This is a long one ...

I've mentioned here before that I avoid eBay's Global Shipping program like the plague because it's a ripoff and it is heavily biased in the seller's favour. Accordingly, I avoid eBay sellers who insist on using Global Shipping.

In a nutshell, Global Shipping is a process whereby American eBay sellers can ship items to overseas buyers with minimum exertion from themselves and maximum detachment from that process. If anything goes wrong once the goods have left the seller's hands, then the buyer enters into a nightmare world of dealing with eBay, which itself is also detached from process, because Global Shipping is handled (or rather mishandled) by Pitney Bowes, Inc. eBay covers the backs of both Pitney Bowes and the seller in numerous ways, including automatic deletion any negative or neutral feedback pinned to any transaction involving Global Shipping. (In 17 years of using eBay I have never left negative or neutral feedback. Have been tempted to once or twice, but chose to leave no feedback instead.)

Pitney Bowes boasts that it takes care of everything, including payment of import duties and taxes at the buyer's end, all in the one shipping fee paid upfront by the buyer. That alone is a complete joke because, in Oz, the total shipment including freight and insurance has to hit AU$1,000 before duties and taxes apply -- but hey, no matter, their system conjures up a random number and that's what you pay regardless.

Now, with all of that in mind, I recently found myself in a situation where the only supplier I could find of two parts -- each weighing less than one ounce and each fitting in a matchbox -- was an eBay seller who uses Global Shipping. So, I gritted my teeth and emailed the seller asking if they'd combine shipping. Comes the reply: no problem, just as soon as you pay for each item we'll work out the shipping and give you a refund. So, muggins goes ahead and, for his trouble, cops a Global Shipping charge of 2 x US$30 (total AU$80).

So, the idiot seller has automatically created two Global Shipping transactions and put the thing in train.

Eight days later I get a small plastic envelope containing both items, one of which is broken into two pieces and utterly useless.

So, Pitney Bowes has charged me shipping for two individual items but combined them into the one shipment. Ripoff #1.

I carefully strip back all of the postage labels on the small package to find the original one from the US Post Office showing shipping weight "0 lbs 3 ozs". On top of that is a Fedex label stating package: "1.00lb, dimensions 7x6x1 in". This is the same plastic envelope. So, the true total weight of 3oz has been boosted to 1lb. Ripoff #2.

The flimsy Fedex plastic envelope is lined with something that tries to pass for bubble wrap but is nothing more than sparsely-spaced anemic looking bumps. No protection whatsoever. Ripoff #3.

Well, this means war. I fired off a stern email to the seller, along with a photo of the broken part, telling him what I thought of the transaction and the associated costs. He fired back a "Your [sic] dead wrong" reply, to which I responded with screenshots of my PayPal account showing what I paid to whom, and copies of the emails that preceded the sale. Oh, I guess I wasn't dead wrong after all.

Meanwhile I opened a dispute case with eBay fully expecting them give me the "all care but no responsibility, etc" line. However, the seller also contacted eBay to respond to the dispute case and the upshot was a "courtesy" refund of the cost of the broken item and a refund of one half of the shipping charge. Given the numerous horror stories about Global Shipping on the web, I count myself fortunate in this case to have 'only' had to pay US$30 shipping for a one ounce part. I guess the seller was concerned to retain his 100% feedback score (and probably unaware that eBay won't allow non-positive feedback for Global Shipping transactions anyway.)

So, as if I needed a reminder that Global Shipping is to be avoided like the plague, I just got a big one.

... and for all that, I'm still short the broken part.

It's hard to imagine that something could be worse than a standard postage service or a general carrier but it sounds like this is the one. I've heard other examples of Global Shipping's MO but not as detailed as this. I'll put it on my avoid register. Unless an item is too big for it, I expect all sellers to have the capacity to visit their local post office and post items to my GPO box - oh, and wrap the item properly.

Being an ebay seller since 1998, I have been sceptical of their "Global Shipping" innovation since its launch. Have never used that option as a seller, but have been tempted when selling the odd higher-priced item to Asia where the tariffs & import duties are a hassle and high. The Japanese, for instance, often ask you to lower the declared value.

So I can see where it would be useful: like shipping high priced collectables to wealthy Asians who don't worry about costs. And while that category of buyer is out there, most are price-sensitive/thrifty and high US postal rates are turning off buyers.

Unlike the Canadian & Australian Post Offices that break even or make a profit, the US Postal Service runs huge deficits which it seems they are addressing by raising rates toward those high international prices of the private parcel services (so we know where the trend is going.) This is turning away buyers, but ebay (in Silicon Valley) seem to have an Ivory Tower perspective.

Some things never really change. Its just a new operator doing the same thing. Years ago the standard test for effective packaging was to mark it fragile & send it British Rail.

I sold something to a US ebay customer and they stung him for about 40 dollars. I sent him a few extras that more then made up the difference and it only cost $3.50 postage what Gives.