Comments about the Global Shipping Program

[kalvin@ebay.com]

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.

[bennett4612]

Hi ditcherman.2009

Quick reply regarding some of your thoughts here. 

First off --  the TIME on a GSP order is influenced by a couple different things, just like a non GSP transaction. Yes there is an extra stop (at the US Shipping Center) but this will typically only add 24 hours. The domestic shipping method (chosen by the seller) also has an impact on the overall "travel time". Another factor is the information supplied by the seller. For instance if the seller does not include Country of Origin information, additional time may be needed at the US Shipping Center in order to verify CoO. 

Shipping fragile items requires the same packing and handling whether it's a GSP transaction or not. Sellers are encouraged to take as much care as possible when packing fragile items. 

Sellers are free to opt out and/or not offer the GSP. And there are also tools in place to enable certain countries to be excluded (for example a seller can ship globally via the GSP but decide not to use the Program for Canada). Buyers are of course free to look past any transaction where they are not happy with the price (etc.) for any reason; whether it's due to the GSP or for other reasons.

As far as the benefits go (in a nutshell), the intent of the Program was to open up more buying options for buyers, and to increase the pool of buyers for sellers. You can read more about GSP functionality and intent here:  http://pages.ebay.com/sellerinformation/shipping/globalshippingprogram.html

Hope that helps. 

---Bennett

[peibargainshopper]

I've bought one item from a seller who used the global shipping program and disliked it immensely. Longer delivery time and nothing justified the extra money I was out of pocket. I now also find it a PITA to surf ebay for items I want to purchase as I refuse to have anything to do with a seller who uses the global shipping program again. At the very least, add a search option so that the buyer can exclude all listings with the global shipping program. Quite a shameless money grab really.

[carenmichelle]

I ended up having my item (destined for Canada and something I searched high and low for. I REALLY wanted it D:) signed for and taken home by someone who lives in Kentucky. I would highly recommend AGAINST this method of shipping also. Good thing the seller refunded, but I'm still disappointed. AVOID GSP!!

[afantiques]

 Bennett is a good example of Ebay's policies in dealing with their customers; he ignores all but one or two out of every thirty or so posts and just spouts off some corporate junk while providing a link somewhere. 

In fairness,bennett has sorted out a few users intractable GSP problems when no other route worked, and  does appear to make an effort despite probably being constrained by some corporate style book that dictates most of the anwers and unfortunatly gives that instant gloss of insicerity we all associate with corporate mumbo jumbo.

Couple that handicap with a junior position and a marked reluctance of any of his supposedly supportive colleagues to give him clear answers to supply, and I'd say he/she is doing the best they can.

[froogal_electronic_parts_and_overstock]

---

@afantiques wrote:

 Bennett is a good example of Ebay's policies in dealing with their customers; he ignores all but one or two out of every thirty or so posts and just spouts off some corporate junk while providing a link somewhere. 

In fairness,bennett has sorted out a few users intractable GSP problems when no other route worked, and  does appear to make an effort despite probably being constrained by some corporate style book that dictates most of the anwers and unfortunatly gives that instant gloss of insicerity we all associate with corporate mumbo jumbo.

Couple that handicap with a junior position and a marked reluctance of any of his supposedly supportive colleagues to give him clear answers to supply, and I'd say he/she is doing the best they can.

---

still a prime example of ebay's policies. 

Don't blame the messenger, but the message is loud and clear. 

Ebay, and other large companies would do better to tell the truth, but then again, what do I know. Maybe most people like being lied to, or at least not have the truth told. 

GSP is not there to help US sellers, or Canadian buyers.

GSP was created as a revenue stream for Pitney Bowes and probably ebay gets a cut as well. It was created to collect taxes for countries and likely is the norm and will expand to other companies and postal services. 

This has been a big tax hole for many buyers and I am sure most countries are all for closing that loop. 

[arlene_v]

Yes, froogal, I agree.

The GSP is designed to "help" government, Pitney Bowes, US sellers, eBay (to a certain degree, although I think their reputation in Canada  is taking a beating). 

The losers are  buyers.

Oh, and let's not forget the Non-HST Provinces. They are also losers, in those cases where  provinces have an agreement with the CBSA to collect the PST on imported items, they are not getting it under this program.

There is no PST or QST calculated on GSP items. 

Questions have been asked here that go unanswered ..it is always interesting to see, as silence speaks too! 

[arlene_v]

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@froogal_electronic_parts_and_overstock wrote:

---

GSP is not there to help US sellers, or Canadian buyers.

---

Yes, although the GSP is supposed to "help" US sellers the shoddy implementation and defective calculator that can't even identify a place of manufacture when it is clearly stated in the listing is not really much "help" to sellers, is it?

When Canadian buyers see the import charges on of a pair of boots made in the USA listed under the GSP  ... and it just doesn't "add up" .. they do tend to hit the back  button. 

IF this is the new face of internet commerce, and the future, let's hope buyers and sellers are savvy enough to at least choose a more competent site than this one.  

[argenticspirit]

The global shipping program is terrible, especially as a buyer. I understand sellers wanting to protect high ticket items but $14 shipping from the USA to Canada on $2 items with the GSP so there's tracking is ridiculous. It's a loss of sales for the seller and discourages buyers from buying intentionally.

Then there are the duties etc charged by the GSP. In recent years, you'd have to buy an item well over $100 declared value Canadian for Canada Customs to charge you duty etc on the imported merchandise(compared to about $20 in the early 2000s). The global shipping program is charging duty on $1 items. Again, this makes buying small ticket items pointless and outrageously expensive.

Add this to all the other issues with ebay including the fact the checkout process can't automatically calculate the shipping even when you include the "ships with another item" price, the lack of international exposure etc and you have a bad experience.

And hey, lets top it off with the fact as a seller entering what should be my busiest time of year, I'm getting my lowest sold to listed percentage in years, and my percentage of sales to the USA have dropped to an all time low as well.

[afantiques]

The global shipping program is charging duty on $1 items.

This should only happen with an auction with BIN option, the tax is calculated on the BIN price but if a bid is placed for , say, $2, the BIN vanishes and the tax drops to zero.

[greyraven8]

Have only had a chance to skim some of the post here (over 150 pages).

Not sure if this has come up, but when you are bidding on an auction item (as opposed to 'buy it now') your total shipping cost (shipping & import charges) can increase quite a bit for cheaper items.  Not sure if my first bid on an item was under $20 and this was a factor, but in any case when I increased my bid the total shipping cost also increased.  The fact that you are not aware of this until after you have committed to a bid (and this added cost if you win) is the cherry on top of this sh** sundae.  Luckily when I won the seller was able to offer me an invoice with a cheaper shipping method outside of the GSP; this was probably a pain for him and I am grateful that he did it.

It's obvious to anyone that has even just skimmed these over 150 pages that for the vast majority of transactions for Canadian buyers the GSP is an added cost and just a cash grab.   It rank right up there with UPS's brokerage fees - at least UPS is usually easier to spot and avoid.

My suggestions:

1st choice: cancel the GSP program.

2nd choice: make the default option for U.S. sellers signing up for GSP an opt out for Canada when signing up for the GSP

3rd choice: when a seller is using GSP, don't make it 'International Priority Shipping' in the shipping tab - be upfront and mention somewhere it is also GSP.  If GSP is such a "great program", you'd think when items are listed with it, the listing would automatically have GSP mentioned several times in very visible spots in listings.

[afantiques]

just a cash grab.

I will be glad when this unhappy cliche dies out.

It has no real meaning, now it just seems vaguely pejorative.

As I see it, a 'cash grab' would be taking your money and doing nothing for it, the taxi paid for that drops you off at the bus stop instead of taking you to your destination.

The GSP program is in fact something where you pay for a premium (or at least, a more complicated) service that you did not really want. But - the money you paid is not 'grabbed', it goes to pay the costs of what you have paid for.

It's the buyer's choice to use or not use the program, to shun or embrace its sellers.

I very much doubt if this so called 'cash grab' is grabbing much cash for anyone after all the costs and unexpected items have been paid for.

[00nevermind00]

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@afantiques wrote:

just a cash grab.

I will be glad when this unhappy cliche dies out.

It has no real meaning, now it just seems vaguely pejorative.

As I see it, a 'cash grab' would be taking your money and doing nothing for it, the taxi paid for that drops you off at the bus stop instead of taking you to your destination.

The GSP program is in fact something where you pay for a premium (or at least, a more complicated) service that you did not really want. But - the money you paid is not 'grabbed', it goes to pay the costs of what you have paid for.

It's the buyer's choice to use or not use the program, to shun or embrace its sellers.

I very much doubt if this so called 'cash grab' is grabbing much cash for anyone after all the costs and unexpected items have been paid for.

---

No, it is not a "cash grab" but it can sure feel like one to the buyer.

It is not a "scam" or a "rip off" (more words that have been bandied around) either, but again it can feel like one to the buyer.

Using GSP to mail small, lightweight 2$ items is, of course, completely ridiculous. At one point, even eBay and/or PB realized this and pulled that $50 figure out of a hat. It would be nice if they did more than pay lip service to that and started warning sellers who try listing totally inappropriate items with GSP. Maybe then we'd see fewer $2 postcards with $16+ shipping.

Ebay also needs to urgently address the problem of the GSP charges seemingly not showing when listings are viewed on a mobile device. Until they do, we'll keep seeing angry buyers blindsided by these charges.

[xc_deals]

GSP is ridiculous. Duty is being charged on $20 item? Or on $2000 item I have to pay shipping and plus 21% of fees?  

I'm starting to use forwarders from US to Canada.

Note to ebay: you can use shipping center, but let customers pay duty and taxes.

[mayaraschad]

The Global shipping has effectively stopped me from buying anything from sellers  using it.

We (In Canada) don't usually have to pay duty etc. on most items, so why are they charging for it, plus overpriced shipping too. 

If I need to pay duty on an item, I will pay it at my own post office here, it's never a problem.

I have just passed on 3 items where the new Global  Shipping charged more than 3 times the cost of the item.

 What a total rip off!  I'm sorry that a lot of sellers will no longer get Canadian Buyers

[mayaraschad]

You are SO right!  I don't mind paying duty etc if I have to, but that's at MY post office, when the item gets here, and I know that my actual shipping cost is nowhere near as high as it's listed.

[huntersaebaryu]

Here are the answers for your 4 questions:

1) nothing works well for this program, it's a scam

2) absolutely.  Cancel this program

3) the rediculous charges of course.  People are not blind

4) this quesiton really sounds more like a mockery than a question...ebay laughing at us buyers saying: let's see how you suckers are going to search for items outside of the GSP now... we will never make a function to show only sellers without GSP.

Being constructive? i think not... you guys are making it really really hard. 

as for the GSP program itself, the only thing I can say about it is...... SCAM!!!!

I have bought stuff from us sellers on ebay for more the 10 years and 90% of the time I do not get charge extra duties, taxes nor brokerage fees.  The only thing this GSP thing does is to create a stupid system to collect more money for eBay and their dear friend Pitney Bowes.  The sellers does not get any of these rediculous charges.  It's crazy how much ebay and pitney bowes are making on this little scam.   Check out the following passage in their terms and condition:

However, subject to your compliance with these Terms, your payment of the GSP Item price and quoted Program Fees during checkout represents the total amount of Shipping and Import charges for a GSP Item to be purchased, shipped to the delivery address specified by you, cleared by customs, and delivered to (or made available for pickup at) the delivery address that you specify. You will not request, and you will not receive, a refund for the difference, if any, between Program Fees paid by you and actual costs to Pitney Bowes in the event that actual shipping and/or import costs are less than the amounts paid by you. 

I'm sure Pitney Bowes is also not refunding the differences between the amount ebay pays them and the amount they pays the governments either.  So Pitney Bowes keeps some differences, eBay keeps some differences, on top of the regular profit they are making.  You are being charged fees on top of fees and on top of fees. 

Ebay has tricked many sellers to op to this program.  The sellers either 1) don't know anything about it or 2) don't really care about their international sales.  I refuse to buy from any sellers who join this program.  Since there are a lot of them, i guess i just won't shop on ebay that much anymore. 

[thebidsniper]

Sellers are free to opt out and/or not offer the GSP.

If this is the case, why not make it even easier and more intuitive and allow international buyers the option to filter out sellers using the GSP?  

Buyers are of course free to look past any transaction where they are not happy with the price (etc.) for any reason; whether it's due to the GSP or for other reasons.

How is this feasible when it seems like 90% of US sellers are using this service?  The vast majority of them don't even seem able to use or understand it properly, and that is a failure on both the seller and on Ebay.  Why would an international buyer willingly choose to use a service that charges ridiculous, exorbitant rates with zero explanation as to why they're being charged so much?  Who in their right might wants to pay the seller's shipping costs, the GPS shipping costs, and then service fees, taxes, and import charges on top of that?  

As far as the benefits go (in a nutshell), the intent of the Program was to open up more buying options for buyers, and to increase the pool of buyers for sellers.

No.  The benefactors of this program are Ebay and PBI - not sellers and buyers.  More buying options for buyers?  Are you being serious with this statement?  This program is an insult to international buyers the world over - the only option it provides is whether I want to look locally for an item or whether I want to buy from a Canadian Ebayer (both of which I would rather do than allow this program to extort money from me for a vague, expensive, unnecessary service that no one asked for).  

When the GPS leaves Ebay, I'll return to Ebay.  Until then, I'll spend my money elsewhere.

[prshopper.2008]

I have not purchased anything on ebay for months, mainly due to the increasing use of the Global Shipping Program by sellers, who don't seem to understand that it is a detriment to their sales. I'm sure there are many many Canadians who feel the same. On the bright side I will be shopping more locally now, probably something I should have been doing all along....good luck EBay!!

[brandeentertainment]

Yeah your post will be moved shotly and if you follow where it gets moved you will see the 100's of Canadian buyers who coplain about this ...

Many sellers don't even know they are in the GSP programs which I think is very very shady business on ebay's behalf but whatever works for them I guess...

It's not all bad but it is far from good ...

I don't know if the program will last but I suspect it is something everyone should get use to ...

I don't mind because it helps my sales ....

[wickedservant]

Global Shipping is garbage and we all know it.

You can sit there and say "well, it's good for such-and-such type of item, not for the rest" but it's garnering a load of hate from buyers.

Not one seller I have contacted who was enrolled in it seemed to know anything about it, so the onus of this horrible, messy program falls on Ebay itself for not educating the sellers about it before shoehorning them in.

It is not Ebay's nor Pitney Bowes job to collect import duties nor taxes, and I will immediately demand any empty-headed white knight prove it is being done correctly (I can find testimonies about how it isn't with The Quickness)