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Yes the book was bought from Ebay Germany and the binding currency was the seller's one. Prices in € were given as an indication. The transaction was made in £. I received a written confirmation for that. PP asked if they should convert the amount in €, I decided no as I noticed the bad exchange rate so I opted for charging my MasterCard in £. My MC would charge me the int'l exchange rate at the day of transaction and my bank  1.5%. PP wants to have 4,5% here....To quote one of the eBay service persons: the "PP exchange rates sometimes hurt". She was right! To sumarize the whole story:  as a customer, I want to be able to buy without stress and in confidence that I will be charged the due amount and not subjected to fancy conditions that change after I buy an item! ... View more

Hi,   well I have read all conditions applicable to purchases in the UK and as much as I could take on the GSP. I guess I understand the purpose and how it works. In the first instance, it is meaningful for customers living in different areas from the customs point of view. Not the case in old Europe.  However I can hardly believe that a book from a seller in Belfast is sent to Kentucky, USA. Pitney Bowes has an operation center in the UK and the seller had paid 3,90£ to send the item to the handling centre in the UK. That would be nonsense imho to export a book to the USA and reimport it to Germany. Basically GSP is within the single EU market completely useless. It makes the whole process last longer and be more expensive. The only ones profting from the GSP are Pitney Bowes. In addition, imposing a shipment company contravenes the EU rule of the free choice of a service provider (we are liberal here!!!)   Whether the implemetation is legal is another story.  If I had agreed with the process and was informed of all details beforehand that would be fine. But I had paid one lump sum supposedly to the seller (12,42£) for delivering the book from Belfast to Munich. It was afterwards clear that there was a third party acting without my agreement and shipping the item from Pitney Bowes UK to Munich. I didn't either have an extra invoice from Pitney Bowes nor was I able to see the amount to be paid to PB and/or the seller. That is simply unlawful. Moreover, I would have never (I mean it) never agreed that a third party touches and repackages such a valuable item. I would have preferred to pay twice as much shipment costs and have it sent directly to me. In fine Paypal ,UK were infinitely more polite and helpful than ebay/paypal Germany and proposed to refund the extra fees I had paid due to a mistake made by Paypal. That is fair and I say thanks. I now hope to receive the book in good condition. Have a nice day and thanks for the contributions! ... View more

Good morning!   To answer you question: I bought an item from a seller located in Belfast, UK and the transaction was made over the German eBay platform and should have been paid ny charging my credit card in £. This is a transaction within the EU customsfree market. No need to pay customs or have your item cleared by any custom authority. Therefore GSP is in this case completely useless. Moreover it puts my valuable book at danger because it was carefully packaged by the seller and Pitney Bowes repackages it after checking the content of the parcel. What a nonsense! Illegal !  I hope my book (the GSP item) didn't travel to Kentucky, US but you never know.  And it is correct my credit card account shows two transactions both to Paypal, but one for the seller, one for Pitney Bowes. First I wasn't told the payment would be split and there is the problem that both amounts are wrong (you guess too high) because Paypal made the conversion between £ and€ although they were told to charge me in £. Paypal charged additional undisclosed fees. In addition, the separate payment to Piney Bowes is illegal -at least according to German law - because Pitney Bowey is in contract with eBay and/or the seller not with me. I will ask my credit card to refund the transaction to Pitney Bowes anyway. ... View more

Yes, you are right. That is what many recommend, not to buy from GSP sellers. BTW the book I bought was in the UK not US, therfore no customs to Germany, by all means. Thus GSP is here completely useless. And yes you need a special clearance to open a mail item (parcel, letter or whatsoever), for instance custom or police officer or 30 years ago the STASI in east Germany or James Bond..... I knoww this rule applies in FR, DE and NL. I guess in the UK too. Therefore eBay has got it all wrong with the GSP. If they don't give me back the money they have ripped off, I'll start a crusade. I have a mantra: If you do nothing you have already lost. Therefore I do something and you will not believe it; I never lose my time! ... View more

Hi guys,   free speach is in the ECHR (European Chart of Human Right). And I love it how some people here use their free speach to defend the not defendable methods of eBay. GSP is illegal in Europe, contravenses a bunch of applicable laws, at both EU and national level.  In addition it is a criminal offense to open mail, be it a parcel, if you are not the receiver of the parcel. The way eBay charges you for the "service" is also illegal as Pitney Bowes is a third-party contractor of eBay not of yours (read the GSP conditions it is written black on white) . eBay tries to justify the GSP with "easier customs clearance". Come on guys. Stop believing all your customers are idiots. There is no need the clear customs between UK and Germany, nevertheless Pitney Bowes is active on that destination . Just a rip off. Nothing else..... This is how the dream team eBay / Paypal work, they make easiest things complex to charge more to solve the problems they have created and wash their hand as soon as there is a real problem.       ... View more