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On 9/13/2019 at 8:25 PM, Buzzetta said:

Quick follow up to this... I just called eBay again for the customer. 

eBay tried to play a little game and suggest that sometimes a nation will not allow items of a certain value to enter their country. 

Here is the fun.  I pointed out that the buyer purchased a similar item of similar value on the OTHER account I run AFTER the above purchase using GSP. In that time, the item has reached the buyer.  I gave the item number of the other item from the other account.  They out me on hold to speak to someone.  heh heh, 

 

I had the same experience with a couple of LPs I sold Japan using the Global Shipping Program. I've sold and shipped since NOT using the Global Shipping Program and no problemo. My post from a music forum below from a few months ago. 

 

 

Wish I saw this thread before about the Global Shipping Program. I recently sold 2 Glenn Gould LPs to a buyer in Japan and received that same message as in the OP. This was a couple of weeks ago. I listed a few more Gould LPs this weekend and put in a Glenn Gould search for reference and low and behold, the same 2 records with my description and my photos came up. Evidently when sold items arrive at Erlanger, KY for certain destinations, they get confiscated and somehow end up in other hands for resale. The buyer and I were made whole but this is total BS.

 

Edited by dugman54
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On 9/15/2019 at 8:55 PM, dugman54 said:

 I listed a few more Gould LPs this weekend and put in a Glenn Gould search for reference and low and behold, the same 2 records with my description and my photos came up. Evidently when sold items arrive at Erlanger, KY for certain destinations, they get confiscated and somehow end up in other hands for resale. The buyer and I were made whole but this is total BS.
 

Interesting that you say this as now I have even more questions. Here is the email that I received from eBay

Quote

 

Hello Andrew,

Thank you for contacting eBay regarding item xxxxxxxxxxxx, you recently sold.  I understand that you have some concerns about what happened to the pendant. My name is Bear, with eBay's Global Shipping Program, let's go over this together.

I looked into this and I found that we could not deliver this item to your buyer because your item has parts or pieces made with mother of pearl.  Items made with types of mother of pearl producing mollusks are restricted for import by CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora). Please understand that our shipping partners need to abide by all customs laws and we did not intend for this to happen.

A good rule of thumb going forward, is if the item has any kind of coral, shell, fur, bone, or exotic animal leather/skin, it will likely be unable to be shipped through the GSP. You can read more at https://www.ebay.com/help/global-shipping-program/default/global-shipping-program?id=4646#restricted

The good news is that this is actually a protection for both you and the buyer, we do not want any customs or shipping company questioning you on why this was shipped.  It's also a rare circumstance as we try to block these from being listed through the Global Shipping Program.

Because this happened through our Global Shipping Program and you were unaware of these restrictions, we are not holding you responsible for the refund. Our shipping partners will refund your customer out of their pocket and then liquidate the item in order to recoup some of their losses. You'll be keeping the payment for the sale because the parcel cannot be returned to you.

You can consider this a successful transaction and we've let your customer know what happened.

Thank you for your understanding.  Have a wonderful day, and thanks for choosing eBay!

 

Bear P.

Global Shipping Specialist

 

My concerns:

1 - I undersold this specific piece.  I made a mistake when I lowered the price on this item one day and threw in a typo.  I meant to sell it for more than the $95 it sold for. The piece was probably worth about $150. As soon as I made the mistake someone snatched it up.  I cursed but honored the sale. My $50 mistake should not be someone's loss.  Part of me wonders if this was really about keeping a pretty neat piece.   My buyer is very disappointed.  She thought she was getting a great deal and now probably feels as if she was screwed over. 

2 - If I did NOT use the GSP I presume that I would have made the sale anyway.  I presume that the piece would not have cleared customs and that I would have been on the hook.  The way I see it is that GSP makes everyone whole.  Buyer was refunded and I kept the money. I am curious to see what happens though. 

3 - I have to be honest, I want to see what happens to the piece and am curious to see if they use eBay to liquidate it and get some money back.  If not I want to know where they do that.  I would like to see what does not clear customs. 

4 - Apparently this customs law is loosely enforced.  I checked and I have sold another Mother of Pearl piece to someone.  A cuff / bracelet with Mother of Pearl went to Hong Kong.  Supposedly it is an international law that the US participates in so that means no Mother of Pearl merchandise is supposed to be sent out of the US.  Someone was asleep behind the wheel for that one.  

 

EDIT !

I went looking and I found it. I just saw that eBay sold it for $25 more than I sold it for. lol WOW !!!!!   They even used my pictures as dugman said that they did with him.  Just wow !  I told you I accidentally underpriced it. 

 

 

Edited by Buzzetta
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1 hour ago, Buzzetta said:

Interesting that you say this as now I have even more questions. Here is the email that I received from eBay

My concerns:

1 - I undersold this specific piece.  I made a mistake when I lowered the price on this item one day and threw in a typo.  I meant to sell it for more than the $95 it sold for. The piece was probably worth about $150. As soon as I made the mistake someone snatched it up.  I cursed but honored the sale. My $50 mistake should not be someone's loss.  Part of me wonders if this was really about keeping a pretty neat piece.   My buyer is very disappointed.  She thought she was getting a great deal and now probably feels as if she was screwed over. 

2 - If I did NOT use the GSP I presume that I would have made the sale anyway.  I presume that the piece would not have cleared customs and that I would have been on the hook.  The way I see it is that GSP makes everyone whole.  Buyer was refunded and I kept the money. I am curious to see what happens though. 

3 - I have to be honest, I want to see what happens to the piece and am curious to see if they use eBay to liquidate it and get some money back.  If not I want to know where they do that.  I would like to see what does not clear customs. 

4 - Apparently this customs law is loosely enforced.  I checked and I have sold another Mother of Pearl piece to someone.  A cuff / bracelet with Mother of Pearl went to Hong Kong.  Supposedly it is an international law that the US participates in so that means no Mother of Pearl merchandise is supposed to be sent out of the US.  Someone was asleep behind the wheel for that one.  

 

EDIT !

I went looking and I found it. I just saw that eBay sold it for $25 more than I sold it for. lol WOW !!!!!   They even used my pictures as dugman said that they did with him.  Just wow !  I told you I accidentally underpriced it. 

 

 

This sounds so bizarre, as far as I know mother of pearl comes from shells, they can be found on a beach, we used to pick up discarded ones all the time when I was  a kid, it's not like they have to murder oysters or anything? 

I'm glad I don't get involved with those programs.

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8 hours ago, skypinkblu said:

This sounds so bizarre, as far as I know mother of pearl comes from shells, they can be found on a beach, we used to pick up discarded ones all the time when I was  a kid, it's not like they have to murder oysters or anything? 

I'm glad I don't get involved with those programs.

I spoke about it with someone. 

eBay GSP actually worked out for me in this case.  I can offer other mother of pearl items internationally as there is no filter preventing me from doing so whether it be with the GSP or merely shipping something internationally. Had I not used the GSP and sent it out, then I would have run the risk of it getting caught up in customs.  If that had happen the item would have been confiscated and I would have been out the piece and the money.  

My only real disappointment is that the buyer must feel as if they got screwed out of something at a great price that I was honoring.  

This weekend I will reach out to her and offer her 10% off anything and everything and offer to end listings and put it in a lot so if she wants she can buy a bunch of things all at once instead of individual shipping fees and duties. 

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I sometimes look thru the sold listings for Copper / Bronze books to keep track of trends and see if I need to tweak my listings and it appears E-Bay has disallowed me to go to the sold listings for a whole section.  I can still go see the sold items for a specific books (lets say X-Men 4) but there is no sold item tab for me to click if I'm just in the Copper Age comic section.  Is it just me - can anyone else do that global type of sold search?

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3 minutes ago, 1Cool said:

I sometimes look thru the sold listings for Copper / Bronze books to keep track of trends and see if I need to tweak my listings and it appears E-Bay has disallowed me to go to the sold listings for a whole section.  I can still go see the sold items for a specific books (lets say X-Men 4) but there is no sold item tab for me to click if I'm just in the Copper Age comic section.  Is it just me - can anyone else do that global type of sold search?

I’m able to do that type of search using the eBay app.  

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If this has been discussed before, sorry in advance.  I sell maybe about 3 to 5 items a month on ebay (definitely small volume but at least a few hundred dollars worth), but I just noticed that paypal has stated that beginning around the second week of October, they will not be refunding seller fees (2.9% of the transaction if I remember correctly) in the event that the seller has to issue the buyer a refund.  They originally announced this change earlier in 2018 but had to back track due to seller outrage.  Now they are trying to slip it past everyone again. 

So if I sell a piece of original art for $500, that's about $14.50 in paypal fees that I would have to eat if for some reason the buyer decided they wanted a refund or to even cancel the transaction after they had paid, but before I shipped.  I don't have to do that many refunds since I don't sell that much, but it still gets me kind of angry that it is another layer of risk that I'd have to accept as a seller. 

Ebay basically only allows sellers to accept paypal, unless you have a merchant account to process your own credit cards (does Square count?).  I understand that they will be phasing out paypal sometime next year for their own in house payment system, but until they do that, the small time seller seems out of luck.  My question is, are there any other options for selling on ebay to get around having to use paypal?  

My sales have dropped so low over the past few years, that I'm just thinking of moving off ebay entirely and selling here, craigslist, or facebook, at least until I see what changes ebay makes to their payment system in 2020 or 2021.  Could any other ebay sellers share their opinions?  Are you just going to suck up and risk paying the fees if a buyer cancels, or have you decided on another payment system, or left ebay altogether for another selling channel?

That also brings to mind, what are CGC boardie sellers are going to do?  I haven't bought off the boards in years, so I haven't kept up, but with these paypal changes, do you think boardies will move to another type of payment system as well?

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11 hours ago, Samoyed Sabaka said:

If this has been discussed before, sorry in advance.  I sell maybe about 3 to 5 items a month on ebay (definitely small volume but at least a few hundred dollars worth), but I just noticed that paypal has stated that beginning around the second week of October, they will not be refunding seller fees (2.9% of the transaction if I remember correctly) in the event that the seller has to issue the buyer a refund.  They originally announced this change earlier in 2018 but had to back track due to seller outrage.  Now they are trying to slip it past everyone again. 

So if I sell a piece of original art for $500, that's about $14.50 in paypal fees that I would have to eat if for some reason the buyer decided they wanted a refund or to even cancel the transaction after they had paid, but before I shipped.  I don't have to do that many refunds since I don't sell that much, but it still gets me kind of angry that it is another layer of risk that I'd have to accept as a seller. 

Ebay basically only allows sellers to accept paypal, unless you have a merchant account to process your own credit cards (does Square count?).  I understand that they will be phasing out paypal sometime next year for their own in house payment system, but until they do that, the small time seller seems out of luck.  My question is, are there any other options for selling on ebay to get around having to use paypal?  

My sales have dropped so low over the past few years, that I'm just thinking of moving off ebay entirely and selling here, craigslist, or facebook, at least until I see what changes ebay makes to their payment system in 2020 or 2021.  Could any other ebay sellers share their opinions?  Are you just going to suck up and risk paying the fees if a buyer cancels, or have you decided on another payment system, or left ebay altogether for another selling channel?

That also brings to mind, what are CGC boardie sellers are going to do?  I haven't bought off the boards in years, so I haven't kept up, but with these paypal changes, do you think boardies will move to another type of payment system as well?

The payment choice is up to the buyer. I've recently been using eBay's direct purchase system just to avoid the 1-day wait that PayPal's takes to withdraw the funds from my bank.

This topic was discussed in a thread on its own, recently.

AFAIK, you cannot eliminate the buyer's choice to use PayPal. I'm not an expert seller, though. I only sell a few high-priced items/year.

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1 hour ago, D84 said:

A friendly reminder that sales tax goes in effect today on eBay for Texas.

After I use my eBay bucks this month, I'm out.

ya I added a book to "my cart" just to double check on the "taxes now collected", sure enough :( it added sales tax! :sick:

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https://www.ebay.com/itm/Police-Comics-1-1941-CGC-6-0-FN-1st-Appearance-Plastic-Man-Phantom-Lady/143185699645?hash=item215688633d:g:TioAAOSwzMlcl7U~

 

Q. What does it mean when a book is multiple times the guide listing ?  

A. It means the seller is willing to hold onto the book for possibly years until he gets a price he is happy with. 

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35 minutes ago, Senormac said:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Police-Comics-1-1941-CGC-6-0-FN-1st-Appearance-Plastic-Man-Phantom-Lady/143185699645?hash=item215688633d:g:TioAAOSwzMlcl7U~

 

Q. What does it mean when a book is multiple times the guide listing ?  

A. It means the seller is willing to hold onto the book for possibly years until he gets a price he is happy with. 

He is a board member and says so in his listing and even lists his board name. 

I have done that before though and listed an item at a very strong choice waiting for the market to catch up or to buy it when none others were available. The art guys do that all the time so I try it every now and then with comics. 

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1 hour ago, Buzzetta said:

He is a board member and says so in his listing and even lists his board name. 

That's a great idea.I know it would make me more confident as a buyer if I knew them,of them here.

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2 minutes ago, porcupine48 said:

That's a great idea.I know it would make me more confident as a buyer if I knew them,of them here.

lol Sometimes... 

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22 hours ago, D84 said:

A friendly reminder that sales tax goes in effect today on eBay for Texas.

After I use my eBay bucks this month, I'm out.

I wonder how many others are and how much this is starting to impact ebay's bottom line and other ecommerce sites?  I know I've only bought 1 low priced item off ebay in 2 months vs several hundred dollars a month because of this.  I'm finding that there's a lot of price collusion, cooperative competition, and almost no arbitrage among the different standard ecommerce and ebay/amazon selling sites.  Amazon and ebay sellers barely edge out the competition due to free shipping but even that is only a $3-5 difference in most cases.  The 8-10% ebay bucks is almost like their way of covering the taxes for the purchase.

It also significantly affected how much I bid and spent on the last 2 CLink auctions.  I knew the hit would be there but even for the low 5 figure purchase the tax hit was still a bit of sticker shock.  I may need to move to Delaware.  I wonder if this will lead to a softening of some prices and a resurgence of some brick and mortar stores as the halcyon days of online shopping may be over.

 

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On 9/19/2019 at 10:13 PM, Buzzetta said:

Interesting that you say this as now I have even more questions. Here is the email that I received from eBay

My concerns:

1 - I undersold this specific piece.  I made a mistake when I lowered the price on this item one day and threw in a typo.  I meant to sell it for more than the $95 it sold for. The piece was probably worth about $150. As soon as I made the mistake someone snatched it up.  I cursed but honored the sale. My $50 mistake should not be someone's loss.  Part of me wonders if this was really about keeping a pretty neat piece.   My buyer is very disappointed.  She thought she was getting a great deal and now probably feels as if she was screwed over. 

2 - If I did NOT use the GSP I presume that I would have made the sale anyway.  I presume that the piece would not have cleared customs and that I would have been on the hook.  The way I see it is that GSP makes everyone whole.  Buyer was refunded and I kept the money. I am curious to see what happens though. 

3 - I have to be honest, I want to see what happens to the piece and am curious to see if they use eBay to liquidate it and get some money back.  If not I want to know where they do that.  I would like to see what does not clear customs. 

4 - Apparently this customs law is loosely enforced.  I checked and I have sold another Mother of Pearl piece to someone.  A cuff / bracelet with Mother of Pearl went to Hong Kong.  Supposedly it is an international law that the US participates in so that means no Mother of Pearl merchandise is supposed to be sent out of the US.  Someone was asleep behind the wheel for that one.  

 

EDIT !

I went looking and I found it. I just saw that eBay sold it for $25 more than I sold it for. lol WOW !!!!!   They even used my pictures as dugman said that they did with him.  Just wow !  I told you I accidentally underpriced it. 

 

 

This fascinates me.  It has an air of conflict of interest even though it made you and the buyer financially whole, it doesn't make sense to me why, if the item was stopped in the US by the GSP inspectors, that it wasn't simply returned to you and you be allowed to refund the buyer?  Obviously that would cost the GSP program return shipping so the willingness to take on the burden of liquidation must mean they are able to hedge/profit more often through confiscation.  If that is so, I wonder if they are able to use data mining and ebay's GSP transaction tracking to identify and specifically target items with a margin.

The fact that it was resold on ebay also reeks of conflict of interest.  ebay makes 2x+ the profit on the same item, paypal indirectly may end up making 2x the fees, GSP has the cost of the original item covered with a small profit for the seller.  If the seller is someone who it was liquidated to at an onsite GSP facility auction and then that person used ebay to sell it I can understand.  But if the seller is partnered with GSP or a liquidator under contract with GSP/ebay and uses ebay to sell the item directly and re-uses your photos, it basically incentivizes the selective confiscation of items that were "undersold" or whose market value has appreciated since the original sale.  I suppose even if they don't make a profit it is still somehow cheaper for them to go through the burden of confiscation and liquidation vs just paying the return shipping back to the seller?

I wonder if the ebay seller who resold it sold it to a buyer in asia and if they used the GSP for shipping or not.

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