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eBay payment changes - NO THANKS
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Jan 13, 2021 11:40:18   #
Cookie223 Loc: New Jersey
 
hj wrote:
I've always heard we are not required to divulge our SS# to anyone.


My original SS card actually had “Not for identification” printed on the front, since then, I lost it and had it replaced, the new one had no such wording.

One habit I’ve gotten into, is that I don’t give my phone number, or email at any store. They don’t need it, and I don’t want them to have it.

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Jan 13, 2021 11:48:07   #
alexol
 
I always give my email and phone number when asked, by anyone, no matter whom:

(713) 555 1212 and notachance@aol.com - feel free to contact me at any time...

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Jan 13, 2021 12:09:42   #
Picture Taker Loc: Michigan Thumb
 
Ebay always will make changes in their favor as does every other company (I'm not a fan of Ebay). I would sell my camera stuff in this blog for no charge. You may be taking some risk of being taken (though small) but that is what you are paying the Ebay fee.

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Jan 13, 2021 12:42:41   #
Paul Diamond Loc: Atlanta, GA, USA
 
Longshadow wrote:
The USPS has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with what a company posts on their website....
Whether they have it in stock or not.

(Guess ya gotta blame it on somebody though.)


This is America!?! Level the "playing field" at the very least.

USPS, give small sellers based in the USA the same shipping prices that you give to foreign sellers (who don't pay sales tax or income tax).

Simple solution to the problem, or at least part of it.

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Jan 13, 2021 12:51:24   #
alexol
 
"USPS, give small sellers based in the USA the same shipping prices that you give to foreign sellers" ???


If someone in say, China or Germany or wherever, ships something to the US, the shipper buys their postage IN THAT COUNTRY from that county's postal service, absolutely not from the USPS.

The price of postage from outside the US to the US has almost nothing to do with the USPS.

In fact shipping from the US to other countries is fiercely expensive, much more so that shipping to the US - USPS is not involved.

I recently had to ship an item back and forth to the UK - $46 for me to ship to him, and £27 (roughly $32) to return it to me.

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Jan 13, 2021 12:58:12   #
alexol
 
For anyone interested and hopefully to further the understanding of a number following this thread who clearly have no idea about international trade & pricing, that the US is not the epicenter of the planet, here's a detailed explanation of how the international postal system works. Not my explanation, copied from a gent on reddit. The info is about 6 years old but remains mostly accurate.

***

There's this body called the UPU (Universal Postal Union), of which 192 countries are members (so basically everybody). The UPU is like the UN of postal services; they meet occasionally at a big congress and discuss policy and implementation. The UPU also works closely with the IATA (International Air Transport Association) as most mail moves between countries by air.

If you were shipping from the US to Germany, a tracking number would be generated for your package. It will make its way to one a city with a big international airport, like LA, Chicago, NYC, Miami etc. What happens behind the scenes is very complicated but I'll give you the gist. Your parcel will be "dispatched" to the destination airport, either directly or via a number of intermediate airports. All of this information is transferred electronically to the airline, the destination carrier and any intermediate ports. There need not be any prior notice, direct flight or any kind of clearance; you can dispatch a package anywhere in the world.

Until 1969, there wasn't any compensation between global carriers. It basically worked as a "You take our mail, we'll take yours" system. Of course, there wasn't any electronic data exchange either, so it was difficult to record and keep track of mail flow between countries.

In 1969, the Tokyo congress of the UPU implemented a system called Terminal Dues. This is how the destination country is compensated for its costs of transport and delivery. Although it was originally focussed on correcting imbalances (e.g. there is much more mail volume from the US to Canada than from Canada to the US), it is now focussed on targeting the actual cost of individual mail flows and compensating carriers accordingly (i.e. it is based on actual costs, not the difference in inbound and outbound volume).

Of course, a one-size-fits-all system isn't easy when you're coordinating 192 member nations. UPU members are classified differently based on their developmental status (e.g. LLDC = land-locked developing country); this, mail volume and a shit-tonne of other variables are taken into account when the TD rates are determined.

While the actual rates are not disclosed to the general public, I'd ballpark it at between 0.5 SDR/kg to 5 SDR/kg, with additional charges for registered items, insured items etc. Have you ever wondered how eBay sellers from China can sell you a small trinket for $3 shipped, but it costs you $20 to send the same thing back to China? Well the transport cost would be the same (0.554 SDR/tonne-km), but the terminal dues are wildly different.

Unfortunately, there are many agreements that override the terminal dues system. Although it's the same in principle, two countries that exchange significant mail volume (e.g. the US and Canada) have contracts that determine who pays for what, and how much; this is why in the terminal directory, CAYMQB (CA (Canada) YMQ (Montreal) B, for example) says "May be used only with bilateral agreement with Canada Post". The beauty of the UPU is that two member countries need not have agreements with each other, but mail can still be dispatched between them.

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Jan 13, 2021 14:08:08   #
SteveFranz Loc: Durham, NC
 
TriX wrote:
So, are you saying that because the USPS has low rates compared to FedX or UPS (for both national and international packages) that they are somehow hurting American entrepreneurs (who have to ship products also). Please explain to me how that discriminates against American small business.


What the USPS service does is have lower rates for mail coming in from foreign countries - IE - china. Until they changed their rate structure, you could buy and inexpensive item from a chinese vender and get free shipping. USPS has changed their rate structure for china so chinese companies now have to charge for shipping to the US.

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Jan 13, 2021 14:14:14   #
alexol
 
SteveFranz wrote:
What the USPS service does is have lower rates for mail coming in from foreign countries - IE - china. Until they changed their rate structure, you could buy and inexpensive item from a chinese vender and get free shipping. USPS has changed their rate structure for china so chinese companies now have to charge for shipping to the US.


The USPS has NOTHING to do with the price of shipping from China to the US!!

Please do some research before posting nonsense.

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Jan 13, 2021 14:23:39   #
SteveFranz Loc: Durham, NC
 
alexol wrote:
The USPS has NOTHING to do with the price of shipping from China to the US!!

Please do some research before posting nonsense.


Well, I got that information from a trusted source several years ago. I just now tried a google search to get up-to-date info. But all I could find was info from the USPS regarding outgoing international shipments.

So, pray tell, where would I go to get current valid information?

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Jan 13, 2021 14:27:37   #
alexol
 
Uh, the post immediately above yours.

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Jan 13, 2021 14:36:08   #
hj Loc: Florida
 
Not sure how my original post about an email from eBay regarding their payment processes to the seller ramped over to a majority of responses involving USPS prices and shipping policies.

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Jan 13, 2021 14:43:56   #
alexol
 
Hah;), you're right.

Welcome to Forum Derailment Syndrome!

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Jan 13, 2021 14:45:57   #
dwmoar Loc: Oregon, Willamette Valley
 
alexol wrote:
Has anyone else received this mysterious request for SSN from eBay?

I have active items on eBay at the moment and have received no such request, and no indication of any changes with respect to PayPal.

Sounds like a VERY smelly phish to me, that only one person has received?




What really smells "phishy" is everyone jumping to conclusions. If you are selling on ebay the want your ssn or TIN for tax purposes.

This is what I got the messages on the ebay website itself. There is not "phishy" about the email.


(Download)

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Jan 13, 2021 14:48:26   #
chrissybabe Loc: New Zealand
 
This issue of varying freight charges is interesting. I have bought a number of things to NZ from the US and find the different freight charges (for items of similar size/weight) vary wildly. I do not import anything that has an excessive freight charge from the US (nor Europe by the way). I am happy to pay a reasonable freight charge. A recent example is an item from Europe (where it is made) landed here about NZD150. The same item from their agents in Australia about $90 landed.
I suspect a lot of the excessive freight charges are because the seller is/has not negotiated a good deal with the freight company.
Cheap goods arriving from China to NZ typically take 4-8 weeks and probably arrive on container rather than by air. The annoying thing is there is usually no option to ship via air which would be more expensive but a lot quicker. Items coming like this, including the item, are cheaper than just the cost of sending a similar sized package within NZ.
So the shipping bag, transport to the consolidating yard, transport to NZ (air or sea), sorting within NZ, local delivery within NZ, and operating a reporting system of package location, is still cheaper than sending within NZ.
So somebody somewhere is taking somebody for a ride.

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Jan 13, 2021 15:31:42   #
alexol
 
dwmoar wrote:
What really smells "phishy" is everyone jumping to conclusions. If you are selling on ebay the want your ssn or TIN for tax purposes.

This is what I got the messages on the ebay website itself. There is not "phishy" about the email.


What you show is an email not a statement from the eBay website.

No statement from eBay begins "From: eBay".

Anyway, enough of this for me.

Over and out, boys and girls.

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