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.

[winken_weasel]

Amazon.ca thanks you!  I am sure that I am not the only buyer that is now buying much more from them because I refuse to pay this extra fee that you call GSP.  And what eBay says they MUST charge because Canada Customs demands it .... well, apparently this demand is not made of Amazon.ca.  And the icing on the cake is that Amazon.ca is almost always much cheaper shipping costs from USA sellers anyway.

In the past I have never paid duty on anything less than $100, and I was quite happy with the courier able to collect duty at my door for larger items.  Makes me wonder about where this extra fee actually goes, and no, I do not believe something because eBay says it is so.  I still do not pay duty on my Amazon.ca purchases without this GSP fee.

And now sorting the search for lowest "Price + Shipping" on eBay does not include this GSP in the total cost, so now I can't even search for a best price without opening each item on the search and checking to see if there is this hidden fee.  Good job eBay!

From what I gather, the sellers do not even understand or see this extra fee when they use GSP instead of International Shipping.  And most do not even understand when I contact them and inform them that this method costs me more, and unless they change then I will not be purchasing from them ... and the most common answer is that this is not them and that I should contact eBay.  So ultimately the end result is I do not buy from that buyer because I refuse to pay this extra fee.

Unfortunately I do not have the patience to sort through and find those sellers who want Canadian business enough to use International Shipping which does not have this extra fee. 

So not only is eBay doing an injustice to the Canadian buyers, eBay is also doing an injustice to the sellers who do want to sell to Canadians.

Amazon.ca thanks you eBay for all the Canadian buyers like myself who are now going there instead of eBay.

[00nevermind00]

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@winken_weasel wrote:

And now sorting the search for lowest "Price + Shipping" on eBay does not include this GSP in the total cost, so now I can't even search for a best price without opening each item on the search and checking to see if there is this hidden fee.

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There is a way to bypass alll GSP items without clicking on the links.

The last few times I searched eBay.ca, Gallery View was the default option. Not cool! I believe that eBay.com still defaults to List View. So if you're searching on eBay.ca, make sure to switch to List View. You can change that here:

With List View, simply ignore any item that has the "Customs services and international tracking provided" blurb because those are the GSP items:

[marnotom!]

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@winken_weasel wrote:

Amazon.ca thanks you!  I am sure that I am not the only buyer that is now buying much more from them because I refuse to pay this extra fee that you call GSP.  And what eBay says they MUST charge because Canada Customs demands it .... well, apparently this demand is not made of Amazon.ca.  And the icing on the cake is that Amazon.ca is almost always much cheaper shipping costs from USA sellers anyway.

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I just compared the price of the same model mobile phone (Nokia 830) on Amazon.com and Amazon.ca.  The one on .com offered free domestic shipping from New York and cost US$280.  To buy from the same seller on .ca would cost CDN$501.17, also offering "free" shipping from New York (supposedly).

Yes, there's the exchange rate to deal with, but I'm betting that a lot of that price difference is due to the shipping, taxes and customs charges being built into the item price on Amazon.ca.

(US$280 is roughly CDN$371 at current market exchange rates.)

[femmefan1946]

This is an excellent example of why eBay promotes 'Free' shipping.

When the cost of shipping is built into the asking price, the buyer doesn't see the difference in the actual cost. She sees the 'free' .

I'm not saying that the buyer is being foolish about this. It's just human nature. Like all those $10.99 items that we think cost us ten bucks instead of eleven.

I usually ask  which is cheaper:

A $5 item with $10 shipping or

A $15 item with Free Shipping.

But in this case the buyer may think the cheapest item is the $25 item with 'free' shipping.

[charlie405]

    I too, must say im not happy with the GSP. Along with the fees, which seem can't be itemized, i also have a problem buying something from a seller in California, watching it get shipped to Ohio, then back to me in Alberta. Ordering from a seller, and having them ship DHL or UPS, is often cheaper, and faster.

Spoiler

Spoiler

[donvker]

A followup comment from my GSP experience.

I have never again bought from anyone on Ebay that uses GSP, and I avoid them like the plague.

I have seen other companies that sell direct that use GSP and I avoid them like the plague.

The words "Global Shipping Program" and "Pitney Bowes" are now poisoned brands and I avoid them like the plague.

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@donvker wrote:

I finally got my DVD. I would still avoid GSP if possible on future purchases as I see no benefit from it.

Here's a summary of the tracking info. As you can see that package still moves through USPS and CanadaPost as it would in regular mail even without PB involvement. Combined, the post offices take 5days which is reasonable for ground transport. Customs was probably only 1 day. There were no customs documents or declarations on the envelope (ie. GST registration, Duty paid, etc) so I don't know what value PB added here. It seems PB just delayed the package by at least 1week, increased the cost ($23.17 for a DVD no case), and degraded tracking usefullness by delaying updates from the post offices on avg 2 days (w.r.t post office available times), and introduces an iniitial black out period unitl it leaves PBs facility.

Nov-23-14 - Canada Post - Delivered
Nov-22-14 - Handed to Canada Post
Nov-20-14 - Shipping Center to International Destination
Nov-19-14 - Customs Documentation and Labeling
Nov-18-14 - Arrived at USPS Facility
Nov-17-14 - Forwarded by PB to USPS
Nov-08-14 - start time, there's no PB tracking when the sender ships to PitneyBowes

Note : a PB tracking update usually appears 2 days after the dates listed above

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@donvker wrote:

It's now 10 days after the seller shipped the item, and GSP provides its first tracking update (location and time stamp).

The package has been moved 1/2 way across the US in 10 days. Unfortunately it's still in the US. This speed is comparable to the Pony Express. In 35yrs of buying items from the US this is by far the worst, and by a hefty margin too. Is GSP a storage company?

The real test will be GSP crossing the great lakes. I've got a towel ready.....

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@donvker wrote:

GSP is a farce.

There is no meaningfull tracking provided. No location, no carrier, no time stamps, and therefore no tracking. I am paying for a placebo.

In the future whenever I see GSP, I will also avoid like the plague. They are completely ineffective, by reducing the visibility, increasing cost and increasing delivery time.

GSP means fewer sales.

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[arlene_v]

Donvker, many of us feel exactly the same way as you do about the GSP, best avoided - and esp for something like a DVD.

I've been following this botch up of a program for over 2 years and pop in here to read the latest posts every few months. Naively, I keep hoping to see that there has been some improvement for Canadian buyers, or at the very least that a rep has commented.

Oh well.

The date is about the only thing that changes around here. Otherwise I see it is just the same old same old.

[happyyakman]

If its intention was to convince Canadians to never use eBay again, it's working beautifully. Bravo. There are only 35 million of us after all, so who cares about us?

[marnotom!]

In fairness, not all sellers need the Global Shipping Program in order to drive Canadian buyers away.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/171912052249

[happyyakman]

Ahahaha wow that is legendary. Thanks for that xD

[afantiques]

The UK shipping for that 10 gram item is £15. They really want to drive Everyone away.

[dave_0636]

Is it possible to inform all American ebayers about the disaster that the GSP is? I'm sure they find it convienient and therefor continue to use it. I have just finished 2 seperate purchases from USA to Canada California to B.C. One took 28 days to get here and the other is still in process 32 days later as it got hung up in pitney bowes warehouse for almost 2 weeks. The seperate billing for dual shipping charges is ridiculous as the shipping on my items came to as much as my item was worth. At this point I am not going to bother even shopping on Ebay anymore. The hidden expenses the 30 day waits and the lack of disclosure of the shipping costs make it a **bleep** shoot  if your getting a good deal on something. Thanks ebay for the good deals that were possible but I'm going to look for my items in Canada from now on.  

[marnotom!]

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@dave_0636 wrote:

Is it possible to inform all American ebayers about the disaster that the GSP is?

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There's discussion boards on the eBay.com site as well as this one.  That's probably the best venue for making your point.

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@dave_0636 wrote:

I'm sure they find it convienient and therefor continue to use it. I have just finished 2 seperate purchases from USA to Canada California to B.C. One took 28 days to get here and the other is still in process 32 days later as it got hung up in pitney bowes warehouse for almost 2 weeks. 

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I'm sure that most sellers using the GSP inappropriately aren't even aware that it's on their listings, and this results in items being improperly prepared for the Global Shipping Center.  This is probably why you've seen these sort of delays on your items as the schlubs in the GSC have to do additional work to prepare your item for shipment to Canada.

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@dave_0636 wrote:

The hidden expenses the 30 day waits and the lack of disclosure of the shipping costs make it a **bleep** shoot  if your getting a good deal on something. Thanks ebay for the good deals that were possible but I'm going to look for my items in Canada from now on.  

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Probably just as well you're shopping in Canada given how the Canadian dollar has tanked.  But those additional charges aren't hidden.  They are, however, quite well buried if you're shopping using a mobile, particularly if you're shopping on the .com site rather than the .ca site.

Remember to do your eBay searching using "list view" rather than "gallery view" and you'll find the tell-tale message "Customs Services and International Tracking Provided" on GSP listings in your search results.

[jeffco-marketing]

If you are a Canadian and your package gets left at your door and you never get it, either because it gets stolen or was never actually delivered in the first place, You are totally screwed, no buyer protection, nothing. So now I am out my money and my stuff. 

I will NEVER use the global shipping program users again and for me this may be the reason to cancel my ebay and paypal accounts. Literally I get better customer service from my cable and cell phone companies,and I think that says alot!

It would be nice if we could actually get someone on the phone at ebay.

[pierrelebel]

"It would be nice if we could actually get someone on the phone at ebay."

It is very easy.  Click on "Help & Contact" on top of this page.  Take it from there.

[femmefan1946]

your package gets left at your door and you never get it, either because it gets stolen or was never actually delivered

Well, stolen is the most likely reason.

It would be a literally insane act for a deliveryman not to do his job, which pays him a steady wage and benefits. The occasional cases of a postal worker doing this all seem to be mental health problems rather than actual theft. The undelivered items are usually found in the worker's home, unopened.

So for stolen you have to take action.

No, eBay and PP won't help you. The seller (and the seller's shipper) have done their jobs.

• The postmaster at the local Post Office should be notified.

It is possible that the 'delivered' package is actually sitting on a shelf in the PO. It happens.

It is possible that the postie, or the deliveries contractor, is having those mental health problems. Your report would help with identifying where the problem is. And might get your parcel.

• The police should be notified.

Again, there may be a rash of these thefts and your report can help the police in their enquiries. Up to and including convicting the fence.

The police report number will be useful in the next two steps.

• Notify your household insurance. Although this has the drawback that your item was probably well under the policy limit.

• Phone the credit card you actually paid with. PP is just a useful mediator.

The customer service clerk at the 1-800 number on your card will need dates, payment amounts, currency, transaction numbers and that police report number to process your chargeback.

[fsspgolf]

I will never, ever buy anything from anyone using GSP again. The most stupid tracking system ever and no notification at all, how it being shipping and the seller said priority post. BS. eBay, find another method or get rid of Pitney. Pitiful.

frustrated Canuck

[femmefan1946]

As a buyer you do not need tracking.

This is only in place to help Sellers defend themselves against false claims of non-delivery.

I gather your item did not arrive.

Have you allowed 20 days for arrival? Twenty days (three weeks) has been the norm in my experience of many many years. (Over 30 years in mail order selling, 15 on eBay).

This has nothing to do with the seller and everything to do with the postal system.

Did you open an Item Not Received dispute* and explain that this was a GSP purchase?

If Pitney Bowes, who run the GSP for eBay, cannot show that the parcel was delivered, they will refund you.

If the item shows up after that, they have no way of accepting returns or repayments, so it's yours to keep, donate or trash. Your choice.

Your seller will not be dinged for the (many) failures of the GSP.

*Disputes can be filed in the Resolution Centre at the bottom of this page. Remember to mention the GSP.

[vexxed14]

One thing I found interesting over the last few days in the tracking for a phone I bought was that the time stamps in KY for customs labels and shipping to international destination were about 4Hrs ahead of when they appeared. So I saw the timestamp at 11:00am est but the stamp read 3:30 pm est.

Nothing crazy, just mildly interesting for someone impatiently waiting heh

[jaypsee]

Never buying GSP again.

Bringing small packets to Canada is a total scam. You get charged upfront for fees that you would pay maybe 10% of the time, they sometimes more than double the shipping cost, and on top of that the items get repackaged in KY in such an asinine way that you wonder if Pitney Bowes is employing third graders.

They removed all the shipping foam to lighten up the box and when I received the games they were bouncing around in the box with the DVDs scratched all to hell, ALSO BANGED UP LOOSE FROM THE CASE PEGS inside each game box. When I picked up the box from the mailman it sounded like everything inside was torn to pieces.

I e-mailed the seller and he SWORE to me that he put so much shipping foam bits that the had to press the flaps down to hold it closed while he taped the box. He didn't even KNOW what GSP was!!

So it cost me twice the shipping amount to get my items damaged by a third party who pockets all the extra cash from repackaging items lightly and screwing them up.

EBAY = SCAM ARTISTS.