"I gotta ask" Topic

All over ebay I see listings for decal sheets where the item is 0.99 GBP but shipping is like 17.00 GBP. Are stamps and envelopes no longer a thing in the UK?

eBay, Paypal, and I suspect others require "proof of delivery", not that even that is reliable, in order to keep buyers from being able to file claims for refunds when items don't arrive, are damaged, etc..

My guess is many shippers don't want to take the chance of people filing a claim, and the shipper being out both the money, AND their products, as well as the shipping charges too.

I imagine some may be willing to take a chance on small, low-cost, lightweight items, like decals, and to self-insure them, by adding a little more to the cost of their products in order make up for any claims.

Tracked & signed delivery for a standard letter to the USA costs £6.85 GBP, £1.00 GBP more if it is over 20g.

That includes up to £50.00 GBP compensation for loss. It is however a massive pain to claim compo from the Royal Mail.

My guess is that some of the extra is for the Paypal/E-bay fees.

Alternatively it may be just a simple way of saying that they can't be bothered posting to overseas.

Also, sellers are lazy when selecting shipping options.

I rarely use eBay for international purchases because of the swing towards the Global Shipping Program/Scam. The GSP shipping costs are a joke and delivery takes twice as long.

We've had this on our listings and it's usually the Global Shipping Programme at fault. On our eBay listings we don't ship decals to the States as we're a European stockist for I-94, but eBay keeps allowing US/Canadian customers to buy the decals anyway, but charges them a ridiculous amount of money.

We could ship them for £5.00 GBP without tracking, but eBay wants to charge folks £20.00 GBP+ for shipping a small letter to North America.

>>and delivery takes twice as long.

Or more in fact. Lil ol' poor USPS order from GHQ took a month to reach DFW, went to Japan (like errr, somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, West of CA anyway…)

and arrived after 9 days mystery tour in NZ. Missed my deadline by 4 weeks (ordered 10mar- latest ok 28mar)… still sitting at the box now.
I have another order from a dealer in MA (after swearing to stop buying from US), so lets see how this one goes…

EBay? Only when I already deal with the seller.
cheers d

Ummmm, sorry no this isn't just happening on Ebay. This is a national problem the UK is experiencing. I really wish people would stop sugar coating it with explanations that always make it seem "rogue" or isolated or like a "glitch" or "hiccup."

Nonsense. I've been on a dozen UK miniatures sites over the past few weeks. All of their shipping charges have gone crazy.

I'm planning on buying some stuff from Oathsworn Miniatures. I added 7 miniatures to their shopping cart, which all told weigh MAYBE 8 ounces if that?

Oathsworn is charging 20 GPB for 8 ounces. That's over $20.00 USD U.S. For a box the size of deck of cards.

Please do not tell me this is because of online ordering hiccups or technical glitches with insurance or proof of delivery, etc.

This is going to put a lot of UK businesses out of businesses, particularly smaller businesses. This is not a small matter.