eBay

photosalp · ‎06-01-2016

From everything I've heard I had swore never to use the GSP. But, I had to buy something for the business, and search as I did, the only option was a seller using GSP, and they specified in their listing not to ask for international shipping out of GSP. So I had to go with it. The shipping cost was a little high, and I expected to wait three weeks for my package to arrive. 8 days from NY to KY to little old Edson AB. I am very impressed. I ordered another item the same day that was shipped USPS priority post and the GSP item beat it! My purchase was heavy (over 50 pounds), and a little costly (over $600 CAN). I still wouldn't use GSP for a small, inexpensive, item.

reallynicestamps · ‎06-01-2016

Since GSP parcels don't have to go through Customs (as such) I am always puzzled that buyers think it will take longer than postal shipping.

And of course, USPS and Canada Post both use hub and spoke distribution systems.

I normally allow 20 days for North American delivery in any case, so maybe I'm just sanguine.

My one and only experience was with a book priced around $60 delivered with GSP. This was the lowest total price I found on eBay or Amazon.

It was large, about 40x30x1cm, but for some reason had been repacked in a box with a note from eBay/GSP. The box was 40x30x10cm. No damage to the cellophone bagged book.

I'm still avoiding it though. I think my experience was an outlier.

Zoe Washburne: You sanguine about the kind of reception we’re apt to receive on an Alliance ship, Cap’n?
Mal Reynolds: Absolutely. What’s “sanguine” mean?
Zoe: “Sanguine”. Hopeful. Plus, point of interest? it also means “bloody”.
Mal: Well, that pretty much covers all the options, don’t it?

marnotom! · ‎06-01-2016

@photosalp wrote:

From everything I've heard I had swore never to use the GSP. But, I had to buy something for the business, and search as I did, the only option was a seller using GSP, and they specified in their listing not to ask for international shipping out of GSP. So I had to go with it. The shipping cost was a little high, and I expected to wait three weeks for my package to arrive. 8 days from NY to KY to little old Edson AB. I am very impressed. I ordered another item the same day that was shipped USPS priority post and the GSP item beat it! My purchase was heavy (over 50 pounds), and a little costly (over $600 CAN). I still wouldn't use GSP for a small, inexpensive, item.

The GSP doesn't tend to work very well with small, inexpensive items that can be sent by letter post (First Class International/Small Packet). In fact, pretty much nothing else but letter post will work well for these items. GSP pricing is structured to be competitive with parcel post, which is a different and much more expensive animal.

My two experiences with the GSP are similar to yours. On two different occasions I purchased a cell phone that was shipped through the GSP. I made sure that the seller either knew that they were using the GSP or that they were at least on the ball. At the same time I purchased the phones, I purchased cases for them from US sellers that were shipping by mail. In both instances the phones arrived before the cases, although in fairness one them appeared to be drop-shipped from China and shipped through a European-based mail consolidator.

The shipping price for the phones was quite competitive with First Class International, and certainly much cheaper than the other non-GSP options (often unspecified "premium" carriers) offered by other sellers.

There are many problems with the GSP, of course, but many if not most of them boil down to a combination of poor or buried communication about the program on the part of both Pitney Bowes and eBay, and sellers either not realizing that they're been opted into the program or else not caring how their GSP listings work once they're in the program.