eBay

myoldstuff276 · ‎03-11-2015

I do not like the global shipping program. It's ability to track items is seriously flawed. I live in a rural area and do not get ANY deliveries other than post . Here is my experience:

I bought an item in the US shipped through the ebay shipping program. I get an ebay tracking number, and a USPS tracking number. The ebay tracking number doesn't tell me much about when to expect it. The USPS number says the item is being sent expedited, and will arrive in two days. When I update this number, in two days, the status shows it is being delivered. It was only delivered to the centre in Erlander, Ky. It sits there for several days. I have no idea who has it, or what is happening. If I check the other link (USPS) the only information that it was delivered, which doesn't tell me much or where or how it is being delivered.

The global shipping number can't be tracked outside of ebay, and the domestic shipping number is only for USPS, and shows it as delivered.

I have to logon with different devices, as different devices show different details. None shows what carrier the item is being transported with, or when the actual realistic delivery date is. A week wide guess really doesn't cut it. I don't know if it is being shipped by mail, courier, or by an old guy who is now looking for my house on foot.

Finally, if I go in with one device, I get a link to the fact that this is supposedly being shipped by CanPar. However, when I click on the hyperlink, I get taken to Canpar and told that that item can not be found. This has been the case for several days. I also got an email notice that Pitney Bowes (Ebay shipping) has prepared a delivery label for my through Canada Post. But no parcel has arrived at Canada Post with that delivery label on it.

I want the ability to know WHO is shipping my parcel, and what the tracking number is ON THEIR SYSTEM. Why does Ebay obfuscate this information? And why does the information depend on what device you are using to retrieve it. Right now if I go to the Ebay site on my Win8 computer running Chrome, I do NOT get anyway to access the Canpar tracking number (even if it is apparently not correct). The domestic shipping information that I get on this computeris a week old, and still shows that the package was delivered by USPS! However, if I use the Ebay APP on a IPad, I get the Canpar information. If I use the ebay App on a smartphone, I cannot access ANY domestic shipping information.

I need to know who has it because if it is not being sent by CanPost, the courier will not be able to deliver it due to my rural location, and will also have no way to contact me as I do not have a listed phone number. This is simply dumb.

EBAY! WHO HAS MY PARCEL AND WHY WON"T YOU LET ME KNOW THIS AND TRACK IT PROPERLY!

colinflyfisher · ‎12-13-2015

Thanks for the advice. Had a look at raising an "item not received" claim, it does seem to make me initially go through the seller. Is there a way to do that directly? I'd be grateful for any tips on that. Haven't had to do that before but then, haven't used gsp before!

By the way, despite the irritation with so called tracking, have to smile at getting two pieces of information on the same day.

One, "your item is out for delivery with the carrier" that's to my New Zealand address.

Two. "Location, Columbus Ohio".

Both on 12 December.

reallynicestamps · ‎12-13-2015

I think it is polite to let the seller know that the GSP has screwed up, but she is not responsible for delivery after the item reaches Kentucky.

So you can ignore that and just move to step Two and escalate to a Claim mentioning that this is a GSP shipping problem.

Resolution is usually pretty fast on those. The GSP either can prove delivery or refunds without arguement.

If the item shows up later, neither the seller nor the GSP wants it back.

konamicode · ‎12-18-2015

@00nevermind00 wrote:

If your item arrives later, it will a free item because the GSP does not support returns. If that happens, enjoy your item without a guilty conscience because that is the price Pitney Bowes has to pay for running such a lousy, half-baked program.

I do admit, that I am glad the sellers get protection. Especially when the seller was nice n stuff. I'm glad they are not responsible for once PB gets their grubby sausage hands on it.

Basically, if my item is late due to PB's **bleep**py shipping times, I have no issue filing the INR claim against them. In fact, I see it like they deserve us pushing back.

colinflyfisher · ‎12-20-2015

So, that was my first and last experience with GSP.

My package arrived from USA at the New Zealand address on Mon 21st December. Latest estimate date was 18th December. Payment was 01 December.

Trying to track it was like finding a way through a maze. Only when finally in the hands of NZ Post did it make any sense.

Even then, more than US$300'worth, (of which $90 ship import) left on the doorstep. GSP had not even paid for a signature service.

This is a low cost, low quality service provided at a high price. At the start of the process when I had to commit to purchase before all costs were revealed the alarm bells should have rung. Well, they have now, once bitten............

afantiques · ‎12-21-2015

At the start of the process when I had to commit to purchase before all costs were revealed

Did you use a smart phone to make the buy?

I have not tried that version but the PC/laptop buying process has the BIN costs clearly shown before comitting to buy, even with an auction item it will show you what the maximum costs would be for your highest bid, if reached, although that is not as easy to find.

colinflyfisher · ‎12-21-2015

Buy it Now PRICE is one thing.

If seller uses GSP then shipping, importation charges, other fees.....are first shown after commitment to purchase. Also, if it's GSP and you buy more than one item from the seller then you can not request a total before committing. That was my experience in practice.

If someone can show me how to obtain full transparency from GSP (Pitney Bowes) before committing to buy I'd be grateful.

Just the volume of negative postings on this and other sites should be telling us that buyers don't like GSP..

marnotom! · ‎12-21-2015

@colinflyfisher wrote:

Buy it Now PRICE is one thing.
If seller uses GSP then shipping, importation charges, other fees.....are first shown after commitment to purchase.

That's not my experience, but then, I didn't see a response to AF's question about using a smartphone to do your eBay buying.

Here's what I see on the .com site on my laptop for a GSP listing:

I see similarly-presented information on other eBay sites, e.g. eBay.ca and eBay.co.uk.

Are you suggesting that you don't see the information on shipping and import charges on listing pages?

Here's a link to the listing page if you want to compare like to like:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/291631082944

colinflyfisher · ‎12-21-2015

No, it's a laptop.

Check the detail. import charges (amount confirmed at checkout)

I'm not suggesting anything other than that the final charges are first shown at checkout after commitment to buy.

It also shows "includes international tracking" , what a poor process that is. And at the end, which you can first see when it's in the hands of final (after many) courier, there is no signature required, Can be hundreds of dollars worth on the doorstep, as indeed it was in my case. Three days after latest estimate.

If you're saying it is a first class service, which it should be for the price, you may find little support (from buyers).

I've bought many items internationally through e-bay and until this time, first with GSP, been generally very satisfied with the process. If others are happy with GSP so be it, their choice. For me, decision made, end of subject.

marnotom! · ‎12-21-2015

@colinflyfisher wrote:

Check the detail. import charges (amount confirmed at checkout)
I'm not suggesting anything other than that the final charges are first shown at checkout after commitment to buy.

Quoting you again:

If seller uses GSP then shipping, importation charges, other fees.....are first shown after commitment to purchase.

This is obviously untrue. They're first shown on the listing page.

The reason there's the note about those charges being confirmed at checkout is because there's always the possibility of the buyer changing their shipping details in the checkout process. If I changed the shipping address from my home province of British Columbia to a friend's address in Ontario, for example, the tax rate would be different and my import charges would be higher.

Of all the complaints of the GSP's shortcomings, I don't recall any that suggest that the GSP program fee charges (i.e. shipping and import charges) vary substantively from what's on the listing page. Did this happen for you? I notice that you're presently registered in the UK but your item was shipped to New Zealand.

@colinflyfisher wrote:

It also shows "includes international tracking" , what a poor process that is. And at the end, which you can first see when it's in the hands of final (after many) courier, there is no signature required, Can be hundreds of dollars worth on the doorstep, as indeed it was in my case. Three days after latest estimate.

I must be one of the few buyers on eBay who doesn't require tracking to confirm what I already know: that I don't have my item yet.

Signature confirmation is only required for sales made via PayPal that have a total value of over US$750 / CDN$850 / NZ$950 / £450, no matter what the shipping method. Your item seems to be well within the threshold for going without signature confirmation.

As for the three days outside of the delivery window, I'd actually count that as one business day as I don't believe New Zealand Post delivers on weekends. Even then, the delivery estimate may not have taken into account the fact you Kiwis are almost a full day ahead of many parts of North America.

@colinflyfisher wrote:

If you're saying it is a first class service, which it should be for the price, you may find little support (from buyers).

I've bought many items internationally through e-bay and until this time, first with GSP, been generally very satisfied with the process. If others are happy with GSP so be it, their choice. For me, decision made, end of subject.

How much in shipping did the GSP charge you for your item and how much would it have cost to have gone directly to you by air parcel? You can include customs charges in there if you wish.

No, the GSP isn't a first class service. It's a somewhat good idea that's been badly implemented and badly communicated to buyers and sellers alike. This has led to many instances where the GSP has been used inappropriately by sellers and some instances where buyer expectations have been just as inappropriate.

I've had a couple of good experiences with it buying mobile phones but that's because I read as much about it as I could on the eBay site--particularly on the discussion boards--before finding listings where it made some sense to use it. The shipping charges were reasonable, the phones actually arrived before the cases I'd purchased from them from sellers using the postal system, and I paid less in taxes than I would have if they were shipped directly by a commercial carrier such as FedEx.

Now this was quite some time ago, and recent posts suggest that some corners may have been cut in order to reduce shipping charges. I'll definitely be posting if I make another eBay purchase that involves the GSP.

colinflyfisher · ‎12-22-2015

Had decided to give up on this one, but,

Check this just copied and pasted. Note the shipping to New Zealand and import charge notes.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

No additional import charges on delivery.

This item will be sent through the Global Shipping Programme and includes international tracking. Learn more- opens in a new window or tab

Postage:

US $44.14 (approx. £29.65) International Priority Shipping to New Zealand | See details

Item location:

Hollywood, Florida, United States

Posts to:

United States and many other countries | See details

Import charges:

US $0.00 (amount confirmed at checkout)

Delivery:

Estimated between Tue. 5 Jan. and Sat. 16 Jan.

Includes international tracking

Payments:

Processed by PayPal | See payment information

International postage and import charges paid to Pitney Bowes Inc. Learn More- opens in a new window or tab

Advert: A Credit Card From Ocean.

Protection:

Money Back Guarantee | See details- opens in a new window or tab

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And as for late arrival, if I paid a bit short of the asking price would the item be dispatched?....that's OK, pretty close, off it goes. Weekends and time differences around the world come as no surprise to me and should not to anyone, the dates were offered in knowledge of all that.

And, and and. Finally decided not to think any more about this. I have my items and will enjoy them more than this experience.

marnotom! · ‎12-22-2015

@colinflyfisher wrote:

Had decided to give up on this one, but,
Check this just copied and pasted. Note the shipping to New Zealand and import charge notes.

Thanks for including a hyperlink to the listing, otherwise I would have had nothing to go on as the item could well have been a fairly heavy one with a very low selling price.

What you've run into here is a quirk of New Zealand customs. As you're likely aware, any item imported by mail or courier will not have taxes and duties collected if the amount collected is less than NZ$60. This does not mean that the items are exempt from taxes and duties, only that customs doesn't bother collecting them.

http://www.customs.govt.nz/inprivate/sendingitemstonz/privateimportsbypost/Pages/default.aspx

If this item is being shipped as freight, GST and duty (if applicable) will be charged on it as a freight shipment is neither the post nor a courier.

What the GSP does in this case with declared values of less than C$20) is fold the GST/duty into the shipping price of the item.

The fishing rod's shipping price converts to about NZ$65, The GST owing on it would be about NZ$52, so the shipping price is actually more like NZ$13. (Possibly even less if customs clearance and processing fees are taken into consideration.)

If I recall correctly from the days when there was an International Trading Discussion Board on eBay.com, there were concerns expressed by Kiwis who couldn't understand why there were "import charges" on GSP sales that they thought were "exempt" from GST charges, so PitneyBowes had to resort to shuffling the charges this way. Same thing happened here in Canada for items with declared values of less than C$20; people couldn't understand why they were still getting charged four bucks and change in "import charges". Taxes owing or not, items still need to be processed through customs, and those processing charges made up the "import charges" in those cases.

colinflyfisher · ‎12-22-2015

OK, try this one.

Condition:

New

Quantity:

Last one12 sold

US $229.95

Approximately £154.48

Buy it now

Add to Watch list

Add to collection

10 watching

Last item available

Fast and safe postage

More than 92% sold

Collect 154 Nectar points

Get Started | Conditions

No additional import charges on delivery.

This item will be sent through the Global Shipping Programme and includes international tracking. Learn more- opens in a new window or tab

Postage:

US $27.48 (approx. £18.46) International Priority Shipping to New Zealand | See details

Item location:

Belton, Texas, United States

Posts to:

United States and many other countries | See details

Import charges:

US $0.00 (amount confirmed at checkout)

Delivery:

Estimated between Thu. 31 Dec. and Fri. 8 Jan.

Includes international tracking

Payments:

Processed by PayPal | See payment information

International postage and import charges paid to Pitney Bowes Inc. Learn More- opens in a new window or tab

Advert: A Credit Card From Ocean.

colinflyfisher · ‎12-23-2015

And this one?

US $249.99

Approximately £168.64

Buy it now

Add to Watch list

Add to collection

1 watching

Last item available

Fast and safe postage

More than 50% sold

Collect 168 Nectar points

Get Started | Conditions

No additional import charges on delivery.

This item will be sent through the Global Shipping Programme and includes international tracking. Learn more- opens in a new window or tab

Postage:

US $35.81 (approx. £24.16) International Priority Shipping to New Zealand | See details

Item location:

29464, United States

Posts to:

United States and many other countries | See details

Import charges:

US $0.00 (amount confirmed at checkout)

Delivery:

Estimated between Fri. 1 Jan. and Thu. 14 Jan.

Includes international tracking

Payments:

Processed by PayPal | See payment information

International postage and import charges paid to Pitney Bowes Inc. Learn More- opens in a new window or tab

Advert: A Credit Card From Ocean.

Protection:

Money Back Guarantee | See detail

colinflyfisher · ‎12-23-2015

Nope, it was a reel for a couple of hundred Dollars (US). Plenty more examples there for anyone wanting to see. You're flat wrong, but I would expect another talk-around response which I won't be bothering to read.

marnotom! · ‎12-23-2015

I've no idea how one can label an unread post as "dead wrong".

My calculations are based on item 181953911673, linked in your earlier post.

afantiques · ‎12-24-2015

A curious fact about NZ import taxes is that the exemption for up to $60 of due taxes only applies to personal imports by post or courier.

The trouble is thas the importer of record is not the buyer, but Pitney Bowes, a business. Therefore they get no exemption and have to pay the full import taxes, so these are included in the GSP fees.

This particular treatment of import taxes seems to be unique to New Zealand, and is probably not well known to most NZ citizens.

fkozera · ‎01-12-2016

It's not user friendly... But I found how to track your package via the global shipping program, once it gets to Canada you need to:

- Log on to eBay.ca

- Under the My eBay menu select Purchase History

- Under your orders find the specific order. It should have something like the following:

Estimated delivery Mon, Jan 11 - Thu, Jan 21

Tracking number: Tracking number UPAAB000000#########

- Click on the UPA number. This should open up a Shipment Details window, which should contain something like this:

This shipment has been transferred to CPC for delivery to the final destination # 70351#########

-Click on the Canada Post number to see where the Canada Post Tracking history and expected delivery

pocomocomputing · ‎01-12-2016

@fkozera wrote:
It's not user friendly... But I found how to track your package via the global shipping program, once it gets to Canada you need to:
- Log on to eBay.ca
- Under the My eBay menu select Purchase History
- Under your orders find the specific order. It should have something like the following:
Estimated delivery Mon, Jan 11 - Thu, Jan 21
Tracking number: Tracking number UPAAB000000#########
- Click on the UPA number. This should open up a Shipment Details window, which should contain something like this:
This shipment has been transferred to CPC for delivery to the final destination # 70351#########
-Click on the Canada Post number to see where the Canada Post Tracking history and expected delivery

The above may work if Canada Post is used but sometimes the carrier might be CanPar or another delivery Service. I wonder if your method would work for another service like CanPar?

coltonjblumhagen · ‎01-27-2016

This method may not always work. (It's not working for me), but calling Pitney Bowes worked & I got my CPC tracking number. He claimed it was due to the seller not entering information correctly but that seems like a BS answer to me. Oh well, glad I got my tracking number.

@fkozera wrote:
It's not user friendly... But I found how to track your package via the global shipping program, once it gets to Canada you need to:
- Log on to eBay.ca
- Under the My eBay menu select Purchase History
- Under your orders find the specific order. It should have something like the following:
Estimated delivery Mon, Jan 11 - Thu, Jan 21
Tracking number: Tracking number UPAAB000000#########
- Click on the UPA number. This should open up a Shipment Details window, which should contain something like this:
This shipment has been transferred to CPC for delivery to the final destination # 70351#########
-Click on the Canada Post number to see where the Canada Post Tracking history and expected delivery