@3islanders wrote:
I thought it was kind of amusing that eBay sent me an e-mail asking me to sign a petition to raise the Canadian $20 duty/tax-free minimum for e-commerce purchases, while at the same time they support this stupid program that charges all these extra fees for Canadian buyers. I know, different programs, etc. ... it just struck me as funny.
I'm dismayed to see GSP spreading to the UK... and so many more USA sellers using it all the time. I suppose it's better for my budget, because there have been quite a number of items I'd have bought if they weren't GSP (or if the sellers had agreed to use USPS, assuming they bother to reply).
One of the most annoying things is the default shipping on small items, which seems to be one of the more expensive options available. For example doll clothing -- Barbie size -- which would easily fit in a small envelope and maybe even go letter mail (?) will have a shipping cost of, say, $20. For a $4 item.
And no, I just don't buy.
I'm kinda surprised there hasn't been a "change.org" type petition somewhere asking for the abolition of GSP.
It's not so much that an increasing number of US and UK sellers have adopted the GSP for their international sales as much as it is US and UK sellers who have not specified international shipping information in their listings are getting the GSP automatically applied to their listings by eBay.
If you ever do ask a US or UK seller to consider relisting their item for you without the GSP, I'd say there's a pretty good chance that they won't know what you're talking about. eBay doesn't give sellers a heads-up about being opted into the program, relying on them having read the relevant portion of the user agreement for this information.
If you're accustomed to having your items shipped from the US or UK as letter mail (First Class International / Small Packet), the GSP will seem pricey. The GSP's pricing is structured to be competitive with parcel post. If you check USPS "Priority" rates for small items, you'll find that they're quite pricey, too.
As for the chances of eBay turfing the GSP anytime soon, I'd say the chances are pretty slim to none. They'd likely have to dissolve a contract with Pitney Bowes for its operation, for starters, but more importantly, the word from them is that they consider the GSP to be quite a successful program in that it's increased international sales a fair bit. Besides, the GSP is now available to about 100 different countries, many of them with more problematic customs and/or mail systems than Canada, so the GSP may be a viable alternative for buyers in those countries. And in the big picture, sales to Canada don't make up an overwhelming proportion of eBay sales by any means, so eBay can likely tolerate a lot of griping from us about it.
And that griping seems to be largely about the "import charges" that some users feel are being unjustly charged by the program, hence the campaign to raise the tax/duty-free limit on casual imports as well as experiments to see if burying the "import charges" in with the shipping charges makes GSP items more attractive to Canadian buyers.
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They actually didn't, but I thought it was so funny that someone thought doing that would help. Like those charity and advertising envelopes that have things printed on them like "Postmaster! Important documents! RUSH!!" I'm sure that works too.
