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.

[dave_dacaper]

So much for free enterprise. I'm with you on this. I plan on doing a lot less shopping here on ebay due to these changes. What gives ebay the right to decide whom I buy from?

[circuit484]

I will add in what I started my own post about in the slight hope that someone from eBay is listening. History shows they are not though or at least to only make false statements in my experience.

I ordered a custom Moto-X 2014 through a seller. I pay them. They order it and ship the phone to me in Canada using the GSP. Apparently the seller shipped two packages the same day. These made their way to Kentucky where they repackaged them and put my phone in the other buyer's box and his in mine. They also left the box unsealed so the contents were free to bounce around the box. So now I am told my phone is in Australia and the other seller's is here with me. I spent 75 minutes being transferred twice after getting the callback to be forced into creating a ticket where all I wanted was advice on what to do so that I was still protected. I was promised contact within 72 hours. It's been 4 days. I am about to spend another hour+ on hold to talk to them again and demand a refund under their money back guarantee. I will hold them to their promises.

So as it stands I am sitting here about to start the phone tag bull**bleep** with their poor customer service with someone else's phone in my possession and no word from the other seller who has mine.

I will never buy from ANY seller who uses the Global Scamming Program. IMO it is criminal but I'm sure some lawyer has already created the loopholes. Legally I'm sure they are allowed but morally I think they should be ashamed at the level of incompetence they show. It is almost like they throw the package into a cage with a bunch of monkeys and let them repackage the contents.

All I can think is: "Burn me once, shame on you. Burn me twice, shame on me."

I am so **bleep** off at this stupidity that I am seriously considering deleting my eBay account once this is all finished. This is now the worse shipping experience I have ever had. The now second was when Purolator "lost" a $500 hard drive that was tracked to the plane then "disappeared" with no insurance since the counter woman didn't fill out the paperwork correctly even after I asked her three times if it was insured. My cost: $580. My refund: $80.

eBay: My cost for the phone that isn't mine: $1060. You tell everyone there is a money back guarantee if I don't receive the item I bought. Time to pay up.

Advice to all buyers: DO NOT buy from anyone who uses the Global Shipping Program. It may work out fine for you but eventually you will be one of us who have been burned by them. It happens more than you think. Just do a search for eBay Global Shipping Program Reviews.

[pierrelebel]

Maybe eBay is working at solving some of the problems arising of sellers using GSP for low value items (under $25):

http://community.ebay.ca/t5/eBay-News-and-Information/Are-you-aware-that-ebay-has-taken-away-Canadia...

[pjcdn2005]

That's the first I've heard of it and my first reaction was that either the seller or customer service was mistaken. But I checked around a bit and haven't been able to find an item under $20 being shipped with the gsp. Has anyone else noticed this?

If this is true, your seller could easily change their shipping so that they ship the item to you directly, rather than through the gsp. They can use first class international for a package up to 4 lbs and that service does have tracking.

[00nevermind00]

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@pierrelebel wrote:

Maybe eBay is working at solving some of the problems arising of sellers using GSP for low value items (under $25):

http://community.ebay.ca/t5/eBay-News-and-Information/Are-you-aware-that-ebay-has-taken-away-Canadia...

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The problem here is that, as seems to be the case with all things GSP, they "forgot" to tell anyone. So right now there are lots of items being offered with GSP shipping by US sellers which read "May not ship to Canada.  Please contact seller, etc." Why can't eBay come up with a simple way of informing buyers and sellers about how the GSP works (some will say that they can't because it doesn't, but I digress...)

Reading about Circuit's misadventure, and Maxum's on the other thread, I'm beginning to wonder if maybe we should start a "GSP Problems" thread where such stories could be told. The link to the thread could then be sent to the GSP people. They would at least be made aware of some of the more serious flaws with the program and maybe, just maybe, something would be done to address those flaws. We would have to specifically ask the mingling mods to refrain from merging that thread into one of the two mega threads, as they seem to love to do.

[pjcdn2005]

It doesn't solve anything right now if sellers don't know that their lower priced items are not showing a Canadian shipping price.

[walker0017]

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@00nevermind00 wrote:

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@pierrelebel wrote:

Maybe eBay is working at solving some of the problems arising of sellers using GSP for low value items (under $25):

http://community.ebay.ca/t5/eBay-News-and-Information/Are-you-aware-that-ebay-has-taken-away-Canadia...

---

The problem here is that, as seems to be the case with all things GSP, they "forgot" to tell anyone. So right now there are lots of items being offered with GSP shipping by US sellers which read "May not ship to Canada.  Please contact seller, etc." Why can't eBay come up with a simple way of informing buyers and sellers about how the GSP works (some will say that they can't because it doesn't, but I digress...)

Reading about Circuit's misadventure, and Maxum's on the other thread, I'm beginning to wonder if maybe we should start a "GSP Problems" thread where such stories could be told. The link to the thread could then be sent to the GSP people. They would at least be made aware of some of the more serious flaws with the program and maybe, just maybe, something would be done to address those flaws. We would have to specifically ask the mingling mods to refrain from merging that thread into one of the two mega threads, as they seem to love to do.

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The really sad pathetic thing here about this entire saga is that as long as the GSP (or the Great Stealing Program as I think of it)  is making a profit as eBay's financial statement appear to state, why change anything, why inform anyone, why make it better, why fix the software problems if it is so profitable, the answer unfortunately is there absolutely is no reason to change anything in the GSP as long as the cash keeps rolling in. Until that changes realistically there will be no real meaningful changes to how it is being mismanaged because it is profitable to leave it the way it is and only that or a class action lawsuit will force any change.

[pierrelebel]

"It doesn't solve anything right now if sellers don't know that their lower priced items are not showing a Canadian shipping price."

I totally agree with you.  I think we are experiencing the usual eBay syndrome: the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing.

I suspect eBay has been hearing Canadian buyers complaining about "import fees" on low priced items and finally decided to block such listings. 

Great idea but - as usual - terrible execution.  They forgot to tell the folks!  They forgot to set up a "Plan B" so sellers could easily offer both GSP for overseas buyers and direct USPS shipment to Canada in the same listing (I understand that was the master plan).

Until eBay gets its act together, Canadians should continue to ignore most listings offering to ship to Canada through GSP.

With time, the problem may be resolved.  Patience.  Lots of patience.  Time will not be measured in days or weeks or months.

[femmefan1946]

It would if it were accurate. I think she misunderstood or miscommunicated some details.

It's actually good news if she is correct.

Too many US sellers were listing their cheap products (under $50)  with the GSP and getting complaints especially from countries, like Canada, where duty and tax start even lower. In Canada's case at $20.

Actually, that's what this 5000 + postings thread is all about. 

If your seller sets up a private listing for you (and you are a repeat customer) for all four sets of curtains, she will surpass the value she believes is the problem. She can then use the GSP and you will pay the tax and duty on the $69 US worth of curtains.

Or she can set the listing up without the GSP and you can pay the tax and duty on the curtains on your doorstep when it is delivered through USPS/Canada Post.

If you both agree to this, I would suggest that she uses your eBay ID as the title so no one else finds your special deal.

[arlene_v]

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@cdnbluebelle wrote:
I recently tried to purchase 4 sets of curtains from a seller in the U.S. valued at $16.95 per pair and imagine my surprise when the posting showed NO Shipping to Canada. I had bought 3 sets from the same seller a couple of months ago and was very disappointed. I contacted the seller and expressed my disappointment. Well, she was surprised too because she did not make that change to her listing. She contacted ebay and was told THEY had made the decision to remove the option to sell or buy an item to Canadian buyers valued at less than $25. They based this decision on complaints from international buyers about the high cost of Global Shipping however they did not notify sellers or buyers. Personally, I think this stinks....

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I've been sitting here trying to wrap my head around this. 

It wouldn't be surprising if something like this has been implemented without letting buyers or sellers know,  when it comes to the GSP, nothing really surprises the observer of this train wreck. Your only solution is to try to contact the seller and ask her to work around this as suggested or list them for you outside the GSP. 

How will this latest development play out?

What about all those auctions that start at .99c,  (at the prompting of eBay)? 

Will  Canadians simply not see these auctions unless the bidding reaches a magical number?

The problems faced  re the GSP and Canadian buyers reminds me of  a defective Rubik's cube ... the puzzle simply can't be solved. 

[circuit484]

The idiot in Kentucky who put the wrong label on the box that went to me last week just cost eBay $1600+ USD. I got a refund of almost all of my money. In the end I got a $750 USD phone for around $20 CND. It's the wrong phone but now I didn't have to pay for it.

You would think that a $1600+ hit to their bottom line would sting a little but then I looked up what Pitney Bowes makes in a year and they won't even miss it from their almost $4 billion in revenue.

Pitney Bowes opened the package, removed the packing material, opened the phone's packaging and then stuck the wrong label on it. When I received it the contents were free in the box with half the "air bag" packaging deflated. They don't care. eBay doesn't care. PB doesn't care. They are all making money hand-over-fist. So what if 5-10% of transactions are refunded. They will just increase the fees to cover their losses and carry on.

The only way it will change is if people vote with their money and stop buying things sold by seller who use the GSP. I, for one, am never using the GSP ever again.

This is the world we live in made by lawyers and the lowest bidder.

[onalimb0]

This program is slow, expensive and not safe. 

1.  The shipping is slow because the package gets shipped twice, which means it gets handled twice and processed for shipping twice.  The vendor sends to Kentucky depot and then it gets processed again and shipped from the depot to its final destination.

2. The program is expensive since international customers now pay to ship to the Kentucky depot and then again to have it shipped to Canada along with the outrageous fees charged by Pitney Bowes.  Canada Post does charge import fees but they are very reasonable.  The Global Shipping Program does not break out the fees it charges, just a lump sum that is passed on to the end customer.  The program benefits only The Global Shipping Program and its partners.  No benefit for more cost.

3. The items that used to be sent with signature required, now require no signature, the packages have been opened by The Global Shipping Program employees, and some have arrived not sealed properly.  Totally not safe.  When customs opens packages, they are properly resealed and you know who opened the package because they use their yellow "Opened by Customs" tape.  My packages have arrived resealed in packing tape and not sealed well, if my items had been smaller, they could have fallen out. 

I will no longer purchase from vendors who are using the Global Shipping Program.   This is a shame, but it is the only option left to me.

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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?
• 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.

---

[nrmn]

I will not purchase anything using the Global Shipping program. It's a scam.

[shuto]

I have but one transaction where I allowed myself to purchase something under the Global Shipping program, and will never do it again 😞 Not only is the price inflated for items that would not necessarily have garnered any taxes and duties issues to Canada from the US, but the tracking process is useless. As a buyer who has spent money and is waiting for a purchase to arrive, it is standard fare now to be able to track and follow the item(s) progress to ones door. With the global tracking system, there is only reference for the domestic carrier who picks up the package, but nothing is provided to the buyer once it leaves the shipping centre for the ultimate destination.

I was dubious of this cash-grab to begin with, and allowed myself to get sucked into it once, but never again. Shipping between the US and Canada is easy and no fuss. Just use USPS and you will have happy buyers who are not dealing with brokers and bull. 

[onalimb0]

I recently left feedback for a seller using the program. I did not notice the global shipping program on the listing. This was my mistake and I will not make the mistake again. I left neutral feedback but indicated a good product. I commented on the global shipping program being slow and not safe since no signature was required and my feedback was removed. No comment or email from ebay or seller but the feedback simply disappeared. Interesting?

[afantiques]

I commented on the global shipping program being slow and not safe since no signature was required and my feedback was removed. No comment or email from ebay or seller but the feedback simply disappeared. Interesting?

Terms and conditions for sellers indicate that any GSP related adverse FB can be removed, as can any adverse DSRs.

[mater721]

"I recently left feedback for a seller using the program. I did not notice the global shipping program on the listing. This was my mistake and I will not make the mistake again. I left neutral feedback but indicated a good product. I commented on the global shipping program being slow and not safe since no signature was required and my feedback was removed. No comment or email from ebay or seller but the feedback simply disappeared. Interesting? "

If you admit it was your mistake to buy an item via the GSP, why would you penalize the seller?

[blondeau1967]

bought pants from ************

they used ebay's gsp

was late to begin with, then because of muliple shippers, shipper says it got left on my doorstep, and no signature required

and guess what....

STOLEN off my porch

real nice ebay

if your gonna charge higher than normal costs for this bulls** program, one can at least get a fu*** required signature

i already did the escalate bs thing,

ebay awarded the seller, as shipper says item delivered, how can it possibly be delivered when no signature required?

then ebay in their statement asks and admits  "perhaps your neighbor has it, or it got delivered to the wrong house?"

so, basically, its a **bleep** shoot and as long as the shipper says it was delivered it good enough for them

im out 180cdn

and thats not chump change

what a crock of

[mater721]

Unfortunately, many deliveries can be stolen from your front-door, even any non-GSP order that does not have Sig Required.

"perhaps your neighbor has it, or it got delivered to the wrong house?"

But the part above is kind of weird - they actually said that?

If delivered to wrong house it was not really delivered...

For those more "in the know"... how do shippers of GSP items prove they delivered?

In such a way that invalidates any buyer claims...

[blondeau1967]

Yes, they said that, and to even inquire my nieghbors to see if they have parcel

My point is, it SHOULD be signature required

If its Canada post, they dont leave it in my mailbox, i got to go pick it up
I am already contacting my C.C. Company to see what they can do, i will jot contact paypal, because they will side with ebay with the same generic answer as shipping company says it was delivered