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.

[Anonymous]

I refuse to purchase from a seller who participates in the Global Shipping Program. Not now not ever!

[mpit7628]

Hi everyone.  Well, it appears that more and more sellers from the U.S. have jumped on the Global Shipping band wagon.  It is getting harder and harder to find sellers down south that don't use this dreaded type of shipping.  My problem is with all the sellers that use Global Shipping in their listing but then state in words in their listing that they don't ship outside the U.S.  Is there some confusion with sellers in the States when it comes to using this type of shipping?  Why would a seller who doesn't want to ship internationally then proceed to use Global Shipping?  It is frustrating enough having to deal with this shipping when purchasing items but then to find an item with this shipping but the seller will not ship internationally just adds insult to injury!  It seems many U.S. sellers are doing this.  I do believe that eBay needs to address this problem!

[dmil8030]

Hello 'mpit',

<<It is getting harder and harder to find sellers down south that don't use this dreaded type of shipping>>

Amen to that!  Unfortunately it is not likely to change any time soon so you will have to get creative in finding ways to avoid them.

<< sellers that use Global Shipping in their listing but then state in words in their listing that they don't ship outside the U.S.>>

I notice that quite a bit too.  If I'm in a cheery mood with too much spare time I'll send a light note to the seller pointing out the discrepancy and ask him which it is.  You are right that there is some 'confusion' about it, -- what an understatement!

You see, a huge portion of those sellers who 'seem' to be using the GSP do not even know they have been commandeered into it!  American sellers all had their listings put into that, - and this includes those sellers who previously did not have the desire nor feel the need to ship outside the US.  Once made aware many of them opted out.

If you send a pleasant note of inquiry about these listings you're finding, one of two things will happen:

Either the seller is astonished that his listings appear to you on ebay Canada because he only ever intended to ship within the borders of his own country,

or he will tell you that he thinks the GSP is the best thing that's ever happened to his life because once he's paid he simply sends the item off to Kentucky and then washes his hands of it, - where it goes from there is not his problem.

Not much you can do about the latter, but if you are friendly and helpful with the former he may be willing to ship the item to you via USPS First Class, -- which provides him with that much-needed Delivery Confirmation right to the buyer's door.

Sorting out the shipping fee is super easy.  He just needs to know the packed weight of the item and he can get the costs from here:

http://ircalc.usps.com/?country=10054

If ever you get a seller to do this for you, be sure to leave glowing green feedback once you are happy with the item.

<<Why would a seller who doesn't want to ship internationally then proceed to use Global Shipping?>>

Because he doesn't know he is in the program.  If he does, it's probably a good indicator he will steadfastly refuse to ship to you directly.  Even if a seller tells you 'no', always be sweet with him.  He's got his reasons even if they seem silly to the rest of us.

The ones who have opted out of the GSP are those who value Canadian business, -- and for me, those are the ones I want to buy from.    Who wants to buy from someone who, under any other circumstance, would not want to sell to you?  Of those remaining in the program (it has, after all, been around for a while now) they either are blissfully unaware of it or have chosen to stay in.

<<I do believe that eBay needs to address this problem!>>

Another understatement.   It would be nice, but the fact is the program will not go away and will not change.  By that I mean not 'improve', - there was a change made some months back when the 'assessment' fee was moved to the shipping charge because people were irate at having to pay three and a half bucks just to be told they don't owe anything.

Like everything else in life, and certainly everything ebay, the best thing you can do is protect yourself.  It's your money you are spending so you must always do what is best for you.

Enjoy the shopping challenge!

[micaylah]

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@lee508 wrote:

I just had one experience with global shipping and as a frequent buyer I will NEVER buy from a seller using this system ever again.  It's a TOTAL rip off. 

So when I do find something I like and the buyer is using global shipping, I just skip the item and go for etsy or amazon or another online seller.

It seems obvious to me that ebay could care less about it's canadian ebay customers.

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kalvin@ebay.com wrote:

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? NO
• Any ideas to help improve the experience for Canadian buyers? REMOVE IT OR LET US OPT OUT
• What has deterred you from buying items offered using the Global Shipping Program? YES
• How have you managed to search for items outside the program? BY BUYING ELSEWHERE

Please try & keep the comments constructive 🙂

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

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I also will never buy from a Seller using the GSP. It's an invasive scam imo. I even have it on my profile that I dont. In capital letters!

[porcellis_1632]

The fine print. What NONSENSE:

1. “International priority shipping” this Program Fee consists of charges associated with the parcel processing and shipping services described above and is comprised of the following variable amounts: your Seller's shipping charges to ship your order to the U.S. Shipping Center; third party international shipping charges to ship your order from the U.S. Shipping Center to your designated delivery address or a collection center near you that is designated by the shipping carrier; fuel surcharges; charges for selling, general, and administrative expenses, hardware, software development and licenses, operations, and hosting by Pitney Bowes; charges from third party parcel processing service providers and for the management of the parcel processing service providers and related software systems; charges relating to the management of insurance for lost or damaged items; charges for operational expenses associated with short-term loss recovery and the management of variances between the quoted Shipping amount and actual costs; and any referral fees paid by Pitney Bowes to eBay for referring you to the Program.
2. Import charges: this Program Fee consists of charges associated with the customs service described above and is comprised of the following variable amounts: sales, goods and services, and value added taxes, duties, tariffs, excise taxes, and other amounts assessed or levied by any government authority in connection with the importation of goods into the applicable country of importation (but excluding income taxes) ("Commodity taxes"); third party brokerage fees (including advancement and disbursement charges and customs brokers handling and filing fees); penalties (but excluding any customs duties, taxes, surcharges, fines, penalties, or other charges which may be imposed on you by customs or tax officials after a GSP Item has successfully cleared customs and been delivered to, or made available for pickup at, the delivery address that you specify); classification charges associated with the assignment of a Harmonized System ("HS") classification code; charges for export compliance screening and verification and the assignment of an Export Control Classification Number (ECCN); and operational expenses associated with short-term loss recovery and the management of variances between the quoted Import charges and actual costs. Note: at eBay's discretion, applicable classification and export compliance charges, third party brokerage fees, and operational expenses may instead be included within the Shipping amount that is quoted to you.

[porcellis_1632]

http://pages.ebay.com/shipping/globalshipping/buyer-tnc.html#programfees

SCROLL DOWN TO PAYMENT AND PROGRAM FEES...

WHAT NONSENSE.

[aureliab20]

Hello from France,

Ebay member since 2001 with near 1200 buy/sell, I have to say that I decided to stop all my buy with USA seller using this GSP that is a real scandal.

I bought a bike part a week ago (item #161370113501) from a seller in USA for $150. I asked the seller to ship to a friend in North Carolina, USA. The seller agreed and asked $9.95 for shipping. I paid $159.95 by Paypal to the seller and surprise : $50.73 was paid more to Pitney Bowes for customs fee and international shipping !!!!!!!!!!

Ebay and paypal don't answer my emails and it seems impossible to have a refund from PB.

This is pure swindle !

Furthermore it seems that PB does not pay off these expenses of import to the French State, it is at least what we can read on various French forums which consulted French customs ...

Bye bye ebay USA and GSP

[afantiques]

The seller must ask you to accept cancellation of the sale and refund your payment, The GSP portion will then be automatically refunded. You can then buy the relisted item with the domestic postage using your friend's address which you need to add to ebay and select as the destination address at checkout.

GSP items sent to the EU have their import tax paid in Britain.

There is no way French customs would know anything about the GSP as GSP items are entered into the EU as standard freight shipments no different from a million others. It is true that the French stae gets nothing, but the taxes are paid. Just not to France. However, that's the EU for you.

[bhly*123]

Global shipping worked good as long as the seller did not change his/her mind not to sell it. The seller changed his mind after I paid for the product. I escalated the case through Paypal. Paypal got me the refund from the seller, but they did not refund the $88.80USD that that I paid to Pitney Bowes and closed the case. I called Paypal and the lady said it was on hold for 3-5 business day after she looked into it . It is well over 10 business day now. I wrote to Pitney Bowes, she asked me to contact logistics! I don't think it is right for Paypal to close the case when the third party.  And I don't think that there is any hope to get the money back at all. They just closed the case and you are just wasting your time!  So, just "Buyer beware!!!" Don't buy when there is global shipping!  Save your trouble and money !

[lorilovesschool]

I am a Canadian buyer who has purchased many items on ebay from US sellers.  NEVER EVER have I been charged duty or import fees, especially on USED items!!!  Now I am not buying many items because the sellers are subscribed to Global Shipping, and say they can't ship it any other way now, and if I purchase those charges DOUBLE my price!!!  For example, I was wanting to bid on a USED carousel horse.  The current bidding price is about $45.  I would have had to pay an additional $13.09 for International Priority Shipping, plus $19.23 import charges, bringing a $45 item to over $77!!  Ridiculous!  I am willing to pay $13 for shipping but the extra $20 (50% of my original bid) is ridiculous.

I'm thinking of leaving ebay.  Get rid of Global Shipping.

[pierrelebel]

You put emphasis on "USED".

"USED" is taxable in Canada at the same rate as new.  That is the law.

It has nothing to do with eBay or Pitney Bowes.

Do not take my word for it: go to Value Village to buy used clothing.  Tax (GST/HST/PST) will be charged.  Period.

[citzencane99]

The poster's emphasis on used had no relation to taxes owed.

While GST in Canada, commonly referred to as RT account via CRA is indifferent in either circumstance, valuation and taxable capital gains/losses through disposition are - effectively - impacted by an item being USED. Why? ABC vs. Market Value.

To illustrate my example:

$100 ticket (new) was purchased at $50 (used). Our buyer would, if used to conduct active business income, capitalize said item at $50. If buyer then sells the item, or undergoes some form of change in operating activities that results in a deemed disposition, the valuation of the disposition is lower of: 

Proceeds

Cost

Guess what? Our seller likely sells USED item at a higher price than had he purchased new. Why? Used items purchased on Ebay have the ability to appreciate in value when compared to NEW items. Why? Both objects are purchased (usually) at discount; a reasonable person could likely sell (and always sell) a USED purchase on Ebay for more than what they paid for.

Why is this important? The gain = proceeds; proceeds purchased on USED items would then be taxable pound for bound above cost. This ultimately flows to taxable income and would effectively increase it through recapture.

Why was this point relevant? You mentioned and emphasized tax (specifically GST) on a trivial point to make yourself sound some-what intelligent. I just owned you by quoting ITA and Accounting rules to communicate a trivial point that has no relationship to the original post. Ironic? 

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As someone that infrequently uses Ebay after being introduced to Amazon - I will NEVER use Ebay again. Broker fees were enough of a deterrent and resulted in many disputes over sellers not using USPS. Now you cannot bypass broker fees - a BILLION DOLLAR ORGANIZATION (Ebay) is forcing import charges on every Canadian.

Majority of items I look at show import fees more than shipping!

Shipping ~$15-$40

Import fees $20-50!

[989mcneil]

Is it possible for E-bay to inform sellers  how to and that they can, opt out of the Global Shipping for a single item transaction to ship USPS to Canada or wherever.Sellers that are using GS don't seem to know how to easily do it. Deb-bay

[mater721]

Had a similar experience last night. An action figure went to $45 bid, and basically went out of my price-range due to the priority shipping / custom fees charged through GSP. Have bought many similar items that did not use GSP and just shipped regular through USPS. Never had issues on any purchase.  Had asked the seller if they could ship USPS instead - reply was "no". Seems more and more sellers are using GSP, and when asked, will not opt out. It is now harder and harder to find items I want that have reasonable shipping charge.  Means I bid less and buy less.

[pjcdn2005]

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@989mcneil wrote:

Is it possible for E-bay to inform sellers  how to and that they can, opt out of the Global Shipping for a single item transaction to ship USPS to Canada or wherever.Sellers that are using GS don't seem to know how to easily do it. Deb-bay

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An item can be opted out of the gsp before there are any bids or before the item as been purchased. If the item was already purchased then the seller would have to go to paypal and send you an invoice from there with the correct shipping.

If the item hasn't been purchased yet, they can find the info on the customer support pages:

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

To remove a single active listing from the Global Shipping Program:

1. Go to My eBay > Activity > Sell > Active.

2. Select the listing you'd like to change.

3. In the Edit drop-down menu, select Edit selected.

4. In the Add shipping details section, click the Edit selected policy link.

5. In the International shipping section of the Edit shipping policy dialogue box, clear the Send it to the US shipping center, and the rest will be taken care of for you box.

6. Save and confirm your changes.

[cerebus]

I sympathize, as I am in the same boat.  When I see that an American-based seller has opted into eBay's program, I have to really REALLY want that item, and even then I'll only bid on it if the price is right INCLUDING the (usually) unreasonable international shipping fee and the often outrageous additional import charge.  I would say that, out of the last 50 auctions I have managed to win, maybe three or four were US-based sellers that used the shipping program.  Nobody will EVER convince me that the GSP is anything but a financial scam and a waste of time.

[mauswiesel89]

item #121142259477  (10 valves)  item price : 6.45 $

Import charges :   + $1.98  to France

ahah it's a 30% tax !  where goes this money ?

#171090464220  (manifold set) price : 48,99$  import charge :  $15.04    =))))

added this in my cart, then contacted seller about this who say that the best he can do.  Cancelled my purchase, bought the whole in china, no "import charge" there !

Bye bye USA all seller with GSP are auto ban for me !  

[mater721]

"item price : 6.45$ + Import charges : $1.98  to France"

You pay import charges on items costing $6.45?  That's worse than Canada's horrible low $20 threshold. Brutal!

[pierrelebel]

$1.98 was most likely a service charge, not a tax.

Value of $6.45 is exactly when a seller should NOT use GSP.

[mauswiesel89]

No, it was an import charge.

But curiously when you go on the item page, the charge no longer appear.

I attached my cart below

Note that in the last item at 39,99$ the seller didn't put an import charge, so they choose if they want use GSP or not. We should decide ourselve at checkout.