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,

[lorraine_carol]

Exactly right Petur-Sheena. I am not being derogatory when I say that the majority of USA sellers do not fully understand that the GSP IS optional and If they do utilize it, it CAN be removed upon a buyer's request. I feel the blame falls on them obviously for not knowing AND towards ebay.com. Surely ebay.com have received enough complaints that they should be emailing their US sellers to inform them the GSP IS NOT MANDATORY. And yes, sellers are aware they utilize the GSP as it has to be implemented by the seller on their lisltings not by ebay.com.
I too have had US sellers tell me "no, they are not permitted to remove the GSP" and I've had US sellers tell me they will but truly most do will not.

[pjcdn2005]

And yes, sellers are aware they utilize the GSP as it has to be implemented by the seller on their lisltings not by ebay.com.

Sorry, but that isn't true in all cases. eBay often opts in sellers who haven't specifically opted out of gsp. From what I remember, that wasn't supposed to happen to sellers that already had international shipping but I'm sure that I've read about some sellers being opted in to gsp even though they already shipped internationally.

[marnotom!]

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@petur-sheena wrote:

Its hard to tell if the seller did their due diligence when filling out the shipping label because because GSP slaps their own label right on top of the original. 

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By "item specifics" I mean the portion of the listing page where various details of the item are given.

This is an example of a listing where the seller has "item specifics" but they're filled out improperly.  Since the seller has not filled out the country of manufacture properly, the import charges for the item may not be calculated correctly.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/251629345431

[99dogshunting]

The GSP is nothing but a cash grab by ebay! Items that are duty and customs free are still billed under this program. DO NOT USE THIS PROGRAM.

[marnotom!]

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@99dogshunting wrote:

The GSP is nothing but a cash grab by ebay! Items that are duty and customs free are still billed under this program. DO NOT USE THIS PROGRAM.

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The biggest reason why duty-free items are charged duty if shipped by the GSP is because the seller has provided eBay with inaccurate or no information on the item's country of manufacture or origin.  This may also occur if the seller has listed their item in the wrong category.

[kstjm5]

I did claim for a refund and  I received all the money back for all the articles and the shipping.  When it happened I had just finished taking care of a problem about the Global Shipping Program with ebay.  I am talking less than an half hour after I finished speaking to them.  I called back and I yelled at them.  In less than one hour I had my full reimbursement.  Never again!  Today, May 18, 2015, I asked a seller if he or she would change to USPS shipping and this is the answer I got. 

"I am very sorry but if you are located out of USA, then I only use global shipping, and yes you are right that they arrive broken and we don't have any control over this."

I wrote back and asked the seller why he or she bothers selling outside the U.S. if he or she doesn't give a **bleep** about foreign buyers.  That person knows that they offer a bad service and still use them.  Is it because that person is too lazy?  I think so!

[pjcdn2005]

I'm not sure what being lazy has to do with it. It's the same amount of work to ship an item to Canada as it is to ship within the U.S. I do think that it is more a case of paranoia. Some Americans know very little about anything or anyone outside of the U.S. and have a fear of the unknown and think that they will automatically have more problems if they sell outside of the U.S. 

Also, the Americans have a much larger market than we do here so if an international transaction accounts for just 1% of their sales they may not be too concerned about having those sales.

[kstjm5]

This thread is the proof that people did not give in.  That's the good part and we will not buy from sellers that uses that services.  See the glass half full instead of half empty.  They are losing business!

[kstjm5]

BS...  It is a lot less work for the seller to use that program.  They don't need to do any of the paper work.  Also, I believe international sells are a lot higher than 1%.  You have to be stupid to believe otherwise.  I wish we would see how much the international sales went down since that program started, but EBay would never provide such information.  EBay created a program for the sellers to wash their hand when there is a problem.  Also, they prohibit buyers to leave a negative feedback if it was a problem with GSP.  So, it means that it does not appear anywhere when there is a problem.  The only ones that know is the sellers, EBay and Pitney Bowes.  I read enough on that **bleep** of a program to understand that it was created for a lazy bunch of paranoid Americans.

[pierrelebel]

" I wish we would see how much the international sales went down since that program started,"

We all know that Global Shipping Program is not buyer friendly for Canadians and should be avoided in most instances.

That does not mean export sales by American sellers are down.  Far from it.  The information is available publicly through quarterly and annual reports by eBay to the US Securities Commission. 

It only takes a few minutes to get the facts instead of spitting out assumptions.  Facts clearly show that American sellers are getting more sales outside the USA since the program started and eBay, based on those facts, expanded the program to British sellers.

Still not good for Canadian buyers but, let's face it, that is not and will never be eBay's priority.  Their first goal is to increase sales by American sellers, their largest home market.  GSP does that (for now).

[marnotom!]

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@kstjm5 wrote:

I wish we would see how much the international sales went down since that program started, but EBay would never provide such information.  

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Further to Pierre's excellent (as usual) post, I should add that we have to stop assuming that sellers shipping through the GSP are aware that they're offering it as a shipping option.  If the posts on the eBay US boards are an indication, some--possibly even many--sellers don't realize that they have it on their listings.

I wouldn't be surprised if there are some sellers who have had the GSP on their listings for a couple of years now and still not seen any international sales, both due to the GSP's disproportionate charges for smaller items and the simple fact that the typical American seller generally doesn't have a large number of non-US sales.

In other words, US sellers can't lose international sales that they weren't prepared to make in the first place.

I would hazard a guess that most US sellers shipping internationally have not switched over from using the postal system for smaller items unless they've had serious issues in the past.  Instead, most sellers using the GSP haven't generally sold internationally in the past, so any sale from a seller like that would be seen as a "gain" by eBay.

I will add that when it works as it should the GSP does appear to be a good alternative to commercial carriers such as FedEx and UPS for small, lightweight but higher-value items such as electronics.

And finally, I believe that we'd likely be having a similar discussion on this board if all of a sudden eBay tried pushing international express parcel post on its American sellers.  Express parcel post in and of itself isn't a terrible shipping method, but it's generally not a good fit for the smaller, more inexpensive items that Canadians generally purchase on eBay.

[divertigeek]

How does it work on the seller's end? Is this well explained?

After having a package show no tracking numbers for a week (only those APAA or whatever, empty when I click), and having the seller contacting me about leaving him a feedback now that I have received the package (what?) I told him I didn't receive anything and the tracking numbers didn't even moved ... He sent me ANOTHER tracking number showing the package shipped to somewhere in Kentucky telling me this is the address eBay gave him!

Who will refund me this "double" payment? Will I be able to get my money from this total fiasco? Can't you make it clear to sellers that they need to use your labels or I don't know, that this address is NOT the buyer's address?

I can't even fill a complaint right now ... apparently I have to wait 2 weeks?? The seller will run with his money !

[afantiques]

After having a package show no tracking numbers for a week (only those APAA or whatever, empty when I click),

This is typical and has no sinister meaning

and having the seller contacting me about leaving him a feedback now that I have received the package (what?)

The seller does not seem to know that receipt at the shipping depot is not receipt by the customer.

I told him I didn't receive anything and the tracking numbers didn't even moved ... He sent me ANOTHER tracking number showing the package shipped to somewhere in Kentucky telling me this is the address eBay gave him!

This is the address ebay gave him for the GSP shipping depot.

Who will refund me this "double" payment? Will I be able to get my money from this total fiasco? Can't you make it clear to sellers that they need to use your labels or I don't know, that this address is NOT the buyer's address?

They do generally use the ebay label, it has the Erlanger Kentucky address. At the depot the package is logged in and re-labeled to forward it. No refund is due at this time, your package will probably arrive in a day or two.

I can't even file a complaint right now ... apparently I have to wait 2 weeks?? The seller will run with his money !

The seller is ignorant, not a villain, they will not 'run with the money'.

A perfect example of an ignorant buyer and an ignorant seller at cross purposes. Information for both buyers and sellers is available but it seems a lot of people simply don't look.

Not really the fault of either buyer or seller, the fact that GSP is DIFFERENT needs to be made clearer.

[ravensns-ca]

Sure wish i knew about this before i shopped.
I told the seller that I needed this ASAP and would pay more.
Was surprised by the duty and shipping charges, which appeared AFTER i had done buy-it-now, but it was too late.
Got excited when it looked like my shipping was going quickly... then surprised when it was received by Kentucky. Contacted the seller who told me it was gsp
Seller says it usually only takes a week through gsp.
That clearly was BS.
Now I'm very concerned. I need this item for may 29th. . The message now says expected is june 2nd.
Item has been in kentucky for four days. I think I'm screwed...it'll not be here in time for the event.
So disappointed.

[afantiques]

Item has been in Kentucky for four days.

The item is most probably in Canada. No tracking updates is typical, it does not mean that the item is there.

All tracking ever means is where something has been, not where it is.

[dillea]

Hi Kalvin,

I just purchased an item from the US via the GSP. However, the seller inadvertently shipped using USPS directly, so Pitney Bowes was not involved although charges were paid to them via PayPal. Now I'm afraid that I will be charged customs fees again which were supposed to be already paid for. Since Pitney Bowes was not actually involved in the shipping of this item is there any way to get my money refunded?

[afantiques]

Call ebay Customer Service and ask for a rep who is an expert in GSP problems. Quote the item number and any tracking number you have that shows the item did not go to Erlanger.

It is possible to get the GSP shipping and import fees refunded, but I do not know any way to do it without this type of 'manual' intervention. You may get passed from rep to rep but it is possible to get unused GSP fees refunded.

[kotonline]

Let me know when you get an answer.

[vselectronicsnl]

I run a business in Canada and I am entitled to a refund of any GST or HST collected on any shipments of products I receive. However it's hard for me to get a refund from the government when Pitney Bowes doesn't provide a receipt showing how much they collected. In three transactions I am now out over $90 because they don't provide a receipt. I'm fairly sure that this is not legal, if someone pays HST to the government they are entitled to a receipt showing how much they paid for this very reason. It's the last time I will be buying from anyone using that service. Paying HST I am not required to pay by law and being unable to get it back eats up any profit I may make on the products I'm buying.