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,

[sspiff1]

Hi, Can anyone tell me what this Import Charge is to Canada?  I see an item which ships for $9.00, and then there is an 11.00 Import Charge.  I have never paid that before.  All of my purchases have been from the US,  I have checked the postal charges,  It is clothing I was going to purchase, does that matter?  

Thank You in Advance.

[mpit7628]

Hello everyone.  I recently posted questions about Global Shipping and here is another.   I cringe every time I find a listing with Global Shipping but it seems near impossible to find a seller from the States that hasn't adopted this shipping method.  Time and time again I find items up for bid with Global Shipping but the seller only ships with in United States.  Was Global Shipping brought in to help American sellers ship internationally?  Are American sellers supposed to use this shipping method when they don't ship outside of their borders?  As of late I have taken to contacting sellers who are doing this and most don't seem to realize that their items are listed internationally when they use Global Shipping.  The name "Global Shipping" seems  explanatory enough but the program is obviously being misused and it is causing all sorts of problems.  eBay needs to inform sellers a heck of a lot better on the use of this program or better yet get rid of it.  Yeah right!!

[reallynicestamps]

 Was Global Shipping brought in to help American sellers ship internationally?  

Yes. US sellers enrolled in the program are only responsible for shipping to Pitney Bowes in Kentucky. PB takes responsibility from there.

Are American sellers supposed to use this shipping method when they don't ship outside of their borders?

They are encouraged to do so.

For a while, new sellers were being automatically enrolled. This was a terrible idea and I believe that a positive commitment is now required (Any one know for sure?)

If the automatic enrollment is not still happening, it is an indication of how few international sales US sellers actually make than more than a year after the inception of the program, some sellers are getting their first GSP sale.

EBay tells sellers not to use the program for items valued under $50. Most ignore that.

Canadian buyers can educate sellers, before bidding, that USPS now offers Delivery Confirmation on First Class International parcels to Canada at a very good price. USPS/Canada Post shipments are often not charged the applicable duty and taxes, but be aware that if they are, the Canada Post service charge is double that of PB.

[reallynicestamps]

Unless the item was made in the USA and the seller notes that on the customs label, you can be charged duty and sales tax plus a service fee on any imported item valued over $20 CDN (about $18 USD)

Yes, that includes used items.

Even if duty is not applicable, sales tax will be.

The Canada Post service fee is $9.95.

The PitneyBowes service fee is around $4-$5 and includes shipping from their hub in KY to your doorstep in Canada.

The UPS and other courier service fees are around $25 and up depending on the value of the shipment.

If you bought it, it is not a gift.

The maximum value for an actual gift to avoid duty and tax is $60.

[afantiques]

The Pitney Bowes service fee is around $4-$5 and includes shipping from their hub in KY to your doorstep in Canada.

The service fee does not include "shipping from their hub in KY to your doorstep in Canada."

The shipping is an entirely separate fee.  I cannot imagine why you continually make this statement. It's just not true.

[kimmer1221]

Sellers using GSP do not realize they are loosing sales because the "import charges" often do not apply yet they are charged if the seller uses this "cash grabbing" program through Ebay. The broker "Pitney Bowes" charges duty on everything over a minumum sals value even on items that are exempt from duty and therefore are collecting charges they are NOT LEGALLY ENTITLED TO COLLECT. This is by any other name "STEALING" by extortion and fraud.

HOW do I filter out all sellers using this illegal shipping method?

Kimmer

[mater721]

It's a  program, and should not be used for items of value <$75 or so.  But unfortunately, it is not illegal.  So long as item is valued > $20, they can collect the 'taxes' or 'duty' or whatever they want to call it. Even though Canada has a  ridiculously low threshold of $20 for collecting import charges, we rarely (if ever) get charged that fee for items below $100.  But ebay has decided to implement it for US sellers, and I have yet to buy from a seller using it.  Sucks, as there are many items I have to pass up because the shipping and 'duty' charges are beyond my budget.

Unfortunately, there is no current filter that I know of.  You need to look in shipping area for "No additional import charges at delivery".

[kimmer1221]

Not illegal but a broker that takes a percentage of every sale for doing absolutely nothing should be illegal. Brokers are not regulated in either country and can set any rate they wish. An unregulated agency in effect is stealing. Stealing is illegal.

How do I filter out the naive sellers who think the broker is providing a service when in fact the result is the opposite - lost sales.

[mater721]

"How do I filter out the naive sellers"

Good luck with that. If you find a way, let us know.

And it's so nice of moderators to edit my reply above... "It's a ___ program". They removed a word that rhymes with happy, but starts with a "c" and in general, means bad...

[pocomocomputing]

There was a GSP filter script made by a USA eBayer a couple of months ago to filter out GSP listings when you ran an ebay search. You needed Firefox and an app called Greasemonkey to run the filter script. It was posted in the eBay.com USA forums and someone posted it here in the ebay.ca forums with a link to the USA forum topic.

Apparently the eBayer got suspended for a week for posting the code and the topics deleted on both sites.

[pierrelebel]

"Apparently the eBayer got suspended for a week for posting the code and the topics deleted on both sites."

That brings me down memory lane.

About seven or eight years ago, when eBay had a different fee structure for "store inventory items" (fixed price listings with lower visibility on the "core"), the FVF were raised from 5% to 8%, effective one month after the announcement.

In those days, store owners could list their store inventory items for 30, 60, 90 or 120 days (those longer durations were later cancelled). From my perspective, based on the rules and policies existing at the time, if a seller listed for 120 days immediately prior to the effective date of the new rate structure, such seller would avoid having to pay the higher FVF for 120 days since the fees payable are determined at time of listing.  Great thing if your listings contain multiple quantities!

On the eBay Store discussion board on eBay.com I suggested sellers switch their listings to take advantage of the 120 days duration. It worked fine for all sellers who did - they saved hundreds or thousands of dollars in fees.  However, the folks at eBay were not happy with me with for explaining publicly how to "beat the system" using eBay's rules and policies.  Even the famous "Griff" took exception and stated that it would not work, that fees would increase after one month (he was wrong).

To make a long story short, the outcome was my suspension for sixteen months from posting on eBay.com (the suspension only lasted a few months on eBay.ca).

That is eBay for you!

[femmefan1946]

or doing absolutely nothing

But they do do something for the money.

Your seller only ships to Kentucky. Pitney Bowes, in addition to collecting and remitting sales taxes whether the item is dutiable or not,  PB is shipping these purchases from KY to doorsteps all across Canada.

Is that worth the money? YMMV.

http://www.gaspricewatch.com/KY-kentucky/Erlanger/gas-prices/page-1/2.htm

Gas is about $3.75 USD an American gallon at the moment.

[afantiques]

A message to user ID berserkerplanet may lead you to this browser add on feature.

[00nevermind00]

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@mater721 wrote:

"How do I filter out the naive sellers"

Good luck with that. If you find a way, let us know.

And it's so nice of moderators to edit my reply above... "It's a ___ program". They removed a word that rhymes with happy, but starts with a "c" and in general, means bad...

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Unless you use the filter referred to in other posts, the only way to avoid GSP listings is to use "List View" to search for items and ignore all the ones that have the "Customs services and international tracking provided" blurb, since that blurb identifies GSP listings.

As for the heavy-handed moderators, it would be nice if they told us what they remove every time they edit a post: language, private user info, or whatever. Otherwise it looks like censorship

[pocomocomputing]

"Looks like censorship"
????
It is censorship!!!

Ebay forums so they can do what they want. I have no problem with that. But suspensions seem to be easy to get, lol.

[micaylah]

I have it right on my profile page that I DO NOT buy from Sellers that use the GSP. Its a rip-off on so many levels for the Buyer an the Seller.

Buyers are going to end up going to other sites (i.e Bonanza Etsy) to do their purchasing or to other countries.

[hit_the_icebox]

Sorry, I have never looked into this -- the GSP isn't even available for CDN sellers, is it? I accepted a BO of $75 from a customer in California for an item with a listed value of $125. Our practice (as stated clearly in the auction) is anything valued at $75 or over must be shipped with tracking and insurance, and we charge $18US for this in most instances.

The customer has now come back and said this:

"I just found out that if you use the ebay global shipping, it would only cost you $8.88 to ship from canada to US, I can pay you $10 for the shipping, I just don't think it's necessary for me to pay you $15 to ship one card, thanks!"

I can't find anywhere where we can sign up (not that I would want to) -- is this guy just wrong?

Thanks in advance!

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[hends-ronal]

I buy most of my video games from the USA. There is no duty or tax on used video games, So I don't know why there would be an import fee. I live in Canada and I've purchased games from as far away as California with free shipping and no import fees. They seem new and just a way to charge more money.

[toby_le_pue]

Don't know where you got the idea that there was taxes or duty on used video games. Almost all items new or used with a value over $20.00 canadian imported is subject to taxes and service charges. http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/import/postal-postale/duty-droits-eng.html#c1

[afantiques]

Sorry, I have never looked into this -- the GSP isn't even available for CDN sellers, is it? I accepted a BO of $75 from a customer in California for an item with a listed value of $125. Our practice (as stated clearly in the auction) is anything valued at $75 or over must be shipped with tracking and insurance, and we charge $18US for this in most instances.

The customer has now come back and said this:

"I just found out that if you use the ebay global shipping, it would only cost you $8.88 to ship from canada to US, I can pay you $10 for the shipping, I just don't think it's necessary for me to pay you $15 to ship one card, thanks!"

I can't find anywhere where we can sign up (not that I would want to) -- is this guy just wrong?

Thanks in advance!

The customer is wrong but it seems insane to charge that much to ship one card that could go as letter post.

Only US based sellers can use the GSP.

If the services of Shipsurance.com or the ebay insurance app are available to Canadians, you could insure your card for $1, far cheaper than paying Canada Post for an expensive service that in all probability won't do you much good.

If independent transit insurance is not available, self insurance is better for you and vastly cheaper for the buyer.