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.

[stellablu47]

One more question reallynicestamps, why would I pay Ontario sales tax on an item I purchase from Kentucky? Since when do I have to pay sales tax on that item? Just wondering?

[femmefan1946]

You are importing it into Ontario.

If say, The Bay, bought a wholesale lots of ummm.... Carrier air conditioners from the USA, there would be no duty, because those are at the moment made in the USA.

But.

They would pay GST and PST (as Ontario HST).

Now.

Since they are resellers, they have a Import Tax Credit which they can put on the HST bill they remit each month to the gummint.

Only the final buyer of the item pays the tax.

In your case (and mine) we are the final level at which the sales taxes are sold.

Unless you are registered to remit taxes.

Since you are asking, I'm going to guess you aren't.

[stellablu47]

Thanks so much femmefan 1946!I appreciate your enlightenment!

[inthebackwoods]

ever since 2016 i have been waiting up to and over 3 months for packages that use to arrive within 30 days, this is getting to be too much i have been looking in to other sites to get the things i want.  and say goodbye to ebay .

[marnotom!]

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@inthebackwoods wrote:

ever since 2016 i have been waiting up to and over 3 months for packages that use to arrive within 30 days, this is getting to be too much i have been looking in to other sites to get the things i want.  and say goodbye to ebay .

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If you ever come back to this thread, I suggest you read a few of the threads on this discussion board that deal with shipments from China.  This discussion is about the Global Shipping Program, a forwarding scheme for items for some sellers located in the US and UK.  While Global Shipping Program shipments can be slowish, they don't take three months to reach recipients.  On the other hand, shipments from China can and do.

[bobenis]

I generally love USPS as they are far more efficient and speedy than the failure that is Canada Post however a recent purchase has literally gone in 5 circles since the 1st of Aug going back to the same 3 depots over and over again.

What should have been delivered to KY in 3 days will take over 2 weeks via Priority.
They majorly dropped the ball this time. 

[rajtmac]

Stop ripping off people on import charges. So dumb. Give an option to use a different shipping method!!!! SIMPLE!!!

[marnotom!]

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@rajtmac wrote:

Stop ripping off people on import charges. So dumb. Give an option to use a different shipping method!!!! SIMPLE!!!

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I'd elaborate on what you mean by "ripping off", rajtmac.  

Those responsible for the Global Shipping Program probably feel that the five bucks or so on top of the taxes and duties (if applicable) owing on a typical item forwarded through the GSP is a pretty reasonable surcharge, and it's certainly better than what any other carrier--including Canada Post--charges.

As far as an option to use a different shipping method goes, you're always free to ask the seller before committing to purchase if they'd consider relisting the item with a different shipping method.  Sometimes the GSP has been automatically applied to the listing by eBay because the seller hasn't specified a shipping method and rates to Canada or anywhere else other than the States.  The seller may be unaware of this.

[amcdc79]

What is funny and sad at the same time, sellers on another site, want the GSP to be incorporated into that site, saying they will sell so much more.

One of the sellers said this,

"Go to the eBay forums and search for Global Shipping and then come back and tell us whether you want something like that here. Their program is absolutely horrible. We ship globally on the bay but we don't use their terrible service. Better do some research."

Of course most of the sellers said they loved it. So I wrote,

"The buyers who have used it, hate it with a passion, and avoid any seller that uses it. USPS offers First Class shipping W/tracking that is way cheaper than the GSP, and does not open the great sellers packaging to see what is being sent.

It is not a total rip-off, as it does work for "heavy" and/or "bulky" products.

Charging $15-30 to ship an item such as a CD or video game is gouging the buyers of lightweight products. Even ebay knows this.

There is also the issue of charging Taxes and duty on items that are less than $20, when customs usually lets items that are less than $80 go through with no charge.

It works for the sellers, as they only have to ship to Kentucky, but most buyers will/may only try it once, then never again.

The sellers do not know how much they are charging, but I do know that if it was them being charged the exorbitant rate, they would not purchase either.

Lastly, and it's a killer, there is No Combined shipping allowed."

Has it actually gotten better over the years? Does anyone in Canada buy from a seller who uses it?

[marnotom!]

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@amcdc79 wrote:

Has it actually gotten better over the years? Does anyone in Canada buy from a seller who uses it?

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No shipping method is perfect for every item out there in eBayland.  If US eBay sellers were suddenly given incentives to use express shipping for their eBay sales out of the country, there'd be hackles raised about that as well since most people wouldn't view the trade-off of faster delivery times versus the economics of mailing by oversize letter (First Class International) as worth it.  As with any delivery method, the GSP makes some sense in some circumstances, not a lot of sense in others.  The big problem is that the program hasn't been communicated terribly well to sellers or to buyers, and a lot of sellers are having the GSP applied to their listings automatically and unknowingly because they haven't set up their listings with international shipping.

I've purchased items forwarded through the GSP twice because it made sense to have these items sent through the program and because the sellers using the program seemed to know what they were doing.  In both instances I was purchasing mobile phones.  Because the sellers offered "free" shipping with the United States, the shipping cost was comparable to First Class International and hence much cheaper that the shipping methods used by non-GSP sellers which may have also seen me paying heavy customs clearance charges upon receipt in addition to taxes owing.  In addition, because I live in BC, the program appeared to charge me only the equivalent of GST.  PST was not calculated as part of the "import charges".  

Finally, the shipping of the phones was surprisingly quick.  Both phones arrived before the cases I had purchased on the same day as the phones from sellers shipping through the postal system, although in fairness one was probably drop-shipped from Asia and travelled through Europe via a mail consolidator.

Why have I only purchased two items that were forwarded through the GSP?  Because I haven't found many other instances where it makes sense to use it for the types of items that I purchase on eBay.  Because many sellers don't realize (or don't care) that the GSP has been applied to their listings, their listings aren't set up optimally of its use.  If a seller doesn't provide information on the item's shipping size and weight, the GSP bot has to create a guesstimate based on the average for the category of that particular listing.

For what it's worth, I think eBay and Pitney Bowes would have been better off naming this program the "Forward Ur Package Service" (F-UPS) as it would have given buyers and sellers a more appropriate set of expectations of how the service operates and why it operates and costs as it does.  If buyers don't think the GSP makes sense for an item they really want, they can either try asking the seller to relist the item with a shipping method and rates to Canada (although this may require a LOT of hand-holding), or else they can have the item sent to a US address and figure out for themselves how to forward the item to Canada from there.

As far as the issue of taxes/duties goes, any item sent by mail or courier is officially subject to taxes and duty (if applicable) if it has a declared value of above C$20.  Some items, such as books, don't even have that exemption.  (Check the CBSA website if you wish.)   GSP items aren't generally transported from Kentucky to Canada by mail or courier, so that exemption may not apply.  You may recall in the early days of the GSP, items valued at less than C$20 had "import charges" of US$3 and change.  Many users didn't get why this charge was being applied, so now that charge is folded into the shipping charge.  And, of course, we now have the complication where some GSP listings for items valued at above that amount have no amount stated for import charges because those have been added to the shipping charge instead.

My advice with sellers faced with the GSP is simple:  If it seems to make sense to use it and you're willing to put up with the program's quirks, you may wish to consider it.  If it doesn't make sense, the seller probably wasn't prepared to ship the item under their own steam to Canada anyway.  Move on.

[amcdc79]

Yes, I can see it working for expensive items such as phones, or heavy and bulky Auto parts.

But please don't mention couriers, I learned the hard way regarding their "brokerage fees".

Even ebay knows that lightweight under $50 items, should not go the GSP route. PB opens many of the packages for various reasons, and does a **bleep**py job of putting it back together.Way to many horror stories, and no combined shipping.

I do love what you think they should have called it, "Forward Ur Package Service" (F-UPS), it does have a nice ring to it, thanks for the laugh.

[topkoin]

I recently purchased an item on Ebay that was sent to me through International priority shipping at a cost of $19.00.

The item was shipped from Lexington Kentucky to Ottawa Canada.

The package was post marked August 19 and I received it August 31.

I also purchased an identical item from a business in Louisville Kentucky (not Ebay).

The shipping cost $9.50 registered.

The package was post marked August 25 and I received in August 30.

My question is this, why does International priority shipping cost so much and why is it so slow?

I can provide pictures/copies of the envelopes to show postage and customs info if you like.  

Thank You 

[marnotom!]

I suspect your package from the Louisville business was sent by a special class of business mail, as a regular registered package from the United States would cost a lot more than US$9.50 for the average consumer.

As for the Global Shipping Program shipment, the term "International Priority Shipping" is a largely meaningless term somebody at Pitney Bowes (administrators of the GSP) dreamed up to describe its network of contracted freight forwarders and logistics companies.  It's largely overkill for small, modestly-priced items, but it is what it is.  Your GSP item travelled on a palette of freight from Erlanger, Kentucky to (probably) Mississauga before the palette was broken up and your item was sent on to Ottawa by (probably) mail.

You can get some tracking information for your item through this website:

https://parceltracking.pb.com/

Have a look at the tracking info for your item and you may find out where the biggest delays were.

Keep in mind that part of the shipping cost of a GSP item is the seller's charge for sending the item from their location to the Global Shipping Center in Erlanger, Kentucky.  That can be a significant proportion of the shipping charge for an item forwarded through the program.

[cflfan]

Not a chance . If American sellers could see how much Canadian business they have lost because of this maybe they would stop using it.
I only buy from Canadian sellers as GBS is the biggest ripoff going.
I find I am using other sites now I have pretty much gave up on Ebay. They don't care about Canadian Customers and most American sellers don't have a clue how stupid GSP is.

[marnotom!]

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@cflfan wrote:

If American sellers could see how much Canadian business they have lost because of this maybe they would stop using it.
I only buy from Canadian sellers as GBS is the biggest ripoff going.
I find I am using other sites now I have pretty much gave up on Ebay. They don't care about Canadian Customers and most American sellers don't have a clue how stupid GSP is.

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eBay has given itself the power to apply the Global Shipping Program to US (and I would imagine also UK) listings where sellers have not specified shipping methods and rates to countries other than the US (UK).  

I would imagine that since the GSP has been around for quite a few years now, this would mean that most listings where the GSP is being used to forward the item are from sellers who have figured out how to use it properly (a minority), or are from sellers who have no idea or don't care that the GSP has been automatically applied to their listings.

This would mean that if the GSP were suddenly eliminated, most of these listings would not be found with a basic keyword search on the .ca site because the sellers offering the items would not have shipping to Canada offered.  These sellers would not be losing sales to Canada because they never expected to have them in the first place.

The GSP is better viewed as a glorified forwarding service than as an A to B shipping service.  If you don't like the idea of a forwarding service paying taxes and duties on your behalf plus a service charge of around five bucks U.S., have you ever considered the possibility of having your items sent to a US address and having them picked up or forwarded yourself?

[oldbroadangela]

I don't bu anything using GSP unless it is from the east. I live just minutes above th 49th on the west coast of Canada, & if my purchase is from the western part of the states, let's just say Seattle for instance. If this parcel goes via GSP, it head across the country to mid Kentucky then north to Canada, then across this country before it gets to me. If I had a passport (thanks 911), I could drive to Seattle in less than 2 hours pick up my parcel, & be back in another 90+ minutes. But for the most part, this oldbroad shops overseas, Asia & Europe combined & Canada. Also I don't deal with any seller at all who shipd out of the US, with a courier service. They rip you off with brokerage fees. These fee are the to charge the trucking companies for the right to cross the border either way. I used to jam gears from Toronto into the states & from Vancouver into the states.

[bobenis]

If it is a new item, just look for it on Amazon and get it for cheaper (generally) with free 2 day shipping. Screw ebay.

[oldbroadangela]

I couldnot sgree with you more but your comment is great if you have credit cards but that is the only tp checkout with A. I've contacted them a number of times since the divorce of ebay & PayPal. I don't have & don't eant any kind of cc. If I can't afford something, I do without.

[bobenis]

I only use my Amazon CC when I have the funds. 
So I place the order and then login to my bank and pay the amount so no interest and really no diff than Paypal in that regard. 

[amcdc79]

Since most Canadians no longer purchase from US sellers who use the GSP, the other US sellers who do not use it, have seen their sales take off.

My last two comments regarding the GSP are.

1-No combined shipping-when I want to purchase more than one item from the seller, I have to pay double the amount in shipping charges. I wonder if the freight forwarders do that, I don't know for sure if they do. What I do know, is that the shipping companies, UPS, USPS etc Do Not double their cost to ship for Every item, unlike the GPS! This is where it is a rip-off!

2-The packages at PB are opened to make sure that what is listed on the outside, matches what is inside. I have heard many horror stories, regarding damage they have done in the process, Do freight forwarders do likewise? I don't think they do.