eBay Global Shipping Program items being destroyed / re-sold (update)

[Speedy_NES | 102]

Update:

So, it appears that eBay's Global Shipping Program can reject forwarding of a package and then either destroy or resell the items in question (while giving a full refund to the buyer). This is, of course, a nightmare for rare collectibles where we care more about the item than its market value.

Apparently, in my case, it was due to the alcohol in cleaning kits, but it is odd that it happened for two packages within 24 hours, when I have used their GSP service for many cleaning kit orders in the past years without any issues.

 

Here's the message that I received together with a full refund from eBay (not the seller):

"We are writing to inform you that your recent purchase through the Global Shipping Program from XXX cannot be completed.

The item in question has been deemed restricted. This could be due to import/shipping restrictions or eligibility requirements within the Global Shipping Program. The item will not be shipped to you nor returned to your seller.

Don’t worry! Your full refund will be processed back to the original payment method within 72 hours. You may notice two separate refunds; a refund for the item and a refund for the shipping and import costs. No further action is needed."

 

Anyone else receiving similar refunds?

Edited April 22, 2020 by Speedy_NES

[A_Feisty_Pickle | 244]

I've had 3 GSP sales past couple weeks. Canada, Australia, Germany. Haven't had any issues personally. May be country specific. Was your item just a video game? It'd be weird if that was considered restricted. What was the approx item value? I would think maybe they'd refund if it was cheap, but if it were more expensive they would ship back to the seller... hopefully.

[Speedy_NES | 102]

I agree with your thoughts -- item in question was a cheap (but unfortunately rare) variant of a third party cleaning kit ($39), bound for Belgium. Hopefully they do indeed return goods of a higher monetary value. Tried to reach eBay and PayPal, but both have closed their customer support due to covid-19.

I should clarify that none of the packages from the last 7 weeks have arrived in Belgium. I generally ship things with eBay's GSP to Germany (lower shipping cost/customs fee), but due to border closings and being stuck in Belgium now, the last dozen GSP packages were shipped to either Belgium or the Netherlands. From the packages that were still bound for Germany, half have been delivered so far, the others are all at the same tracking state just before the state from the refunded package above. Same for all GSP packages bound for Belgium and the Netherlands (and all US non-GSP packages bound for Belgium), which don't seem to have left the US. Will post an update if they make if through okay.

The issue with Belgian inbound mail may be linked to the decision from the Belgian postal service Bpost to cancel their non-EU outbound service. For instance, Canada Post cancelled their outbound service specifically for Belgium, but not most other destinations in Europe.

A random thought; maybe the item in question was considered 'restricted' due to the cleaning solution included in the package? (if there has been an order to restrict export of face masks/cleaning materials). Time will tell -- will post an update re: the other GSP packages inbound.

 

[OptOut | 8,881]

Hmmm...

I wouldn't trust any kind of international transaction just at present, I have a feeling the whole worldwide postage system is buckling right now. I'm keeping all my purchasing domestic for the time being, just to be on the safe side.

This whole virus thing is getting worse and worse, I'm starting to wonder how we're ever actually going to meaningfully bounce back from this... 

[ThePhleo | 2,184]

3 hours ago, OptOut said:

Hmmm...

I wouldn't trust any kind of international transaction just at present, I have a feeling the whole worldwide postage system is buckling right now. I'm keeping all my purchasing domestic for the time being, just to be on the safe side.

This whole virus thing is getting worse and worse, I'm starting to wonder how we're ever actually going to meaningfully bounce back from this... 

This too will pass.

It will take time, and it will not be fast, but this will pass.

I cancelled all bids on international items I bid on RIGHT before this Covid thing took over the world. Shame too because there are some Sachen original cover art games sitting on eBay Italy right now that I’ve been looking for YEARS for and I refuse to jeopardize my health or have those precious rarities get lost damaged or destroyed in shipping

[fcgamer | 4,719]

@ThePhleo : I don't think you need to be concerned about jeopardizing your health regarding these, though the main concern definitely would be whether the parcel gets lost in the mail or not.

Right before things really kicked off, I completed a deal with a guy in Africa for a rarity, I think it was sent by boat which may be my saving grace here, but I honestly don't know if it will ever turn up or not.

[Speedy_NES | 102]

Yeah, my optimism probably got the best of me. I went on a buying spree instead while being stuck in home office lockdown.

Same issue as above just happened for a second, much more substantial package, the one package I was hoping this wouldn't happen to as there's items in there that have only surfaced once or twice in the last 15 years. Sincerely hope these items don't disappear forever.

Does anyone know of a contact number of an eBay or PayPal rep that works currently? Their default numbers are down / customer support 'closed due to covid'.

@ThePhleo I know which two you're talking about -- I'd be happy to be the middle man to get these to you? You can have them shipped to me, and then I'll forward whenever you feel is a good time. I received two packages from Italy this past week with no problems -- both within 1 week from shipment. FWIW, all packages I've shipped from the Netherlands to the US in the past month also arrived within 1-3 weeks according to delivery confirmations, so NL-US shipment seems fine (for now).

 

 

[broncofantd793 | 138]

I wasn't paying attention and won an auction from Israel.  The tracking has been slow, but it says the item is now in New York.  It might be location dependent, and sadly, a bit of luck as well.

[GPX | 1,369]

Interesting how they choose to refund and not hold onto it for longer to then ship at an appropriate time. Seems plausible that there are not enough workers to meet the current shipping demands, likely some of them were either infected or were contacts who have to be isolated/quarantined.

What would be important to know is what are they doing to these packages? And are they being selective in what they’re not sending or is it a general decision within a certain Covid19 period?

[Speedy_NES | 102]

Small update on the above.

 

First, did some digging and found the following re: what supposedly happens with items that are not forwarded by eBay's GSP:

https://www.ecommercebytes.com/C/blog/blog.pl?/pl/2014/2/1392120162.html

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Archive-Shipping-Returns/Undeliverable-and-Where-did-the-refund-go-if-I-don-t-have-a/td-p/22474207

 

Second, seller and I got hold of people at eBay/Pitney Bowes regarding the more substantial order (package #2), but getting mixed answers. One person claims items will be liquidated and are not recoverable, other person claims one item was destroyed and the rest are forwarded to buyer (but I received a full refund, so that seems unlikely). Tracking on package #1 says undeliverable, whereas tracking on package #2 does say shipped to international destination + Belgian national postal service Bpost has received a tracking number / details of package weight etc. So, it may actually be on its way minus one item despite the larger refund. Time will tell.

Supposedly, the culprit was the alcohol in the cleaning kit (package #2 also had a cleaning kit as part of the order). It may be a restriction for Belgium only, as I received 4 other orders with cleaning kits shipped with eBay's GSP to Germany in the last month or two, and have received many cleaning kits with eBay's GSP in the past without any issues.

[ThePhleo | 2,184]

On 4/22/2020 at 8:06 AM, Speedy_NES said:

Yeah, my optimism probably got the best of me. I went on a buying spree instead while being stuck in home office lockdown.

Same issue as above just happened for a second, much more substantial package, the one package I was hoping this wouldn't happen to as there's items in there that have only surfaced once or twice in the last 15 years. Sincerely hope these items don't disappear forever.

Does anyone know of a contact number of an eBay or PayPal rep that works currently? Their default numbers are down / customer support 'closed due to covid'.

@ThePhleo I know which two you're talking about -- I'd be happy to be the middle man to get these to you? You can have them shipped to me, and then I'll forward whenever you feel is a good time. I received two packages from Italy this past week with no problems -- both within 1 week from shipment. FWIW, all packages I've shipped from the Netherlands to the US in the past month also arrived within 1-3 weeks according to delivery confirmations, so NL-US shipment seems fine (for now).

I’m holding off on major purchases for the foreseeable future and may begin selling some stuff off that I could replace. But I’d gladly take you up on your offer if things get back to normal soon!

I might begin selling valuables that can be replaced too. Things that are impossible to find though, I’m holding with an iron fist (like that Supergun 3-in-1 you sold to me! I think it’s the rarest unlicensed game in the NES library that isn’t a “rare variant” game) 

[Speedy_NES | 102]

3 hours ago, ThePhleo said:

I’m holding off on major purchases for the foreseeable future and may begin selling some stuff off that I could replace. But I’d gladly take you up on your offer if things get back to normal soon!

I might begin selling valuables that can be replaced too. Things that are impossible to find though, I’m holding with an iron fist (like that Supergun 3-in-1 you sold to me! I think it’s the rarest unlicensed game in the NES library that isn’t a “rare variant” game) 

I am glad that the Supergun is in good hands! Sorry to hear that you may have some sell some replaceable items soon, but like you said above -- this, too, will pass.

Always happy to help out with forwarding if an opportunity arises where you need it in the future.

[Code Monkey | 2,005]

Did you declare it as dangerous goods? You can't just throw alcohol in the mail and send it, there are certain requirements you need to follow and it's up to you to know them.

[TDIRunner | 2,727]

1 hour ago, Code Monkey said:

Did you declare it as dangerous goods? You can't just throw alcohol in the mail and send it, there are certain requirements you need to follow and it's up to you to know them.

That's actually the responsibility of the seller, not the buyer.   

[Code Monkey | 2,005]

17 hours ago, TDIRunner said:

That's actually the responsibility of the seller, not the buyer.   

Oh, I thought this guy was the seller. I just read his post again and it makes more sense.

[Speedy_NES | 102]

Small update. The more substantial package thankfully arrived minus one item; lots of back-and-forth with eBay's GSP until they assured that the remaining items would be forwarded to the buyer (me).

Here's a picture of what was on the verge of disappearing. All NES. Everything minus the rental case top-right, and the Sachen games were included in this package. I added the other stuff as they arrived on the same day, and I know that @ThePhleo would appreciate the first-print Sachen games.  

All of these accessories minus two are actually rare(r) variants. The seemingly common QuickShot Joypad is one of the rarest variants. Very happy that these have not been lost forever.

[ThePhleo | 2,184]

1 hour ago, Speedy_NES said:

Small update. The more substantial package thankfully arrived minus one item; lots of back-and-forth with eBay's GSP until they assured that the remaining items would be forwarded to the buyer (me).

Here's a picture of what was on the verge of disappearing. All NES. Everything minus the rental case top-right, and the Sachen games were included in this package. I added the other stuff as they arrived on the same day, and I know that @ThePhleo would appreciate the first-print Sachen games.  

All of these accessories minus two are actually rare(r) variants. The seemingly common QuickShot Joypad is one of the rarest variants. Very happy that these have not been lost forever.

 

Wow, what a package, you even have the NES sack in there too! It must have taken a lot of balls to get that shipped during this pandemic crisis. I'm seeing a lot of junk in there too though, so maybe you didn't have *too* much to be worried about, some of the boxes are crushed and maybe bulging out there too. Still, if these would have been lost forever I'd imagine you'd be in quite a pickle.

...

Penis.

(Sell the Sachens to me when you're done staring at them, because lord knows no one has any business playing them except PoPo Team, and Super Pang... ... ... and Hell Fighter)

Edited May 5, 2020 by ThePhleo

[Speedy_NES | 102]

18 hours ago, ThePhleo said:

 

Wow, what a package, you even have the NES sack in there too! It must have taken a lot of balls to get that shipped during this pandemic crisis. I'm seeing a lot of junk in there too though, so maybe you didn't have *too* much to be worried about, some of the boxes are crushed and maybe bulging out there too. Still, if these would have been lost forever I'd imagine you'd be in quite a pickle.

...

Penis.

(Sell the Sachens to me when you're done staring at them, because lord knows no one has any business playing them except PoPo Team, and Super Pang... ... ... and Hell Fighter)

Whatever gets the creative juices flowing 

Re: those first-print Sachens in Italy; the seller shill-bid his own auction-style listings for those games a few weeks ago up to less than 1/3rd of his current BIN prices, so I doubt they'll be going anywhere anytime soon.

Sidewinder in the pic may actually be a double; I need to cross-check the cartridge type etc, but it will go into the trade pile if it's not a variant. I'll let you know if it does.

I'm still so relieved that this package arrived in good order. Some of the veteran collectors on here may recognize that most, if not all, of the accessories originate from NA Jaredk's old collection, which he had sold around 10 years ago IIRC.

P.S. On the whole prohibited items w.r.t. international shipping; it's interesting that a contact cleaner pen was removed for its isopropynol solution, yet there were 7 other cleaning kits in the package with the same solution left untouched.

[ThePhleo | 2,184]

1 hour ago, Speedy_NES said:

Whatever gets the creative juices flowing 

Re: those first-print Sachens in Italy; the seller shill-bid his own auction-style listings for those games a few weeks ago up to less than 1/3rd of his current BIN prices, so I doubt they'll be going anywhere anytime soon.

Sidewinder in the pic may actually be a double; I need to cross-check the cartridge type etc, but it will go into the trade pile if it's not a variant. I'll let you know if it does.

I'm still so relieved that this package arrived in good order. Some of the veteran collectors on here may recognize that most, if not all, of the accessories originate from NA Jaredk's old collection, which he had sold around 10 years ago IIRC.

P.S. On the whole prohibited items w.r.t. international shipping; it's interesting that a contact cleaner pen was removed for its isopropynol solution, yet there were 7 other cleaning kits in the package with the same solution left untouched.

I noticed that about the seller.

The seller realizes that his items are rare, and are expensive if more than one person wants them.

But at the current time...two people just don’t want to get in a bidding war over them. I think most of us dozen or so active Sachen guys are on this very forum.

[Speedy_NES | 102]

The item from the first package has been relisted by a different eBay seller, which must be related to the company linked to earlier in this thread (apparently, they change eBay selling account from time to time).

For reference, here is the seller, in case anyone has a package rejected by eBay's GSP in the near future:

https://www.ebay.com/fdbk/feedback_profile/8ten1944?filter=feedback_page:All