EcommerceBytes-NewsFlash, Number 3101 - July 04, 2013 1 of 4 
eBay Expands Global Shipping Program to Germany, Austria
By Ina Steiner
eBay is expanding its Global Shipping Program to two additional countries in Europe. As of the week of July 15, U.S. orders going to Germany and Austria will qualify for the Global Shipping Program.
The addition of the two countries will bring the current list to 36 countries, including Australia, UK, Canada, France, Sweden, Belgium, France, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland Spain, South Africa, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Thailand, South Korea, Taiwan and Indonesia
The Global Shipping Program is designed to make it easier for sellers to ship internationally - they ship their packages to a Pitney Bowes shipping center in the U.S. and are only responsible for the domestic leg of shipping. Pitney Bowes processes and sends the items to the international buyer.
As eBay explains to sellers, "once your item arrives at the designated US shipping center, the Global Shipping Program takes care of ALL facets of international processing, including: Completion of customs forms; Remitting applicable import charges pre-paid by your buyer; and Shipping the package to the buyer with end-to-end international tracking."
The service has received mixed reviews - one seller explained her experience with the program on the Letters to the Editor blog.
The program is also designed to make the costs to international buyers more transparent, "so they won't be surprised by additional taxes or duties when the item arrives," eBay explains.
This December 2012 EcommerceBytes interview with Manish Joneja, eBay Senior Manager of the Global Shipping Program, explains more about the program.
About the author:
Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She's a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, "Blogging Heroes" (Wiley 2008). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send news tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com.
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