Global Shipping Program Deceitful - Warning!

[pdks.ca]

I just had my first experience with ebay's deceitful new Global Shipping Program. The only fee I could see in the listing was a $15 shipping fee, which was reasonable for the item.  When an invoice was sent, the previously invisible - and mandatory - GSP kicked in and the fee spiked to $58.

This is obviously outrageous.   I've reported eBay and this program to the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC).  Perhaps if enough people complained, eBay would have to come clean with both buyers and U.S. sellers, who seem completely unaware that their ratings are being screwed by eBay's sneaky cash-grab.

[synetech]

This is why I avoid any and all listings that use the GSP; I’m just not rich enough to be able to buy things without knowing the price up front. The GSP is only a guess, which is usually wrong (and pretty much always too low), so I don’t know where they get off thinking that people can commit to purchasing things when the price is unknown. Would you go to a store and buy a loaf of bread with a price tag that reads $2 (+ $?)? Of course not; unless you are rich, you would probably be unhappy to take it to the cashier and find out that the total comes to $50.

I’m sure that eBay has a vested interest in the GSP because they get kick-backs from PB, so they probably won’t be doing away with it anytime soon, unless we all stop using it enough to make it no longer profitable. That’s easier to do if you try to use local classifieds like Kijiji, Craig’s List, eBay Classifides, etc. to buy locally as much as possible, and only buy non-GSP items through eBay.

[i*m-still-here]

misty/rodger...........it does work:  Emailing the seller and asking to ship without the GSP.

At least it does for me most of the time.

However, it is time consuming and very tricky when it's an auction item or a great item with instant payment required  ...........................

Unless you really want that particular item, it's so much easier to move on and buy from a seller who lists without the GSP.

First Class International is best for most items.

[pierrelebel]

"I avoid any and all listings that use the GSP"

Most Canadian buyers agree with that assessment,

While GSP was initiated to help American sellers export instead of concentrating on domestic business, it is of little interest for most transactions by Canadian buyers.

Yes, eBay gets a small percentage of the fees charged by Pitney-Bowes and that is quite normal in business.

Kijiji, owned 100% by eBay, is a good alternative in many instances. 

Craig's List, partially owned by eBay, is also used successfully by many Canadian buyers and sellers.

There are thousands of sites available to Canadian buyers to spend their money online.  Everyone has to find what works best.

Different strokes for different folks.

[i*m-stilll-here]

Wrong Thread.

[marnotom!]

---

@i*m-stilll-here wrote:

Wrong Thread.

---

?

[i*m-still-here]

---

@synetech wrote:

This is why I avoid any and all listings that use the GSP;..................................

---

I'm drowsy in the morning.................... and so every morning I get my coffee and do a routine eBay search while I wake up.

Every morning more and more items are listed via the GSP, and more and more of the sellers using it are in the dark as to what the GSP is to the point that it's now the exception to find a seller who is aware an item is listed with that mode of shipping.

They have no idea, and so by now I think it's obvious that eBay has manipulated them to the point where they're listing that way without even being aware of it.

In other words...................... It's harder and harder every day to avoid the GSP if you are a Canadian buying from the States on eBay.

I was the first to report here about the GSP because I was the first here to be hampered by it.......... I'm also usually the first to post the issues with it.

The ongoing issues posted here now............. on the Canadian buyer's board.............. will probably get much much worse over the course of the next year.

Nothing is happening to ease things up.  

Buyer's posts really are about venting, nothing more...............because no one who has the power to change things is listening to us.

Those who are listening probably don't love the GSP as much as we don't love the GSP.

[pierrelebel]

I did some research on Canadian boards about discussions on the Global Shipping Program (GSP).

The first question/concern I found was raised last March by electric-pixel

http://community.ebay.ca/t5/Buyer-Central/How-is-the-Global-Shipping-Program-fee-calculated/m-p/8341...

Later in March by *aurora-*-borealis*

http://community.ebay.ca/t5/Buyer-Central/0-99-item-3-00-duties-tax-fees/m-p/67506/highlight/true#M2...

electric-pixel came back later:

http://community.ebay.ca/t5/Buyer-Central/GSP-should-be-an-option-at-check-out-and-not-imposed-on-th...

By mid-April, we had questions raised by supervrock

http://community.ebay.ca/t5/Buyer-Central/Positive-Buyer-experiences-with-the-new-global-shipping-pr...

From that point on, the presence of threads and posts on the subject has accelerated.

While there are several instances of positive experiences, most posts are negative on the program and the overall conclusion is that the program so far has proven not to be beneficial to most Canadian buyers in most instances.

[pocomocomputing]

I posted the very first topic in the eBay.ca forums on the GSP on August 25, 2012. ecommercebytes has found out about the GSP to be introduced in the Fall of 2012 and wrote an article that they published dated August 23, 2012.

Here is a link to that forum topic I posted:

http://community.ebay.ca/t5/Seller-Central/eBay-com-USA-International-shipping-new-system-to-be-laun...

It has 77 posts with the first post other than my initial two being made by i'm-still-here and a few more by them on the first day of my topic. The topic went on until the last post #77 by Pierre on March 18, 2012. Many forum regulars participated in the discussion. So concerns on the GSP were expressed way before March 2013.

eBay officially announced the GSP on November 1, 2012

http://announcements.ebay.com/2012/11/attention-sellers-upcoming-program-will-make-selling-internati...

So i'm-still-here was one of the first to comment on the GSP in the eBay.ca Canada forums. Not much was known and understood at the time so much was speculation on how it would work but the general understanding back then that it would not be good for Canadian buyers.

[pierrelebel]

You are correct.  I was checking the buyer forum, not the seller forum.

[pierrelebel]

"the general understanding back then that it would not be good for Canadian buyers."

Yes and this has not changed!

[nuvistors]

I would make a longer post but someone did not like the truth.

[unkyperv]

I personally have no problem with a seller claiming full price for tax purposes on their end.

I have an issue with someone else deciding that I must pay what seems to be an arbitrary amount that is not explained to anyone.

I feel as a buyer I should have the right to pay the duty and tax that my government decides to charge me at the time of delivery.

I just ordered $600 USD worth or goods and was charged $28 upon delivery. Now with this GSP I would be paying $165.00 for $1000USD I would prefer to take my chances.

Nothing is stopping the seller to file a claim in the full amount for tax on their end.

This just seems like a service that did not need to be added and the only one effected is the buyer.

And whoever thinks ebay did not make money off a deal with P-B being the exclusive provider of this service is very naive.

[marnotom!]

---

@unkyperv wrote:

I personally have no problem with a seller claiming full price for tax purposes on their end.

I have an issue with someone else deciding that I must pay what seems to be an arbitrary amount that is not explained to anyone.

I feel as a buyer I should have the right to pay the duty and tax that my government decides to charge me at the time of delivery.

I just ordered $600 USD worth or goods and was charged $28 upon delivery. Now with this GSP I would be paying $165.00 for $1000USD I would prefer to take my chances.

Nothing is stopping the seller to file a claim in the full amount for tax on their end.

This just seems like a service that did not need to be added and the only one effected is the buyer.

And whoever thinks ebay did not make money off a deal with P-B being the exclusive provider of this service is very naive.

---

How was this $600 shipment shipped?  I'm wondering if a lot of the "import charges" were folded into the shipping rate, as $28 seems really low.  It's not even 5% GST.

I don't know what province you're in, but assuming that you'd be in a province that has an HST of 13%, a US$1000 shipment would attract US$130 in HST.  There's likely duty associated with that shipment as well which would make whatever's left over for Pitney Bowes (and eBay?) less than the $35 balance.  By my thinking, that's a pretty fair cost for customs clearance for a shipment of that value.

I'm currently looking at item 121171292585 which is selling for US$128.99.  If shipped to Ontario, the import charges would be US$21.18.  HST for an item of that value is US$16.77, which leaves US$4.41 as the "cash grab".  This is less than what Canada Border Services and Canada Post would charge if the item were assessed taxes.  Hardly a "money grab" for anyone.

[ttoddh]

I am going to have to agree with you on this one.. I was about to bid on an item for $18.95 US, this shipping was going to be $15.18 US. The GSP was going to be $8.58! FOR WHAT? There is no Duty or Tax on items less than $20 no matter what! SO what the hell is the $8.58 for anyway? Just a moneygrab! Customs Canada does not get the money. SO it would be a free money grab for Pitney-Bowes and eBay.  It is almost criminal how hi those fees are. 

[marnotom!]

---

@ttoddh wrote:

There is no Duty or Tax on items less than $20 no matter what! SO what the hell is the $8.58 for anyway?

---

There is a "matter what":

http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/import/postal-postale/duty-droits-eng.html

Items that do not qualify for the CAN$20 exemption include the following:

• tobacco;
• books;
• periodicals;
• magazines;
• alcoholic beverages; and
• goods ordered through a Canadian post office box or a Canadian intermediary.

If the item you were looking at does not fit one of those classifications, the seller may have miscategorized it.

[taramialee]

Excuse me?

$18.95 import charges are outrageous. Especially as Customs only charges GST ( PST is for sales in the province; as it is provincial tax); also: there are no charges for items purchased below $20.00, and frequently no charges are placed at all in packages coming from the States. In over 1000 ebay purchases from the States, I have never paid 'duty or taxes'. Also customs allows you to apply for a refund on anything charged if you feel there has been an error ( which frequently there is; as free trade = no duty on items made in the US), and other such egs.

Pitney Bowes is the Canada Customs expert atre they?

This program is offensive.

Are you even a Canadian ebay shopper? If you were these charges would be far more than you are used to paying, (AND you would notice that you are charged on EVERYTHING regardless of the item, or the amount you paiod for it.  It would NOT seem ok. Perhaps you work for Pitney Bowes? Can't figure out your response.

[taramialee]

It is an awful programm. Especially as Customs frequently doesn't charge duty or taxes on parcels. In over 1000 ebay purchases I've yet to pay Customs fees. I avoid sellers who use this program. I don't understand anyone who thinks it's ok for Pitney Bowes an American business, to set itself up as the expert on Canadian Customs fees. With this Global Shipping Program these fees are charged no matter what is bought, or how meagre the price paid for it. ( There are no Customs fees on items below $20.00, and I've seen 'import charges' of $24.00 + on a used clothing item that sold for "$2.00 ). Yes; something is wrong with this program.

[taramialee]

I have purchased over 1000 ebay items and not paid any extra charges at all. Do I think these guaranteed extra charges are ok. Don't think so?

A 'post office box' and an 'intermediary' is NOT the regular mail option. It could be Pitney Bowes as the 'intermediary' though. So why would you want the 'intermediary' or 3rd party; how about the regular mail option, and keep your exemption. Sellers will have a lot of unhappy customers.

I am baffled by any defense of this progam.

[marnotom!]

---

@taramialee wrote:

---

[marnotom!]

Tara, I'm not "defending" the program. There just happens to be an awful lot of garbage and nonsense spewed about the GSP, and I don't think it's fair or useful to others who may be reading these threads but not contributing to them to be bombarded with a lot of misinformation. Besides, hysterical, ranting posts tend not to be taken too seriously and may even harm the ranter's cause.

Seems to me that the simplest way to deal with the GSP is not to purchase from listings that are using it. Eventually, sellers will figure out what's going wrong and will make adjustments. Wait things out and, in the words of another poster, "have a cocktail."

By the way, the import charges in the item you referred to in your first post weren't $18.95, unless I misunderstood your post and you're referring to an item you bought.  (And why would you buy an item if you didn't like the extra charges attached to it?)