eBay

easyco69 · ‎05-01-2018

This company makes mail machines with software & allows users to create their own mailing rates (custom) ... which leads to mail fraud. This is evident in the outrageous mailing charges. I am not sure about illegal tax collection but wouldn't doubt it. Illegal tax collection was around before Pitney Bowes was it not? Combine this with the so called global shipping program then you have your answer.

I do not buy from any USA seller using the global program. In fact I buy from Canada (home),Ukraine,Europe ,Australia,UK,France,China,Japan or Russia.

I do know there is a problem with outrageous shipping rates .

Beware.

Don't be a victim .

momcqueen · ‎05-01-2018

There are so many inaccuracies in your allegations that I quite literally don't know where to begin correcting them. Therefore, I will allow other users to do so.

ypdc_dennis · ‎05-01-2018

If you are complaining about the Global Shipping Program (GSP) which is managed by Pitney-Bowes for eBay in the USA and the UK -- that has nothing to do with postage machines (run by a separate division of the P-B company).

...

These forums have lots of posts about GSP (going back 5 years) and how it is not a good deal for Canadians buying stuff that usually sneaks past customs (enabling the buyer to avoid paying sales tax and duty).

-..-

marnotom! · ‎05-01-2018

How would a seller be able to generate, say, a mailing label with $30 postage on it when the package only needs $15 worth of postage, and pay only $15 in postage?

bpl521_sell · ‎05-01-2018

@ypdc_dennis wrote:

These forums have lots of posts about GSP (going back 5 years) and how it is not a good deal for Canadians buying stuff that usually sneaks past customs (enabling the buyer to avoid paying sales tax and duty).
-..-

What doesn't seem to get discussed in a lot of these threads is the shipping fees are generally far less with the GSP, sometimes paying the customs fees and the GSP shipping is 10-30% less than a seller shipping without it.

femmefan1946 · ‎05-01-2018

I'm doubtful about that, because many sellers (mistakenly) charge international shipping on GSP items that the seller will only ship to Kentucky.
If the seller knows this, or doesn't realize this, and keeps the excess postage, the scam is on the seller. Something that is rarely discussed.

The other half of this is that the buyer does pay more in postage than is necessary with the GSP. But the profit does not go to Pitney Bowes, but to the seller (and to eBay in shipping FVF).

marnotom! · ‎05-02-2018

👆 Ha ha! Nice tweak, @ypdc_dennis. ⬆ 🔝

pjcdn2005 · ‎05-02-2018

@femmefan1946 wrote:
I'm doubtful about that, because many sellers (mistakenly) charge international shipping on GSP items that the seller will only ship to Kentucky.
If the seller knows this, or doesn't realize this, and keeps the excess postage, the scam is on the seller. Something that is rarely discussed.

I don't think that this is discussed because I don't know if it is even possible for it to happen and if it is , I doubt that it would happen often. When a seller is in the gsp, they see the address in Kentucky, they don't see the buyer's address in another country so why would they charge them for international shipping? And if they did send an invoice with international shippng, that would delete the gsp shipping from the invoice so the seller would have to send it directly. If I"m missing something, please explain how you think the seller could end up with extra postage.

The other half of this is that the buyer does pay more in postage than is necessary with the GSP. But the profit does not go to Pitney Bowes, but to the seller (and to eBay in shipping FVF).

What do you mean that the extra profit goes to the seller? Are you saying sellers profit more when using the gsp?
How does ebay get extra fvf? FVF is only paid on the domestic part of the shipping?

pjcdn2005 · ‎05-02-2018

@bpl521_sell wrote:
@ypdc_dennis wrote:

These forums have lots of posts about GSP (going back 5 years) and how it is not a good deal for Canadians buying stuff that usually sneaks past customs (enabling the buyer to avoid paying sales tax and duty).
-..-
What doesn't seem to get discussed in a lot of these threads is the shipping fees are generally far less with the GSP, sometimes paying the customs fees and the GSP shipping is 10-30% less than a seller shipping without it.

I think that shipping is usually more expensive with the gsp if the package is less than 8 ounces and in some cases if the item is less than 2 lbs. But I think that if the seller offers free domestic shipping and the item is heavier, the gsp shipping portion can be less expensive, especially if the seller has free domestic shipping. It does seem though that more sellers are charging for domestic US shipping so when that gets added to the cost of the gsp shipping cost, the shipping does look high.

But here is an example of the gsp shipping probably costing less for a relatively light item.

Coach Crossbody Black Purse In Mint Condition item 263654909768

$10.91 with gsp shipping

That bag would be more than 8 ounces to ship to first class international would be $16US

There are examples that I could give were the shipping cost is more via gsp or less via gsp but my point is that although many people suggest that gsp shipping is always more expensive, that just isn't true.

paktaolo · ‎05-08-2018

Pitney Bowes Import charges has nothing to do with duty (read the fine print). In fact, I believe the sales tax is on their services, not the ebay items.

ypdc_dennis · ‎05-08-2018

@paktaolo wrote:
Pitney Bowes Import charges has nothing to do with duty (read the fine print). In fact, I believe the sales tax is on their services, not the ebay items.

SALES TAX on the item, duty (if any), shipping and processing fees are all rolled into one ball and called import charges by Pitney-Bowes. Pitney-Bowes is the importer on record for the stuff handled by GSP -- which is one of the reasons the separate charges are not itemized -- and one of the reasons the GST/HST can not be claimed as an ITC for items sent via GSP.

paktaolo · ‎05-08-2018

So, what is the sales tax for? USA sales tax???

How can they bill you duty when the item don't pass / clear the customs yet? Do you know you can have 10 similar packages coming in and Canada customs only ask duty on couple packages?

As I said, you shall read the fine print.

momcqueen · ‎05-08-2018

Brokers. There is an entire industry that focuses on this aspect of ecommerce. It’s not a secret. Business and government work together this way daily. Every hour of the day.

momcqueen · ‎05-08-2018

“Pitney Bowes Import charges has nothing to do with duty (read the fine print). In fact, I believe the sales tax is on their services, not the ebay items.”

You’ve misunderstood completely the matter, how Customs works, and how brokering works.

paktaolo · ‎05-08-2018

I know how the customs clearance agents work, trust me on that.

When your import charges is only ~$10.00, you can assure that it is all services charges, and may be the taxes on the services.

momcqueen · ‎05-08-2018

Sales tax on the imported item.

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎05-08-2018

Sadly what's happened that each time a buyer uses a seller using the GSP, and that buyer has a bad experience, it immediately has a history that's hard to erase from the memory banks. And a board like this is the best place to share that bad experience. Pretty sure we don't see posts about the success stories where everything went smoothly. Hey, it's possible there could be a few of them out there that have happened since the program started. C'mon, anything is possible!!! Trying to keep my eternal optimist hat on!! Unfortunately we are stuck with it because the posts of horror stories are not doing anything to change the situation. If you're not a fan of the program, only thing you can do BEFORE you bid or commit to buy is either shop Canadian, shop from sellers not using the program or politely email your friendly neighborhood seller asking them if they will bypass it. Never hurts to ask. Hope that wasn't too soap boxy???

-CM

marnotom! · ‎05-08-2018

paktaolo · ‎05-08-2018

As far as I know (may be ebay changed it), sellers cannot bypass it after they list the item under GSP. Sellers can only relist the item.

ypdc_dennis · ‎05-08-2018

@paktaolo wrote:
So, what is the sales tax for? USA sales tax???

How can they bill you duty when the item don't pass / clear the customs yet? Do you know you can have 10 similar packages coming in and Canada customs only ask duty on couple packages?

CANADIAN SALES tax (GST/HST/PST) -- which applies to most items (new and used) imported into Canada. The official "free" exemption level is up to $20 by mail/courier -- there is a higher exemption level for items brought back in person.

https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/import/postal-postale/dtytx-drttx-eng.html

...

Customs clearance enforcement is ~~very lax~~ low priority for small/cheap stuff being sent by mail -- just like the cops do not pull over every car going over the speed limit. Clearance enforcement handled through couriers is a lot tighter.

-..-