Questions about the Global Shipping Program

[kalvin@ebay.com]

Do you have questions about the Global Shipping Program? Please post here & I'll do my best to track those answers down for you!

If you have any comments about the program, use this forum instead.

Thanks,

[marnotom!]

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@femmefan1946 wrote:

That being said, it makes no sense according to eBay for a seller to use GSP for products that sell for less than $50. Canadian posters seem to agree that $100 should be the cutoff.

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Given that, as you state earlier, shipping prices are based on an item's weight, dimension and distance traveled, I think that eBay's "$50 rule of thumb" grossly oversimplifies things.  After all, a fifty buck item weighing ten kilos is likely going to be more cost-effective to ship through the GSP than one weighing 100 grams.

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@femmefan1946 wrote:

Beyond that, I recently purchased a book for $30.00 from a US seller who uses GSP. Even with GSP the book cost less shipped and all taxes and duty paid, than any other offered over the previous month.

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That's been generally my finding with book listings, as well.  It's probably largely due to the fact that those sellers ship their books within the U.S. by Media Mail for three to four bucks.  Add that to what the GSP charges for shipping from Kentucky to a Canadian destination, and quite often you're still ahead of a Priority flat-rate envelope or even First Class International.

[cdnjudge]

Hello, I recently purchased some items for my classic car off eBay. When I went to pay for it, the only option was shipping through something called GLOBAL SHIPPING, Is this something new? I contacted the seller and he said he never heard of it. The cost for the shipping of the item was more than the item cost. The seller said to pay him through Pay Pal as I did and he could ship it directly to me through the US Postal Service International for half the price quoted by Global shipping.  I agreed to have the seller ship directly to me but now I find that the payment does not show up in my eBay and I am getting emails from eBay to pay for the items.

If I buy anything off eBay am I going to be compeled to use the Global Shipping. eBay does not give me any other option to have the seller ship direct to me as in the past.

Please advise.

Paul

[marnotom!]

There's loads of threads about the Global Shipping Program on this discussion board.  You might want to read some of them while you're waiting for more responses.

The Global Shipping Program is offered as an option for sellers who--for whatever reason--don't wish to ship directly to their international buyers, but would rather ship it out to a central warehouse in Kentucky who would then take on the responsibility and liability for forwarding it onto the buyer as well as advancing any taxes (and duties, if applicable) due on the item to the Canada Revenue Agency.

Some sellers--like yours--seem to be pretty surprised that the GSP is even offered on their listings as they have no recollection of setting up their listings with it.  What's likely happened is that they inadvertently approved its use due to their not reading the updated eBay user agreement closely enough.

If the Global Shipping Program is the stated shipping method on a listing, there are no other choices available to a buyer for the shipping method and it's very difficult to work around it after a listing has closed, as you've discovered.  The time to ask a seller to modify his or her terms of sale is before committing to purchasing an item, not after.  Links to information on the Global Shipping Program are right on the listing page.

Like many supposedly "premium" shipping methods, the Global Shipping Program doesn't tend to work very well with modestly-valued, lightweight items that can ship safely as oversized letters.  Its benefits are a bit more obvious with more expensive/heavier items, although I personally have some concerns with how the program itself is operated and I'm not chomping at the bit to purchase an item sold through the program.

[femmefan1946]

Thousands of posts about this. Surprised you didn't notice them.

Yes it is relatively new.

No your seller does not have to use it.

Many sellers, especially newbies, signed up for it without understanding it.

The seller said to pay him through Pay Pal as I did and he could ship it directly to me through the US Postal Service International for half the price quoted by Global shipping.

Your seller should, as an easy workaround, bill you through Paypal, indicating that the invoice is for Goods and giving the eBay transaction number and title in the text box. This is an on-eBay sale, but an off-eBay payment. Like paying cash on pickup. EBay legal.

And PP's Buyer Protection is very strong.

Don't worry. When you pay the seller just marks the item Paid. EBay is happy. He has to do this manually however.

BTW. If your item is bulky or over $100, it may be stopped and duty and taxes charged. And a $10 service fee to Canada Post.

The duty and taxes are exactly the same as GSP was charging. The fee is double what GSP is charging.

As you know, any import over $20, new or used, is liable for duty and sales tax.

[kasiablue2000]

An item I bought has gone missing on its travels and the seller tells me it is up to me to contact Ebay or 'Kentucky' to find out where my package is.

Are you serious? Is this really how it is now? If so, why aren't buyers given the information on all the listings, as to who to contact if they don't get a package, instead of having the old 'make a claim' through Paypal for item not received, drill?

If I am now responsible for hunting down lost orders I am not going to be doing much shopping on Ebay anymore.

[marnotom!]

Kasiablue, I just responded to the thread you started about your problem.

The information page and the terms and conditions page for buyers using the GSP go some way to answering your questions.

http://pages.ebay.ca/help/buy/shipping-globally.html#problems

http://pages.ebay.ca/shipping/globalshipping/buyer-tnc.html

In a nutshell, your seller seems to think that because he's not liable for your missing item, it means that he doesn't have to help you.

[pierrelebel]

"his response was basicly that once he ships it is out of his hands and no longer responsible.."

File a complaint with PayPal for non-receipt. Today.  No point in waiting.

[afantiques]

I'd advise claiming through ebay, they seem just a tad better at dealing with GSP related problems, PP is at arm's length.

[gmasuda3fyr]

I am still a bit unclear on how GSP is calculated on made in the USA products.  I am interested in buying made in the USA shoes on ebay through a GSP seller.  Are duties included in the GSP cost or are they automatically deducted since the product is under NAFTA ?  How do I opt out of the GSP when buying from a listing?

Thanks in advance.

[pierrelebel]

"How do I opt out of the GSP when buying from a listing?"

Buyers cannot opt out.  Sellers can.

Best to ask your seller to list the item without GSP is you are really interested in the item.

"deducted since the product is under NAFTA ?  "

NAFTA only deals with tariff and quotas, not consumption taxes (GST/HST/PST).  The tax is calculated and shown together with a handling fee as "import charges" in the listing.  Rates will vary depending on your province.  The "duty free" under NAFTA only applies to goods manufactured in NAFTA countries.  If the shoes are made in Italy (for example) and purchased from the USA, duty will apply.

Pitney-Bowes and eBay do NOT provide a breakdown of how much duty, tax(es) and handling fee are charged.  They only supply the total, shown in the listing under "import charges".

[macdmac_gpwn8evd]

So the item I purchased which is being shipped GSP recently had updated tracking information.  There is a little orange flag that says "This shipment has been transferred to CPC for delivery to the final destination" and then it lists the tracking number as a link.  Clicking the link goes to Canada Post which says that tracking number cannot be found.  Manually entering the tracking number into their system doesn't work either.  Anybody else experience this?

[marnotom!]

Try again tomorrow.  The Canada Post database may not have caught it yet.

[macdmac_gpwn8evd]

Yea, it now lists the electronic information has been received from the shipper.  Thanks.

[janet4814]

The ebay tracker (after not being updated for days) showed a 'delivery attempt' last night at 18:45. I was home all day and there was no delivery attempt and no notice left on the door.  How can I find out what local carrier and tracking # so I can contact them to arrange re-delivery??

I am in Canada.

[kroutpick]

It happened once with Canada Post that I got the delivery notice only the day after the delivery attempt.

You may ask the seller what carrier was used, or by the tracking number: (Or maybe he gave you the wrong tracking number : for another item to another buyer, ask him to check carefully)

0000 0000 0000 0000 (random sixteen digits) = local or national, with Canada Post

AA 000 000 000 CA = registered, Canada Post

AA 000 000 000 US = from USPS to Canada Post

Anything else : other private carrier

try the tracking number on UPS or FedEx websites.

[janet4814]

It was sent with this stupid 'global shipping program' so there is a UPAAB tracking number which doesn't relate to any actual carrier and it doesn't tell me the actual carrier. The seller doesn't know either, they just know it went to the global shipping place.

[mags_finds]

Hi Everyone:

I hope someone can help me.

I purchased a top and I was unhappy with it, item not as described.  Contacted the seller and she is more than willing to refund me the charges for the top and the shipping.  However, her listing showed a shipping charge of 18.00, which was high but I really wanted the top.  The listing DID NOT show global shipping charges In the spot where Global charges are it said 00

I usually try to avoid sellers who use it. 

This is what she told me

"Once item is returned in same condition it was sent to you I will refund the cost of item which was $14.99 plus the cost of shipping I received which was $4.05. Which is 100% of all Payments I received"

So, my question is, is it possible that a seller has no idea what the global shipping charges will be, and is it possible that the charges are being included in her shipping cost and not showing where the global shipping charge should be on the listing ?

Thanks in advance for your answer

Shirley

[mags_finds]

If you would like to see the listing it is # 261331742945

[pierrelebel]

The seller can only refund whatever amounts were received by the seller

In this case, there is no import charge to worry about

However, there is a cost of shipping by Pitney-Bowes to you (none of which went to the seller).

I suggest you call eBay (customer support link at the top of the page) and ask how you can recover the shipping charge from Pitney-Bowes.  Follow their guidance but I think the only way is to file a claim for goods not as described where both payments (to the buyer and to Pitney-Bowes) will be refunded to you once you evidence the return of the item to the seller with tracking.  You are responsible for the shipping charge back to the seller.

[mags_finds]

This is really confusing.  Isn't the charge to Pitney Bowes the Import Charges ???   If not what are they charging me for ?  So the seller doesn't have any control over what their listing states as shipping fees if they are in the program ? She charged 4.05 and I paid 18.00.  18.00 was the shipping charge in her listing. 

Items shipped from the US to Canada do not qualify for the 100% guarentee from eBay and I would have to file a dispute through Paypal.  I do not want to hurt this seller.  She doesn't seem to really understand Global Shipping and how it works to begin with.

Shirley