c!~~_7.JPG "kalvin@ebay.com"){kind=avatar}
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.
<<Most U.S. states levy a "use tax"....>>
You're picking nits.
That article doesn't really say much about importing things via online, just state-to-state, which may turn into
the same thing I suppose. Apart from our always hearing others here say that Americans can bring in up to
$200 tax-free . . . "free" . . . here is where I am getting my thoughts on it:
http://www.cbp.gov/trade/basic-import-export/internet-purchases
If you scroll waaaay down to where it says, International Postal Service, it says "Packages whose declared value
is under $200 ($100 if being sent as a gift to someone other than the purchaser) will generally be cleared . . . ."
Then there's this article (which isn't very good, but worth a giggle) telling people that they can avoid duty/tax limits
by mailing themselves up to $200 worth of goods per day.
http://www.reidsguides.com/t_mo/t_mo_customs.html
Further, this here explains how "Import duty and taxes are due when importing goods into the United States", but
adds, "Sales tax is not automatically charged on imported goods". The reminder that "tax representatives ...
may occasionally claim state taxes from the importer", seems to my mind noticeably weak.
So that really sounds like $200 free and clear. Not like on this side where items coming in to Canada are either
assessed or they're not, and the value is always for goods over $20. It's not a suggestion.
Well, that's my take on it, anyway.
@dmil8030 wrote:
You're picking nits.
That article doesn't really say much about importing things via online, just state-to-state, which may turn into
the same thing I suppose. Apart from our always hearing others here say that Americans can bring in up to
$200 tax-free . . . "free" . . . here is where I am getting my thoughts on it:
http://www.cbp.gov/trade/basic-import-export/internet-purchases
Actually, Americans can import by mail items with a declared value of up to $200 duty-free. Taxes are a completely different animal. The complication here is that US Border Protection isn't able to collect state taxes owing on an item, just duty. On the other hand, state governments don't have the authority to stop and assess mail for taxes owing, so it becomes a voluntary exercise to remit taxes owing on these goods. This article goes into a bit more detail on the process:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ashleaebeling/2012/04/17/the-tax-return-line-item-you-likely-overlooked-...
I don't know of any US states off the top of my head that have a $200 exemption limit for use tax, although many (if not most) states will not insist on the full use tax owing being paid if another state's taxes have been paid on the item already.
@dmil8030 wrote:
Further, this here explains how "Import duty and taxes are due when importing goods into the United States", but
adds, "Sales tax is not automatically charged on imported goods". The reminder that "tax representatives ...
may occasionally claim state taxes from the importer", seems to my mind noticeably weak.
And because sales tax is not automatically charged on imported goods, the onus is on the importer to pay it later in the form of use tax instead, often when one files their income tax paperwork as the Forbes article suggests.
<<Americans can import by mail items with a declared value of up to $200 duty-free.>>
Yes, and the links I posted all make that clear.
<<...many (if not most) states will not insist on the full use tax owing being paid...>>
Right again, as the links I posted previously all suggest. Just as they also indicate that there may be a
chance, maybe, that at some vague point in the future a tax collector might, perhaps, happen to want some tax.
Not particularly compelling, not in my opinon, though I never said anyone had an out-and-out 100% full-on exemption.
I do not dispute what you are saying. I am merely wondering, when time and again poster after poster here
all lauds the US for allowing its citizens to import $200 worth without taxes, why you have not chosen to
clobber them around the head with this as well. 
It calls to mind something about ... uh, ... mountains, . . . . . molehills, ...... 
Hello 'freeman11ca',
<<I mistakenly used this program once. . .>>
Ah, but you're older and wiser now, and that's what counts. We all make mistakes.
I am curious about one thing, though, -- when you say, "They don't deliver parcels in rural addresses",
do you ever have problems with delivery from Canada Post? Usually CP is amazing but they seem to be
increasingly cutting back on services. Mine is not a rural address but it is a remote enough location that
most of my shopping is done online. Great delivery trucks for just about anything, but no 'door-to-door'
on letters or small things that fit into the locked cubicle down the way. They always deliver my parcels to my
door, but I have heard of people who never get delivery, - only a card which they must then arrange to take
to the nearest postal outlet.
(Did you ever hear about that rural Nova Scotia couple who said their address was, "1 tree past the squirrel's hole,
3 runs past the deer lick, and 1 leap over the felled oak tree", and had a Christmas card delivered to that?
Well, the real address was probably on a sticker which the postee removed in fun before putting it in their
mail box, but still. . . )
<< I now buy from Canadian Sellers. . .>>
Yaaay! *clap,clap,clap* Let's keep our money in Canada where it belongs.
But you're right, we often cannot find the item we want available here. For the moment, however, avoiding GSP
items is easy.
When doing a Search, I assume you are choosing Canada Only or even North America from the Item Location on
the left. Have the view set up for List and not Gallery, and you'll recognize GSP items because they offer a warning
in pale grey:
Customs services and international tracking provided
It's a shame it isn't in a loud, flashing neon green, but even a subtle caution is better than none.
<<.... I say get rid of Global Shipping Program...the other shipping methods worked!>>
And they still work, -- far better in my opinion. They will never get rid of the GSP. You'll have a nicer time
of it if you accept that much. The thing to do, then, is tailor your Search to best suit your own needs so as to
get the most out of your ebay experience.
I am more concerned about ebay's progressively making GSP items more difficult to identify: Find any item here
on ebay Canada that is GSP. Copy the item number and look at the listing on the American ebay.
Right now we see that globe & box icon proudly displayed, -- pretty hard to miss. The new "improved" presentation
is less obvious and comparatively understated making it almost indistinguishable from plain old USPS mail offerings.
Making it less obvious and hence more challenging to identify is not my idea of improving the service, but we do
hear a lot of strange things from time to time. For now, though, do everything you can to ensure you get the best
arrangement possible. It's your money, after all.
Happy shopping. 
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