eBay UK Pauses Global Shipping Programme To US Amidst Tariff Confusion

UPDATE 5-21-25

eBay appears to be in damage control mode - less than 24 hours after CNBC's report that eBay is not really affected by tariffs was challenged, they've magically figured out how to re-enable UK to US GSP on "select" listings.

However, there is no acknowledgement of the scope or impact of the "temporary" shutdown of GSP from UK to US and no details about which "select" listings have been re-enabled or the ongoing impact these developments will have on eBay's cross border trade business and financial performance - making this still a massive communications and transparency failure for the company.

UPDATE 5-20-25

eBay's temporary but apparently indefinite pause on Global Shipping Programme services from the UK to US continues, with community staff unable to provide any idea of when the service may be restored or if/when an official public announcement (besides these posts buried in a community discussion thread) will be forthcoming.

Unfortunately, buyers and sellers will likely be waiting a bit longer for any further official announcement or acknowledgement of the change.

eBay's stock is currently doing very well, largely on the back of the idea that, unlike other publicly traded ecommerce marketplace companies, they won't really be affected by the current US tariff situation.

Having this GSP news buried in the eBay UK community forum allows them to keep the impact of the tariffs on their business quiet - and that's just how they want it to stay.

eBay has officially paused Global Shipping Programme service from the UK to US as tariff changes cause confusion and frustration.

Buyers and sellers saw costs for Global Shipping skyrocket recently as President Trump's executive order ending the de minimis exemption for products made in China and Hong Kong went into effect May 2, 2025.

eBay UK Global Shipping Program Cost To US Jumps Due To Tariff Changes

eBay UK sellers report Global Shipping Program shipping costs to US suddenly skyrocketed - is it a glitch or the result of trade war sabre-rattling?

Value Added ResourceLiz Morton

UK sellers were particularly frustrated because it appeared that eBay was adding additional tariffs and duties on items shipped to the US through GSP, even if they weren't made in China or Hong Kong.

Since the Global Shipping Programme includes the import charges at checkout, we surmised that eBay may have been defaulting to no de minimis exemption on items where the seller had not designated a specific Country of Origin, but some seller said even after filing in "made in/manufactured in" item specifics with a country other than China or Hong Kong, the outrageously high GSP prices continued to be shown on their listings.

Over the last few days, complaints about sky high rates turned into complaints about GSP no longer being available at all for items shipping from the UK to the US, prompting many to wonder if eBay had disabled the option completely.

Can't buy from UK sellers anymore

I used to be able to buy from UK sellers and didn't have that problem until yesterday, all of the sudden the US is now dropped from the global shipping program on most listings, is anybody else having problems with that? And it's only effecting UK listings, other countries are still purchasable.

Global Shipping Programme Glitch?

I sold 2 items this evening to the same buyer in the US (golf balls) as usual I used the global shipping programme which usually works perfectly - never had any problems in the past. He however is getting an error message saying that I dont ship to his location. I havent changed any settings my end - is this some sort of glitch - cant get through to ebay.

Ebay Claims Seller Won't Ship To Me

I won an auction for an item in the UK, I am in the US. I have never had problems with shipping from the UK and have won UK auctions recently that went smoothly. This item's listing said it shipped internationally through the Global Shipping Program and had a price estimate for shipping to me.

After this win, I clicked to pay just to check on the total with the conversion rate and everything appeared normal. However, I intended to come back and process my payment when I wasn't busy and when I returned Ebay had a message saying the seller does not ship to my location and wouldn't allow me to make payment.

I contacted the seller and they said they don't know why it won't allow me...they ship internationally and haven't recently changed any of their settings.

And finally, eBay UK community staff officially confirmed this morning that GSP from UK to the US has been temporarily paused while they work to sort out where things stand with the latest tariff updates and what needs to be done to implement the tariffs correctly before resuming the service.

Re: Global Shipping Program jumped in price to same buyer

We've temporarily paused UK GSP support to the US while we implement changes to reflect new US policy requirements.

For the moment, we can't confirm when this will be back on, but as soon as we get more information on this, we will let you know.

Importantly, this update only affects eBay Global Shipping, UK sellers can still offer other direct international shipping options to their buyers in the US.

Meanwhile, the US and China have instituted their own pause, bringing tariff rates down significantly for 90 days while trade negotiations continue.

U.S. and China agree to slash reciprocal tariffs in major step toward easing trade war

The world’s two biggest economies agreed to a 90-day pause on most of their levies after a first round of trade talks in Switzerland over the weekend.

NBC NewsJennifer Jett

eBay had promised UK users the company would keep them apprised of updates in the tariff situation, but the most recent update was dated April 10th and eBay has not posted any official notice of this decision to pause Global Shipping on this page.

US Tariffs | UK Seller Centre

Learn more about tariff updates for international selling from the UK to the United States.

UK Seller Centre