After long-term research, eBay found that the problems that buyers are most worried about when shopping overseas are shipping failure, lost items, damaged couriers, unstable shipping, and untraceable packages. These problems will affect buyers’ second purchase. In order to help sellers maintain their continued competitiveness in the eBay market, all international cargo packages on eBay must use any of the following logistics solutions in eBay’s policies:
(1) “International e-Post” or “E-Express” service;
(2) China Post Express EMS service;
(3) Commercial express services provided by UPS, FedEx, DHL, and TNT;
(4) Overseas warehousing services that can provide cargo tracking from shipment to delivery for packages bound for the United States.
However, the following products are not subject to eBay’s international logistics program policy restrictions:
(1) Products that use overseas warehouses (limited to US warehouses) and are located in the United States (please comply with the correct product location policy);
(2) Products that are listed in designated categories and cannot be shipped by air;
(3) Products whose account ratings meet or exceed the US site seller standards (standard sellers & above-standard sellers) and whose product prices (including logistics fees) do not exceed US$5;
(4) eBay will provide policy protection for sellers who use international e-mail. For details, please refer to the International e-mail support plan in Seller Protection.
Sellers may charge buyers reasonable shipping and handling fees to cover the costs of mailing, packaging and handling the goods sold. eBay does not set a specific amount for shipping and handling fees, but will determine whether the shipping, handling, packaging and insurance fees charged by the seller are too high based on user reports and eBay’s judgment. Shipping and handling fees are not included in the final transaction price of the goods. In addition to the final transaction price, sellers may charge the following fees:
(1) Actual shipping costs;
(2) Handling fees: Actual packaging costs may be charged
(3) Insurance: Sellers who provide insurance may only charge the actual insurance costs;
(4) Taxes: Only actual taxes incurred and applicable may be charged. For cross-border transactions, sellers cannot charge customs duties, and buyers may be responsible for paying actual customs duties incurred and applicable as required by the laws of the relevant country or region.
In addition to these, sellers may not charge additional fees, such as “self-insurance”. Sellers cannot require buyers to purchase insurance if they have not selected a licensed third-party insurance company, as this practice is illegal.