eBay

lorraine_carol · ‎10-03-2013

Good Morning!

Personally and professionally I think the Global Shipping Program that eBay has implemented is completely unfair. Firstly, I think the buyer should be given the choice if they want to pay up front or later. Why I feel that way is this: To date, I have never, ever paid for additional charges on anything I've purchased from the USA (with NO alterations to the value of an item!), PROVIDING the seller used USPS as their courier. This not only applies to items I've purchased on eBay. I have purchased items from J. Jill and Coldwater Creek as a couple of examples in which their totals/value amounted to over $200 and because they use USPS as their courier, there were NO extra charges ie. duty etc. Yes, I am aware there could be if customs decided to examine the shipping label/open package. Also, yes, if a seller/online store uses a courier such as Fed Ex, UPS etc, there will be the extra charges for international shipments. However I have run across MANY USA ebay sellers who DO use USPS as their courier even for international orders and opt in for the Global Shipping Program. I do believe the GSP is optional but just not made known publically that it is a choice. I was interested in an item from the USA and seller shipped to Canada via USPS however the GSP was implemented on their site. I wrote and asked if this could be removed and to my surprise, the seller stated she would remove it for me. Whereas another USA seller, shipped USPS to Canada stated 'no, ebay would not allow it'. When shipping to the USA via Canada Post or from the USA via USPS, if customs do not examine every package for value, no law is broken. I am not a conspiracy theorist but someone is benefiting financially from this program and it certainly is not the buyer or seller. I have gone to another online auction site that does not use the GSP and purchased the very item I had been looking for and will continue to do so rather than being forced into purchasing from USA sellers who use the GSP. This program is certainly a deterrent for eBay.
Happy Day All!
Lorraine

patken123 · ‎10-03-2013

I could only read the fist line and then my eyes started to hurt.

pierrelebel · ‎10-03-2013

This is a duplicate of the post from last week.

It would be easier to read if the message was broken down into paragraphs.

elgie620 · ‎11-26-2014

One more point in addition to your excellent comments. Items valued under $50 get waived at Canada customs so there is no duty or tax. It costs Canada Post more $ to issue the bill than what it is worth in Tax collected.

If sellers offered a choice of shipping methods (USPS or GSP) I would buy from them. I avoid right now.

Another issue I quote from Global Shipping is,

"With the exception of shipments to certain countries, delivery to P.O. Boxes isn't supported by the Global Shipping Program" Much of Canada is rural and PO Boxes are common.