Enrolled in eIS Canada but listings for almost identical items show eIS as option seemingly randomly

[historysci]

I enrolled back into eIS to try it after a couple of weeks frustration earlier and having listed a number of items since then. This was a couple of days ago, and just like a problem I had earlier, I have a number of very similar lisitngs, same manufacturer/origin, same package size/weight, same value, same title description except for a few characters, some show eIS as an option and some don't! There can be no reason for this as they are all within eligibility requirements and if one is, they all should be. So now if a buyer wants to buy a number of items some will have eIS and some will not - which will mean I weill have to handle 2 or more different orders through eIS and directly rather than being able to combine them all. It shows the same if I select destination in ebay.com to US. So again this is not working properly. It makes no sense, so I cannot see a workaraound.

[marnotom!]

My guess is that the AI, bot, spider, computer code, or whatever it is that goes through an eIS-supported listing is tripping over the "Business and Industrial" category these items are being listed in.  Having said that, I don't think it affects any regions other than the US and its protectorates.  I looked at one of your problematic listings, and found that while eIS isn't an option for the US, it is for the Netherlands (as the cheapest but slowest of the three shipping options) and I suspect that it's available to the other regions served by the program.

[historysci]

That is my suspicion too and I have written to [email protected] so maybe (!)  they will respond, realise they have a problem and fix it (they haven't responded to my previous complaint a month ago - took them 2 years to fix the country of origin showing incorrectly in shipping labels, so I am not holding my breath!). But then I have listed an exact copy by "sell similar", just change one character in title and one shows eIS for the US the other not.

[byto253]

Is this for all countries or just to the US?

[historysci]

Seems to be just for US as setting to some other country shows eIS. Problem is the same listing duplicated or with a slight change in title and description shows eIS for one and not the other.

[marnotom!]

I'm going to say "careful what you wish for" on this.  The problem may actually be that eIS is supposed to be blocking US shipping on most if not all of your listings in the "Business and Industrial" category but some are getting through anyway.

I seem to recall seeing a paraphrased transcript from an eBay staffer to the effect that they realize there's a lack of transparency when it comes to special restrictions on using eIS to ship to the US and they're working on a way to address that.

[historysci]

Hopefully I get a reply to explain this but I don't see why these would be restricted. None have any restrictions with US customs. I have shipped many similar over the last year and one just last week by UPS with ebay shipping label - declared properly of course. Cleared OK as usual and buyer paid the import fees to UPS (including their rather steep US$24 handling fee).

[marnotom!]

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@historysci wrote:

Hopefully I get a reply to explain this but I don't see why these would be restricted. None have any restrictions with US customs. I have shipped many similar over the last year and one just last week by UPS with ebay shipping label - declared properly of course. Cleared OK as usual and buyer paid the import fees to UPS (including their rather steep US$24 handling fee).

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You may have seen my comments in other threads about situations similar to yours.  It's llkely not so much that there are customs restrictions that are preventing eIS from forwarding the items, but, rather, the complexities involved in preparing the documention US Customs and Border Protection requires.  eBay and Sincro (operators of the eIS hubs) may just simply not have enough information from the category and the item specifics to provide accurate information on the item's country of manufacture and the country of origin of the materials that went into the item.

Your items are probably easier to deal with, seeing as you're familiar with them and you've exported some of them yourself in the past, but other similarly categorized items might not be.  Without seeing the item and any paperwork from the manufacturer, there's no way anybody at eBay or Sincro would know your item may be different from another seller's similar item because AI doesn't "see" stuff the way a human being would.  A broad (and erratically applied) restriction for US shipments is the result.

That's my hypothesis, at least.

[ultrasushi27]

I'm having the same issue, half my listings aren't available for shipping to the US despite me being enrolled in EIS for a few months now. None of my listings are in any restricted categories as far as I'm aware. I mostly sell vintage and antiques, some of my items were even made in the US but I can't ship them using EIS which is a real pain because prospective buyers are messaging me asking why I don't ship specific items to the US and I have no idea what to tell them because I just don't know!

[marnotom!]

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@ultrasushi27 wrote:

I'm having the same issue, half my listings aren't available for shipping to the US despite me being enrolled in EIS for a few months now. None of my listings are in any restricted categories as far as I'm aware. I mostly sell vintage and antiques, some of my items were even made in the US but I can't ship them using EIS which is a real pain because prospective buyers are messaging me asking why I don't ship specific items to the US and I have no idea what to tell them because I just don't know!

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If the only country you're having issues with is the United States, then it's possible that the Powers that Be at eIS have determined (with the help of AI) that it's unlikely that it would be possible to generate adequate customs documentation for these restricted items to satisfy US Customs and Border Protection.

Remember, not only are there tariffs to deal with, but also duties, and proof of the item's age is required to exempt it from duty.  There are possibly also other hurdles involving the location of the materials from which the antique was made.

It all boils down to dictates from The Great US Administrator and his buddies, and your prospective buyers should be made aware of that.

https://www.help.cbp.gov/s/article/Article1143?language=en_US

[historysci]

Your theory makes complete sense, and you are probably right! When generating a label for UPS via eBay using only the info provided to generate the shipping label and customs declaration (which is sent electronically via EDI) there is no problem for UPS's brokers to clear items. So maybe it just boils down to eIS being incompetent and not knowing how to handle customs, or the product they released is "incompetent" and they should have done more Q&A, testing and development before releasing (ie. product management competence required)! I would think a product labelled "Nikon Japan" and being a microscope part that has a harmonized number easy to find just by looking it up (I could provide in listing if eBay provided a space for that in item descritption)!

[historysci]

No response from eBay. I am thinking of opting out again as I don't get the sense this is reliable and regular couriers know what they are doing, eIS seems not, and given the uneven application of it to listings I wonder what else is broken. Also I don't see how them combining multiple items for shipping would work at all well as they won't have any idea how items could be packed  into what size box and the net weight. The only solution I have for now is to add a note to all listings for US buyers (had one buyer who was convinced exporters pay importers' import costs because ... DJT said so and that must be true!) :

**** NOTE FOR US BUYERS ON IMPORT COSTS ****

As always has been and is the case, you are responsible for import taxes/duties/tariffs and associated fees when you buy something from outside your country and import it. This is out of my control. I have opted in to eBay International Shipping which may or may not show up in listings as an option to prepay import fees through eBay so they handle it - it seems arbitrary and random which listings show it for US addresses. If it does not show then I can ship UPS or Fedex at the cost shown in the listing as I also offer those options. The carrier will ask for payment before delivery either on-line or COD (cash on delivery). I have no control over what the fees are, eBay has no control over it, and it may change if US govt. policy changes again or carriers change their handling fees. (As a rough guide a recent order I sent by courier to the US, the fees were about US$24 handling plus government levied duty of ~15% of sale price which I assume is for an item made in Japan).

**** COMBINED SHIPPING *****

I always combine multiple items into one shipment to reduce shipping costs for the lot where practical. Note that if you select eBay International Shipping (eIS), eBay determines the combined shipping cost and I cannot invoice for the final amount. For multiple items purchased that are not using eIS, please wait for me to send an invoice for combined shipping cost before paying. Note also that I cannot combine multiple items into one shipment if they have been selected with a mix of eIS and shipping directly by another service as those orders are processed separately. Please contact me if you have any questions.

*********************************************************************

[marnotom!]

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@historysci wrote:

No response from eBay. I am thinking of opting out again as I don't get the sense this is reliable and regular couriers know what they are doing, eIS seems not, and given the uneven application of it to listings I wonder what else is broken.

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With "regular couriers," the exporter is doing all the documentation and paying any fees due to US Customs and Border Protection (directly or indirectly).  With eIS, workers at the hub are doing that based on what information they can find out from the item's category, the listing title, maybe an X-ray of the package, and details in the item specifics.  But before the item can get to the hub, the listing has to be analysed by a computer.  Remember, AI / spiders / computer code / bots / whatever don't see items the way you and I do.  In fact, much of the time when listings are analysed, the AI has no idea what the item actually is and can only figure out the item's eligibility from it's category and the item specifics.

There's likely a learning element in this analysis, which may explain why similar or even identical items may be analysed differently and why some are blocked from purchases from those with US addresses and some aren't, despite the similarity.

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@historysci wrote:

Also I don't see how them combining multiple items for shipping would work at all well as they won't have any idea how items could be packed  into what size box and the net weight.

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Which is why we generally recommend that if someone purchases more than one similarly-categorized item from a seller using eIS, the seller would be better off creating a private listing with those multiple items for the buyer to use for the sale.  (Just don't use the term "lot" in the title or description as that's believed to trigger the AI/bot/etc.)

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@historysci wrote:

**** NOTE FOR US BUYERS ON IMPORT COSTS ****

As always has been and is the case. . . <snip>

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I honestly don't believe prospective US buyers are going to read a note like this, but maybe you're being tongue-in-cheek.

If you're comfortable shipping to the US by alternative methods and okay with paying all the customs charges yourself if your buyer refuses to do so, why not just have those shippers your listings to start with along with eIS (which, as you say, may or may not show up) and have a very short note explaining how the tariffs, duties, and other related fees are going to be dealt with?

[pennysccc]

This is an ongoing issue which has been reported by myself and several other sellers in Canada to the eIS team.. the last conversation I had with them they told me their AI crawler is making mistakes and assured me they are trying to rush out fixes for their system, but how long that will take is anyone's guess