EBAY GLOBAL SHIPPING PROGRAM IS A SCAM.

[justineojuka]

EBAY HAS INTENTIONALLY MISLED SELLERS TO THINK THAT "GLOBAL SHIPPING IS A WAY FOR THEM TO SELL AND SHIP THEIR PRODUCTS TO NON USA BUYERS WHEN GLOBAL SHIPPING IS JUST A IMPORT DUTY COLLECTION SCHEME BY EBAY" Thats untrue you can Still ship Items to NON USA residents without Global Shiipping

Infact you will lose many potential buyers by registering you Item on 'Global Shipping'. Global Shipping is just one of those options that ONLY Ebay benefits and sellers lose potential buyers. What 'Global Shipping' does is that EBAY collects import duty of your ITEM on behalf of the buyers Country. So that the buyers prepays for import duty at the time they are buying your Item.

I PERSONALLY WILL NEVER BUY A PRODUCT FROM A SELLER THAT USES "GLOBAL SHIPPING PROGRAM"

Now the total price of your Item will jump by at least 15% depending on that countrys import duty rate and that is the deal breaker to most buyers. Many buyers will simply then shy away and Not buy products that are checked with global shipping because when added with shipping costs your Item price will now increase greatly to discourage a buyer from continuing with the purchase.

"Global shipping has nothing to do with the ability of a seller to ship an Item to a non USA buyer. They should have called it "Pre-Import Duty collection program instead of calling it "Global Shipping Program".

A seller can still ship an Item out of the USA without Global Shipping. EBAY is the only one that benefits from Global shipping it collects this import duty money, and only gives it to the buyers importing country if asked by that country(allegedly) . In Canada most buyers handle their own import duty. Also some products are not import dutyable and yet EBay charges and collects the money.

Some Buyers have their own Import duty Tax number and sort it out with their own countries.

What you can do, is that at the time of listing your item, uncheck the global shipping for the Item. The Global shipping options for buyers from Canada and the Americas is Not really Neccessary. Or you could post the the item two times, One with Global shipping and the other without, and let buyers know that they can choose to buy the same Item without or with Global shipping.

Or you could ask International buyers to contact you before buying, request that their phone numbers are sent to you

Be a smart seller. DO NOT USE GLOBAL SHIPPING. LET BUYERS HANDLE THEIR OWN IMPORT DUTY. read the forums and internet about what are saying about "Ebay Global Shipping"

Many sellers are misled to believe that they have to use global shipping. You dont.

EBAY GLOBAL SHIPPING IS SIMPLY A GIMMECK THAT BUYERS AND SELLERS DO NOT NEED. ONLY EBAY BENEFITS.

[marnotom!]

Your rant would have a smidgen more credibility if you posted it on one of the boards on the .com site.

This discussion board is on the Canadian eBay site and attracts mostly Canadian users who can't use the Global Shipping Program as a selling tool anyway.  You're also ranting to the converted.

[surplusdealdude]

I use the GSP and recommend it to others for items that are more expensive to ship.

What the ranter misses is the fact that many US sellers do not want to ship outside the USA AT ALL.  GSP is a way for them to do so without risk.

If the ranter does not want to buy from these sellers, it's their choice/loss.

[marnotom!]

---

@surplusdealdude wrote:

I use the GSP and recommend it to others for items that are more expensive to ship.

---

Surplus, could you check in on this thread?  Your input would be very useful, I think:

http://community.ebay.ca/t5/Buyer-Central/How-accurate-is-the-QUOTED-Global-Shipping-Program-Fee-Con...

[cumos55]

One gets the impression  that the extra cost  for shipping to Canada with the GSP  has been adjusted...

It might be that someone has been listening to us on eBay.ca.

[inuk_the_polar_bear]

I have a friend that sells from the USA. FB levels of 300 per month. His customers like it. Simplifies his business. I dunno. It was interesting getting a different perspective.

[justineojuka]

Read an unbiased review here in this link.

http://www.auctiva.com/edu/entry.aspx?id=eBays-Global-Shipping-Program-Puts-Sellers-on-the-Fence

[pierrelebel]

Unbiased ???

The title you selected for this thread states "scam".

First sentence: "EBAY HAS INTENTIONALLY MISLED SELLERS"

Is this what you read in that "unbiased" article?

Where do you see "scam" ?

You do not like the program?  I understand that.  Most Canadian buyers do not like it nor will use it.  That is fair.  But to call it "scam" leaves a total lack of credibility to your post.

[bb_cool_stuff]

Amen

[jinglekell]

Surplusdealdude wrote:   What the ranter misses is the fact that many US sellers do not want to ship outside the USA AT ALL. 

^^^^^^^THIS^^^^^^  BINGO.

I sell under two ids.  This one ships US only, the other to many other countries.  Canada is no longer one of those countries...but may reconsider.  Happy to share the reasons, if interested.

To Surp's point:  In my view, some reasons sellers may choose to sell/ship USA ONLY include: (1) steep learning curve to ship internationally, (2) higher international INR/loss rates, (3) longer shipping times, (4) refused packages due to VAT/HST/GST (5) relative size of domestic market, (6) comparatively reasonable cost to ship most items domestically, (6) free/inexpensive tracking on services offered domestically.

[sketchratner]

Actually I don't think this is a scam at all. i thought it was fishy at first, but when you actually sit down and look at it. It makes a hell of a lot of sense. It eliminates all the guess work for both buyer and seller and having to make trips to the post office to figure out the cost of shipping, having to readjust the prices and double checking that the exchangerate is correct.

  It's been years sense I've been on ebay. I just came back last week only because I saw something that I liked and wanted to get it. First time using the GSP, and unfortuniatly it didn't work out to well for me. But I got a good lesson in how it's a huge benifit when it does work.  For me the seller didn't realize what she was supposed to do on her end. She ended up sending the package directly to me and not Pitney Bowes. I ended up having to pay custom fees a second time when I didn't need to, Because Pitney didn't get the package at their offices, they had no way of putting any proof on the parcel telling the folks at the border that the duties have been prepaid. So I had to pay a second time.. But anyway.. If I had used GSP properly, there wouldn't have been THAT much a difference in the cost if I hadn't.  My item if I had used the GSP would have come to a total of $646.00  $550 for the item, $20 for shipping and $76 for custom fees (and I assume 3% of that covers brokerage fees for use of services to go to Pitney Bowes)    Because the seller sent the item directly to me. I pretty much got a full breakdown of what my costs without the use of P. B.s services.   My item cost $550, shipping was $40 (Price was readjusted because now it's going to Canada instead of somewhere else within the US. And then the custom fees which had to be applied once the item crossed the border which I had to pay when it got here, $38.00  For a total of $628.00  A difference of only a meer $18, which I assume is what Pitney Bowes would have originally collected for themselves for use of services. 

If I really had to take a stab in the dark, I think SOME, not all, are bitter about the program because now they have no choice but to pay the correct cost for custom fees up front at checkout. Where as before they could send parcels as gifts or stating the item is lower then what it actually was.

[ryezensun]

I'm not sure why your shipping was more, most likely priority rather than first class. The auction always shows a higher rate for Canada, especially when using the GPS. What you are really missing here is, the brokerage and taxes in your case were almost doubled when using the GSP. That was also the case for me, I should have paid $ 76.37 total, including brokerage, EBay charged me $138.27. You don' think there is something wrong there? I now try to get sellers to go around the GPS, and find that the shipping is always cheaper, and faster. Also, the seller has a chance to make a small profit on the shipping. When sellers use GPS, they have no chance to make any profit, and the still have to pack and ship the item. The only thing they're spared, is filling out the customs form, which most people have no problem with, you list both names and addresses, list the contents, and sign. Another fact is, you have two shipping processes, one from the seller and one from Pitney Bowes, which has to add to the shipping time. So in summation. The import fees can sometimes be Twice as much, shipping rate is almost always higher, the shipping time is now longer, the seller makes nothing on the shipping( may even lose as a result of Ebays sellers fees being placed on the sellers shipping cost), and persons like myself and many others are not likely to bid on auctions using GSP. So, who wins here? Not the sellers, and certainly not the buyers. But what a money maker for eBay, who way back when, when they introduced charging sellers a fee on their shipping costs, sold it as a way to keep some sellers from charging shipping rates the seemed to high, and some what unfair to the buyers!? Of coarse the first think sellers did was raise their rates to cover the fee's.... Well, that didn't help the seller much, but it sure helped eBay. EBay then became even smarter, and offered assisted shipping. It was at that point the less expensive shipping rates started to dissapear as an option. No, EBay is not a scam, they simply have realized how much more money they can make, as they have no competition. The one part I don't like and think is very shady, is lately they keep bringing up the user agreement when I log in, wanting me to accept their rules and regulations. Now they know most people will not actually read it all, and just scroll to the bottom and press"I accept". The new GSP is in there, and if you "accept" at the bottom of the page, you accept it all, and now your automatically enrolled in the GSP. A lot of seller's don't even realize this. One seller said it must have been something I did, as she said she definitely did not, and would not sign up for it. I suspect she clicked the "I accept" button, having no idea. And by the way, there are no options in that form to exclude the GSP. Very, very smart EBay. Not quite a scam.....but something smells a little foul!?

[ennss2]

I've bought hundreds of items from overseas sellers.   There are no "import charges" that I need to pay to import the items.    If you use the global shipping program, I will very likely not buy from you.

[ryezensun]

Jingle, if you understand the principle of an auction, not "buy it now" selling, you should realize that as few as One more bidder, can make a huge difference in the hammer price. My ex owns a very successful auction house, I see that type of result all the time. For anyone to exclude bidders from around the world in an auction based format is ridiculous. The insurance loss and refusal rates are extremely minimal. UPS has caused a few ripples here in Canada as a result of their outrageous rates, rates that almost always double that of EVERY other freight company in North America.. That is limited only to UPS, and now that almost every foreigners know this, they refuse to us UPS. Unfortunately Ebay's rates are in line with UPS, but at least we can see that in advance, and choose weather it's worth the extra fee or not. Most foreigners are very okay with the additional shipping time and optional tracking fee's. It's certainly your choice to sell or offer your goods to whom ever you like., just giving you an American's opinion who now resides in a foreign country. The GPS is a money maker for eBay, period. One last note, I do not believe eBay let's the seller see what charges the foreign buyer see's on their screens. Correct me please if I'm wrong. The last encounter I had, the seller had no idea how much eBay charged me for shipping, all she saw was the pittance they gave her via Paypal to cover her shipping to Pitney Bowes. The seller should be able to see what the foreigner see's, and then decide whether they still want to use the GPS for that given item for auction or sale, or not IMO.

[pjcdn2005]

Correct me please if I'm wrong. The last encounter I had, the seller had no idea how much eBay charged me for shipping, all she saw was the pittance they gave her via Paypal to cover her shipping to Pitney Bowes. The seller should be able to see what the foreigner see's, and then decide whether they still want to use the GPS for that given item for auction or sale, or not IMO.

If the seller wants to see what the charges will be to a specific location, they can go to the listing and then change the location to the country that they want to check.

[mcedno]

I agree completely that this is a scam. I was charged more at checkout than that which eBay posted as the total prior to checkout. When I confronted them with this, they told me to speak to the Seller and next time, I shouldn't pay if I don't agree with the charges. There is no way of filing a written complaint with eBay since they removed this option. What other companies do not have a customer service department? eBay certainly doesn't, and paying $50 to ship a $20 item surely doesn't make any sense either. Overcharging and misleading information seems to be the basis for their "Global Shipping Scam".

I will never buy another item that the Seller is not shipping themselves and neither should anyone else. This is a way for eBay to collect kick-backs and for Pitney Bowes to profit nicely from, however they don't tell you the correct totals prior to checkout!!!!! What A FRICKIN' SCAM!!!

[tive1964]

It's Totaly a SCAM !!!

I never or seldom pay any import charges up on import,  with this program i will pay everytime,  to WHO ???

I have not heard of any item shipped through this program ever reaching it's destination, there is simply to much items that will not not apply,  klick the ( learn more ) on one of these listings and you will be amazed of how many restrictions there are.

example, if it's a Vintage item it's NOT allowed to be shipping internationally by this program, and the item will be stopped in Erlanger, and the relisted at ebay again, the seller will NOT get his item back again, as would be the normal way to handle these stopped items.

The people in Erlanger systematicly stops these packages, steel the items (legaly or not ) and relist the items,

FBI should be involved in this HUGE SCAM !!!!

[pjcdn2005]

I have not heard of any item shipped through this program ever reaching it's destination.

I'm sure that the large majority of packages do make it to their destination. If they didn't, Pitney Bowes would be refunding a lot of buyers.

and the item will be stopped in Erlanger, and the relisted at ebay again, the seller will NOT get his item back again, as would be the normal way to handle these stopped items.

The people in Erlanger systematicly stops these packages, steel the items (legaly or not ) and relist the items,

lol

I don't think so.

Where's your proof of that?

[afantiques]

and the item will be stopped in Erlanger, and the relisted at ebay again, the seller will NOT get his item back again, as would be the normal way to handle these stopped items.

The people in Erlanger systematicly stops these packages, steal the items (legally or not ) and relist the items,

The official ebay word is that anything that for some reason reached Erlanger but cannot be shipped is 'passed to a third party provider' and, it seems, is sold.

The good news is that the seller does not refund the customer, ebay/PB do the refund out of their money. As far as the seller is concerned it is a sale.

As far as the buyer is concerned, they vent their annoyance on the seller when they don't get the item, but that's another story.

More details here.

http://community.ebay.com/t5/Weekly-Chat-with-eBay-Staff/Weekly-Chat-with-the-eBay-Global-Shipping-T...

[anatrilla]

totally agree. I'm so **bleep** off. I just bought an item for $0.71 and they charged me $16! The seller got:

$3.16 USD which includes shipment he's paying for and somone **bleep**ing else under the name of "Pitney Bowes, Inc." got $13.71 USD  and for what?? seing as the seller only got $3.16????? why are they charging me 13.71????

**bleep**????