My lack of sympathy ends with a euro buyer’s lack of empathy. Its not like we profit off them paying more. They literally try to barter flat fee prices that include shipping and we have to lower the profit margin to insure the card(s) or play roulette on if the card gets lost and we are screwed with 100% of the risk. Thats way less fair.
2 Likes
I think you will find that many buyers will have plenty of empathy for anyone that is willing to ship internationally. Or at least I hope so. Of course it should also be worth it to ship internationally for the seller! I would think that having a larger potential buyer pool should also mean you can sell more items and sometimes at a higher price. There are lots of eager collectors with deep pockets outside the US. Insurance can be added to the shipping costs? I am pretty sure some sellers do that, where shipping costs on auctions will depend on the final price.
1 Like
There are enough european sellers looking to avoid paying taxes and insurance (literally requesting for items to be marked as less in value), while still expecting full money-back gaurantees if the item doesn’t show up, to make it too much of a headache for most american sellers to want to deal with. Both, Ebay & Paypal G&S favor buyers over sellers, and too many people get buttfucked when you try to accomodate them and something goes wrong. Hell, even when some european buyers are willing to pay for proper insurance and declaration, it’s the sellers headache to have to recompense the buyer and sort things out with insurance. Not fun. No premium involved for this headache. What’s the reward in selling to European buyers at the same or less profit margins to just selling to buyers here in the continental united states?
That is why a predatory “service” like global shipping can charge top dollar to deal with the heachaches for us. Unfortunately, those bad actors have made it tougher and more expensive for the rest of the european collectors.
3 Likes
I hope I understand this wrong. But what risk is there if you send a card insured with track and trace? You don’t need GSP to do so and your risk is zero. It’s not that difficult to file a customs form, come on.
NO matter what way of paying you use the seller still is the one who needs to go after an item getting lost/delayed.
I stopped buying at ebay from sellers using GSP, sorry but I have to pay 2 times the normal import fees/VAT which is insane.
There is a difference in paying $150 dollar on a $500 Card or being forced to pay $250 with GSP.
I’m not talking about buyers who want their $500 dollar card shipped for $5 without Insurance.
But if I pay $50 for shipping/Insurance/tracking and $100 custom fees/VAT on a $500 card it’s what I legally expect to pay. What is not correct having to pay $250, were does that $100 go?
2 Likes
Yes. You understand this wrong.
2 Likes
In your case of accepting the custom fees, that is the fair way. Majority of the time most international buyers want the seller to adsorb the risk. Ie. underdeclare a package, which means the seller has no protection. Which is why 90% of sellers use GSP or don’t ship international at all. Btw I personally don’t use GSP, but its hard not to, as the protection is unparalleled.
2 Likes
I don’t sell much and now with increased delivery time I don’t want to ship outside (and even inside) Europe. But willing to deal with Custom forms/going after lost mail/Insurance as a seller is part of your service. Using GSP sounds to me as “I want your money but not the hassle”. I’m a kind of old school, I like returning buyers and giving service Aaways worked fine. These days I’m not sure about that anymore.
1 Like
Great answer @quuador , I am glad you picked my point. Even if I didn’t developped the in depth answer of “why” GSP exist, the mentality, and the luck to have an open market with the possibility of having item shipped to you if you want them (Not mentionning the bs fees of course).
To be more specific regarding my experience, at first I didn’t really payed attention to this fee and just purchased everything as I needed the card. It is afterwards, discussing with the seller, telling him I got the object that I understood what was going on as I payed 300ish$ total and he only received money for his tagged price. Right after that I tried my best to get fully reimbursed of a 50$ fee which literaly and directly went into the pocket of Pitney Bowes limited (as it is listed on your Paypal as specific wire, to them).
I just felt bad for the seller (As P.B. ltd and ebay are using honest individulas to advert their GSP) and me (More generic all buyers). On a more econmic side because we buyers doesn’t have the choice but to pay this fee that DOESN’T even get in the pocket of the Seller to cover Post fees, custom forms and whatnot. It is just not right ! And I can’t stand this king of bs (Still French, going on a protest lol).
@smpratte , @chrisbalestra , regarding risk, it is not an issue that I mentioned since I always pay extra extra extra for insurance and all the fancy USPS or FedEx. Here I just tryed to showcase how P.B. Ltd is feeding on us Sellers & Buyers (Assuming that each individuals is a serious collector and honest person of course).
I am also a seller and totally agreeing on your point, buyers have to be more empathic and put themselves in the shoes of the seller. Of course I am not willing to ship something with a 90% case scenario it ends up lost or Timmy buyer getting back angry at you (Even if they received the object, yeah happened to me, thanks god only for 20$). People trying to low ball for fees, insurance, shipment, F&F Paypal and then complaining because things went wrong, yeah, their fault but they’re not only Europeans… That’s why I don’t do business with those kind of individuals, even if I respond to their demand and tell them quickly it is not possible. Moreover I believe that a lot of buyers are not like we would love them to be and I experienced it as a seller, but still, hidden in the chaff some grain might be found and serious collector are still out there.
That’s why, second point, regarding “responding”; usually in the US sellers doesn’t even respond when proposing direct (Bank wire, F&F…). And that’s another topic as @quuador pointed out ! I get it but still, kind of old fahioned as @rainbowgym , 
Unfortunately, there are more european timmys out there making it a hassle than there are serious collectors making it easy, so sellers default to third party services that rip you off and keep me from a headache. It’s unfortunate, but that’s the way the cookie has crumbled. Scott is simply offering a solution of how to entice some of them to stop thinking “meh fuck euro buyers, too much hassle” and reconsider the sale.
2 Likes
In my 20 years of selling I experienced more USA timmys as EU timmys! USA and Canadian buyers claiming their items didn’t arrive because they didn’t want track and trace (but I Always pay for Insurance/tracking so caught most of them in their lies). Ebay Always refund the buyer without asking anything is my experience.
While I might need to use Ebay again in the future I prefer to stay far away from it.
1 Like
My interpretation of what you just said that you are still missing the point that @chrisbalestra, is trying to make while indirectly agreeing with him. The way I have read your previous messages on this thread is that you are taking it personally that US sellers are not willing to sell international (mainly Europe) because of prior issues with Timmys because you think its safe and not risky. You then go on to state that you have issues sending to the US because of US Timmys and that really frustrates you. You are hitting on the point that @chrisbalestra, is trying to make but from a different angle. The issue itself is that international shipping is a pain in the rear end no matter which way the item is going (from US to EU or vise versa). There are buyers on both sides of the atlantic trying to screw you any way that they can. What @chrisbalestra, has been trying to state all along is that the US market is so large that it is not financially worth his time and money to bother dealing with these international Timmys. I have no idea where you are from but I am sure it is much more advantageous for you to ship orders domestically where you are from than internationally. Domestic shipping in the US is much cheaper and takes much less time to worry about. Fortunately for us US sellers, we are not as reliant on the international market since the amount of buyers in our market is plentiful so we can afford to only ship domestically. A $50 card sent in a padded envelope to anywhere in the country with tracking and weighing roughly 5 ounces is on average $3.50 to ship. This is extremely easy and hassle free. When our market is large enough that why bother selling that card international where shipping fees are higher and the risk is higher when you can almost guarantee that there will be a domestic buyer for it? As sellers in a capitalistic market, we are always trying to maximize our profits (with good sellers taking into account good service as well and not cutting corners). So far profit wise and time wise, it makes more sense for us to sell domestically than internationally when the domestic buyer and international buyer are buying the card for the same price.
P.S. shipping between the US and Canada is still international shipping. It is much much easier to send to Canada than overseas but issues can still occur
4 Likes
I see it the exact way as dragonwarrior/chris. I highly prefer selling in europe, overseas transactions -especially now- are a pain and much more risky without any additional benefit. I sell internationally only at full buyers risk as it´s not in my hand, but I´m also assuming all risk whenever I buy (off ebay) internationally. I simply don´t buy gsp listings. Either the seller is willing to ship to me completely off ebay (here, ig, wherever) and I just assume the risk or without the gsp. That way I lose out on some items, but I at least didn´t contribute to this bs system.
4 Likes
Yeah no one has anything personal against international buyers. Its entirely because of the reality that most buyers expect sellers to underdeclare. That is why most sellers use GSP. I personally don’t, but it makes complete sense, especially for new sellers.
3 Likes
Bingo. Great articulation of the reoccuring point. There are too many timmys in Europe AND the US ruining sales for collectors when international shipping is involved. The US market is large enough that we can usually completely ignore Europe, unless they want to deal with GSP or offer to absolve us from risk if the item goes missing ( which is completely out of our hands to begin with once it hits the sorting facility heading to another country).
I am now doing the exact same, trying my best to go direct. It makes more and more sense now why the fees for GSP are so damn high. By what everyone is saying its like 1/2 of all packages are lost internationnaly 
Anyway I strongly believe that insurance has to be taken on the side of the Buyer to absorb risk it’s not even a question. Still, if there is an issue, it’s the seller that needs to take care of most of the job talking to the shipping company etc… Even domestically, shipping is an issue, as it is an external party we are relying on. That’s why in all case, especially when buying expensive objects, insurance is mandatory.
Btw @smpratte you choosed not to use GSP on ebay or objects you are selling are Pitney Bowes Ltd free just by accident ?
I am asking that as when reading you it seems you choose not to use it, but I remember one of your videos where you said you didn’t know why you, Rusty, other sellers don’t have international fees attached to their objects on ebay
1 Like
I Always seem to forgot there are a lot of people into Pokémon only for the money. More money, more sales.
While there is nothing wrong with a goal to earn as much as you can, I only tried to point into the collectors direction.
Any collector outside N-america knows there are items/cards who are simply not released on their part of the world.
To get those into your collection you need to reach out overseas.
Having to deal with a system like gsp or seller who don’t give a penny about collectors outside their comfort zone makes collecting difficult.
Sure there are timmies on both sides.
Also shipping international is expensive and always more difficult.
If I ship an item 100miles south, north, east and even west it’s already international, so I know very well it’s expensive/difficult and not as cheap as domestic mail LOL.
I don’t need anything for my collection anymore, but I sure can feel how todays “buying” collectors have to deal with items being out of reach or only to obtain against a very high amount of extra fees.
2 Likes
This sounds all too familiar and thought I’d chip in my experience recently from a US seller.
I seen an item I was after on the US marketplace which had no international shipping available. I always check .com & .co.uk to widen my scope.
I chanced my luck and sent the seller a message asking if international shipping would be at all possible. They quickly responded saying no. What did I do? Threw my toys out the pram and sent an abusive post to them? No, I accepted their answer and took it on the chin. There’s no point in arguing or hassling a seller about this. It’s their right not to ship internationally and that’s totally fine!
Luckily for me an amazing person responded to my IG post and has done an excellent job in securing the item for myself and shipping it out to me!
Needless to say, I’m a very happy customer being able to get the item I was after, the seller is a very happy seller who sold their item and didn’t ship internationally and the middleman got a little extra for being so kind!
It’s a win, win, win!
GSP sucks for us across the pond and so does international shipping for the seller, be smarter and find a solution to your problem and quit bitching.
2 Likes
What about selling my card for maximum value make me exclusively a money hungry person? Money does not grow on trees (or at least my trees) so if I want to buy something else for my collection at least for me that means I have to sell off something I already own to fund it. I am not going to sell it for less than what it is worth. I am going to try to maximize what I can get out of that item because at least for me, after fees and everything I normally am still a bit short than where I’d like to be. For me shipping international means I would be even further behind of where I would need to be. We are no longer in the playground days of “I’ll trade you my blastoise for your venusaur” regardless of value. For your pure collectors sake comment, you should focus more on trading cause then there is often less to no money involved and then you are already off of ebay and therefore away from GSP all together.
“Any collector outside N-america knows there are items/cards who are simply not released on their part of the world.” To this statement, then why do people not expect there to be a premium to acquire it? That’s economics at is most fundamental level. There is no supply by you so you have to pay more and in the case of buying on Ebay means paying for GSP.
“Having to deal with a system like gsp or seller who don’t give a penny about collectors outside their comfort zone makes collecting difficult.” There is nothing stopping you from changing your collection goals based on what you can acquire. If you are that set on getting certain items, then you have to deal with these things and that’s life. If collecting was easy there wouldnt be a need for ebay or even a buy section of this forum.
1 Like
If you don’t purchase insurance does it make a difference what price you declare an international package?