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I have Purchased an old used Tamiya Vanquish on ebay.

The car is from USA, I am in the UK.

The seller had the Global Postage program on his listing for delivery to the UK.

I payed for the item with postage then paid an extra for the Global Postage Program "GPP"

Ebay information lists it as, paying for customs etc, so you don't get stung when it enters the country.

Car was sent from seller to a warehouse in the Usa, (sellers tracking information ends here)

Where it was opened, checked the completely repacked.

Then was sent on, (new tracking number to get it to the UK)

Once it arrived in the UK a 3rd tracking number is generated by the local delivery company.

I must admit I was a bit dubious of whether I would still get hit by customs fees.

But my package got to me with no hold ups this end.

Only issue I have, is that when they repacked it, they lost one of the rear dog-bones (driveshaft)

Luckily I have spares, so not a life death problem.

I thought I should warn everyone that when using ebays GPP, your item will get unpacked, checked and repacked, so if you have small loose items, be Very careful.

Because the parcel was sent to a Usa warehouse then to me.

Being sent to 2 places, in my mind it has doubled my delivery time.

Any one else used this new GPP ?

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I sold a car to a buyer in a country you normally avoid because of shipping issues and it went perfect. As a seller it's a good deal but the warning is probably better to be directed to the original packager. Make sure loose pieces are secured in some way, especially if they're small.

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It helps people understand the full price delivered, but I'd still rather have the option to opt out of GPP and chance the fees on arrival. Even if one in ten items escaped fees it's a worthwhile saving.

The GPP actually puts me off bidding on US based items these days.

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It helps people understand the full price delivered, but I'd still rather have the option to opt out of GPP and chance the fees on arrival. Even if one in ten items escaped fees it's a worthwhile saving.

The GPP actually puts me off bidding on US based items these days.

I won't buy items with the GPP system as it is just guaranteeing the customs money is paid . The final payment isn't actually known by the buyer until you come to checkout as it is based on the winning bid value - a bit like an open cheque as it were . The customs charges seem to be massively high too - even on small items

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EBAY have absolutely no business sticking their noses in the import and shipping costs of goods sold,all items sent via this GSP nonsense arrive at a depot in Kentucky where all the original packaging no matter how carefully wrapped is discarded,i wonder how many small precious items have already been lost while goods are inspected by god knows who and then repackaged in another box?

You are charged a ridiculous amount on low value goods which are exempt from a toll and i have heard of people being charged anyway at the country of destination.If you have to buy from the states i suggest you use a re-ship agent as i do,sometimes i get a customs charge and sometimes i do not,it's roughly fifty fifty.

I suggest anyone considering buying something from the States watch this video first.

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Well , for me this video just about nails it all .What is the point of introducing a GPP system that (in this video) basically overides the sellers careful attention to safe / secure packaging of the item / items and then totally bodges up the re-packing to end up with written off item / items and then passes the buck back to the seller !! - leaving the buyer and the seller to 'slug it out' as it were until one or the other gives up , PBI & eBay wash their hands of it and reap the profits - and what profits they are too !! .The bit that got me was the guy in the video being told to 'find a seller that isn't in the GPP' - how's that for confirming that the GPP is nothing more than a useless rip-off .In the end I see that the GPP will take over as the 'only' shipping method available , thus cutting off a lot of overseas / UK buying / selling :angry: .I've enjoyed many years of searching for parts , only to find most of the in the USA .In the past this has not been a problem as shipping was straight foreward and reasonably priced - not a problem , but now I see the buying / selling road ahead very rocky due to this 'global' menace

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The solution is quite simple . When buying from the USA ask a friendly USA based TC member to take delivery for you and to forward it on as a 'gift ' . Second hand goods with no retail value ;) . Pay your friend via Paypal gift to cover his repacking and postage costs obviously .

i'am not claiming this is fool proof but it is legal as the goods ARE second hand having passed through a third party's hands so they should be tax exempt .

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The solution is quite simple . When buying from the USA ask a friendly USA based TC member to take delivery for you and to forward it on as a 'gift ' . Second hand goods with no retail value ;) . Pay your friend via Paypal gift to cover his repacking and postage costs obviously .

i'am not claiming this is fool proof but it is legal as the goods ARE second hand having passed through a third party's hands so they should be tax exempt .

I have a friend in the US whose mail adress is now linked to my paypal acount, he sends me items that I win. (I found this was possible when buying a gift for him on ebay on my account and shipping it directly to him), this allows me to avoid GPP as well as bid on items in the US that don't offer international shipping (Australia in my case)

This means I don't have to rely on a third person to bid or buy on my behalf

We have no duties on items under $ 1000, so that is not an issue, but the prohibitive shipping costs on ebay make this option a good one for me

I guess I am lucky to have someone who will do this, for how long who knows

There are also companies that offer US mailboxes for hire, they will then on-ship to you. Not needed to try this service yet, but it is an option

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I unfortunately do not have any friends or contacts in the states so i use Re-ship, http://reship.com/Default.aspx ,i have used them quite a few times and they are pretty good,they will hold goods free of charge for a month,will remove invoices and will consolidate packages at your request,of course these extra services bump the price up a few dollars every time.I once had a small problem and the customer service was extremely quick and helpfull and it was sorted it in no time.You are given your own P.O Box address in Portland,Oregon which you just add to your EBAY postal addresses.

I can see alot more people having to use these shipping agents in the future unless EBAY come to their senses and give up on this money making scam they have embarked on,do they think we are all stupid???

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I just don't buy anything in the US anymore because its the only point of origin for which i get customs charged in Belgium. Never happens with any other point of origin.

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I bought two items from the US (TurboGrafx-16 videogames) last year that went through Ebay's Global Postage Program last year. Both arrived in good condition. Well, for future purchases I'll see if I'm able to get around GPP just to be on the safe side. Many thanks for the warning.

What also bothers me is the fact that you can't see the added amount for GPP fees before you purchase the product. Only afterwards, when going through the payment procedure, you're presented to the total amount.

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The really strange and most unsettling thing about this is that this Pitney Bowes company is actually allowed to open up peoples parcels,inspect them and repackage them,surely this is illegal? A parcel should not be opened up by anyone else but an official customs officer on it's route between sender and receiver. EBAY probably have it all covered in the small print that once you are part of the GSP program they can do whatever the badword they want with your parcel and you can do nothing about it.Of course no one reads the small print and American Ebayers are automatically signed up for this program and you have to opt out manually,which is probably easier said than done.

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I have just purchased an item from the US via ebay.

If you sign in 'my ebay' via dot com and not co UK,there is an 'add to cart' option (only on buy it now though) which gives total breakdown costs for shipping and import duty before you commit to buy.

Didnt have a clue that it is going to be unpacked by a third party though! Thats wrong.

What is the incentive for sellers to want to stay signed up to this??

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I'm in the US and sold one expensive kit to a guy in the UK using the global shipping program. It took a long long time to get to him. I sold another kit several days later to a guy in Hong Kong and it got to him over a week earlier than the earlier shipped kit to the UK.

I did not know eBay opens and repacks the stuff. I stopped using the global shipping program and shipped directly to the winner and filled out the custom forms.

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On a similar subject I have purchased a trf801xt on eBay from USA. Seller agreed to mark value at $100 which in theory is correct as you could buy them from tamiya USA for that. I have been tracking it and it's taken a week and a half to go through sort facility and customs in the USA. There is a now a note on tracking saying payment of charges, item being held and addressee notified!

I fear money is wanted and it hasn't even left the country yet!

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I am in NZ and the Global Payment appears to me to be a complete rip off for me as a purchaser. I am fortunate that I also had a fellow TC member that I would get to receive items from time to time but have since moved to a re shipping service run by our postal system here in NZ which offers the service in USA, UK and China and for a small fee ($12NZ) they will receive and ship on plus postage of course. I felt guilty and it was going to end up being a regular occurrence. You get discounts for multiple parcels and they have commenced a consolidation service where they will combine packages. I just need to be very careful when I purchase things on EBAY to make sure I select the correct address. A lot of things in the US are shipped for free within the US so I know I am getting a much better deal using this service. We don't pay any tax on items up to $400NZ. They do,open items to check but their re packing has been excellent. I still get some stuff sent direct from sellers not using the global payment service but also do a check with my service to see what is cheaper especially if I know I have packages due at the same time at re shipping agent.

Ebay - love em and hate em eh!

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Here's a situation I didn't think was possible but, I purchased a 1:1 car part from the states and used GPP,thinking job done.I recieved an email off ebay a week later saying that my dispute had been successful and PayPal refunded me.I didn't instigate a dispute,so contacted the seller,who said he also didn't. After phoning ebay uk, PayPal, ebay usa I was still none the wiser. After a couple of weeks of contact, I find that the customs depot the item went through thought it was too big so " liquidated " it to recover losses and refunded me my money!

So you are not even guaranteed your purchased item will even reach you!

I know RC parts are going to be smaller,but I didn't think they had the right to sell items that are not theirs to sell.

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