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,

[leonardomarc]

This is whats going on the 3 companies work together to steal from you. Ebay pay pal and Pitney Bowes. I have read some of your posts they are good.  I believe they should tell the buyer 100% of what is being charged including PB or GSP charges. I understand import fees are a buying turn off and Ebay doesn't want to. It's just that that is morally wrong in every way maybe not illegal but wrong. In pay pal terms they say all import fees must be paid to GSP or PB. By signing up to pay pal you have agreed to let them take the money. That does not make it right. If it were public knowledge nobody would use Ebay. Many would not pay if they knew about the GSP charge that Ebay will not tell you about at the checkout. BTW you will be charges 15 to 100 after this payment is made who would pay? With that information. They use the 3 companies to steal legally. So no 1 company is responsible.

Think about it. They are just skimming like the mob or organized crime only the mob tells you they are taking it lol.

[femmefan1946]

The part of the 'import fees' that is Canadian duty goes to Canada (CBSA). These are charged on any import over $20 CDN (~$16USD).

And no NAFTA doesn't come into it. It's the place of manufacture not where you bought it.

The part of the 'import fees' that is Sales Taxes goes to the federal and provincial governments. Sales taxes are charged on any item that is assessed for duty, whether there is duty to pay or not.

For example, there is no duty on used goods or on items manufactured in Chile (a NAFTA signatory), but there still may be Sales Taxes. The amount of the sales taxes varies from province to province.

Pitney Bowes runs the Global Shipping Program for eBay.

The GSP is not designed for buyers.

The GSP is a Seller Protection Program which protects US (and UK) sellers from false Not Received claims and negative feedback for unexpected duty and sales taxes which are beyond the control of sellers.

EBay probably gets a small fee when a seller uses the GSP. This is proprietary information and has never been disclosed.

EBay does benefit from the GSP, but not the way you imagine.

US sellers are notoriously xenophobic and paranoid. (viz. The Donald). When domestic US sales flatlined, eBay instituted the Global Shipping Program to encourage US sellers to sell internationally.

The program has been a roaring success and has been extended to the UK (viz. Brexit).

It is not a good thing for buyers of low value and/or small items that could be sent postally. At one point eBay was telling sellers not to use it for items selling under $50 US.

It is a good thing for buyers of high value and heavy /bulky items, where the fact that the seller's responsibility for the item ends with delivery to the GPS plant.

Go run your little world.-- Captain Malcolm Reynolds.

[nikkow]

The global scam program

[nikkow]

Good ol global scam program

[gamesterinns]

Why is the Global Shipping Program necessary? Royal Mail, USPS and Canada Post all offer tracking and insurance options for protecting both buyer and seller for international shipping, and in Canada, at least, Canada Post ends up delivering the package to its final destination. If there are duties to be paid, that is resolved by the buyer at pickup, so what need is there for adding a third party? 

It seems to me the GSP is just adding another step to a process that already works quite well, not to mention additional cost to the buyer.

[gamesterinns]

Will buyers ever be given the choice to opt out of the GSP the way sellers are able to, other than by just not making the purchase, I mean?

I think it would only be fair for a buyer to be able to officially request that a seller not use the GSP for an item they are paying for, obligating them to respect the buyer's choice of shipping method, instead.

[gamesterinns]

Can eBay allow buyers to filter search results so as to exclude items that are listed with the GSP?

That would save a lot of time and perhaps cut down on the number of complaints about the GSP.

[towertreasuretrove]

By signing up to pay pal you have agreed to let them take the money.

Wait...are you kidding! Although I avoid GSP sellers like the plague, I did get an item on auction for over $50 where there was no import duty charge for some reason. Are you saying Paypal is going to take money out of my account in the 'middle of the night', so to speak? I had no idea....what a sleazy racket it's all become.....

[marnotom!]

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@towertreasuretrove wrote:

Although I avoid GSP sellers like the plague, I did get an item on auction for over $50 where there was no import duty charge for some reason. Are you saying Paypal is going to take money out of my account in the 'middle of the night', so to speak? 

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Relax.  The import charges for your item were added to the shipping charges for your item.  Pitney Bowes and/or eBay are experimenting to see if doing things this way makes GSP items more palatable to Canadian buyers.

Seems like it does in this case. 

[marnotom!]

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@gamesterinns wrote:

Why is the Global Shipping Program necessary? Royal Mail, USPS and Canada Post all offer tracking and insurance options for protecting both buyer and seller for international shipping, and in Canada, at least, Canada Post ends up delivering the package to its final destination. If there are duties to be paid, that is resolved by the buyer at pickup, so what need is there for adding a third party? 

It seems to me the GSP is just adding another step to a process that already works quite well, not to mention additional cost to the buyer.

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I think that both buyer and seller expectations for this program would have been more realistic if the name given to it was something like the "Global Forwarding Service".  If nothing else, people could have made up fun three word phrases for what  the initials "GFS" stood for.

Why is it necessary?  US sellers aren't slaves to their postal system the way we Canadians are to ours.  I'd say the proportion of sellers using carriers such as UPS or FedEx for their domestic shipments is considerably higher than that for Canadian sellers, or sellers from most other countries, for that matter.  If these sellers were to use these carriers' international shipping services, they'd be re-hully pricey and possibly add significant customs-related charges to be paid upon receipt by the buyer.  

Some sellers also don't like the perceived hassle of filling out customs forms, and can't handle the fact that letter mail (First Class Mail International) shipments are uninsurable through the post office.  Then there's the fact that some international destinations have customs or postal systems that are less reliable than Canada's, with items getting delayed or "going missing" in transit.

Does all this make the GSP "necessary"?  Maybe not, but the fact that Pitney Bowes assumes responsibility for a GSP item once it reaches the Global Shipping Center in Kentucky is great comfort to many sellers using the program, assuming that they know that they're using it in the first place.

[marnotom!]

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@gamesterinns wrote:

Will buyers ever be given the choice to opt out of the GSP the way sellers are able to, other than by just not making the purchase, I mean?

I think it would only be fair for a buyer to be able to officially request that a seller not use the GSP for an item they are paying for, obligating them to respect the buyer's choice of shipping method, instead.

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What would a buyer "opt out" look like?  Keep in mind that many sellers that have the GSP applied to their listings aren't even aware that it's there.  eBay automatically applied the GSP to these listings because the sellers didn't block bids or purchases from users with non-US shipping addresses but didn't specify a shipping method and rates to countries outside of the US, either.

So I'm not sure how buyers can force an "opt out" for GSP listings where there's no alternative likely to be provided by the seller.  Perhaps you can elaborate on what you're envisioning.

Keep in mind that ever since eBay began, a seller's shipping method and list of "ships-to locations" has been just that:  the seller's.  A buyer can certainly try negotiating alternatives with the seller, but ultimately it's the seller's choice

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@gamesterinns wrote:

Can eBay allow buyers to filter search results so as to exclude items that are listed with the GSP?

That would save a lot of time and perhaps cut down on the number of complaints about the GSP.

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If you're searching for items on a laptop or desktop computer, ensure that your search results appear in "list view" rather than "gallery view".  If you run into an item in your search results with the message "Customs services and international tracking provided," that's a tip-off that you've dredged up a GSP listing.  Don't click on it if you find it off-putting.

[jamal711594665]

Request an order from China and Anahnt by Hongkong Post, but the shipment without tracking number

[femmefan1946]

Your question has nothing to do with the Global Shipping Program which is only available to sellers based in and shipping from the USA or the UK.

However, most sellers of cheap items, do not use expensive tracking (Confirmation of Delivery technically) on their shipments.

This is not a problem.

If you purchase has not arrived within eBay's estimated last day for delivery, go to the Resolution Centre at the bottom of this page and open an Item Not Received dispute.

Don't get in a conversation with the seller.

If he doesn't refund immediately, ask eBay to step in and escalate to a Claim.

If the seller cannot prove delivery (not shipping, Delivery), you will be refunded.

[hend1972]

Plenty of emails from the Global Shipping program  but unfortunately little useful information. What good is a tracking number if you do not know the destination carrier? There are two tracking numbers but they do not register with FedEx, UPS or Canada Post. So the tracking is completely useless to the buyer. The import charges (on tax exempt items) are also questionable. I believe NAFTA is still in effect.

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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,

---

[i.am.vivian]

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@hend1972 wrote:

What good is a tracking number if you do not know the destination carrier? There are two tracking numbers but they do not register with FedEx, UPS or Canada Post. So the tracking is completely useless to the buyer. The import charges (on tax exempt items) are also questionable. I believe NAFTA is still in effect.

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I don't see what you are seeing so I can only guess at it, but usually the first tracking number is the seller sending the item to the GSP processing plant at Kentucky.  It will show "Delivered", usually with USPS unless the seller uses a courier.  

The second number should be usable with Canada Post because that is usually who handles the parcel on this end, but sometimes a courier is used especially if the item is very large & heavy.  

If you have numbers, do any of them work here

https://parceltracking.pb.com/app/#/dashboard/

Apparently that is supposed to track GSP parcels but so far no one has come forward to say if it does or does not help.  

If you need to contact Pitney-Bowes for any reason, other users who have done so report back that they were treated very nicely and had all their questions answered sufficiently.

http://www.pitneybowes.com/ca/en/contact/contactus-email-us-canada-en.html

[letsgoshoppingadam5]

I bought a $5.00 item from the USA...now tell me why was the cost of shipping $30.00 to send to Canada....this is really making me mad...I have been on ebay for so many years...I have enjoyed shopping on ebay till this GLOBAL SHIPPING **bleep** started...why does ebay allow this to sellers? We are getting ripped off big time...its not fair and it has made me really cut back on buying from ebay...I would love to hear the answer .....thank you

[femmefan1946]

The shipping cost is not related to the value of the item but to it's size and to the service the SELLER chose for shipping.

https://ircalc.usps.com/

The seller seems to have chosen a service that is very expensive, even though he really is only responsible for shipping domestically to Kentucky.

The GSP adds import fees made up of duty (none on a $5 item)* sales tax (none on a item too cheap for duty) and GSP service fee of about $5USD.

So I suspect your Seller made two mistakes.

Choosing to use the GSP in the first place. And it is the Seller's choice. EBay does not encourage using the GSP for items valued under $50USD although they don't do nearly enough to discourage it either.

And shipping to Kentucky by a wildly oversecure and too rapid service.

The GSP is a bad system, poorly explained and used entirely too much by paranoid and xenophobic sellers.

It has some good points with valuable and bulky items.

[parsorub]

I ordered a item that was through Global Shipping, how do I get the item shipped the fastest way possible? Is there a fee? If so how much ? Thank you, Ruby

[i.am.vivian]

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@parsorub wrote:
I ordered a item that was through Global Shipping, how do I get the item shipped the fastest way possible? Is there a fee? If so how much ? 

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If you have ordered and paid for an item coming via the GSP, you have paid all you owe, and all you CAN pay.  Once concluded, GSP sales are an all-in-one, meaning seller costs, mailing the item to Kentucky, checking it and rerouting it to Canada, any import charges, and getting it to your door, most likely with Canada Post.  

If you had wanted it speedy, you should have mentioned this to the seller BEFORE you bought, and asked the seller to take the item out of the GSP and send it to you directly either by the fastest postal service or a fast courier service.  Some companies even have an overnight service if you are willing to pay for it.  

It is all too late now, and you will just have to wait for the item to loiter and dawdle its way to you via the scenic GSP milk-run route.  

You can track its progess here, 

https://parceltracking.pb.com/app/#/dashboard/

[lesterbeachgirl]

I purchased an item on ebay.  The seller was paid and an additional designated amount was sent to the global

shipping program.

The seller didn't send it through the Global Shipping Program she mailed it.

I never received the package.

The seller is going to refund me the purchase price and her mailing charges.

the package was never in the global shipping program at all, as I never got one email or advice from them.

how to I get reimbursed for the money sent through PayPal to the global shipping program.

I spoke to ebay and they said the seller has to refund me the global shipping charges, why should they ? they never

received those funds it was sent by PayPal to the global shipping program.

HELP !