Comments about the Global Shipping Program

[kalvin@ebay.com]

Feel free to share your thoughts about the Global Shipping Program here. 

A few questions to get the ball rolling:

• What has worked well for you with the Global Shipping Program?
• Any ideas to help improve the experience for Canadian buyers?
• What has deterred you from buying items offered using the Global Shipping Program?
• How have you managed to search for items outside the program?

Please try & keep the comments constructive 🙂

If you have any questions about the program, please post them here.

[guitardactyls]

This whole GSP thing seems to be a SCAM where potential thieves can just "tick a box" and steal your purchases.

Just had a bad experience with trying to ship a guitar from the US to Australia.

See thread here:-

http://community.ebay.com/t5/International-Trading/Does-eBay-SUCK-Bigtime-or-WHAT-International-Guit...

http://tinyurl.com/ka42uyv

Has been a nightmare!

If anyone has any suggestions how I can retrieve this guitar would be much appreciated!

[arlene_v]

I really have to wonder why eBay has not done anything to make sellers who opt into the program more aware of the issues.

One solution would be that eBay send an email to all US sellers using the GSP.

"Important notice regarding your eBay seller account" 

"Dear seller,

Recently you opted into the Global Shipping Program. By doing so, all your listings are now seen by millions of international buyers and are available to them to buy. You need to be aware of this when you list your items. Click here to read more about the program. (link to a page telling sellers about the program in plain English)

If you are unaware that you opted in to this program, and wish to change your shipping preference please click here to opt out (link to page that opts out)

It is vitally important when using the GSP that you input your listings correctly . The information you input is used to calculate costs for buyers. You need to take this into account to make your listings competitive. (link to page with simple intro to item specifics and consequences for buyer, including disparity in costs when info is missing)

Please be aware that certain items are not suitable for this program. (link to page with details re cheap, light weight items, restricted items, size limits, in plain English) 

At any time should you wish to see the costs to various countries use the instructions in this link (link to page showing shipping details and how to use it and what the international buyer sees)

You can increase your international sales by following these guidelines."

If eBay were to send sellers such an email at least there would be a chance some sellers would read it! 

[00nevermind00]

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@arlene_v wrote:

I really have to wonder why eBay has not done anything to make sellers who opt into the program more aware of the issues.

One solution would be that eBay send an email to all US sellers using the GSP.

"Important notice regarding your eBay seller account" 

"Dear seller,

Recently you opted into the Global Shipping Program. By doing so, all your listings are now seen by millions of international buyers and are available to them to buy. You need to be aware of this when you list your items. Click here to read more about the program. (link to a page telling sellers about the program in plain English)

If you are unaware that you opted in to this program, and wish to change your shipping preference please click here to opt out (link to page that opts out)

It is vitally important when using the GSP that you input your listings correctly . The information you input is used to calculate costs for buyers. You need to take this into account to make your listings competitive. (link to page with simple intro to item specifics and consequences for buyer, including disparity in costs when info is missing)

Please be aware that certain items are not suitable for this program. (link to page with details re cheap, light weight items, restricted items, size limits, in plain English) 

At any time should you wish to see the costs to various countries use the instructions in this link (link to page showing shipping details and how to use it and what the international buyer sees)

You can increase your international sales by following these guidelines."

If eBay were to send sellers such an email at least there would be a chance some sellers would read it! 

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That is a good idea in principle, but the email is much too long and the chances of sellers reading all the way to the end are not promising.

A much better idea - one that would actually work - would be to make some fields mandatory on the listing form when using GSP. The seller wouldn't be able to go on with the listing unless these fields were filled.  The item's dimensions and weight as well as the country of origin would be some of those fields.  And a window warning about the $50 "GSP fit" limit could pop up every time a seller tries to list an item under that value with the GSP.

This would ensure that every GSP listing has all the information needed for exact charges to be applied. And it would make all GSP sellers aware that they're using the program.

But for all this to happen, eBay and PB would have to have the international buyers' best interests in mind.  Which, clearly, they don't.

[arlene_v]

I agree that program modifications making certain fields mandatory is the obvious choice. Not sure why this hasn't happened despite many calls for this.

But, there is nothing easier than sending an email!!

A cursory reading of the .com and .ca board makes it perfectly clear that many sellers are unaware that they are even enrolled in this program.  An email that gives sellers a heads up when they opt in to the GSP is not exactly asking too much. 

And I also agree that most folks don't read much .. but the first paragraph should provide even the most clueless seller with a heads up that they are enrolled. This would require virtually no effort. 

[arlene_v]

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@00nevermind00 wrote:

But for all this to happen, eBay and PB would have to have the international buyers' best interests in mind.  Which, clearly, they don't.

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This would seem to be the case. That's why this thread is so many pages long, unfortunately. 

[ypdc_dennis]

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@isell_yourstuff wrote:

The Global Shipping Program is a crock of nonsense! I recently got charged $8.38 'Import fees' on a purchase of only $19.99. This is nonsense because there are NO import duties payable on ANY purchase of under $20.00 into Canada.

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The limit is $20 Canadian -- which is around $18.20 US these days.  So $19.99US is over the minimum.

That said, the main problem with the GSP is the complete lack of details. The program should provide a complete detailed list of all the charges: taxes, duty, processing fee and shipping cost. Then you easily see if there are any problems with the charges. Instead there a stupid lump sum amount called import fees.

I've never had any problems with the GSP, because if an ebay.com listing has it, I remove the listing as a buying choice and go look at other listings that don't use it.  Don't use, don't have problems.

[marnotom!]

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@isell_yourstuff wrote:

The Global Shipping Program is a crock of nonsense! I recently got charged $8.38 'Import fees' on a purchase of only $19.99. This is nonsense because there are NO import duties payable on ANY purchase of under $20.00 into Canada. The seller refuses to even answer my emails about it, and eBay, although issuing me a 'one-time courtesy' coupon that more than covers it, is still using this program. It should not be allowed, or, the buyer should have the option to not pay it!

Yes, I'm aware that I should have noticed this dishonest charge, but, honestly, because it was below the legal amount, I didn't even think to look!

Oh, and, although eBay sent me an email saying I was getting this coupon, I still have not received it, so is that actually going to happen?

Has anyone else had issues with this lousy program?

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The program is far from the greatest thing since sliced 60% whole wheat, but it can sometimes be used to both the seller's and buyer's advantage provided both have a pretty good idea what they're getting into.  On the item I purchased, I paid less in "import charges" than I would have paid in GST and PST had I purchased it from a seller registered to collect those taxes in British Columbia.

I can see the "import charges" on the necklace just fine when I view the listing page.  Assuming you did as well, I do have to wonder why you committed to purchasing the item and agreeing to the terms and conditions of the Global Shipping Program if you found the charges so objectionable.  What do you see when you view the listing page?  Here's what I see:

Having said that, I see that in the listing description the seller states that they use USPS Priority Mail International, which is not the shipping method stated in the listing.  Either the seller has not updated their listing template, or else they're not aware (or don't care) that their items are now being shipped internationally through the Global Shipping Program.

Whatever the reason for the GSP being used in this listing, your seller didn't adhere to the program rules for it, which amongst other things stipulate that the item's country of manufacturer, if known, should be specified in the listing.  Because the seller didn't do this, the "import charges" may contain an amount inappropriately calculated to cover duty, not just HST.

I do have to note, though, that if the seller intended to offer this item for international shipping with USPS Priority and insisted on this shipping method, the shipping price would likely have been higher than the GSP shipping rate and import charges to Canada combined.

[pony-addict]

 I agree with you. I buy a lot of beads from the US and usually pay $5 to $8. in USPS shipping. The Global Shipping Program triples that cost. I have spoken to several vendors in the US and have been told that on their listing the "Use Global Shipping" box is automatically checked and if they don't want to use it they have to deselect it. A lot of small vendors would not even look to do that. Global might be helpfull to vendors selling high priced items who do not want to deal with customs , but for small purchases I feel that it is just another money grab. The import fees are excessive and are not taxes but brokerage fees for the company doing the importing.    By the way I also buy from vendors in China ( often free shipping), from the UK ( $6 ) from Lithuania ( $3 ) so why would Global expect me to pay $20.  ? I do not buy from vendors using the Global system but as more and more vendors are tricked into using it  the great e-bay experience of bargain hunting becomes more limited. Let's hope that they get rid of it . 

[bpw3]

I really strenuously object to the GSP.

9 times out of 10 I am not charged duty by Canada Customs AND if I am going to be charged duty, I want to pay Canada Customs directly, and not a third party, without justification and fees that seem to be arrived at arbitrarily. 

Thanks to this, my import charges can nearly triple without cause, and there appears to be no way to opt out. My only option is NOT to buy from a seller using the GSP, which causes no end of aggravation if there is something I really want or need. I also avoid sellers that use couriers, for the same reason, though they can often be persuaded to use their national postal service and I can often receive goods with duties applied.  

Please, eBay - make an easy way to opt out of the blatant money grab. It's bad business and It doesn't look good on you.

I too have had issues with the last seller I dealt with who was dismissive, disinterested and a general PITA to communicate with.  That's something for feedback, though.

[rdmidd]

I want to buy ladies shoes .the Tax is US $11 + 17+ shipping Total US $29 to Canada . Canada don't charge Duty on used items less than $25 If they do it's $5  for the handling charge .These shoes are for sale pre owned & well under $25  so the duty of over %50 is an absolute rip off by the recent Shipping Cos Global, International .& others.The only one I now purchase  is if the Seller Ships USPS. Change this policy before it's too late. Kijiji & Amazon are now getting my business  R Middleton

[rdmidd]

PS E Bay rules state Taxes & Duty are the Buyers responsibility not the sellers . So E Bay. stop breaking E bay Law now.

[ralph01.2009]

I've now had a couple of experiences using the GSP and w2ill no longer buy from merchants using it. Unnecessary additional expense for no benefit. A package that starts out 2000 miles from me now takes a 5000 mile trip to get to me and costs me sometimes more than the cost of the item I bought.

It seems like a money grab from eBay corporate friends.

[afantiques]

Taxes kick in at about US$19, or Can$20 so the charge was legitimate. Unless the item was priced in Canadian dollars, which I doubt a US seller would be doing.

The fees may be disagreeable but they are not dishonest, and are disclosed before you pay for the item.

[ralph01.2009]

Taxes kick in at about US $19? Are you forgetting the free trade agreement?

First off, I get a conversion chart telling me the exchange rate cost.between the two countries. Next, the "FEES" are brokerage fees that you don't get from the border duties or taxes and don't pay using USPS and Canada post.. Those fees I expect. and are built in to the postage rate. Duties are added just like something I would have to pay using another method. The brokerage fee is the main cause for concern using eBay's program.

I've dealt with many different "transport costs" from both foreign sources and from within my country, both personally and for my work. I know what I'm talking about. It's a cash grab, plain and simple.

Since you seem to be an eBay employee looking to discredit me I'll add. How can it cost me less to transport goods an extra 3000 miles?

I'm seeing an average of an extra 15 to 20% using the global shipping service program provided by our caring source of product and sales. That would be eBay.

I just bought items that had a final price of about $120 and paid $21 in brokerage fees that I would not have received through USPS and Canada post. What is the added percentage to my cost with that extra fee?

That pretty much adds up to $21 I didn't need to spend if I didn't have to use your convenient program.

Sellers that use this service are now on my "do not buy from" list.

[rdmidd]

Just had to cancel a Bid . was bidding on shoes . They sold for $21.22 Shipping was high at $23.31 Then a tax which was listed at $0 came up $10.96 on final payment Making a total of us$55.49 Well over 100%  Sellers should be aware of mark up on their products by the above companies. Also Canadians would not pay any duty on a used item less than $25. It's not worth the effort by Customs at that  price ,would cost more to collect. . Please make all sellers aware of this travesty . International buyer sales must be far less for US purchases not so for other E bay Countries. Roy Middleton

[ypdc_dennis]

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@rdmidd wrote:

. Also Canadians would not pay any duty on a used item less than $25

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The tax and duty free limit is $20 Canadian, not $25 -- which is why your auction GSP charges jumped from $0 to $10.96 -- one of the reasons why I don't bother with auctions using GSP.

[oracle*at*delphi]

I will start leaving neutral feedback for sellers who will charge me your IMPORT CHARGE. This charge is scam and cash grab for your company !

[dgour98]

I will continue what ralph01.2009 is saying.. i paid $64.88 to the seller which included shipping and the item, Pitney Bowes then took an EXTRA $22.09 to hijack that package, send it across the country, give it to various delivery companies, then finally have it sent directly to my home to be left out on my front porch in a heavy rain/snow squall afternoon.  WHY?

Absolutely no need for that.

Look, if i need to cross a car across the border there are rules and duties to be paid. All good. If i need to cross a comic book,

a tuque, a hockey card, a VHS tape, a PS3 game, etc, etc,, i do not need to pay $22 extra for a $1-$5 item.

Anyone who can defend this practice does not understand business on how things should be done or even common sense.

It is no different than driving to your local gas station and being forced to use the regular fuel ($1.15 a litre) but pay the high test price ($1.40).

How long would people go to that gas station?

ebay reeks of desperation.

[bohochique]

Hi Kalvin.
I was wondering, is there a way to refine my searches specifically to sellers who do not use the GSP program?
Any help would be immensely appreciated.