Very low GSP shipping costs displayed for Oversized item. Will eBay honour them?

[whitemercury]

I've recently re-listed a large framed item. This is too big for SD, so this time around I had to chose the "Oversized Above 20kg or 61x46x46cms" Package Size which allowed me to define my own UK shipping service and cost. I also chose to make the item available internationally through GSP. However, having just checked a few international shipping costs, I've noticed that they're ridiculously low. Eg, £28 to Oz (when I listed the same item a few weeks ago it was around £100). So I suspect that GSP is incorrectly using some very small default dimensions when the Oversized package size option is selected (I wasn't given the option to enter the actual dimensions).

So I'm concerned whether eBay will honour these low shipping costs, or whether it'll just cause issues for me down the line. Eg, the cost increases when the buyer tries to checkout, or the item gets held up at the GSP hub. For the time being I've removed GSP from the listing, however, I'd rather use GSP as the item is more likely to sell to someone overseas. So has anyone else noticed this issue, or a similar issue in the past with low GSP shipping costs being displayed?

[tommystrezures]

IF the frame had glass in it it wouldn't be covered, as with most other carriers in the uk. 

[whitemercury]

This item doesn't have real glass, but I have other smaller framed items that do.  However, I'm fully aware that I'm taking all the risk hence why I package them within an inch of their lives.  Probably shipped a few hundred with glass over the years and never had one arrive damaged.     

[4_bathrooms]

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@whitemercury wrote:

So has anyone else noticed this issue, or a similar issue in the past with low GSP shipping costs being displayed?

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I was once surprised to see an order to Ireland (Eire) for a vanity unit that we ship on a pallet. All the dimensions were entered correctly including the weight taking the pallet into account. So I shipped it to Pitney Bowes via a haulier and was mildly surprised when the tracking indicated it had been accepted. However, about a week later the buyer opened an INR request. There was no forward tracking provided by PB and within 30 minutes of the case being opened eBay had closed it, refunded the buyer from their own pocket and closed the case with a message stating there was nothing more I needed to do and my account wasn't adversely affected in any way.

The only size and weight restrictions for GSP are the following:

"The item must weigh no more than 30kg and be no larger than 125,000 cm³, and no longer than 120cm on the longest side."

As long as the item doesn't exceed the above and isn't otherwise prohibited you are covered as long as it arrives at PB intact.

[whitemercury]

Thanks for relating your experience.  Reassuring that it didn't impact you.  I guess you don't know what happened to the vanity unit?  Because my item is quite a unique collectible, I would be a bit concerned if it just disappeared into the ether. 

[4_bathrooms]

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@whitemercury wrote:

I guess you don't know what happened to the vanity unit? 

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Items that Pitney Bowes decide can't be sent via GSP typically end up back on eBay being offered for sale by a different seller. It seems where eBay refund the buyer out of their own pocket for items received by PB the unforwarded items end up being bulk auctioned off-eBay then re-sold through eBay by whoever bought them. There have been quite a few threads on these boards where that appears to have been the case.

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@whitemercury wrote:

Because my item is quite a unique collectible, I would be a bit concerned if it just disappeared into the ether. 

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Here's the difference. The vanity unit I sold was a mass-produced item; I obviously apologised to the buyer but couldn't direct them to a local supplier due to eBay policy...

In your case the item is a one-off. PB are very unlikely to destroy the item provided it arrives intact but if they decide they can't forward the item to your buyer it isn't as though your buyer will be able to purchase an identical item locally. Whilst eBay might not hold you financially responsible for your buyer's disappointment the item may end up being sold to a domestic buyer who will end up paying more for it than you would have been willing to sell it to them for yourself.