Selling Globally With eBay's New International Shipping Program

eBay wants to make it easier for sellers to ship internationally. Why? Because it will mean more sales and higher bids. Up until now sellers like you and me pretty much had to figure out all the ins and outs of international shipping on our own. This meant added time in filling out customs declarations and figuring out which shipping options were best and how to track them. Another downside is that the higher shipping fees would get calculated into the sellers FVF. Even though you can get more sales with international shipping many sellers just gave up on the idea altogether. According to ecommercebytes.com eBay has announced  plans to expand it's Global Shipping Program which aims to simplify international orders.

How does eBay's GSP work?

Everyday millions of items are bought and sold on eBay and each and everyone must be packaged and shipped to it's destination. Realizing the power behind the massive volume of shipments eBay struck a deal with international carriers.  eBay provides them with lots of shipments and they provide eBay discounted international rates.  Everybody wins including the sellers. Instead of shipping globally all by your self you now have a partner in eBay itself. So instead of shipping to China for example you just ship your item to an eBay shipping center in the US and they handle the rest. If the item makes it there as shown on a tracking number then you've done your part and won't be held liable for lost international packages.  The FVF will only be based on the sale price plus shipping to the eBay center.

Enabling eBay's GSP

1. Go to My eBay


2. Mouse over Account and click on site preferences


3. Under shipping preferences click show


4. Under Offer Global Shipping Program click edit


5. Click Join Now!

You are now part of the GSP program however you can still choose which individual listings you want to feature GSP shipping.

Setting Up GSP for items

1. Create your listing as you normally would.


2. Under Country of manufacture enter where the product was made (if known)


3. Under the International Shipping section check the box Global Shipping Program

If the Global Shipping Program check box isn't showing up then that means that the category you're selling in doesn't have this feature enabled (the item isn't eligible for the program).

Other things to remember about eBay GSP

• Even if you have eBay GSP enabled for an item you can still offer your own additional international shipping options.


• Items that weigh over 66 lbs can't be shipped with GSP.


• You can still exclude countries that you'll ship to by changing your site preferences. Read here for more info.


• Not every country is eligible for this program for a complete list check here.


• Please don't send any of these items!

I'd love to hear any one's experiences with this new shipping program. Sounds like a good move so far on eBay's part to help boost sales and simplify things for buyers. We'll have to see how it works out in the long run though.