Why do we HAVE to use GSP?

[tayconheart]

For us to HAVE to use Ebay GSP, is silly. The seller ships to Kentucky - which takes days. Then from there they send it on to us. If the seller had just sent it to us, then it would either be well on it's way, or here already. The last thing I bought - took 1 month to get here!! It was all broken and leaking by then. I bought an item a week ago - they sent it right away - and only just arrived in Kentucky.  The delays are nuts. US Amazon, takes about a week. 

[marnotom!]

Nobody says you have to use the GSP.  Simply buy from sellers who use more direct shipping methods for getting items to Canada.  Problem solved.

More detailed answer: The GSP is a glorified forwarding service that serves about 100 other countries in addition to Canada.  Some buyers in some countries actually don't mind it too much because it bypasses their countries' problematic mail services and customs offices.  Many Americans don't understand that their country has a pretty special relationship with Canada that has eliminated a lot of obstacles to the movement of goods for trade; we're just seen as an inconvenient land mass between the lower forty-eight and Alaska.

Sellers generally use the GSP because they're not responsible for the items' safe passage to its destination once it reaches the Global Shipping Center in Kentucky.  Many American (and British, too, as the GSP is also available to sellers in the UK) sellers are very risk-adverse when it comes to shipping out of the country for a variety of reasons, so the GSP is somewhat of a comfort to them.  You've probably encountered a few sellers who are unwilling to make an exception for a Canadian buyer and not have the GSP forward their item and using an alternative shipping method, although that option does exist (it's just difficult to make adjustments after the listing goes up).

Before the world went sideways in March of last year, I suggested to some buyers who had their eyes on "must have" items but didn't want them forwarded through the GSP that they could have their item sent to an address in the US where they could pick it up at their convenience.  What's an option now is that you can get your own forwarding service to do the job instead and have their address on file as your "ship to" address for sellers using the GSP.  

While the GSP is a pain below the tailbone for most Canadian buyers, it can and does work reasonably well for certain items where shipping by courier would be a very expensive proposition indeed.  The problem is, those types of items aren't usually the kind that most Canadian buyers want from the US.