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

walker0017 · ‎10-03-2014

Actually, it may not happen at all. Ebay seems to be moving in the exact opposite direction from your very sensible suggestion. If you read the US Selling board, a number of sellers have reported receiving an email from eBay advising them that their listings would automatically be opted into GSP as of October 3rd. That's tomorrow! I think it follows this announcement from the Fall Seller Update:
http://pages.ebay.com/sellerinformation/news/fallupdate2014/selling-across-borders.html
Obviously eBay doesn't give a hoot about what Canadian and other international buyers think of their pet program. They want US sellers to sell to us and they think we're so desperate for US goods that we'll pay anything.
I was just doing some reading on the US Discussion boards and there are a few US Sellers who are upset that they were opted back into the GSP after opting out and were not told about it again. You would have thought eBay would have learned that these type of deceitful practices make for bad customer relations, because if this program is so good why do they have to sneak around quietly enrolling people into it. Personally I suspect the program is tanking because it has alienated so many international buyers (Canadians as well) and US sellers but eBay won't admit it because they are still making a buck. I also read where the US sellers are still seeing their sales for 2014 plummet with no rhyme or reason but that could be isolated.

ciny2k · ‎10-03-2014

Two US sellers that I've contacted this week don't know how to remove the GSP from their listings - and the first one said I'd be offered a shipping choice upon check-out, which isn't true. I know both of these sellers want my business, but unfortunately unless they can figure out how to change their shipping methods, I can't buy their items. I've had many sellers change to USPS before, so why is it so complicated now? I guess I'm saving money, lol.

The one thing I do understand about the GSP, that's favourable, is that now these items don't sit and languish at the border. I'd be peeved if I received negative feedback for something out of my control, like how fast a package clears Canada customs. I once waited 3 months to receive something, which obviously isn't the norm, but still! I have all the patience in the world, to receive something from a different country, to be processed through customs - but how many other buyers do?

pocomocomputing · ‎10-03-2014

@reallynicestamps wrote:
You could take the time to read the other 3892 posts on the subject of the Global Shipping Program.

The US sellers are the ones setting the shipping cost to Canada.
Pitney Bowes is setting the 'import charges'.
The Canadian Government has not changed the maximum value for postal/courier imports which has been set at $20 for decades.

If this is a problem for you write:
The Right Honourable Stephen Harper, PC, MP
House of Commons
OTTAWA ON K1A 0A6
It is not necessary to stamp the envelope.

The third party, PitneyBowes, has contracted with eBay, to process duty and taxes for the 178* countries that eBay sellers can ship to. All the seller has to do is ship to PB's Kentucky plant with cheap Confirmation of Delivery and that done, his responsibility ends.

The buyer doesn't technically pay duty and tax, so no receipt is due. What PB does is calculate the applicable duty and more important sales taxes, adds in a small service fee (Around $5) and pays the Canadian governments out of the money they collect.

Is the amount they collect too high? Sometimes, probably. Too low? Sometimes , probably.
Do they make money? Doubtless, that's what most businesses prefer.
Does the Canadian government make money? Absolutely. And it's money that costs them nothing to collect, unlike CanadaPost items. CPO and CBSA have come to the conclusion that it makes no sense to assess and collect duty and tax if the cost of collecting is higher than the amount collected. couriers like PB and UPS have no such luxury.

*My mistake. That should be 173. EBay sellers cannot ship to countries that are embargoed by the USA.

The GSP is not available for all countries eBay allows in the listing form ship to countries. The countries allowed are about 53 or so. See this eBay help page for the list of countries (may not be up to date).

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

afantiques · ‎10-03-2014

The GSP is another way of taking your money for absolutely bs reasons, they don't pay custom fees the government does, trying to act as a broker or middle man for customs

Why don't people read other replies? The GSP does in fact pay more to the Canadian government than it ever collected from items shipped by post, and the brokerage element of this is a modest $5.

It's a horrible idea, but not a way of taking your money for nothing. It's paying for a limo service when you could be taking a bus. Admittedly, the limo is a huge rickshaw, but it is a different service with different rules.

afantiques · ‎10-03-2014

I'm not sure myself where those ''taxes'' are going ?... I'm working in and with the custom brokerage system (CDN & USA) and from what I see the taxes might only be charge by :

a Canadian company with all the taxes registration.

or

a certified custom broker (on behalf of a CDN company)

Which is what happens in practice. The exporter and importer of record is PB Inc. They use their Canadian customs broker to clear inwards the consignment of Canada bound packages, the same process used in all other GSP eligible countries, only after import clearance are the packages forwarded to the addressees.

The habit of the sellers of not disclosing country of origin can lead to higher charges, quite legitimately.

As the exporter has no relation to the US original importer of foreign made items no possible scheme of tax drawback is applicable.

It is possible to understand the process by reading the full terms and conditions, but really only if you have a sound grasp of commercial international trade and shipping practices already.

The GSP is a degree level subject imposed on pre-schoolers.

edlomb · ‎10-03-2014

Ebay is now setting the default to GSP so unless the seller knows what they are doing, and many don't, they won't change to regular international delivery. You'll be noticing far more sellers with GSP.

If the purpose of the GSP was to encourage US sellers to offer items to international buyers there really is no need to make it the default setting. It only needs to be an option and not a default, unless of course this is really about a company other than the seller making money and you can be sure that somehow Ebay makes money off of the GSP option. They aren't giving Pitney Bowes customers without taking a cut.

I notice that many sellers don't really know they even have the GSP selected. I contacted some sellers and they closed their auction, relisted without GSP for me. In some cases I see ads with GSP but the seller also quotes their own international shipping rates in the auction ad; they had no clue they had GSP selected.

As it stands, items are now becoming too expensive for me to purchase as the extra shipping costs (generally higher than other int'l shipping) plus customs and brokerage fees are too much to bare. Not to mention the affect that the changing exchange rate is having. But the biggest problem is the automatic customs charges.

My strategy going forward is to ask sellers to relist without the GSP but I know many will not as they've been brainwashed by ebay to think that selling to international clients means an automatic lost item and being ripped off.

The other good news is that there are some other buying options for items I want; lps. I can now use Discogs and even Amazon. Although ebay still has the largest listing many sellers I have spoken to are looking at other options.

Eddie

edlomb · ‎10-04-2014

.

queenpalmer · ‎10-05-2014

I am disgusted with Ebays use of Piney Bowes as a courier. I always leave low rating for shipping charges when I leave feedback where Pitney Bowes has found its way into the situation. What's wrong with using the USPS as an option for courier. Most USA sellers choose not to question what Ebay has done.

pierrelebel · ‎10-05-2014

Pitney Bowes manages PayPal postage on both eBay.ca (Canada Post) and eBay.com (USPS).

Do you blame sellers for using online postage?

joeyarrows · ‎10-05-2014

For me it's simple: I look up an item that I want to buy and when I see that extra "custom fee/service" on the listing then I won't proceed. There's enough merchants that don't use this stupid Pitney Bowes "service".

Recently my wife made the mistake to buy an Ipod 4 from a merchant that was using the Pitney Bowes "services". She paid $100 for the Ipod, $20 shipping costs with tracking AND $14 for "custom services". So that's $24 for shipping for an Ipod that weighs maybe 200g.

Funny thing to know is that I ship items to the US that weigh 4lbs (approx. 2 kg) for $25 and I never had a problem with US customs charging my customers extra for the merchandise. And yes I'm filling out the custom declaration with the proper value of the merchandise!

So read the ad before you buy! If there's that extra custom charge (they call it custom services I believe and it's usually located under the shipping costs on the ad) then don't buy from that merchant. Saves you a bunch of money!

PITNEY BOWES IS A RIP-OFF and it's targeting Canadians!!!!!

00nevermind00 · ‎10-05-2014

Maybe the OP is yet another "satisfied" customer who has bought from a seller using the GSP, which is managed by Pitney Bowes?

GSP items are identified with a blurb that reads: "Customs services and international tracking provided" (or some such). You can either avoid those listings altogether (many of us do!) or you can email the seller and ask if they will relist without the GSP (the time to do this is before you bid/buy).

GSP-related poor feedback will be removed if the seller asks, so leaving it is pointless.

chanelno99 · ‎10-05-2014

The Global Shipping Program has at least doubled, and often tripled the cost of having parcels shipped to Canada. The lion's share seems to go into the pockets of the middlemen. When you see the cost of postage that is on the package and what is paid by me, the variance is shocking. I recently saw that a pair of shoes cost $10.12 in postage, but the cost to me was approximately $25. That doesn't even take customs into account. A pair of $80 shoes should only cost $9 ($5 customs handling charge plus GST in the amount of $4.) Nope, in my example the customs was well over $20.

If I have the time, I will email the vendor and ask them to ship my package independent of the global shipping program. This saves me big time. Most of the time, however, I don't have the patience to explain how the GSP is usurious in its methods. As such, I bypass these vendors and their goods. This is serious because it affects the vendors' sales and ability to compete.

I don't know how to get this message out to US vendors here in eBay, but the Global Shipping Program is not doing anyone any favours. Instead, it is a very expensive impediment to effective cross border shopping.

Thank you and have a nice day.

Best regards,

Canadian Shopper

allanb5288 · ‎10-05-2014

Living in Canada I have become a victim of the "Global Shipping Program" With it's high shipping costs and Import charges to get anything shipped from the US(And it seems to be a problem only from the US).
Before the "Global Shipping Program" Shipping was reasonable and there were no Import Charges at all.
So I have decided not to buy or bid on any sellers using the "Global Shipping Program" And if the program spreads........ I'll just stop getting any e-bay items from the US.

queenpalmer · ‎10-06-2014

In Sept 2014 I purchased an item from a seller in the USA. I was under the impression USPS was to be the courier. The invoice came to me with only a USPS International Priority charge. I paid it only to find out later that Ebay automatically took money from my Pay Pal account to cover Pitney Bowes charges. The seller and I have agreed to cancel the transaction and a refund is being processed.

I made another purchase Sept 2014 from a different USA seller and requested that USPS be the only charge applied for Shipping. When I got the invoice the Pitney Bowes charge of $20 was added to the USPS charge of $2.97. I refused to pay the invoice and this morning I contacted the seller to cancel the transaction.

I want the seller and me to agree to the courier to be used. I do not want Ebay to say which courier I HAVE to use whereby I have to shell out money for an unnecessary middleman.

pierrelebel · ‎10-06-2014

"and requested that USPS be the only charge applied for Shipping"

Unfortunately, with GSP (Global Shipping Program) it does not work that way. The seller has no control on method or cost of shipping.

A Canadian should NOT buy from a listing offering GSP. A buyer cannot change the shipping method after having made the purchase. The seller is instructed by eBay/PayPal to ship to the eBay distribution centre in Kentucky. Typically, the shipping charge by the seller is domestic covering the cost of shipping to KY. The shipping charge by Pitney Bowes also covers the cost of shipping from the distribution centre to the buyer. It may also include a service charge of $4/$5 to handle the shipment (for parcel valued at less than Cdn$20).

If a Canadian insists on buying an item listed with GSP, one should first contact the seller and ask for a new listing not offering GSP but direct shipment to Canada through USPS. Not all sellers will agree; many will insist in using GSP.

mater721 · ‎10-06-2014

"I was under the impression USPS was to be the courier."

What are the item codes you bid on?

"under the impression"? But you are not completely sure?

It sounds like you are bidding/buying items that use the Global Shipping Program. This does not use USPS.

The seller ships to PB in Kentucky. PB then pays import charges and ships to you. You pay all shipping + "import charges".

Did the listing you looked at have this text "Customs services and international tracking provided"?

In the item itself, did it have the following...

"No additional import charges at delivery!"
"Shipping:"
"Import charges:" ...?

If GSP as above, or you are not 100% sure the shipping will be USPS at a stated amount, don't bid until you have contacted the seller to confirm.

If you and seller can not come to a mutual agreement on items already bought/won, and you do not pay, the seller can open a non-payment case against you.

mater721 · ‎10-06-2014

If you know the shipping charges are high before you bid, why are you bidding? Move on and find another item...

It is not fair to seller if you give low rating when the seller meets the conditions of the sale.

Or is there another issue besides cost?

byacey · ‎10-06-2014

I certainly wouldn't use the global shipping program again. I've been waiting for an item that was supposedly shipped on Sept 17, and it still hasn't arrived here yet on Oct. 6. Shipping by USPS would have been cheaper and faster.

As well, Any attempts at tracking the item are met with a dead end. The tracking number doesn't offer any information, it doesn't even indicate if the item was ever shipped. I fail to see how this service is expedient, convenient, or cost savings in any way.

afantiques · ‎10-06-2014

Start a Paypal claim for non receipt. You may get a refund and the item turn up eventually, and there is no mechanism to refund a refund to the GSP. The seller will not lose out either way.