eBay

greenmangoes · ‎08-30-2016

Do you guys know if US sellers have the ability to unsubscribe from the GSP? I get the feeling that they cannot or don't know how.

I contacted a seller and asked if she ships to Canada. She said yes and added the shipping but it also displayed a very high price from the GSP. So I told her that unfortunately it made the cost of the item too much.

She doesn't seem to know how to remove it or if she can, so I thought I'd ask. She also said she's lost a lot of sales to Canadians because of the GSP.

Thanks!!

You only fail when you don't try!

femmefan1946 · ‎08-30-2016

Yes, they can.

But once a sale has been made, the GSP cannot be removed.

And many sellers subscribed to the GSP because it is a very effective Seller Protection program.

For buyers of course it is an expensive and pointless annoyance.

A seller can also set up a special listing for a Canadian customer (or any customer) without the GSP. They don't have to enable to GSP on every listing.

The basic trick if the seller wants to go to the trouble is to make an exact copy of the listing but remove the GSP option and change the title to the buyer's name (so no one else finds it).

Then the buyer buys and pays. The seller ships at the (hopefully lower) USPS rate.

But.

https://ircalc.usps.com/

Shipping by USPS is not always cheaper if the seller wants Confirmation of Delivery.

And if your purchase is likely to be stopped at customs (bulky and/pr over $100 value) you'll be paying duty and sales tax anyway. Plus the $10 Canada Post service fee.

marnotom! · ‎08-30-2016

@greenmangoes wrote:

Do you guys know if US sellers have the ability to unsubscribe from the GSP? I get the feeling that they cannot or don't know how.

I contacted a seller and asked if she ships to Canada. She said yes and added the shipping but it also displayed a very high price from the GSP. So I told her that unfortunately it made the cost of the item too much.

She doesn't seem to know how to remove it or if she can, so I thought I'd ask. She also said she's lost a lot of sales to Canadians because of the GSP.

If sellers don't have their preferences set to block bids/purchases from buyers outside of the United States but they don't specify that they ship to Canada in their listings, there's a chance that their listing(s) will have the GSP automatically applied to it by eBay.

If this seller is serious about wanting to ship to Canada under their own steam, they need to do the needed legwork to have Canadian shipping stated on their listing.

ypdc_dennis · ‎08-31-2016

@greenmangoes wrote:
Do you guys know if US sellers have the ability to unsubscribe from the GSP? I get the feeling that they cannot or don't know how.

GSP can be customized for a listing by the seller to NOT include specified countries (like Canada).

The details on how-to-do-this (since most sellers don't know how) are in the amazon.com help files:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/shipping-globally.html

see last two sections

-..-

greenmangoes · ‎08-31-2016

Thank you very much. I'll refer her to this post and see how it goes.

You only fail when you don't try!

jlincognito · ‎09-03-2016

"But once a sale has been made, the GSP cannot be removed."

Someone said that^^^.

Well YES it can be removed! You just have to talk to the seller and convince them to CANCEL the sale and then post another auction or BIN without GSP and then you can purchase it that way.

I have done this many times!

femmefan1946 · ‎09-03-2016

On a high value sale, it may be worthwhile to the seller.

But those high value sales (over $100USD) are the ones where the buyer may actually benefit from the GSP. (It does happen! After all those high value shipments are the ones stopped by CBSA and charged the same duty and Sales Tax that the GSP is required to charge.

But on a low value sale (under $50 USD) the seller may or may not feel the work of making the new listing is worthwhile. We see complaints of cancelled sales quite often after the buyer asked for just this relief.

Time is money and the minimum wage here in BC is 17 cents a minute

That means a 10 minute task cost the seller $1.70, which may be more than her potential profit.

Obviously, YMMV.

BTW-- too late now of course, but offering Free Shipping does not have to mean using the cheapest possible form of shipping. It makes sense to use a tracked service on a $350 card.

And vulgarity in a Response is just as ineffective as in Feedback.

jlincognito · ‎09-06-2016

It has nothing to do with minimum wage in BC, or anywhere for that matter.

It has to do with if the seller wants to sell their item or not, and how bad they want to sell it. That is the ONLY factor.

marnotom! · ‎09-06-2016

@jlincognito wrote:

It has nothing to do with minimum wage in BC, or anywhere for that matter.

It has to do with if the seller wants to sell their item or not, and how bad they want to sell it. That is the ONLY factor.

This post suggests that you've missed Femmefan's point completely.

momcqueen · ‎09-06-2016

For the record, buying something from a seller and then asking them to change the method of shipping is a reportable offence. See below under Buyer Made Unreasonable Demands: demanded a change to the shipping method or location.

I certainly would not recommend this tactic. Too many of these and you will find yourself booted from the site.

The time to speak to the seller about changing things is prior to purchase, not afterwards.

Some sellers are willing to invest the extra work to acceded to a buyer's requests for special treatment, others are not. That is a seller's choice. The buyer's choice is whether they want to accept the seller's choice. Or move on to greener pastures.

It's not personal, it's business.