How has your shipping cost to buyers changed since eBay International Shipping?

[troys_toys1]

For those of you who have been automatically signed up for and are currently using the new eBay International Shipping program, I (and I'm sure many others) would like to know how your shipping prices for US buyers has changed. Also, if you are selling world-wide and were not before EIS, are you seeing any non-US international sales?

Please reply with what types of items you sell, pre-EIS typical shipping label costs and post-EIS shipping label costs and any other information you think may be useful.

Thank you! 🙂

[marnotom!]

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@troys_toys1 wrote:

I think eBay is going to see that EIS doesn't work at all, I've been enrolled in this new program for about 3 or 4 days now and usually I was getting about 3 sales or more a day from USA and so far I haven't gotten a single sale because to ship a t-shirt used to cost the buyer about $7 and now it's $22.99 shipping plus $4.46 import fees for a total of $27.45, an increase of over $20 for the same item. This is why I never buy from the states because shipping is insane, I don't understand why eBay would even offer EIS, they're basically screwing over their customers so they can profit on shipping meanwhile decreasing sales because no one wants to pay these ludacris shipping prices. 

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"Ludacris" is a rapper, "ludicrous" is the adjective you probably want.  😇

I'm not sure if you realize, but eIS has been available on the US site for a couple of years, and an earlier version of it--the Global Shipping Program--was a thing for about a decade prior to that, and still is for UK sellers.

As @dinomitesales pointed out, Canadian sellers seem to be a bit more sensitive about their shipping prices and international sales in general than their US and UK cousins.  It all comes down to how much you value your international sales and whether the perks that come with eIS are important to you, such as protection against non-receipt and SNAD claims and the fact that eIS handles all returns on your behalf.  It also has the potential to make sales to some EU countries easier.

The sellers who may benefit the most from eIS are the ones who offer "free" domestic shipping, as that has the potential to drive down the shipping costs on an eIS-supported listing.  However, if that means folding in the domestic shipping charge into the item price, that's going to mean higher FVFs on sales made through eIS than ones where the domestic shipping cost is separate.

[marnotom!]

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@reallynicestamps wrote:

My concern would be what happens if the US buyer decides to refuse the shipment because of those doorstep fees?

Will the shipper hand over the package and come back to the seller for payment?

Will the shipper return the package to the seller?

How long will the return take?

How will eBay treat the "refused" shipment? 

Given that the seller relinquishes responsibility for an eIS-forwarded item once it reaches the hub, I would imagine that if the shipper has to “come after” anybody should a shipment be refused, it would be eIS.

The shipment would be returned to the hub and the item would be liquidated, which would defray any charges, if any, that eIS was responsible for paying.

[marnotom!]

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@marnotom! wrote:

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However, if that means folding in the domestic shipping charge into the item price, that's going to mean higher FVFs on sales made through eIS than ones where the domestic shipping cost is separate.

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Scratch that. I don’t know what I was thinking there.

[jtg204]

For me, the same $20 item shipped three different ways I've had these FVF:

$5.12 Domestic order
$4.19 EIS order
$3.10 International order to USA

Fees on Price + Shipping to hub is a little more than Price + Taxes...still lower than domestic fees though.

[marnotom!]

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@jtg204 wrote:

For me, the same $20 item shipped three different ways I've had these FVF:

$5.12 Domestic order
$4.19 EIS order
$3.10 International order to USA

Fees on Price + Shipping to hub is a little more than Price + Taxes...still lower than domestic fees though.

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Each of those transactions likely had a different rates of sales tax applied to them, which is probably what's accounting for the difference in fees.  It's not quite an apples-apples comparison. 

Also, the eIS order would not have the International Fee applied to it.

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

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@flipistics wrote:

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@troys_toys1 wrote:

I think eBay is going to see that EIS doesn't work at all, I've been enrolled in this new program for about 3 or 4 days now and usually I was getting about 3 sales or more a day from USA and so far I haven't gotten a single sale because to ship a t-shirt used to cost the buyer about $7 and now it's $22.99 shipping plus $4.46 import fees for a total of $27.45, an increase of over $20 for the same item. This is why I never buy from the states because shipping is insane, I don't understand why eBay would even offer EIS, they're basically screwing over their customers so they can profit on shipping meanwhile decreasing sales because no one wants to pay these ludacris shipping prices. 

The only logical solution here is to opt out of EIS and figure out (if it's even possible) to charge a certain percentage extra on each sale to account for tariffs and you can then use Zonos to pay the tariffs ahead of time yourself. The main benefit here is we get the discounted Canada Post rates and no shipping charge to the ebay hub.

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eIS doesn't make sales go back to what they were. Nothing will short of a new President getting elected. It does provide SOME sales though, and opens up many additional countries without having to worry about all the new shipping regulations that are springing up, especially in the EU. Since I've been enrolled, almost 20% of my sales have come through eIS. That's a nice little bump.

You also won't get the eBay discounted Canada Post rates (to the USA). Most 3rd party label companies don't seem to have Zonos integrated either. 

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@flipistics 

@troys_toys1 

Possibly a bit more advantageous for you compared to sellers located in the west or Maritimes. I just did a quick comparison using a smallish 500 gram parcel. A little bit over 5.00 difference more my location in Calgary vs your location 6 hrs out of GTA.  Also important to consider shipping to Ontario includes GST & PST tax. USA tracked fuel surcharge is 12/14 %. Domestic is 21.5 % currently. Rates shoot up quick if item is bulky or heavy. (As of late discount for anything large is lower than it has been using CP for domestic parcels.) Until they come up with a western eIS hub I will be out of the eIS.

As a side definitely cheaper/faster for me to send Intl Tracked for EU/Australia. That way I know if a buyer owes any additional fees it will be charged correctly by customs who knows what they are doing. I've never had any issues using CP tracked for anything going internationally.

[jtg204]

International fee is 9 cents.

Here's the fee breakdowns EIS vs International...

EIS:

International:

[dinomitesales]

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@troys_toys1 wrote:

I think eBay is going to see that EIS doesn't work at all, I've been enrolled in this new program for about 3 or 4 days now and usually I was getting about 3 sales or more a day from USA and so far I haven't gotten a single sale because to ship a t-shirt used to cost the buyer about $7 and now it's $22.99 shipping plus $4.46 import fees for a total of $27.45, an increase of over $20 for the same item.

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What sort of time frame are we talking about here? You've been enrolled in eIS for 3-4 days (which isn't a meaningful amount of time to reach any conclusions, by the way) - are you saying that immediately prior to this you were selling 3+ items to the States? So if you were enrolled in eIS on November 10th, you were selling 3+ items a day to Americans prior to November 10th and they stopped on November 10th? So for the months of September and October you were selling 3+ items per month to Americans? If this is true, then eIS wouldn't change anything - if your concern is that eIS shipping prices are too high, and you already had an existing cheaper shipping option to the USA, then the buyers would still see that as the primary shipping option and there's no reason the buying pattern of American customers would have changed. I don't think this is what you mean though, because you only have 60 sales in the last 90 days, so unless you have additional accounts the math isn't mathing.

What I think you're saying is that prior to August 29th - and everything that happened with American shipping and de minimis - you had a healthy stream of sales to the United States. As @flipistics said, the days of such cross-border ecommerce between our two countries is over. It's not coming back. If you felt that eIS was going to make your sales go back to a pre-Aug29 level then that was misguided. eIS is a tool, not a magic wand, unfortunately.

Your listings currently show only the eIS shipping to the States, which means you haven't provided an additional shipping option to American buyers. This tells me that you turned off shipping to US buyers entirely, probably around the end of August when everyone else did. The fact that your items are now available to American buyers (when they weren't previously) has automatically increased your pool of available buyers by hundreds of millions. Sure, the shipping might be high for them, but the fact that they can see your items (and potentially buy them if they're fine with the shipping/import rates) puts you in a much better position than you were prior to November 10th (or whenever you were enrolled). Not to mention the other 30+ countries your items are now visible to because of eIS that I don't think you were shipping to before either (I'm assuming this based on the fact that you don't show any additional shipping options to these countries either).

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@troys_toys1 wrote:

The only logical solution here is to opt out of EIS and figure out (if it's even possible) to charge a certain percentage extra on each sale to account for tariffs and you can then use Zonos to pay the tariffs ahead of time yourself. The main benefit here is we get the discounted Canada Post rates and no shipping charge to the ebay hub.

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There is no need to opt out of eIS in this case. You're making a rash and unnecessary decision based on 3-4 days of data (this time frame means absolutely nothing). You can provide your own shipping rate to the buyers if you feel you can offer a cheaper rate and it will show alongside the eIS option; more importantly, if it is cheaper than the eIS option it will be prioritized in both search results and as the default option on your listing. Give the buyer the choice - you may be surprised at their decision. Just because you find the eIS shipping rates high from USA --> Canada doesn't mean every other potential buyer on the internet feels the same way. Not to mention that if you opt out of eIS, then make sure you also add in shipping options to those other 30+ countries it services, otherwise you've just decreased your pool of potential buyers by hundreds of millions more.

[flipistics]

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@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:

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@flipistics 

@troys_toys1 

Possibly a bit more advantageous for you compared to sellers located in the west or Maritimes. I just did a quick comparison using a smallish 500 gram parcel. A little bit over 5.00 difference more my location in Calgary vs your location 6 hrs out of GTA.  Also important to consider shipping to Ontario includes GST & PST tax. USA tracked fuel surcharge is 12/14 %. Domestic is 21.5 % currently. Rates shoot up quick if item is bulky or heavy. (As of late discount for anything large is lower than it has been using CP for domestic parcels.) Until they come up with a western eIS hub I will be out of the eIS.

As a side definitely cheaper/faster for me to send Intl Tracked for EU/Australia. That way I know if a buyer owes any additional fees it will be charged correctly by customs who knows what they are doing. I've never had any issues using CP tracked for anything going internationally.

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Yeah, it definitely is more adventageous for people in Ontario and Quebec right now.  I know Google Maps says 6 hours to Mississauga, but it most definitely is a good deal longer. Your point stands though.

For a 6x6x6 box at 500g from my address, I'm seeing the following (going to Canada Computers in Mississauga since the hub postal code is funky atm). Prices include tax. Note that not all companies will deliver to the hub atm, but that should change fairly quickly.

Sendle: $11.51

CP Exp: $12.58 eBay, $14.33 EasyShip

UPS: $11.53 Click Ship, $12.81 eBay, $15.26 EasyShip

Canpar: $12.33 Click Ship, $15.40 Easy Ship

Purolator: $15.16 Shipping Chimp, $16.14 Click Ship, $16.39 Easy Ship

ICS: $11.91 Click Ship

For you from Calgary (I chose the zoo for the origin postal code):

Sendle: $14.77

CP Exp: $18.22 eBay, $20.14 Easy Ship

UPS: $16.86 Click Ship, $18.83 eBay, $19.54 Easy Ship

Canpar: $16.85 Click Ship, $23.09 Easy Ship

Purolator: $17.76 Click Ship, $17.88 Easy Ship

ICS: $14.90

Hopefully when eBay gets the label issue sorted out, their apparent special negotiated rate to the hub will be even cheaper, but we'll see. UPS through Click Ship (when the postal code gets sorted out) is probably your best bet. Sendle / ICS is a bit slow across country. Shipping Chimp may also be a much cheaper option, but right now they seem to have CP labels disabled, or at least they are on my account.

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

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@flipistics wrote:

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@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:

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@flipistics 

@troys_toys1 

Possibly a bit more advantageous for you compared to sellers located in the west or Maritimes. I just did a quick comparison using a smallish 500 gram parcel. A little bit over 5.00 difference more my location in Calgary vs your location 6 hrs out of GTA.  Also important to consider shipping to Ontario includes GST & PST tax. USA tracked fuel surcharge is 12/14 %. Domestic is 21.5 % currently. Rates shoot up quick if item is bulky or heavy. (As of late discount for anything large is lower than it has been using CP for domestic parcels.) Until they come up with a western eIS hub I will be out of the eIS.

As a side definitely cheaper/faster for me to send Intl Tracked for EU/Australia. That way I know if a buyer owes any additional fees it will be charged correctly by customs who knows what they are doing. I've never had any issues using CP tracked for anything going internationally.

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Yeah, it definitely is more adventageous for people in Ontario and Quebec right now.  I know Google Maps says 6 hours to Mississauga, but it most definitely is a good deal longer. Your point stands though.

For a 6x6x6 box at 500g from my address, I'm seeing the following (going to Canada Computers in Mississauga since the hub postal code is funky atm). Prices include tax. Note that not all companies will deliver to the hub atm, but that should change fairly quickly.

Sendle: $11.51

CP Exp: $12.58 eBay, $14.33 EasyShip

UPS: $11.53 Click Ship, $12.81 eBay, $15.26 EasyShip

Canpar: $12.33 Click Ship, $15.40 Easy Ship

Purolator: $15.16 Shipping Chimp, $16.14 Click Ship, $16.39 Easy Ship

ICS: $11.91 Click Ship

For you from Calgary (I chose the zoo for the origin postal code):

Sendle: $14.77

CP Exp: $18.22 eBay, $20.14 Easy Ship

UPS: $16.86 Click Ship, $18.83 eBay, $19.54 Easy Ship

Canpar: $16.85 Click Ship, $23.09 Easy Ship

Purolator: $17.76 Click Ship, $17.88 Easy Ship

ICS: $14.90

Hopefully when eBay gets the label issue sorted out, their apparent special negotiated rate to the hub will be even cheaper, but we'll see. UPS through Click Ship (when the postal code gets sorted out) is probably your best bet. Sendle / ICS is a bit slow across country. Shipping Chimp may also be a much cheaper option, but right now they seem to have CP labels disabled, or at least they are on my account.

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@flipistics 

Sendle Chit Chats & UPS for me are several buses and 2 ctrains. So added cost is not worth it. There are occasions where UPS is a bit cheaper but bus cancels it out. Fedex ground will do pick ups but it is a song and dance. Usually next day, at a cost and you have to be home unless you have a secure place you can leave. 

Until it is back to normal to send to USA via CP without prepaying duties etc many Canadian sellers will be hooped. The system was in place where duties when they were owed could be collected from receiver with USPS for 6.95 per line. Similar to our 9.95 deal with CP. It would have warranted to add the staff to process the kazillion shipments as a revenue stream for USPS vs this shady Zonos arrangement. 

Re: 6 hrs was as the crow flies. Wasn't taking into consideration the other stops the driver does along the way and restroom breaks. Don Valley etc be willing.

[flipistics]

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@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:

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@flipistics 

Sendle Chit Chats & UPS for me are several buses and 2 ctrains. So added cost is not worth it. There are occasions where UPS is a bit cheaper but bus cancels it out. Fedex ground will do pick ups but it is a song and dance. Usually next day, at a cost and you have to be home unless you have a secure place you can leave. 

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Click Ship does offer free pickups from most places for UPS and ICS (unsure about Canpar), and Sendle does as well. You do have to be home / have a secure area though. I (think) they have free pickups for Canada Post and Purolator as well, but it isn't offered for my postal code. It might be for yours.

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

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@flipistics wrote:

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@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:

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@flipistics 

Sendle Chit Chats & UPS for me are several buses and 2 ctrains. So added cost is not worth it. There are occasions where UPS is a bit cheaper but bus cancels it out. Fedex ground will do pick ups but it is a song and dance. Usually next day, at a cost and you have to be home unless you have a secure place you can leave. 

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Click Ship does offer free pickups from most places for UPS and ICS (unsure about Canpar), and Sendle does as well. You do have to be home / have a secure area though. I (think) they have free pickups for Canada Post and Purolator as well, but it isn't offered for my postal code. It might be for yours.

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I could have 4' x 8' sign in my front yard asking drivers to ring bell, majority don't. It's also noted on label. I've looked into pick ups for this area and was told either next day....sometime...or i had to be home from 8:00 am to 7:00 pm. It's why I monitor tracking on incoming. Really bad problem of porch pirates. Why I feel so sorry for anyone that happens to live in apt./condo. In the olden days of parcels you signed for everything or drivers made sure to drop in inconspicous safe place. Covid kayboshed that concept.