eBay

filamenthead · ‎08-10-2020

i am wondering about sellers saying that they feel protected by the global shipping program !

how are they protected ? lets say that a seller ships an item under the global shipping and it arrives damaged to the buyer ! who will be responsible for the damage ? does a buyer file a dispute with the seller or with ebay global shipping ? and how does pay pal come in to the scenario if the buyer files with them instead of ebay ?

or what if its is lost !

what good is the global shipping program ?

reallynicestamps · ‎08-10-2020

Only US and UK sellers can use the Global Shipping Program.

t a seller ships an item under the global shipping and it arrives damaged to the buyer

If the shipment were poorly packaged and arrives at Erlanger damaged, it will be refused and returned to the seller.
If the shipment arrives in Erlanger in good shape, it is accepted and GSP takes over responsibility for any future damage in transit. The seller is no longer responsible for delivery.
If the shipment arrives damaged at the buyer's address, GSP takes responsibility and refunds the entire payment, including import fees. The buyer must open a Not As Described case with eBay and specifically ask to be referred to a GSP specialist.
If the shipment arrives damaged, but the damage is due to poor seller description (dirty clothing sold as new, for example) responsibility still rests with the seller.

Obviously, some of this is going to come down to a "he said, she said" and while eBay usually will go with the buyer in these situations, GSP doesn't mess about and just refunds.

And they don't want the disputed item back.

If the shipment is late, it is best to file a Not Received dispute with eBay and again, ask for a GSP specialist.

If the shipment arrives late enough that the "30 days from last estimated date for delivery" has passed, only then should the Paypal dispute be opened. PP does not have GSP specialists. PP demands that the seller return the purchase to the seller before refund.

Chargebacks are a last resort. Every card has different chargeback policies.

GSP has little of advantage to the buyer.

This has been especially true of Canada, since until July our duty free allowance was only $20(~$15US) and as a courier, GSP had to charge duty and sales taxes, which are ignored by CBSA on mail shipments.

Now that the duty free* allowance has been raised to $150Cdn, we can expect to see fewer screams of dismay about the GSP.

GSP uses a spoke and hub delivery system.

So does USPS, Canada Post, UPS, FedEx and every other shipping company.

Shipping is slow during these pandemic times because of fewer flights (even passenger flights carry cargo), fewer trucks, sick leave and safety distancing in shipping terminals.

Normal shipping time in my 30+ years in mail order, was about 20 days for anywhere in North America.

*But sales taxes are applied after $40Cdn.

marnotom! · ‎08-10-2020

@filamenthead wrote:

i am wondering about sellers saying that they feel protected by the global shipping program !
how are they protected ? lets say that a seller ships an item under the global shipping and it arrives damaged to the buyer ! who will be responsible for the damage ? does a buyer file a dispute with the seller or with ebay global shipping ? and how does pay pal come in to the scenario if the buyer files with them instead of ebay ?
or what if its is lost !

The Global Shipping Program is supposed to make international shipping as straightforward for sellers as domestic shipping. Sellers who have their merchandise forwarded internationally through the GSP are only responsible for its safe passage until the item is accepted at the Global Shipping Center in Kentucky.

Presumably, the Global Shipping Center would not forward to the buyer an item that reaches them in damaged condition, so if you do receive a GSP-forwarded item that's been damaged in transit, the damage is believed to have occurred while the item was the responsibility of the GSP, not the seller.

If you have to file an eBay Money Back Guarantee claim or a PayPal Not as Described claim for a GSP-forwarded item due to damage, it is a good idea to indicate in your notes on the shipment that the Global Shipping Program was used to ensure that the item is properly flagged and the claim properly handled against the correct party, in this case Pitney Bowes, the administrators of the Global Shipping Program.

@filamenthead wrote:

what good is the global shipping program ?

For us Canadian buyers, probably not a heck of a lot. It does make some items available to us a bit more readily as many US (and UK) sellers are very squeamish about the possibility of shipping outside of their home country, even to good ol' Canada. Many Canadian eBay users seem to think that if the GSP didn't exist, their items would be shipped directly to them by mail, but I think the reality is, many of those sellers wouldn't ship outside of the US without a lot of cajoling.

The fact that the US is our next door neighbour and our trade relationship with that country has been pretty established since the Second World War means that the process of making personal imports of goods into Canada from the US is generally a smooth one, so the GSP isn't much use to us there. However, the GSP serves about 100 other countries in addition to ours and some of those don't have such an established trade relationship or else their postal systems or customs bureaux are pretty dodgy. Buyers from these countries tend to welcome the GSP as it bypasses those impediments.

The GSP can work reasonably well for Canadians in some circumstances. The cell phones I've purchased that were forwarded through the program had far lower shipping rates than sellers selling directly, and I didn't have to worry about whether I'd be hit with taxes and stupidly high customs clearance charges upon receiving them. But I agree that it's generally not a good fit for the type of merchandise that most Canadian eBayers purchase from the US.

If you want some idea of how weird US sellers can be about international shipping, take this on board: Many years ago, when the American eBay discussion boards had a board devoted to international trading, I jokingly--jokingly-- gave examples of the tiny European country of Liechtenstein and the Pope's home of Vatican City as places to add to a seller's list of countries to block from international shipping. Over the course of the next month, I was horrified to see that many US eBay listings had those locations in their lists of countries excluded from international shipping.