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,

[coldstorage-us]

Thanks for your response, I am a US seller I just came here from a quick google search and didn't notice I was on ebay.ca

Spoiler

Ill find the appropriate place to ask the question. thanks for your help

[reallynicestamps]

It's also possible that they are Blocked for some other reason.

Unpaid Item Strikes come to mind or perhaps you have a Block on bidders without active Paypal accounts?

[afantiques]

The seller is US based. The GSP appears to be set up correctly.

One possible problem is if you have buyers without PP accounts blocked. This means in effect, PP accounts linked to the ebay ID. They may well have PP accounts but have never linked them. This could be the reason, ot it could be you curently have non US PP accounts blocked. 

I think you need to look through all your blacks to see if there is a problem.

I think there is a seller block activity log somewhere in your account that may help but I have never blocked anything so have never actually used it. Try a search in 'Help'

[afantiques]

Doh!  Didn't see the last few posts before posting.

[xenotime]

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@xenotime wrote:

"Can anyone explain why a $8.00 (BIN) soldering iron tip from a seller in California costs $25.19 (100% shipping no duty) via the GSP? Yesterday I won a used soldering iron station plus two soldering irons ($61) from a seller in Colorado and it cost me $9.58 to ship plus $7.24 duty.

Doesn't that seem like an odd discrepancy? "

-------------------

Thanks for the responses. I think another reason shipping seemed high in price was because the soldering tips were shipped to Kentucky via UPS. Most sellers I deal with ship USPS.

Is it unusual for sellers to ship to Pitney Bowes via a courier? And does that mean it will ship from PB to my address via UPS?

[afantiques]

How the seller send to the hub has no influence on how the item is shipped internationally. Only the seller knows why they did not use USPS for a small item.

[browneyegirl75]

Hi

I sent back the item to the seller and got my refund for the item but not for the imports fees that were taken through the eBay global shipping clause. How can I get my refund on the imports fees??

thanks!

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kalvin@ebay.com wrote:

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,

---

---

kalvin@ebay.com wrote:

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,

---

[femmefan1946]

Gosh, I'm not sure how to deal with this.

When an item is shipped by the GSP, the dispute should be sent to the GSP if the problem is damage in transit.

If it is Not As Described, the seller is responsible, but you actually did not pay the duty and sales tax.

Technically you paid GSP a fee to handle these. GSP actually paid them.

I think you should phone eBay (weekday service is from Utah, make sure they understand that you are in Canada and that we are not a part of the USA). Ask for a GSP specialist and discuss your problem.

You will get a PIN number for the call.

Be prepared to be on hold. Pee before calling and bring a book and a beverage.

[marnotom!]

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@femmefan1946 wrote:

Gosh, I'm not sure how to deal with this.

When an item is shipped by the GSP, the dispute should be sent to the GSP if the problem is damage in transit.

If it is Not As Described, the seller is responsible, but you actually did not pay the duty and sales tax.

Technically you paid GSP a fee to handle these. GSP actually paid them.

I think you should phone eBay (weekday service is from Utah, make sure they understand that you are in Canada and that we are not a part of the USA). Ask for a GSP specialist and discuss your problem.

You will get a PIN number for the call.

Be prepared to be on hold. Pee before calling and bring a book and a beverage.

---

As the GSP program fees are a separate PayPal payment, it may be worth trying to make a claim through PayPal first (if it can be noted that the charge is for a related GSP item that's now been returned) before going through the telephone route.  Can't hurt to try.

[femmefan1946]

That's sounds reasonable.

The Paypal Resolution Centre is on the left side of your page.

Start with the computerized version, you may find it faster and easier than trying to explain the problem to a human being.

[pjcdn2005]

It depends on what your reason was for the return.

Did you state in the request that the item wasn't as described? If not, what reason did you use?

[justified72]

I am absolutely enraged at the moment as I just had a case closed in the sellers favor because of non received item shipping from the U.S. to Canada by way of PBI that neither the seller or I was aware was happening.

The fact that eBay sends different shipping information to the seller that is not mine without any sort of warning is fraud in my opinion.  Take my money and the item shipped to some middle man repackaging place?  That I read a lot about that opens the packages and repackages for international shipment.  THAT IS AGAINST THE LAW!

Both tracking numbers (why the **bleep** two were provided for one item is beyond me) produced ZERO information for me to keep an eye on during shipping.

Once the item tracking said "Delivered", it listed an INCORRECT address from mine.  So, who the hell knows who has my item??

I had great communication with the seller who was equally as confused as I was about his item being shipped overseas and that our provided information from eBay was different.

I opened a case, eBay reviewed it, and ruled no refund as the item was listed as delivered. 

**bleep**!!! 

[pierrelebel]

File your two (2) claims with PayPal as you should have made two payments to PayPal

1) the value of the item paid to seller

2) the "import charge" paid to Pitney Bowes

There are two tracking numbers because:

1) the item is shipped by seller to distribution centre (one tracking showing delivered to distribution centre)

2) the item is consolidated with other items destined to Canada the shipped to you (one tracking to your address)

[marnotom!]

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@justified72 wrote:

I am absolutely enraged at the moment as I just had a case closed in the sellers favor because of non received item shipping from the U.S. to Canada by way of PBI that neither the seller or I was aware was happening.

The fact that eBay sends different shipping information to the seller that is not mine without any sort of warning is fraud in my opinion.  Take my money and the item shipped to some middle man repackaging place?  That I read a lot about that opens the packages and repackages for international shipment.  THAT IS AGAINST THE LAW!

Both tracking numbers (why the **bleep** two were provided for one item is beyond me) produced ZERO information for me to keep an eye on during shipping.

Once the item tracking said "Delivered", it listed an INCORRECT address from mine.  So, who the hell knows who has my item??

I had great communication with the seller who was equally as confused as I was about his item being shipped overseas and that our provided information from eBay was different.

I opened a case, eBay reviewed it, and ruled no refund as the item was listed as delivered. 

---

When you opened your case, did you indicate that the item had been forwarded through the Global Shipping Program?  I suspect your case was handled by someone who didn't clue into this.  The claims "specialist" only knew that the item was delivered to the Global Shipping Center in Kentucky.  The seller did their job, so the seller prevails in the claim.

Sellers who know that they're using the GSP like this aspect of the program because Pitney Bowes (administrators of the GSP) is supposed to take the hit for a non-delivered item, not the seller.  For whatever reason, this information didn't filter down to the person handling the claim.

I'm curious to know more about the contradictory information you and your seller received on the Global Shipping Program.  Right now, what you've posted is looking more like a classic case of a buyer who didn't skim through the program's buyers' terms and conditions page who purchased an item from a seller who didn't read the eBay user agreement update that mentions that they'd be auto-enrolled in the program unless they took steps to extricate themselves from it.

How long has it been since you paid for the item, anyway?  If it's only been a couple of weeks, your item may well still be in transit, as the "tracking" information from Kentucky to Canada is pretty much unviewable online.

[andyman4]

What really amazes me is why the is company is still in business and why would anyone invest in their stock....

[lorraine_carol]

What amazes me is why anyone in Canada would purchase from a US seller that employs the GSP. What amazes me even more is why .com/ebay USA has not educated their US sellers in the fact that the GSP is NOT mandatory, that it can be removed upon buyer request.

[dmil8030]

Hello 'justified', 

<< eBay sends different shipping information to the seller . . and the item shipped to some middle man repackaging place?>>

Yes, that is how the program works.  A lot of American sellers love it because all they have to do is mail the item to 

Kentucky and then they're done.  Whatever goes wrong from there is not their problem.

As such, the initial tracking number shows "Delivered" to that Kentucky address, and this always greatly upsets new users 

who have not purchased a GSP item before.  Unfortunately, this round-about  delivery/repacking/redelivery  feature is not 

explained at all when buying the item.  Shoppers quite naturally assume it will be shipped directly to their home and the 

tracking number they are promised will indicate when it will arrive. 

This infuriating gobbet of rubbish is one of the less irritating aspects of the program.  There are even bigger flaws.  

<< . . .opens the packages and repackages for international shipment.  THAT IS AGAINST THE LAW!>>

Irksome as it is, it is not against the law.  Indeed Pitney-Bowes must do this to ascertain that what the seller puts on the 

import label matches what is inside.  P-B assumes the role of importer and thus it is their responsibility if someone ships 

a box of LCP 380s instead of the hand crafted sculptures it says on the label.  

The problems arise when a seller packing fragile items  has her copious materials discarded because Pitney-Bowes 

believes they can use a much smaller box, fitting more parcels on to their trucks.  This leads to broken items.

If you have bought a GSP item it will surely be delivered to you eventually.  Perhaps your interaction with the seller might 

encourage him to take his listings out of the GSP and learn how to list with international shipping fees.

Until all US sellers smarten up about that, here is what most Canadians do when shopping on ebay:  Avoid GSP items.

When Searching an item, using the List View (not Gallery) skip past all those items which say 

Customs services and international tracking provided

That means a GSP item.  If you really want the thing you can always ask the seller if he will take the item out of the GSP 

for you and ship to Canada using regular mail.  If you are kind and polite in your request not many will decline.

<<I opened a case, eBay reviewed it, and ruled no refund as the item was listed as delivered. >>

It sounds like you do not have your item yet, assuming the "delivered" means Kentucky.  GSP items take longer than 

those coming through the post, but since the item is on its way (presumably) you should get it before long.

[marnotom!]

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@dmil8030 wrote:

Unfortunately, this round-about  delivery/repacking/redelivery  feature is not 

explained at all when buying the item.  Shoppers quite naturally assume it will be shipped directly to their home. . .

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Good post in general, dmil, but I have to take issue with the point you made here.  There are opportunities for buyers to "learn more" about the GSP with a click in the appropriate spot on the listing page.

The second paragraph of the help page linked on the listing page does explain succinctly what happens to a GSP item:

The US or UK seller ships the item to a local global shipping provider, and the global shipping provider ships the item to you.

At some point we do have to allow for buyers taking some responsibility for their choices.  Nobody is forcing them to buy a GSP item.  Nobody is trying to distract them from finding out more about the program before making a purchase.

If an impaired driver blows through a stop sign and kills a pedestrian in the process, we don't generally conclude that the pedestrian would still be alive had the city installed a larger stop sign.

Having said that, as you note correctly, one of the big problems with the GSP is that buyers (and sellers) sometimes make a few too many assumptions about how it works.

And we know what PIerre has suggested about "assuming" on a few occasions.  

[lisemae]

Thank goodness for me finding this thread. First time dealing with GSP, and what a headache.

Purchased an item, it was marked shipped on Jan 17, I was left a tracking number. It has been of no use, it tells me it's tracking number and that it's carrier is multiple carriers, no other updates. The Paypal transaction for my item, states USPS received and completed the parcel. 

I actually called PB today. I got told that the tracking number I received from eBay, shows in their system as not received. 

Anyone deal with similar situation?

[marnotom!]

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@lisemae wrote:

Thank goodness for me finding this thread. First time dealing with GSP, and what a headache.

Purchased an item, it was marked shipped on Jan 17, I was left a tracking number. It has been of no use, it tells me it's tracking number and that it's carrier is multiple carriers, no other updates. The Paypal transaction for my item, states USPS received and completed the parcel. 

I actually called PB today. I got told that the tracking number I received from eBay, shows in their system as not received. 

Anyone deal with similar situation?

---

There have been quite a few posts along these lines, Lisemae.

What I can say with certainty is that about a year and a half ago, Pitney Bowes removed from the GSP terms and conditions page for buyers any sort of reference to buyers and sellers being able to use the tracking number to track a GSP item online themselves. I think what they're trying to suggest now is that the "tracking" on a GSP item is done internally.

In any event, it sounds to me as though the Pitney Bowes rep told you what you already know:  You don't have your item yet.  We don't really need tracking information to confirm that!

If you're concerned about the length of time it's taking for your item to reach you, unless the listing page suggests differently you're still within the typical delivery time window for a GSP shipment.  If it hasn't reached you by the end of next week, that would be the time to start considering making a non-delivery claim.