Help with an international eBay purchase?
I know international shipping charges have been discussed to death already on here, especially in recent months, but I was still hoping I could get advice on my specific situation (hopefully from some UK members!)
Ok, so I've made a few purchases from international eBay sellers in the past, and have never found the shipping costs to be excessive or unreasonable. I bought a pin from France a couple of months ago and the shipping was only $9; shortly before that, a pin from Spain cost only $6 to ship. And I've ordered from Japan multiple times, always with free shipping included.
Recently, I was tempted to buy a couple of HTF Meg pins from a UK eBay seller, but the shipping was just so ridiculously expensive - $23 for the first tiny, soft-enamel Sedesma pin, and when I added the second to my cart, the combined shipping "discount" went down to $19.50 each. So the total shipping would have been $39, plus the actual cost of the pins themselves. So yeah, I decided to pass.
But then a couple of days ago, I noticed an auction (from a different UK seller) for a set of official, licensed Anastasia pins!!! (For those who don't know, I'm kind of obsessed with Anastasia...)
Sooo um yeah, I had to bid on that. I mean, how could I live with myself if I didn't? And I won! And for only $7! Except now the total is $30 (22 GBP) because again, the shipping cost is a whopping $23. I messaged the seller just to ask if this was the least expensive shipping option available, and she replied:
"I only post direct to UK. Ebay organise international shipping, in which I send the item to their shipping centre and they forward on the item. Hence, eBay choose the postage price; I have no control of this."
So I guess I have a few questions: Are UK sellers ONLY allowed to ship internationally through eBay's own shipping center? Obviously this isn't an obligation for all international sellers, since the previous eBay purchases I've made from France/Spain/Japan were all sent directly from the sellers. Why do UK sellers have to jump through this extra hoop, and are they not allowed to opt out of it? (I'm assuming this is the same reason why the shipping on the aforementioned Meg pins was so high.) Or is going through eBay for int. shipping more cost-effective for the sellers themselves?
Also (and maybe some UK members can help me out here), in your experience, is $23 (16.36 GBP) a reasonable approximate cost for shipping a package to the US? Or is eBay tacking on a surcharge? What makes me suspicious is that the shipping cost for this Anastasia box set is the same exact shipping cost for that tiny little Meg pin. So it seems that eBay is charging a flat shipping fee from the UK to US, regardless of the item's size/weight.
And as far as size/weight does go re: the Anastasia pins, that info is not included in the original listing, however the box is very small - only about 3.5 inches x 3.5 inches, or 8.89 cm x 8.89 cm, if I'm remembering metric conversion correctly (I apologize on behalf of America for our bizarre system of measurement.) The inside of the box is simply a thin piece of Styrofoam with the 5 metal/enamel pins attached; again, not sure about their individual weights, but they're also very small (I mean, they have to be to fit into that box.) So yeah, based on the photos, plus my own experience shipping similar-sized items, I would probably guesstimate its weight to be around 14 oz. (14 oz = 396 grams? Idk, I forget how to convert when it comes to mass. Damn you, public education system!) So, UK members: given this info, about how much do you think you would charge someone in the US to have this item shipped? (If it helps, my zip code is 98229.)
The eBay seller in question offered to cancel the order, but I think I'm just gonna have to splurge on this one, because I seriously *need* these pins y'all. But I would just like to be as informed as possible on this issue, for future reference. I know international shipping has skyrocketed recently and it's super annoying for all of us, but UK shipping in particular seems oddly prohibitive. Any info or advice would be MUCH appreciated! <3
(That said, I definitely will NOT be able to buy any more pins after this for like a month, lol. In addition to tuition payments, I may or may not have been sneakily investigating DPF birthdays lately, and I may or may not have gone on a bit of a zap shopping spree... So please pray for me that no Meg or Esmeralda pins will be released anytime soon!!!)
Ok, so I've made a few purchases from international eBay sellers in the past, and have never found the shipping costs to be excessive or unreasonable. I bought a pin from France a couple of months ago and the shipping was only $9; shortly before that, a pin from Spain cost only $6 to ship. And I've ordered from Japan multiple times, always with free shipping included.
Recently, I was tempted to buy a couple of HTF Meg pins from a UK eBay seller, but the shipping was just so ridiculously expensive - $23 for the first tiny, soft-enamel Sedesma pin, and when I added the second to my cart, the combined shipping "discount" went down to $19.50 each. So the total shipping would have been $39, plus the actual cost of the pins themselves. So yeah, I decided to pass.
But then a couple of days ago, I noticed an auction (from a different UK seller) for a set of official, licensed Anastasia pins!!! (For those who don't know, I'm kind of obsessed with Anastasia...)
Sooo um yeah, I had to bid on that. I mean, how could I live with myself if I didn't? And I won! And for only $7! Except now the total is $30 (22 GBP) because again, the shipping cost is a whopping $23. I messaged the seller just to ask if this was the least expensive shipping option available, and she replied:
"I only post direct to UK. Ebay organise international shipping, in which I send the item to their shipping centre and they forward on the item. Hence, eBay choose the postage price; I have no control of this."
So I guess I have a few questions: Are UK sellers ONLY allowed to ship internationally through eBay's own shipping center? Obviously this isn't an obligation for all international sellers, since the previous eBay purchases I've made from France/Spain/Japan were all sent directly from the sellers. Why do UK sellers have to jump through this extra hoop, and are they not allowed to opt out of it? (I'm assuming this is the same reason why the shipping on the aforementioned Meg pins was so high.) Or is going through eBay for int. shipping more cost-effective for the sellers themselves?
Also (and maybe some UK members can help me out here), in your experience, is $23 (16.36 GBP) a reasonable approximate cost for shipping a package to the US? Or is eBay tacking on a surcharge? What makes me suspicious is that the shipping cost for this Anastasia box set is the same exact shipping cost for that tiny little Meg pin. So it seems that eBay is charging a flat shipping fee from the UK to US, regardless of the item's size/weight.
And as far as size/weight does go re: the Anastasia pins, that info is not included in the original listing, however the box is very small - only about 3.5 inches x 3.5 inches, or 8.89 cm x 8.89 cm, if I'm remembering metric conversion correctly (I apologize on behalf of America for our bizarre system of measurement.) The inside of the box is simply a thin piece of Styrofoam with the 5 metal/enamel pins attached; again, not sure about their individual weights, but they're also very small (I mean, they have to be to fit into that box.) So yeah, based on the photos, plus my own experience shipping similar-sized items, I would probably guesstimate its weight to be around 14 oz. (14 oz = 396 grams? Idk, I forget how to convert when it comes to mass. Damn you, public education system!) So, UK members: given this info, about how much do you think you would charge someone in the US to have this item shipped? (If it helps, my zip code is 98229.)
The eBay seller in question offered to cancel the order, but I think I'm just gonna have to splurge on this one, because I seriously *need* these pins y'all. But I would just like to be as informed as possible on this issue, for future reference. I know international shipping has skyrocketed recently and it's super annoying for all of us, but UK shipping in particular seems oddly prohibitive. Any info or advice would be MUCH appreciated! <3
(That said, I definitely will NOT be able to buy any more pins after this for like a month, lol. In addition to tuition payments, I may or may not have been sneakily investigating DPF birthdays lately, and I may or may not have gone on a bit of a zap shopping spree... So please pray for me that no Meg or Esmeralda pins will be released anytime soon!!!)