Global Shipping Program - postal charges to buyers unfair?

[zamiocalculus]

I was exploring the "Postage labels" section of my Seller drop-down menu and was astonished to find that the few international buyers I'd had recently had been charged for the UK leg of their puchase's postal journey.

Looking down the "Dispatch details/Initial label cost" column all of my UK sales state "Prepaid by Seller", but the international sales state "Prepaid by buyer", and checking on the order details confirms that I have not been charged for the a label for the UK part of the journey.

My listings are always put up as BIN with "free" postage - and of course the UK postage cost is factored into the asking price - so I'm happy to foot the bill for getting the package to the Lichfield GSP hub, as I would pay for postage if the package was going anywhere else in the UK.

While it's nice to have a little bit extra in the pot at the end of the transaction, I do feel that expecting international buyers to pay the UK postage as well as the international postage when sellers advertise free shipping is a bit cheeky.

Is this something that other sellers have noticed? Is it an eBay glitch? Is there a way around it other than issuing a partial refund to the buyer? Can I even do that? If it were possible to give a partial refund would it affect my seller stats? 

[*vyolla*]

If your listings have free UK postage then it shouldn't be possible for a buyer to pay this at eBay checkout.

Are you sure that it's a UK postage charge that they're seeing and paying?

[zamiocalculus]

Thanks for you quick reply - maybe a bit too quick, as I was adding a bit more info at the time!

I have no idea what the buyer sees, but am just going by what the charges to me as a private seller have been (e.g. when viewing the selling costs on the Order Details page and also on the Payments page).

For the two international sales I've had in the last couple of months there is an International transaction fee (fair enough), but zero next to Postage Label, and this is confirmed by looking in ,y Payments section - I have not been charged for the UK postage, so I can only assume that the buyer was charged.

[tobiasd4]

For GSP items,buyers pay 2 lots of postage. 

Seller postage to GSP centre, then ebay invoice buyer for international postage and import fees. 

[zamiocalculus]

So basically, what you're saying is that, whether or not the seller is offering free UK postage the international buyer pays for the lot?

[tobiasd4]

Yes.

But don't forget, freepost is NOT free, it just means seller added cost to start price.

[zamiocalculus]

Yes, I do appreciate that. And, as I said in my original post, having factored the postage cost into the asking price, as a seller I would expect to pay the UK part of the postage.

Essentially then, it means that international buyers effectively pay twice for the UK leg of the journey.

[tobiasd4]

Buyers are not paying twice for UK leg.

They pay postage as listed by seller, then pay international postage as well. 

So yes, do pay 2 lots of postage. 

[*vyolla*]

@zamiocalculus 

The buyer will only pay the domestic UK postage cost if you've added a price.

If you're offering free postage they will not pay for this part of the journey, only for the international part set by the GSP.