eBay

kalvin@ebay.com · ‎09-26-2013

Feel free to share your thoughts about the Global Shipping Program here.

A few questions to get the ball rolling:

What has worked well for you with the Global Shipping Program?
Any ideas to help improve the experience for Canadian buyers?
What has deterred you from buying items offered using the Global Shipping Program?
How have you managed to search for items outside the program?

Please try & keep the comments constructive 🙂

If you have any questions about the program, please post them here.

~Kalvin
eBay.ca Community Manager

kalvin@ebay.com

arlene_v · ‎03-30-2014

Meow, fssst. 😉 (I am a "tom", after all.)

Something else to consider is that if the seller calculates the weight of the item incorrectly or doesn't bother to do so at all, the GSP robot may end up calculating a shipping rate that's completely at odds with the item and possibly in the buyer's favour. I don't believe the GSP demands additional payment from the buyer after the fact in these circumstances, so if the GSP were to refund overages, then I think PBI would want the ability to make up for shortages as well.

Of course, the chances of situations such as those that you and I are describing could likely be reduced if filling in the "Item Specifics" fields were made mandatory on a GSP (or any) listing, as has been suggested before.

I don't think the issue of the accuracy of charges is the main reason why little has been done about the issue of seller education for the GSP. I think it's more a case of PBI wanting this program to look as "simple" for sellers to employ as possible, and PBI being somewhat notorious for foot-dragging. (I have an image of a dozen vice-presidents stuck in an elevator because their mobile phones don't work and nobody can take on the task of using the emergency telephone.)

LOL Tom! I enjoyed this post immensely.

Sometimes, it 's good to laugh about this, and that image of the dozen vice-presidents was great!

I suspect you might be right.

waterliliq · ‎03-30-2014

They can't ship to my door, I live in the country and who decided that PB can do this? Anywhere I see extra charges like this on Ebay, I refuse to buy from them period! I don't think PB has any right to rip us off further. We are charged by the seller we buy from and we pay enough for the item if we love it enough then have to give some FatCat more? For what? What the hell?

chimera148 · ‎03-30-2014

@arlene_v wrote:
@chimera148 wrote:

Maybe Pitney Bowes can keep the overcharged duties when the package is opened and resealed in Kentucky and country of manufacture is ascertained.

Possibly compulsory metric measurements would help some international buyers if ebay is serious about helping GSP sellers sell internationally. 🙂

Yes.

Not sure how this program is set up re the Canadian customs broker paying the tax and duty on shipments, but have wondered why, since PB is opening items to determine place of manufacture, a simple recalculation can't be done, and any over payment refunded to the buyer.

Since this program relies on seller info to calculate tax, duty and shipping costs, and when that info is insufficient or lacking, the program, in order to remain cost-effective, calculates prepaid charges using a "worst case scenario" buyers are very often seeing inflated charges.

I completely understand that PB is in this for profit, this is all about bottom line ..so I figure PB is constantly looking for ways to make their business more profitable, right?

If anyone at PB has not thought that this differential might not be a "good thing" I'd be surprised. The T&C of the program indicate all "import charges" and program fees are nonrefundable after all, and nothing illegal will be done if the "estimate" prepaid at time of purchase, and the final amount are at odds, as long as the Canadian Government is paid its legal due.

Anyway, the buyer has waived the right to claim any over payments when agreeing to the terms.

I wonder if this is the reason why nothing has been done about these issues (place of manufacture and shipping info) even after all these months? PB and eBay have been awfully slow to implement any changes in these areas. And seller education continues to be woefully lacking. Perhaps this is deliberate ?

Please anyone feel free to comment, because I may just be barking here.

"Arf "arf.

My bold.

Hmmmm, like some kind of con game ? 🙂

marnotom! · ‎03-30-2014

@waterliliq wrote:

They can't ship to my door, I live in the country and who decided that PB can do this? Anywhere I see extra charges like this on Ebay, I refuse to buy from them period! I don't think PB has any right to rip us off further. We are charged by the seller we buy from and we pay enough for the item if we love it enough then have to give some FatCat more? For what? What the hell?

Pitney Bowes doesn't do any of the shipping for a Global Shipping Program shipment. It's contracted out to various freight and (mostly) commercial carriers. My guess is if the item is small enough to ship as an oversize international letter (i.e. up to 2 kg), Canada Post will handle it to its destination. If it's larger, Canpar will. Does anybody else know any other carriers than these two for handling a GSP shipment within Canada?

ace_4420 · ‎03-30-2014

This is an interesting development... My US seller is willing to refund half of the import costs that Canuck customs charges on future purchases! He does not use this GSP system and doesn't know why this last purchase got pegged.... Ace

marnotom! · ‎03-31-2014

@ace_4420 wrote:

This is an interesting development... My US seller is willing to refund half of the import costs that Canuck customs charges on future purchases! He does not use this GSP system and doesn't know why this last purchase got pegged....

It got pegged because it was supposed to get pegged!

Anything sent by mail with a declared value of over C$20 is supposed to be assessed and charged taxes (and sometimes duty) by the Canada Border Services Agency. It's just that it's been determined that it's not really cost effective to do that with some shipments even exceeding that amount, so much of the time nobody at CBSA bothers. Your shipment was likely worth enough for it to be worth taxing.

Commercial carriers and brokers don't have the luxury of this leeway the way Canada Border Services does, which is why you pay an amount going towards taxes and duty (and then some) on all GSP shipments valued at over C$20.

Be honest with your seller and tell him his offer is very generous, but the item was taxed fair and square* and there's no need for him to "make up" for a problem that doesn't exist.

*Unless Canada Border Services didn't like the declared value and made up its own, charging taxes, etc. on that amount. If that's the case, there's an appeal process you should be going through.

czwij · ‎03-31-2014

I just won an item for approx.100 USD

shipping (25) to the Czech Republic plus customs (31 USD) from a Pitney and someone totals 56 USD.

costing me 156 USD for a 100 dollar item; that is nuts.

customs when i do it myself is about 10 USD cheaper and shipping for small 1 lbs parcels has been much less in the past.

I am not a big ebay purchaser, but there are things there that i can't get in Europe so I used it about 50 times or so.

No More, until this ludicrous Global shipping program is cancelled.

It is not in my best interest, therefore I will most likely seek an alternate source of purchase for the things i want at a reasonable price for shipment.

Too bad Ebay, it was fun while it lasted...

Signed; unsatisfied customer

arlene_v · ‎03-31-2014

@marnotom! wrote:

Something else to consider is that if the seller calculates the weight of the item incorrectly or doesn't bother to do so at all, the GSP robot may end up calculating a shipping rate that's completely at odds with the item and possibly in the buyer's favour. I don't believe the GSP demands additional payment from the buyer after the fact in these circumstances, so if the GSP were to refund overages, then I think PBI would want the ability to make up for shortages as well.

Of course, the chances of situations such as those that you and I are describing could likely be reduced if filling in the "Item Specifics" fields were made mandatory on a GSP (or any) listing, as has been suggested before.

Tom, I think we all agree that PB is pursuing profit with the GSP, and this is exactly what they should be doing.

I can't imagine how a sophisticated, world class company like PB could continue a program that is not profitable, nor can I imagine that they don't have teams dedicated to making the program more profitable.

I didn't major in business or finance but can follow the money .. and this is my take: if they were consistently losing money due to this lack of info input by sellers, this situation would be remedied ASAP.

If this info (or lack of, rather) is not affecting the bottom line, and is actually generating an unexpected windfall, , this is a different story.

These costs (never spelled out in full, and not subject to scrutiny) are all built into the program fees and are accepted by the buyer at time of purchase.

So, if a quick recalculation in Kentucky results in no duty, PB is certainly not legally obliged to return the money to the buyer. It can keep that under "program fees".

Of course we are talking about duty here and not tax. Duty, which is overlooked because it has not been a real issue for many Canadian buyers for a long time, for various reasons, and not only that, many folks confuse tax and duty.

Look, all companies need to make money ..this is their sole mandate.

I am just trying to figure out why PB is so slow at implementing certain basic changes, changes that have been requested for well over a year or more?

Such incompetence and foot dragging from a top notch company?

It is a mystery.

..and I have to wonder, why?

Why this delay?

marnotom! · ‎03-31-2014

Can't give you any definite answers, Arlene, but you may want to give these two articles a read:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/why-did-gm-take-so-long-to-respond-to-deadly-defect-c...

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/show-support-pitney-bowes-163747365.html

femmefan1946 · ‎03-31-2014

.I just lost 3 important pieces to a collection which are extremely rare

Someone was selling off their collection The cost would have been double the price I'm used to paying

It makes sense to me that an 'extremely rare' piece would be worth paying more for than the run of the mill stuff.

ace_4420 · ‎03-31-2014

If it was supposed to be pegged because of the dollar (over $300.00) then why were the other purchases from Febuary thru March not pegged?

Like I said before... Buyers should have these charges upfront. It's a "krap" shoot and I will not buy anything. If I were to buy another item of high value, do I have to wonder.... will I get pegged or not on this item ?. I don't know of anyone who would buy anything not knowing ALL the costs. Canadians are supposed to be fair-minded and honest and I feel that we're being "run over" because we're easy marks. I think the this system is sneaky and underhanded. Not fair-minded at all. ..Ace

dasia143 · ‎03-31-2014

Quoting femmefan1946, "It makes sense to me that an 'extremely rare' piece would be worth paying more for than the run of the mill stuff."

With respect, femmefan, for all you do to explain the GSP...it’s that sort of unfeeling comment that upsets the ordinary eBay buyer who has serious reservations about the GSP and is just trying to share their experience with other users. At this very moment I’d rather be bidding on a piece of Fiestaware I’d love to win for my collection, but I’m here venting instead because it’s in the GSP.

Not only is shipping twice what it is for other similar-sized non-GSP plates, but there’s the thought that even if I “pay more because it’s valuable” (even if only to me!) it may be damaged in transit because PB opened it and repacked it less securely than the seller. (This is documented in various forums and at least one YouTube video.)

marnotom! · ‎03-31-2014

@ace_4420 wrote:

If it was supposed to be pegged because of the dollar (over $300.00) then why were the other purchases from Febuary thru March not pegged?
Like I said before... Buyers should have these charges upfront. It's a "krap" shoot and I will not buy anything. If I were to buy another item of high value, do I have to wonder.... will I get pegged or not on this item ?. I don't know of anyone who would buy anything not knowing ALL the costs. Canadians are supposed to be fair-minded and honest and I feel that we're being "run over" because we're easy marks. I think the this system is sneaky and underhanded. Not fair-minded at all.

If you want your customs charges stated and paid for upfront, then purchase from U.S. sellers who use the Global Shipping Program and not from sellers who ship directly to their Canadian buyers.

For what it's worth, I always assume that if I make an online purchase of an item from outside of Canada, it's going to get hit with taxes, just as it would if I bought it from a Canadian retailer registered to collect taxes. That way, if I don't get charged tax on a personal import, it's a little bonus.

marnotom! · ‎03-31-2014

@brightviewmusic wrote:

I asked a US seller to reconsider shipping to Canada as they weren't shipping to Canada.His comments were:
"we only ship to US addresses due to ebays poor backing of sellers and tracking
requirements...sorry"
So I asked to them to comment on ebays poor backing of sellers and what about GSP over charging and looking into our packages Their response was:

"I understand your issue with global shipping. That is why we opted out. They
really overcharge buyers in other countries on postage. For sellers we have to
purchase a "international tracking" number and in the case of just 1 comic book
to Canada it is approx $17 to $28 per pkg. If we do not and if the pkg gets lost
or whatever we have to take the loss. I sent a cd to Brazil, I had the customs
tag number that showed it was delivered but the "unkind recipient" in Brazil put in a
"not received" claim, we immediately lost. Even ebay could see it was
delivered...they said it was not valid tracking that was outlined in ebays
policies and procedures."

The seller's explanation is a bit muddled, but since the Global Shipping Program doesn't serve Brazil and the seller only has to provide tracking to the Global Shipping Center in Kentucky, the situation they're describing has nothing to do with the GSP. It does, however, give some insight as to why some (if not many) U.S. sellers are reluctant to ship internationally under their own steam.

marnotom! · ‎03-31-2014

@brightviewmusic wrote:

I purchase memorabillia which can't be found just any old place.I just lost 3 important pieces to a collection which are extremely rare
Someone was selling off their collection The cost would have been double the price I'm used to paying
.The seller listed GSP and I contacted him asking him to ship USPS.He explained why he wasn't using USPS and so on.By the time our communications were settled the item was sold.I was willing to pay more so seller lost out on that too.

I don't see this as a situation unique to the GSP. The seller could have been using high-priced express shipping or not even offering international shipping and you could have lost out on the items while trying to negotiate Canadian shipping by a reasonably-priced means.

@brightviewmusic wrote:

Of the 2 times I had something shipped to me using GSP, I was charged substantially more money and both times the packages were opened.Why would the packages have to be opened.It's like a violation of privacy.

Pitney Bowes' explanation for the practice of opening packages is that the item's country of origin has to be determined for customs purposes. My guess is if more sellers put this information in the "Item Specifics" section of the listing (as required in the GSP seller terms and conditions), there would be fewer GSP packages opened at the Global Shipping Center.

arlene_v · ‎04-01-2014

Here is an interesting thread to read.

A very heavy item (32 lbs) cost the buyer a mere $21 to ship to Singapore through the GSP

http://community.ebay.com/t5/International-Trading/Global-selling-program-for-buyers/m-p/19929942

The seller lists overstock items, and has over 350 000 listings. If folks have time check out some of their listings ...not hard to find, and look at shipping costs in different categories, it really is quite interesting.

For example, a hair comb measuring 3" x 2" costs over $16 to ship to me, but a Venetian 72" x 36" White Air Tub weighing 165 pounds costs less than $40 in shipping.

Okay, I don't have a mind like Lewis Carroll, I can't figure this out.

marnotom! · ‎04-01-2014

@arlene_v wrote:

. . . a hair comb measuring 3" x 2" costs over $16 to ship to me, but a Venetian 72" x 36" White Air Tub weighing 165 pounds costs less than $40 in shipping.

What are the domestic (i.e. U.S.) shipping rates for those items? Don't forget those get added onto the GSP's overall shipping charge.

jean-philippe.vert · ‎04-01-2014

@arlene_v wrote:

For example, a hair comb measuring 3" x 2" costs over $16 to ship to me, but a Venetian 72" x 36" White Air Tub weighing 165 pounds costs less than $40 in shipping.

This is strange as the weight limit is 66 lbs:

The package must not weigh more than 66 lbs.

http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/shipping-globally.html#eligibility

I was not able to get an item go through the GSP because it was 70 lbs.

arlene_v · ‎04-01-2014

Tom and Jean-Philippe, here is the listing ...http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Venetian-72-x-36-White-Air-Tub-/400687216418?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5...

Shipping cost stated for my Ontario postal code is $38.34 ... and yes, listed under the GSP, weighing 165 pounds.

ace_4420 · ‎04-01-2014

Thanks for your response but I'm not making myself clear. The US sellers that I buy from DO NOT use the GSP. This item that got "pegged" was shipped via USPS First Class Int'l Package, he has a lot of Canadian buyers. My US seller has shipped this way to me since 2004. He does not use program as it is not mandatory. Thats why he's confused. I paid at the Post Office in town for realistic duty. My Post Office does not charge a handling fee. The Duty paid is based on items $50.00 and over. Customs charge 5% HST on $20.00 and over PLUS a 10.00 handling fee. This is a Make Work Program to dig into the pockets of buyers.

On the matter of Canadian Retailers...We know how over inflated their prices are. With the exception of dollar stores and Walmart which subjugate disadvantaged workers in poorer countries. The middle men collect profits. IE: Pitney Bowes and Canada Customs. Just another program invented to break the backs of the struggling middle class. Free trade is only good for the 1% of the Corporate's. Welcome to Globalization....This post will probably be pulled by unseen forces at work Lol!...Ace