demands for returns, or scams, I'm not sure I want to.  

[myretrostore-uk]

I've also just received  a message from a buyer asking why I don't ship to America. 

I use GSP and have noticed United States in no longer in the list of countries it ships to. 

[seasidebooks]

Thanks for the responses.  It looks like we are unable to sell to buyers from the United States then for now.  This is very frustrating, but out of our control.  At the end of the day, nobody benefits from this situation but it is what it is.  

[myretrostore-uk]

Wonder if there is some technical issue. This post says nothing about shipping stopped to the US

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sellercentre/global-sales/us-tariffs

Then again they do say this:

eBay is monitoring potential changes to US tariffs and Customs policy and will update the eBay community as additional information becomes available

[myretrostore-uk]

Just spoke to CS:

This is a confirmed technical issue on eBay and we have coordinated with our Technical Team and they have informed us that they are currently resolving this in high priority.

[seasidebooks]

Thanks for posting this.  I've messaged the buyer in America and copied this response in.  Fingers crossed it will be resolved asap.  Just picked up a huge bundle of NASA books, which will sell well in the States!

[clothesforkeeps]

Thanks for the update. I hope this really is the case, as responses from CS on other threads (about this same issue) seem to be mixed. Just a shame this 'technical issue' has landed on the weekend when sales to the US are often higher! Have a great evening!  

[seasidebooks]

I now have the attachment from Ebay, which states that they have paused the GSP to the States

[myretrostore-uk]

Great so CS don't even know what's going on. One says it's a technical issue and then another say it's paused. 

[ett1954]

" .... from China and are over 800 US Dollars. " - the de minimis $800 level was scrapped on May 2nd for Chinese goods.   Taxes and import duties are now payable on all goods originating from China and Hong Kong irrespective of their value.

[the7hinds]

I too cannot sell to the USA, I spoke with EBay early this morning who said that sales have been paused because of the tariffs. I think it’s very poor that EBay have not sent out an email notification to sellers informing them of this change. The silence doesn’t fill me with confidence.