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.

[sampsonjg]

Here is how it is with me. If I see "Import Charges" on an auction. I no long ever consider to buy that, i will look for one that doesn't give me that **bleep**. If all of the items I am looking for have it, then I will go to a different site such as amazon or someone thing else.. I rarely ever had to pay import charges when ordering. If you want my money, remove this scam.

[reallynicestamps]

Not sure if that was original packing or PB.

PB puts a note into the parcel if they have opened it. Usually the opening is because the seller did not note the place the item was manufactured.

If the listing has ended it would have to be a mutual cancellation.
If seller does not agree, you are stuck.
Well, yeah, sorta.
The seller could also go for an Unpaid Item Dispute. If this is the only time the buyer refuses to pay for a purchase, there would be little or not fallout for her. Two or more, of course, means automatic Blocks on her bids from hundreds of thousands of sellers.

but regardless under $20 has always been duty free. So, taxes should not have applied under $20.
Apparently PB will charge their $5 or so ‘service fee’ anytime they process a shipment. No matter what the value.
Makes you appreciate CBSA and Canada Post  just a little.

If they say that First Class doesn't have del confirmation to Canada, tell them it does as long as they purchase the label online.
PJ- Thank you for clearing that up. I was sure it was a Delivery Confirmed service, but was unaware that only applied to online shipping labels.

[uppercanadian]

This whole program is very nefarious.  To my knowledge, Pitney Bowes does not have a Canadian Brokerage License.  I believe that they have contracted the actual brokerage out to Livingston International.  Duty is based on two things.  One is the actual commodity being imported. The second is the value of that commodity,  So in an auction setting, I have no idea how Pitney Bowes and their GSP will know what the total duty will be for the item as they have no idea what the price will be until the auction has finished. 

Secondly, if they are collecting duties and taxes, then they must be remitted to Revenue Canada.  So I wonder if they are collecting duty and yet not remitting when they realize that it is under the minimum value or if it is a duty free item.  If that was the case, it would be considered Fraud under Canadian Law and or Tax Evasion.  There does not seem to be any accountability here as.  Yes, US items can be duty free but you do need a NAFTA CERTIFICATE filed for the commodity.  There are other Free Trade Nations though too - Chile, Israel, Korea, soon the European Union - is the GSP taking that into account? 

I have checked various listings for different items types - Car Parts, Postage Stamps, Electronic Products - all of which have a different Duty Rate.  But I see that the GSP lists them all as the same price for their services.  Something is not right here.

My suggestion is to start contacting Pitney Bowes directly asking for clarity and accountability.  If they are not forthcoming, then we should start writing to our Federal Ministers, pressing for an investigation into what MAY BE some pretty serious breeches of integrity and perhaps even law.

[afantiques]

So in an auction setting, I have no idea how Pitney Bowes and their GSP will know what the total duty will be for the item as they have no idea what the price will be until the auction has finished. 

The GSP charges shown are based on the the current bid level or if there are no bids the start price or if there is a BIN option, the BIN price.

A potential bidder can see what their total costs will be if the item reaches their maximum bid level by clicking a link but thta is far from obvious. (or at least it used to be, I have not checked lately.)

PB do not collect duty and taxes. They prepare a customs manifest to accompany a consignment of GSP packages and the import taxes and any duty applicable are collected on import in  exactly the same manner as any other freight import. At that point, the pre-payment made by the buyer is used to fund the tax payment. Some carriers will collect this money after thay have paid it out but this is not practical for GSP shipments.

The program is badly designed and generally a large added expense for buyers, and most sellers seem to have no idea how to use it appropriately but there is nothing nefarious about it.

Most of the cries of foul play raised are due to a misunderstanding of the processes involved. Most high charges for lightweight low value items are due to sellers omitting vital information about size, weight and  origin. It is undeniable that ebay should and could do more to ensure that it was impossible to list a GSP item with this information omitted.

[iamtheactionman]

I made the mistake of buying from a seller using GSP and it will be the last.

Overpriced!

Inspecting and repacking a sellers item at a central location in KY is unacceptable.
With no help from either Ebay, seller or PBI when there's an issue which appears to be frequently. why go through the hassle.

I'm so upset that I will no longer buy Internationally on Ebay...ever....GSP or not.

There's a big world of business out there that would love to have my $$$.

[00nevermind00]

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@uppercanadian wrote:

My suggestion is to start contacting Pitney Bowes directly asking for clarity and accountability.  If they are not forthcoming, then we should start writing to our Federal Ministers, pressing for an investigation into what MAY BE some pretty serious breeches of integrity and perhaps even law.

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I have a better suggestion: give all GSP items a wide berth. Use "List View" (not Gallery View) to search for items and ignore any listing that has the "Customs services and international tracking provided" blurb, since those are the GSP listings.

I certainly hope that our politicians, whether federal or provincial, have better things to do than to start investigating a legitimate company such as Pitney Bowes, even if it is running a half-baked and deservedly despised shipping program. If they don't then they should be voted out of office at the next election.

[iamtheactionman]

Very good suggestion!

[mater721]

"I made the mistake of buying from a seller using GSP and it will be the last. Overpriced!"

By this do you mean you did not notice the "extra" costs?  Or you just feel making the purchase was overall a mistake?

"I'm so upset that I will no longer buy Internationally on Ebay...ever....GSP or not."

Have you had issues previously on non-GSP purchases?

[petestunes2112]

I agree.  canpar is one of the worst. I bought an apartment dryer.  it arrived damaged with a big hole in the side from a fork lift.  the driver said it was damaged & would I still accept it ??? idiot.  I said no take it back & he was chocked that he had to load it back into the truck.  as it was there fault I did get a replacement but what a hastle.   another time I ended up in hostpital & missed  attempted deliverys.  contacted them they wanted an additional $10 to try again. If I still was not home I would have to pick it up.  thats a 40 mile drive from where I live.  unreal.   they wouldn't give me an approx time.  just that it would be delivered sometime that day ??  before GSP that box would of shipped usps & if I missed delivery , oh well. I could pick it up at the canada post office half a mile away. GSP is a scam. 

[petestunes2112]

 I agree.  I don;t buy cds anymore from US.  yes it takes longer to receive.  but free shipping or a couple of bucks is alot better than paying $14 to ship GSP for one cd.

[golfanddrum]

My first experience with GSP... and my last !

Paid almost $20.00 shipping for a $15.00 item. If the seller used USPS, shipping would have been less than $10.00, and no import duties or brokerage fees. Expected delivery time from USPS would have been less than 5 days.

As far as tracking is concerned, the tracking says nothing more than "Multiple Carriers". ( Very useful ) Actual delivery time...TBA.

[jiminiequick]

 Dear Ebay

I am a Canadian Ebay buyer since March of 2000. I don't know why You started the global shipping program. You not only added more fees but also slowed the shipping process to Canada. When I use to buy without it from USA sellers. USA Sellers using USPS has a better tracking system in informing recipient of the expedited parcel. Canada post also has a better tracking system too. I received the item sooner and at less cost to me, even as it goes through Canada customs here. I am really very dissapointed with this move I am sorry but I will not again buy from USA Ebay sellers or any sellers that use the Global Shipping Program. It is ridiculous to pay fees to a service that prolongs the shipping process. I am sure that it is not the Canada Customs that instigated this process to you.

There has been no cuts or austerity move by Canada Customs. They are fully staffed and in fact the customs process to move goods between USA and Canada has been improved and now flows better than it use to.

Good Luck

[golfanddrum]

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@jiminiequick wrote:

 Dear Ebay

I am a Canadian Ebay buyer since March of 2000. I don't know why You started the global shipping program. You not only added more fees but also slowed the shipping process to Canada. When I use to buy without it from USA sellers. USA Sellers using USPS has a better tracking system in informing recipient of the expedited parcel. Canada post also has a better tracking system too. I received the item sooner and at less cost to me, even as it goes through Canada customs here. I am really very dissapointed with this move I am sorry but I will not again buy from USA Ebay sellers or any sellers that use the Global Shipping Program. It is ridiculous to pay fees to a service that prolongs the shipping process. I am sure that it is not the Canada Customs that instigated this process to you.

There has been no cuts or austerity move by Canada Customs. They are fully staffed and in fact the customs process to move goods between USA and Canada has been improved and now flows better than it use to.

Good Luck

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Unfortunately, I doubt eBay gives a **bleep**. They have what they want...our money.

[femmefan1946]

I don't know why You started the global shipping program.

It's been answered several times in this very long thread.

The Global Shipping Program has nothing to do with buyers and has little or no benefit for buyers.

The single benefit for buyers is that it encourages US sellers to list internationally, making more items available.

The other benefits are for those US (and now UK) sellers.

• Buyers can no longer make claims of non-delivery against the seller. The purchase is tracked by USPS from the seller to the GSP/Pitney Bowes plant in Kentucky. The seller's responsibility ends there. PB tracks the purchase from Kentucky to the buyer.

• Buyers cannot refuse parcels because they did not realize duty and sales taxes would be charged before they could claim their purchase.

• Buyers cannot leave negative feedback because they didn't know that their country charges duty and sales taxes.

[golfanddrum]

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@femmefan1946 wrote:

I don't know why You started the global shipping program.

It's been answered several times in this very long thread.

The Global Shipping Program has nothing to do with buyers and has little or no benefit for buyers.

The single benefit for buyers is that it encourages US sellers to list internationally, making more items available.

The other benefits are for those US (and now UK) sellers.

• Buyers can no longer make claims of non-delivery against the seller. The purchase is tracked by USPS from the seller to the GSP/Pitney Bowes plant in Kentucky. The seller's responsibility ends there. PB tracks the purchase from Kentucky to the buyer.

• Buyers cannot refuse parcels because they did not realize duty and sales taxes would be charged before they could claim their purchase.

• Buyers cannot leave negative feedback because they didn't know that their country charges duty and sales taxes.

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So the solution is to charge Buyers exorbitant shipping fees with a extremely poor level of service, to deal with a minority of buyers, who are at best lacking even a modicum of common sense, than to just deal with those Buyers as they should be dealt with ?

The Global Shipping Program has nothing to do with buyers and has little or no benefit for buyers.

To say "it has little or no benefit for buyers" is being far too generous. I would argue that it is a disincentive to Buyers. I for one, will avoid Sellers who use The GSP in the future.

[m-banfill]

Its aninteresting "bug" but if you have an item with GSP shipping in your "list" (be it watch list etc) it gives you a button "calculate" which shows you the REAL price of shipping an item to Canada (your postal code) minus the cost that pitney bowes pockets (and the cost of taxes that you pay upfront). Someone once said the difference is yes more sellers will sell to canada, but you pay a premium for it you end up paying for the taxes up front. With canadapost at least sometimes you don't get charged. Personally I'd rather get dinged SOME of the time and pay 10$ + taxes, than pay ALL of the time 5$ plus taxes. Personally I don't think its worth it for all items under 50$. But YMMV.

[m-banfill]

In PB defence, I had a laptop that was defective, the seller fixed it for me, and shipped it back. Only the seller instead of sending it back to me directly, he sent it to the pb warehouse in KY, fortunately he put the original ebay on it, and they shipped it to me, all within a week. So the Global Shipping isn't all bad, just badly implemented.

[kensbadhabit]

I have been buying items off Ebay for several years and whenever possible have used the USPS to ship from the USA to Canada. Most of what I have purchased has been items that originated from Canada and therefore should be exempt from any duties or tariffs when coming into Canada.  On March 1st, 2015 I made a purchase of similar items which the seller says they were pretty much forced to ship via the Global Shipping Program, even after requesting direct shipment via USPS.  It is now April 1st and I have YET to get my package.  This has been by far the slowest shipping method to date that I have used!  Now doing a little more homework on the program, it looks like I might be stuck with additional charges at the door when my package is (finally) received!  One other note is that when I had items shipped to me via USPS directly, I could use the same tracking number with Canada Post once it got to Canada.  I have NO idea who the carrier will be in Canada under the GSP and the tracking number is "not recognized" by Canada Post.  It will be the LAST time I use this program.

[pjcdn2005]

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@m-banfill wrote:
Its aninteresting "bug" but if you have an item with GSP shipping in your "list" (be it watch list etc) it gives you a button "calculate" which shows you the REAL price of shipping an item to Canada (your postal code) minus the cost that pitney bowes pockets (and the cost of taxes that you pay upfront). Someone once said the difference is yes more sellers will sell to canada, but you pay a premium for it you end up paying for the taxes up front. With canadapost at least sometimes you don't get charged. Personally I'd rather get dinged SOME of the time and pay 10$ + taxes, than pay ALL of the time 5$ plus taxes. Personally I don't think its worth it for all items under 50$. But YMMV.

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I don't see where you are seeing a 'calculate' button but I don't think that it is giving you a 'real' cost of shipping to Canada as there is no information put in to get a comparison.  The shipping fee in a gsp listing is a total of what the seller pays to send the item to the gsp center in Kentucky and then what PB charges from there to your location.  You are probably seeing what the seller charges to Kentucky when you do your calculations.

[m-banfill]

ALL gsp items that a seller happens to be selling are in my "watch list", have a button called "calculate" I press it it asks for my postal code. After entering in my postal code it gives "shipping cost to canada g0x1n0 (example only, not a valid postal code) and the cost is usually about $5 less than actual gsp shipping cost. Do I have to send a screenshot for you to believe me? Any item that is NOT gsp, shows in your watch list actual shipping cost. GSP items show the button "calculate". To be clear this is for items in watch list and NOT in the actual details of the auction itself