@afantiques wrote:Heaven or Lithium alone knows why the old thread suggesting this was both bumped and locked, but the point remains valid.
Go to the US 'selling' board and post your gripes there, and keep posting them because amalgamating half a dozen boards makes posts vanish of the front page in a few hours.
The thousands of posts in the pinned threads if posted where sellers might have some chance of seeing them would satnd more chance of being an eye opener to the often unaware US sellers using this program.
This is not fair! WHY would they merge them? It seems like this was not a good idea! 
I believe ebay has always got something up their collective sleeve and this smells of an agenda to keep the GSP on the right sideof the border and not where it really matters.
Hello 'micaylah',
<<This is not fair! WHY would they merge them?>>
The reason for piling all GSP-related posts together was, apparently, so that the ebay folks could
easily find all the comments about it if the messages were all in one place. At least that's what I
gleaned from last weeks 'official' explanation:
http://community.ebay.ca/t5/Weekly-Board-Hour-Session/July-23rd-Weekly-Board-Hour/m-p/252459#M1557
Even the moderators (charged with 'filing' all these messages and tidying them up along the way) said
this particular thread -- urging people to post on the American ebay.com boards -- contained good advice,
but alas, it seems to have been closed off:
I think it's an excellent plan for disgruntled Canadians to post their concerns about this on the US
message boards because American sellers are the ones who most need to hear it.
<<an agenda to keep the GSP on the right sideof the border and not where it really matters.>>
What side is that? The Global Shipping Program does not affect American buyers purchasing from other
US sellers. For that matter, many American sellers have no idea they are 'enrolled' in the program.
These are the sellers who have long known there are other countries in the world but they choose not
to ship outside the US.
So a large US company thinks it's a stroke of brilliance to have found a way to get all those American items
around the world without the reluctant sellers ever having to ship internationally: Set up a dispatch center
in Kentucky.
And all the mess that goes along with it, well, it is the international buyer who puts up with and pays, not
the American seller or the large US company.
In my opinion there is no 'right' side because the program should not exist. There was a perfectly good
system -- USPS -- in which low cost (First Class) mail could provide Delivery Confirmation, and even
heavier and more expensive items were still delivered more quickly and usually cheaper with Priority.
But with so many people here (invariably people who rarely buy at all) popping up to proclaim all the
varied instances in which they believe the GSP to be the best option, not only will the GSP never ever
go away but it will not likely change or improve.
If, however, people were to post to the US Discussion boards on ebay.com and alert the sellers there
to the great fury induced by that program, it may offer Americans a more realistic understanding of how truly
awful the program is and how much more beneficial it will be for everyone to go solely with the more reliable USPS.
But that's just my opinion 
<<There are a few circumstances where the GSP is the best option>>
I have seen yourself and some others assert this, yes. Myself, I cannot imagine an instance where,
considering all angles, that GSP is the 'best', and I would personally prefer to spend a couple dollars
more to have my heavy bulky items come USPS Priority. The cost is about the same, delivery time
is waaaay faster, and there's always a good chance I'll save on the import charges.
Besides, even if my purchase does get assessed, I'd much rather Canada Post have the $10 than
any American company.
I've been buying online internationally for over 12 years, - mostly other places, and if there were no
other option but GSP, I would cut out buying from the US entirely. But that's just me.
<<I think it useful that the occasional thoughtful poster reminds us that claims that the GSP is in all respects
the work of the devil are unreasonable.>>
Sure, absolutely, - all those comments with words like "scam, evil, cash grab," and the like are pretty
unreasonable. But they are based on the shock and frustration from people unused to the costs associated
with buying online internationally. All the soothing kind words and rational explanation in no way lessens
what a truly dreadful set-up that GSP is, made worse by ebay's refusal to create a "GSP-free" option to
click on in the Location section.
<<Posting IDs are no guide to a user's current ebay activity.>>
In and of themselves no, but with regular reading of the boards it's not difficult to discern.
Funny, that, -- I've never had "fruitcake interference". I have, however, had loads of pleasant, warm, fun,
cheerful email exchanges with other ebay people over the last 3 years. . . . Lucky me? 
"Myself, I cannot imagine an instance where,considering all angles, that GSP is the 'best'"
That is all true. We all know the system is flawed.
However, please take a minute to reflect on a totally different reality.
A few years ago, these discussion boards were filled, daily, by comments from Canadian buyers wishing to buy "stuff" from American sellers who listed their products for sale within the USA only. When contacted, some allowed Canadians to buy while many did not. Why? Who really knows: they had many reasons, some were logical some were not, many were the result of fear of the unknown.
Over the last century Canadians in general came to understand the nature of international mail order: no big deal, nothing to it. However, Americans generally never had to experience the concept. Many Canadians have difficulty understanding the American perspective.
Many large American retailers over the years looked into expanding their domestic mail order business by adding international destinations. In many instances, those retailers set up an export division, acquired qualified personnel and started shipping outside the USA (LL Bean comes to mind). In other instances, many American retailers feeling a lack of knowledge of international shipping and Customs regulations, delegated the forwarding operations to companies such as Pitney-Bowes (and others) to handle the "export" side of the business for a fee. You may not see it as a perfect solution but it did the job for those retailers.
When looking at the big picture (keep in mind that only half eBay's business is in the USA), eBay noticed that listings in Europe, Australia and Asia were often exported while over 90% of American listings were sold domestically.
Now, looking at the situation, eBay decided to provide a tool to help many of these American sellers reluctant to ship outside their border by offering a service (GSP) that would take care of everything at no extra cost to the American seller (all costs are borne by the buyer) while eliminating many of the perceived risks of shipping internationally (DSR protection etc...).
And, despite all the claims made on these boards, it worked. Sales by American sellers went up and have continued to go up.
It does not change the fact that the system is flawed. It does not change the fact that eBay did a poor job educating American sellers about the correct use of the program. It does not change the fact that eBay screwed up royally in never properly advising foreign buyers (including Canadians) of the many aspects of their out-of-pocket costs. It does not change the fact that the program does not allow buyers to get a refund for duty and tax overcharges. Etc... Etc...
On the other hand, at the end of the day, many Canadian (and other foreign) buyers are now given an opportunity to buy some items from the USA, opportunities that were not available prior to GSP.
We do not live in a perfect world, do we?
"There are still a LOT of sellers using it improperly."
I totally agree with you and blame eBay for not making a concentrated effort to minimize the problem. It would not be that difficult to write some code in the listing form rejecting the use of GSP if value is under a specific amount (eBay says $50; I would suggest $100).
However, eBay has totally ignored those suggestions until now. All they see is more American sellers using the program and generating more sales on which eBay gets a fee. Not easy to fight the profit they make and convince them to take a bit less..
@dmil8030 wrote:
Hello 'micaylah',
.... <<an agenda to keep the GSP on the right side of the border and not where it really matters.>>
What side is that? The Global Shipping Program does not affect American buyers purchasing from other
US sellers. For that matter, many American sellers have no idea they are 'enrolled' in the program.
These are the sellers who have long known there are other countries in the world but they choose not
to ship outside the US.
So a large US company thinks it's a stroke of brilliance to have found a way to get all those American items
around the world without the reluctant sellers ever having to ship internationally: Set up a dispatch center
in Kentucky.
And all the mess that goes along with it, well, it is the international buyer who puts up with and pays, not
the American seller or the large US company.
It really doesnt take much knowledge to ship internationally, let alone to Canada. These days it's even easier to ship with technology doing the work for you. What the GSP does is actually complicate things. It's like micro managing a child. Gives them no room to develop their own knowledge and naking their own choices. This is not the ebay of even 5 years ago.
Especially when it comes to import charges. PB doesn't know an accurate import charge from adam. And I still fail to understand why PB insists on opening random packages.
On the few occasions I have been on the receiving end of the GSP and it arrived in suspect packaging; I photographed it and sent it to the Buyer. On the 3 occasions that I have used it (before I knew better), 2 said that was not their packing material. The third apologized for the packaging and used it as a learning experience.
In my opinion there is no 'right' side because the program should not exist. There was a perfectly good
system -- USPS -- in which low cost (First Class) mail could provide Delivery Confirmation, and even
heavier and more expensive items were still delivered more quickly and usually cheaper with Priority.
Agreed.
But with so many people here (invariably people who rarely buy at all) popping up to proclaim all the
varied instances in which they believe the GSP to be the best option, not only will the GSP never ever
go away but it will not likely change or improve.
It will with Buyers running. If you google "ebay forums" or "ebay GSP forums" outside of ebay, it's not pretty.
If, however, people were to post to the US Discussion boards on ebay.com and alert the sellers there
to the great fury induced by that program, it may offer Americans a more realistic understanding of how truly
awful the program is and how much more beneficial it will be for everyone to go solely with the more reliable USPS.
But that's just my opinion
Good points
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