Tracking International Shipping

USPS ONLY OFFERS INTERNATIONAL TRACKING WITH THEIR HIGH PRICED "GLOBAL EXPRESS MAIL". THEY DO NOT OFFER IT FOR LOWER COST METHODS. YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO HAND ALL INTERNTIONAL SHIPMENTS TO A POSTAL EMPLOYEE, SO YOU WILL PROBABLY HAVE IT RETURNED TO YOU. SORRY!

Excuse me for all caps! Reply back and let us know what happened.

I did hand it to the carrier, the Post Office said this was okay... as long as I personally gave it to the carrier.

This box was shipped Global Priority, so that is probably why there is no tracking. They shouldn't give tracking numbers if they aren't going to track!!!

Thanks!

I agree they should offer tracking on global priority mail, but alas they dont. I always insure anything going overseas. Right now I am sitting here waiting for an item I sold last night to a lady in England to show up in my sales>transactions so I can purchase insurance. It has been almost twelve hours or more and Auctiva hasnt imported it yet!

Hi Whippet,

You might want to put in a request about your sold item that needs ins. you only have 24 hr to insure it once its paid.

It is taking forever for sold items to show up lately in transactions, so ask Mike in support to add the ins for you from the back end.

Just give him the ebay # and total that needs to be insured.

Thanks Carolelliot for the information! I got tired of waiting and went to U-PIC and bought it myself. I dont have forever to wait on something so easy to be so hard. It cost me .95 cent more, but time is money and I cant sit around waiting and worrying. Its too stressful! maybe next time I will take your advice. Thanks!

Since eBay began offering international shippping through 'My eBay', I've been able to see when my international shipments are delivered. They seem to track it by the customs number. I saw a GPM delivered to Spain in 3 days. I see packages delivered all of the time. Many sellers complain about eBay this and eBay that but I have come to find they offer great tools. Try eBay's shipping through the 'My eBay' and see what happens. Remember you'll need the buyer's telephone number to create a shipping label. Try it and let me know how it turns out.

Good luck!

quote:

Originally posted by Magie Noire:
Try eBay's shipping through the 'My eBay' and see what happens. Remember you'll need the buyer's telephone number to create a shipping label. Try it and let me know how it turns out.

I'm not sure I understand -- through My eBay? Do you mean the "Print Shipping Label" button at the top of closed listings? I had no idea they tracked packages in any way..

I thought the tracking available throught the custom's number stopped at the US border. I'm pretty sure that's what the Post Office told me. Were they wrong?

The post office has no idea what eBay does. All I know is this, you cannot purchase tracking for GPM from the PO. Since eBay began international shipping, I'm able to see when an item arrives. I'm guessing it's from the customs number created. I have no idea how they're doing it. I only know I can see when packages are delivered. Like I said, a watched a package go to Spain in 3 days and when it arrived, I saw it say, delivered.

Yes, I ship through the 'My eBay' page. The integrated shipping they offer. I love it. I've had very few issues with it. I know a lot of sellers hate eBay. Hate eBay's tools and all that. I dunno, I use a lot of eBay tools and I love all of them.

Try the regular integrated shipping through your 'My eBay' page. Make sure you get a telephone number for all of your international buyers. Otherwise, you cannot print out a shipping label. If you ever can't get one, use your own if you have to.

Try it and let me know how it goes.

quote:

Originally posted by Rick Bradford:

quote:

Originally posted by Magie Noire:
Try eBay's shipping through the 'My eBay' and see what happens. Remember you'll need the buyer's telephone number to create a shipping label. Try it and let me know how it turns out.

I'm not sure I understand -- through My eBay? Do you mean the "Print Shipping Label" button at the top of closed listings? I had no idea they tracked packages in any way..

Yes, the print shipping label via eBay.

Where are you looking that says a package is "delivered"? Is there a link I should be able to follow from My eBay?

I do a lot of shipping through eBay (PayPal, actually) as well but I'm confused!

quote:

Originally posted by Rick Bradford:
Where are you looking that says a package is "delivered"? Is there a link I should be able to follow from My eBay?

I do a lot of shipping through eBay (PayPal, actually) as well but I'm confused!

After you ship an item go back into the listing and click onto View shipment status.

Then you should see this,

Shipment # ************************
Shipping label printed on Feb-17-06
US Postal Service Priority Mail
Cost: US $*.** Label Created
Shipping Status:
Label Created | Void

You can click onto the 'Label Created' next to Void or check next to the,

USPS Delivery Confirmation #****************

This is located below the original listing link. Go and look around you should be able to find it. I'm surprised you haven't seen it.

Click onto that and it will tell you when a package is delivered. It's great!

I hope this helps.

I have noticed if you create a shipping label through ebay/paypal you can go to your paypal account and click on check shipment. For whatever reason in paypal it shows up a lot quicker than it does in the ebay "label created" link. It must be like Auctiva, for instance ebay must import it from paypal. You can see it in both places, just a lot quicker in paypal.

Another note...I ship internationally, and most often, I simply leave my phone number in place of the buyers......saves a lot of time and hastle. I've never had a problem while doing that.

quote:

Originally posted by cavaleriesoldaat:
Another note...I ship internationally, and most often, I simply leave my phone number in place of the buyers......saves a lot of time and hastle. I've never had a problem while doing that.

I do the same thing with USPS and UPS. Have done so for months with no problem. I figure if they call me, I can just e-mail the buyer.

quote:

Originally posted by Joe Crane:
I thought the tracking available throught the custom's number stopped at the US border. I'm pretty sure that's what the Post Office told me. Were they wrong?

I was told that the customs number will track when the box goes through US customs and also when the box makes it to the other country's customs. But you have to actually call customs to get that information, you can't just track it online like a normal package.

quote:

Originally posted by cakethings:

quote:

Originally posted by Joe Crane:
I thought the tracking available throught the custom's number stopped at the US border. I'm pretty sure that's what the Post Office told me. Were they wrong?

I was told that the customs number will track when the box goes through US customs and also when the box makes it to the other country's customs. But you have to actually call customs to get that information, you can't just track it online like a normal package.

Go through eBay's shipping next time for an international shipment (GPM) and then check it later.
You might be pleasantly surprised.

Magie, thank you! I can't believe I never noticed that about the shipment tracking at eBay. That's really great!

And, WHIPPET, the "Check Shipment" in PayPal -- as far as I can tell -- is just a link to the USPS tracking page. You then put in your tracking number and get its status.

If you click "check shipment" beside the customers name in paypal, usps page does come up but you dont have to enter the tracking number, it will already know it.

quote:

Originally posted by Magie Noire:
Since eBay began offering international shippping through 'My eBay', I've been able to see when my international shipments are delivered. They seem to track it by the customs number. I saw a GPM delivered to Spain in 3 days. I see packages delivered all of the time. Many sellers complain about eBay this and eBay that but I have come to find they offer great tools. Try eBay's shipping through the 'My eBay' and see what happens. Remember you'll need the buyer's telephone number to create a shipping label. Try it and let me know how it turns out.

Good luck!

Hi Magie,

I had a look at this option for shipping int with ebay/paypal, I already use this for my domestic shipping and I love it. I always take my int packages to the post office and they handle it, but it would be great if I could do it online and have a tracking number.

I would love to use this option for my int shipping, but I didn't see the option to use USPS Air Mail Letter Post ? in there.

My items are small and never go over the 4lb limit, so Air letter post is ideal for me for int shipping. Do you know if ebay/paypal offers air letter post ? am I missing the link ?

I only saw 3 options to ship int, none of which I use.

Thanks, Carol.

quote:

Originally posted by carolelliott:

quote:

Originally posted by Magie Noire:
Since eBay began offering international shippping through 'My eBay', I've been able to see when my international shipments are delivered. They seem to track it by the customs number. I saw a GPM delivered to Spain in 3 days. I see packages delivered all of the time. Many sellers complain about eBay this and eBay that but I have come to find they offer great tools. Try eBay's shipping through the 'My eBay' and see what happens. Remember you'll need the buyer's telephone number to create a shipping label. Try it and let me know how it turns out.

Good luck!

Hi Magie,

I had a look at this option for shipping int with ebay/paypal, I already use this for my domestic shipping and I love it. I always take my int packages to the post office and they handle it, but it would be great if I could do it online and have a tracking number.

I would love to use this option for my int shipping, but I didn't see the option to use USPS Air Mail Letter Post ? in there.

My items are small and never go over the 4lb limit, so Air letter post is ideal for me for int shipping. Do you know if ebay/paypal offers air letter post ? am I missing the link ?

I only saw 3 options to ship int, none of which I use.

Thanks, Carol.

I'm sorry, I only use Global and Express mail. Unless it ships to a country that USPS won't ship GPM/EPM. Then I charge an additional $3.00. I have yet to use Airmail. I prefer the GPM/EPM because the supplies are free, they arrive fast and they don't cost that much more. Check GPM out, you might be surprised.

I'm sure eBay knows, check their live help.

Let me know how it turns out.