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.

[mater721]

If the item was properly sent via the GSP, you will have two tracking numbers.

First one would be placed your listing by the seller. This tracking number informs you what is happening with PB - Arrived/Processed/Cleared Customs

At this point a second tracking number should appear - one for Destination Carrier in Canada. It will detail the shipper for the Canadian leg. Mine was CanPar.

There will be a blue bar in the tracking window with 3 sections... "Accepted", "In Transit" and "Delivered".

Have you contacted the seller to confirm if and when the package was sent to Kentucky?

"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."

Was the listing you purchased from a GSP listing?

Did you pay a "Import Charges" at time of purchase, in addition to shipping and item price?

If you paid up front for a proper GSP listing, there should not be any charges at your door.

[pjcdn2005]

Odd...any gsp items that I have in my watch list have the shipping cost listed already so that's why I don't see calculate. But I think that I do know why the totals in the watch list and on the listing are different. Pitney Bowes adds on about a $4 - $5 service charge. If the item is over $20C that service charge is included in with the import charges. But if the item is less than that and there are no taxes due, the service charge is added to the shipping cost. You're aren't seeing that service charge inclu in your watch list. You also don't see that service charge when you view a list of items in search. You have to click on the listing to see the total.

There is no way for the 'true' shipping to be figured out the way you describe because there isn't enough information in the listing to get a shipping price to Canada. One reason is that PB doesn't use the USPS so there is no international USPS service chosen on the listing and without a shipping service, no cost can be figured out.

[reallynicestamps]

 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.

Open an Item Not Received dispute (Under Resolution Centre at the bottom of this page).

This will not hurt your seller, who shipped to PB in Kentucky and has proof of delivery there.

PB will refund you if they cannot show delivery. It may take a little longer to get the 'import fees' returned.

Of course, when the item eventually shows up, you should be returning it , since ethically you should not have both the item and the money. But I have no idea who you should be returning it to. Perhaps just put a bit more into the collection plate on Sunday.

[reallynicestamps]

That first sentence was a quote, btw. Sorry for any confusion.

[00nevermind00]

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@reallynicestamps wrote:

Of course, when the item eventually shows up, you should be returning it , since ethically you should not have both the item and the money. But I have no idea who you should be returning it to. Perhaps just put a bit more into the collection plate on Sunday.

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The GSP doesn't support returns.

One of the very few benefits of the GSP is that in a situation like the one described, the buyer does end up with the item and the money. The seller also has the money from the sale and the only one who is out of pocket is Pitney Bowes, the outfit that operates the program.

I guess that this is the price they pay for designing such a lame scheme and for not thinking of all the possible scenarios.

[3islanders]

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@m-banfill wrote:
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. ... Do I have to send a screenshot for you to believe me? 

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Yes, please tell us where it is, because I can't find it either.  I've looked under the "edit" and "customize" tabs but don't see if I have to toggle anything to make this show up.  In my watch list I have some GSP items, but it just shows the priority mail cost without the GSP charge (which is annoying when I lose track of which is which and look at the item again and then realize it's got extra fees on it).

Wow, 227 pages of comments...
I've been wondering whether any Canadian eBayers have started any kind of thread on the U.S. eBay forums along the lines of, "Dear American eBayers... we will not buy from you if you use this program..."  Do U.S. sellers even know how annoyed we are with the program?  Like a gazillion others, I have passed over listings because they're GSP.

Of course a thread like that would probably get deleted, and get the poster kicked off the forum... right...? 

[3islanders]

And somewhere in an earlier post someone commented about awaiting a GSP item and they thought they'd have to pay more at the door.  I can't find it now; this page is glitching for me.  But isn't the GSP supposed to *eliminate* that extra-charge-at-the-door?

Has anyone bought a GSP item and still had to pay customs or duty or something?

[afantiques]

Has anyone bought a GSP item and still had to pay customs or duty or something?

It happens sometimes but always comes down to the seller sending the item direct to the buyer rather than using the GSP, despite the item being sold with the GSP charges applied.

If this happens it is possible but not easy to get the GSP charges refunded.

[jiminiequick]

Just to let you know, we Canadians and any buyer in the world knows that there are taxes on anything we buy. We know that our Canada Customs will charged duty if applicable, and HST. Our Canada Customs Officers are University Grads this is the minimum criteria to apply as A Customs Officer. They are trained by Canada Customs on Tariffs and taxes, and a lot more.

So I will tend to side with our very own Canada Customs here than The Pitney Bowes people in Kentucky who collects this Tariffs and Taxes with who knows what they know about our Canadian Tariffs and Taxes?

Oh and your GSP people open the Packages too in Kentucky. Are they acting on behalf of our own Canada Customs?

Who knows? Eh!

USPS  and Canada Post tracks shipments and informs sellers/buyers when item is received by recipient.

So the GSP is redundancy of services that are already in place by shipping companies.

Does anybody know the percentage statistics of buyers from Canada refusing the items they bought from Ebay sellers, or didn't know that there are Duties Taxes too?

Negative feedback is the right of any Ebay member and can be disputed if it is unacceptable to sellers/buyers.

[afantiques]

Here is a repost of a British ebay rep's comments about the UK GSP depot and repacking. I suppose the US depot process would be much the same.

awastuk2014

(6) View Listings

eBay Employee

Posts: 23

Registered: ‎20-03-2014

Re: GSP - Damaged Parcel No Compensation

Options

in reply to afantiques

on ‎02-04-2015 03:55 PM

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@afantiques wrote:

Possibly @hannah.eu@ebay.com could provide some facts  to this thread.

Dear All,

I work in the shipping team and wanted to clarify the questions and comments raised about the repackaging procedure in the GSP Warehouse in Derby-

1. The warehouse does not repack items unless they find that the packaging is insufficient or not robust enough for further transport.

2. The warehouse does not re-pack or combine items into smaller packets or a single packet. In rare occasions, if an item is packed in a way that it’s beyond the program guidelines for dimensions but can be  safely repackaged into two separate items and shipped forward, then the warehouse might repack the items into two separate items to enable delivery to buyer.

3. For parcels going to non-European destinations requiring customs declarations, the parcels are individually opened and checked and in most instances repacked with original packing. Additional packaging is only added if the warehouse finds that the original packaging is insufficient.

Once the package is safely received in the hub, the seller is fully protected from a claim related to item damage. In rare occasions,  items do get damaged during transportation or delivery and in those instances the buyer will be fully protected by the program and will be refunded for item cost and shipping cost. There is no requirement for buyer to return the damaged item to seller. We take feedback on all these issues seriously and work with our warehouse and transportation providers to minimise the incidents of damage to parcels.

@kingvinny if you can private message me your item details, I will get that investigated and come back to you.

Thanks,

Neeti

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[#12]

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@afantiques wrote:

Possibly @hannah.eu@ebay.com could provide some facts  to this thread.

Dear All,

I work in the shipping team and wanted to clarify the questions and comments raised about the repackaging procedure in the GSP Warehouse in Derby-

1. The warehouse does not repack items unless they find that the packaging is insufficient or not robust enough for further transport.

2. The warehouse does not re-pack or combine items into smaller packets or a single packet. In rare occasions, if an item is packed in a way that it’s beyond the program guidelines for dimensions but can be  safely repackaged into two separate items and shipped forward, then the warehouse might repack the items into two separate items to enable delivery to buyer.

3. For parcels going to non-European destinations requiring customs declarations, the parcels are individually opened and checked and in most instances repacked with original packing. Additional packaging is only added if the warehouse finds that the original packaging is insufficient.

Once the package is safely received in the hub, the seller is fully protected from a claim related to item damage. In rare occasions,  items do get damaged during transportation or delivery and in those instances the buyer will be fully protected by the program and will be refunded for item cost and shipping cost. There is no requirement for buyer to return the damaged item to seller. We take feedback on all these issues seriously and work with our warehouse and transportation providers to minimise the incidents of damage to parcels.

@kingvinny if you can private message me your item details, I will get that investigated and come back to you.

Thanks,

Neeti

[highoeyazmuhudee]

I have a question for this so called "GSP" program

why am I being charged import duties on shipping of pure silver bars to Canada?

A METAL WHICH IS 100% TAX EXEMPT IN CANADA

and ironically the silver in the listing CAME from Canada.

here's your answer: because they want to make brokerage fees from doing the paper work to declare it TAX exempt at the border, right, RIGHT?

PROOF enough of unfair and bogus practices (?)

does ebay have a better explanation for this scenario? the people are waiting for an answer.

[golfanddrum]

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@highoeyazmuhudee wrote:

I have a question for this so called "GSP" program

why am I being charged import duties on shipping of pure silver bars to Canada?

A METAL WHICH IS 100% TAX EXEMPT IN CANADA

and ironically the silver in the listing CAME from Canada.

here's your answer: because they want to make brokerage fees from doing the paper work to declare it TAX exempt at the border, right, RIGHT?

PROOF enough of unfair and bogus practices (?)

does ebay have a better explanation for this scenario? the people are waiting for an answer.

---

I'm not sure you picked a great example there.

Every Province has their own rules on when PST is due on precious metals. Some of those differences are subtle, but not insignificant.

As a buyer, I have no problem paying duties/GST/Brokerage fees if they are due, as long as they are not usurious. Any buyer who imports an item should know what those fees reasonably should be.

My concern as a buyer is taking a double hit, with a lower level of service and a longer delivery time.

With the GSP, a buyer is paying 2 shipping charges. 1) To get the item to PB. 2) To get the item from PB to me. PB collects duties and taxes and tacks on a handling/brokerage fee, even when the item would normally be exempt from any taxes.

In addition, if CP gets involved because the paperwork from PB is wrong or incomplete, they too will tack on a handling/brokerage fee.

In the case of my last item under the GSP, if the seller had shipped USPS direct, the shipping would have been $3.75 direct, with no duties or taxes owing, and no brokerage fees applied by CP. The item would have traveled a much shorter distance than the distance to PB. The shipping/import charges under the GSP are currently almost $20.00, and it still remains to be seen if CP will apply any further charges.

The GSP gets a failing grade as far as this buyer is concerned.

[m-banfill]

I'm curious as to why the shipping cost is so variable for GSP items?
As an example two identical items, both sellers offer free shipping to the continental US (this should include the PB depot right?)
IE: Two memory sticks, (cost under 20$cad so no import charges) one with a cost of 13$ and the other is almost 20$. Why is there such a disparity? And in 90% of the cases, the sellers tell me "can't ship any other method, don't want to" even if the idea for bulky or expensive items.

[golfanddrum]

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@m-banfill wrote:
I'm curious as to why the shipping cost is so variable for GSP items?
As an example two identical items, both sellers offer free shipping to the continental US (this should include the PB depot right?)
IE: Two memory sticks, (cost under 20$cad so no import charges) one with a cost of 13$ and the other is almost 20$. Why is there such a disparity? And in 90% of the cases, the sellers tell me "can't ship any other method, don't want to" even if the idea for bulky or expensive items.

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I haven't used GSP as a seller, so I'm just speculating.

My guess is that if a seller doesn't opt out of GSP, the shipping charges from the seller ot PB are always added in whether or not the shipper says "no shipping to contimental US".

If that's the case, then total shipping under the GSP will be based on 1) shipping from seller to PB , 2) shipping from PB to buyer. Again a guess, but I would assume that PB will define the shipping method that a seller uses to get the item to PB, and obviously, the costs may vary. The same would hold true for shipping costs between PB and the buyer.

Perhaps a US based seller who uses GSP could comment....

[spel_domein]

I am in the Netherlands. The GSP has seriously impacted on the costs I pay for items from USA, as normally not all items will be taxed by customs, and certainly not used items. The point is that the GSP generates EXTRA REVENUE FOR EBAY, as payments are done through PayPal (an eBay company). Therefore any item shipped through GSP and paid through PayPal will result in additional % revenue for eBay, as a result of inflated shipping costs by the GSP as well as estimation of import duties that are paid up-front through PayPal.

I will never ever again buy or participate in auctions from sellers using GSP, because:

• The inflated costs (sometimes it means all additional costs together item price will result in two times the price of the ebay auction, which is crazy),
• The impression I get from this programme (eBay effort to increase their revenue through the GSP);
• It is completely unclear whether the import charges levied under the GSP are actually paid out to the customs authority of the respective country (and if not the case what happens with any import duties that are not paid out?);

[afantiques]

I'm curious as to why the shipping cost is so variable for GSP items?

If the seller does not provide adequate weight and size information an average shipping cost for that category is applied.

You are specifying sellers using 'free' shipping.They are unlikely to bother with weight and size specifics, but it may be that one does and one does not.

In general this is the main answer to very variable shipping costs for the same item. The exact category used can also make a considerable difference if the average weight for one category is much larger or smaller than another.

Much of the confusion is due to misuse of the program by sellers who do not understand it, although the blame must ultimately lie with ebay for not making buyers aware in the listing process just exactly what is important, and not making inappropriate use impossible.

[m-banfill]

I agree wholeheartedly. What burns me, is the fact that the price isn't always the same (sometimes it reasonable but it can easily double). Sometimes however, you don't have a choice, as 90% of sellers (even for items sub-10$) choose to ship that way.
I agree china is loooking better every day

[afantiques]

In the case of my last item under the GSP, if the seller had shipped USPS direct, the shipping would have been $3.75 direct, with no duties or taxes owing, and no brokerage fees applied by CP. The item would have traveled a much shorter distance than the distance to PB. The shipping/import charges under the GSP are currently almost $20.00, and it still remains to be seen if CP will apply any further charges.

There will be no furthger charges, but what puzzles me is why buy from a GSP seller in the first place? This is like shooting yourself in the foot them complaining that it hurts.

The motto of the GSP should be "You shouldn't have joined if you can't take a joke"  🙂

[afantiques]

I have a question for this so called "GSP" program

It is not 'so called'

That is its real name.

[m-banfill]

And to elaborate on what the previouperson said, ebay makes it too easy to use the GSP, Global Shipping Program (from a sellers point of view I mean). So even items which aren't worth going through PB (pitney bowes), its hard to find an item NOT shipping through global shipping. So its not as easy as "if you don't like it fdont use it"
That's like saying " if you don't like the price of GAS don't drive" when you live a 45 minute drive to work