Global Shipping Program vs. eBay Ship

[arhirii2007]

Can someone explain the difference between these two shipping methods? I understand that eBay ship does not collect duties and taxes in advance, so isn't this a good thing? From the seller's perspective, they appear to be covered as long as the item gets to the consolidation centre, so why would they not use eBay ship instead of the GSP?

[pjcdn2005]

Not sure what you mean by eBay ship so I'll assume that you are asking about eBay international standard as compared to the global shipping program.

The gsp offers more seller protection.  If an item get to the gsp Center but is then lost before it reaches the buyer, the gsp refunds the buyer.  If an item is damaged during shipping, the gsp will refund the buyer without requiring a return.

eBay international standard does not offer either protection for the seller.  The seller is responsible for the parcel until it reaches the buyer,  if it is damaged or lost they can apply for the insurance up to $100.   Other than that, it is basically like sending through the regular mail system but costs a bit less.

[clemowbooks]

I understand that eBay ship does not collect duties and taxes in advance, so isn't this a good thing?

You can pay import fees in advance or you can pay them on your doorstep.

If you are not home, or don't have a credit card handy, the carrier will take the parcel away and it will be up to you to come to their office and pay the import fees.

GSP charges ~$5US as a service fee which is included in those prepaid import fees.

Canada Post charges $9.95 to collect import fees.

Couriers charge $10-$25 and up, based on the declared value to collect import fees.

[arhirii2007]

"You can pay import fees in advance or you can pay them on your doorstep."

This is absurd. I have literally received hundreds of packages from all over the world for years, some of them worth hundreds of dollars, and in all that time maybe 2 or 3 have required payment of import fees/duties. Most sellers are more than happy to list the value at a fraction of the true cost to make the sale. The few that are not willing to do this are simply cut off from future purchases.

[marnotom!]

You’ll probably find in time that there are fewer sellers willing to get creative on customs declarations as the electronic filing and storage of this information becomes more pervasive, even though technically the responsibility of the accuracy of the information is that of the importer.

Besides, Canada Border Services' enforcement and collection of taxes due has become notoriously lax; there's really no reason to put sellers in the position of having to agree to this sort of request.

I'd say more than a few US sellers decided to cease direct international shipments and go with the Global Shipping Program because they were tired of requests to fudge customs documentation.