Why are we Canadian shoppers being charged so much money in supposedly shipping fees

[pundewalte]

Good morning  to All,

My name is Walter Punde, and I am  from Canada, this complaint is a big big sore thumb to me.

Why are we Canadian shoppers being charged so much money (sometimes twice or more the value of the item we want to buy); in supposedly shipping fees. this outrageous. 

There are no goverment induced fees other than GPS. Customs  require only that the content  descriptionof package  and price be readily available on the outside of package, such as packing slip with description and sales price.

I refuse to buy from you guys for that reason and will and am, campaning for a boycut of your organisation , on account of your business decision to charge and/or support extra fees for sales to Canadian customers.

Your  answer to this question may be "these are the broker fees" that we must charge. This is not true. THERE ARE NO LAWS THAT OBLIGE YOU  OR REQUIRE YOU TO GO THROUGH A  BROKER.  It is simply your way of making outrageous profits and somebody from your organization is getting a kickback from this seem. 

As an example take a look at my last attempt to buy a mini drill press Item ID: 190586354986 selling for 69.49$ US ; with 72.94$ C, shipping charges..... coming to: with  5% GPS to: 184.59$C..... to witch I complained and cancelled my order (by the way there is no way to cancel an order before getting to checkout where you learn of outrageous shipping fees. This is very close to an entrapment, if not stalking. 

I have been trying to get in touch with you people, to no avail.....  I guess you don't care.

Hoping I will get a meaniingfull response form you people, I wish you All a good day and a nice weekend.

Regards

Walter Punde

[ypdc_dennis]

BUY CANADIAN -- no Global Shipping Program (GSP) involved at all.

GSP is only available on eBay from USA and UK sellers. And it is annoyingly legal. 

If a seller uses the GSP you can politely ask them if the are willing to ship via another method (GSP can be turned off for Canada for a listing and another shipping service chosen).

American sellers like tracked shipping and it is not cheap to ship using tracked when going outside the USA.

[cumos55]

Seller is in the US and using USPS........USPS Priority Mail International... No GSP

The item purchased weighs a bit and must be packed carefully.

From the US to Canada, it is international shipping, using a premier USPS option with Insurance, tracking and most likely a signature required upon receipt by the buyer.

At customs there will be a charge for GST  because the item cost more than $20.

Customs may examine the parcel carefully... just because what it is... and sometimes there will be a brokerage fee.

Seller states in the listing....International items may be subject to customs processing and additional charges.

Shipping is expensive.....   They must use this option to ship this item to a Canadian buyer....  The cost of postage is high, even without any brokerage fee.

This is the reality of shipping this item from the US to Canada.

If someone in Canada wants it... this is the cost for shipping... 

[cumos55]

This discussion group is on eBay Canada.

We understand the reality of shipping from the US to Canada....

Each of us is an individual seller... we each have our own business...... and the same applies to each seller in the US.

We rent space from eBay,  and each of us has our own way of selling as do all sellers in other countries and also selling on eBay.

[reallynicestamps]

USPS rates are quite low domestically

But International shipping is quite expensive.

Even the lower Canada rates are substantial.

Here is the USPS rate card for your information.

https://postcalc.usps.com/?country=10440

Two of those icons lead to Priority shipping rates, which for a 17x10x2/ 285gram package*, thelowest cost is $23.95

The fourth, if the seller knows to scroll to the bottom of the list includes First Class International Parcel rates, has a lowest cost of $15.50.

Multiply by 1.2 for the cost in loonies.

Then add in the GSP, which should not be used for low value items. GSP and tracking are both Seller Protection programs and our paranoid US neighbours love protection.

*The size of a paperback.

[pjcdn2005]

I’m assuming that by ‘you People’ you are referring to eBay.  This is a member to member board so the posters  that have answered you (including myself) don’t work for eBay.  In many cases the GSP can be quite a bit more expensive for shipping and Canadians do get annoyed by that . But in this particular case the seller is using the US postal system, not the gsp and they are charging you approximately the same as they will be charged by the post office.  Ebay doesnt have any control over what the post office charges sellers.

The drill weighs almost 12 lbs so the postage will be expensive...$65+   There would be no broker used in this case so it’s possible that  the CRA would add taxes etc. to be paid at delivery.   

Sellers do have to show the shipping cost when they list so you should be able to see the shipping cost  as soon as you click on the listing.  For a heavy item like this it might be better to go with a seller who uses eBay’s global shipping program as the shipping services they use often have less expensive postage for heavy parcels. If you can’t see the shipping cost in the listing, use the add to cart button and you will see shipping charge# and any other fees.  If you are not happy with those charges, you can delete the item from your cart before it has been paid for.

[pjcdn2005]

I’m assuming that by ‘you People’ you are referring to eBay.  This is a member to member board so the posters  that have answered you (including myself) don’t work for eBay.  In many cases the GSP can be quite a bit more expensive for shipping and Canadians do get annoyed by that . But in this particular case the seller is using the US postal system, not the gsp and they are charging you approximately the same as they will be charged by the post office.  Ebay doesnt have any control over what the post office charges sellers.

The drill weighs almost 12 lbs so the postage will be expensive...$65+   There would be no broker used in this case so it’s possible that  the CRA would add taxes etc. to be paid at delivery.   

Sellers do have to show the shipping cost when they list so you should be able to see the shipping cost  as soon as you click on the listing.  For a heavy item like this it might be better to go with a seller who uses eBay’s global shipping program as the shipping services they use often have less expensive postage for heavy parcels. If you can’t see the shipping cost in the listing, use the add to cart button and you will see shipping charge# and any other fees.  If you are not happy with those charges, you can delete the item from your store cart before it has been paid for.

[reallynicestamps]

Advice so nice-- it posted twice!
Thanks for the tip about the shopping cart. I have never needed to use it, but it is a good hack.

[pundewalte]

Thank You to All, for your comments, I have to apoligize for the missplelling mistakes as english is not my first language (as you probably have noticed), and I thank you for your kind indulgence.

Yes there are many options for shipping but most commercial sellers (not the individuals) do not offer many options, EBay does not provide a comprhensive listing of shipping options only the most expensiives. And yes when saying you guys/people, I meant EBay representatives.... these guys are as elusive as eels, to say the least, they can only be reached with their ready made Q&A, (and it only adds to there statistics)......!

I have shopped in the past and bought from private sellers and I must say that the service was top of the line easy and efficient. But commerccial sellers are a whole other ball game. Thus triggering my original post. I am trying to get to EBay , (in writting) maybe somebody has a tip..... 

They have put ot so many guards against the customer trying to reach them that it discourages doing business with them.

As I said earlier thank you for your comments and suggestions.

Have a good weekend.

Regards 

WP

[pundewalte]

Ouuupppps, 

I mistakenly wrote GPS, where I meant GST, sorry for the mistake......!!!

Have a good one, just the same

WP

[ypdc_dennis]

---

@pundewalte wrote:

Ouuupppps, 

I mistakenly wrote GPS, where I meant GST, sorry for the mistake......!!!

---

Ahhh...  the GST (Goods and Services Tax) not the GSP (Global Shipping Program) which was my guess based on your GPS (Global Positioning System).

The seller picks the shipping service(s) they want to use -- NOT eBay.

eBay has some discounted deals with some suppliers (and GSP) but they do not force sellers to use them.

Seller's choice of what they use, and also buyer's choice not to buy from them.

-..-

[femmefan1946]

EBay does not provide a comprhensive listing of shipping options only the most expensiives.

While sellers are allowed to choose whatever shipping service they like, eBay does have special deals with a few.

The best deals are usually through SnapShip (Canada Post) and Shippo (Canada Post, UPS, FedEx).

If the seller chooses to ignore those, Canada Post has the lowest shipping of all , and delivers everywhere in Canada. Fun fact, in rural or isolated communities, UPS and other couriers will sub-contract their deliveries to ..... Canada Post.

Same goes for US sellers.

The postal system is fast, cheap and reliable.

While non-US shipping costs more, it is still cheaper to use USPS and the other postal systems who are signatories to the Universal Postal Union Treaty of 1874, than to use a courier.

[pundewalte]

Well thank you to everyone, ypdc Dennis and femmefan 1946, for your instructive comments, which I will take in to account on my next purchase. 

I must tell you that this forum has helped in a way, to understand a little better the intricacies of EBay shoppping.

Once again Thank You for your kind words of help.

Regards

WP

[chapad_43]

That is BS

[chapad_43]

I will not buy off the E-Bay from sellers that have over inflated shipping prices, when you can get the same item from Chinese seller and they will ship for free. Last time I ordered something with the inflated shipping prices it took so long to get here that I forgot I evn ordered it.

[mrdutch1001]

@kh-laura 

@kh-leslie 

@kh-phdan 

ZOMBIE THREAD FROM 2017!

[kh-leslie]

Hi everyone,

Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thank you for understanding.