GSP over charging

[kelpball]

Why is the eBay shipping service so incredibly over priced? When an item from the states to Canada costs twice the purchase price and it's never more than $5 from anyone doing it them selves, it seems kinda gougie... No?

I will not be buying from anybody using eBay's international shipping service... Ever. $30.60+ minimum is just silly for a $12 item. 

[marnotom!]

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@luwilliam_0 wrote:

2.  Letter mail (what Canada Post calls "small packet" or "light packet" and what the US Postal Service calls "First Class International") is about the only means for private individuals to ship items from country to country that approaches the definition of economical.  

Then why aren't US sellers educated in that respect. Wait...I know....

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Many US sellers have given little to no thought to shipping internationally in the first place.  Remember, the US market is ten times the size of the Canadian one.  Many of them don't need sales from out of the US in order to make a decent go of it.  Why bother finding out about the ins and outs of international shipping options if you're doing okay as it is?

Heaven knows users like AF and myself tried coaching sellers on First Class International back in the days when there was an International Trading discussion board on the .com site, though.

[luwilliam_0]

1.  The Global "Shipping" Program is actually a freight forwarding service.  You're paying for two shipping charges,

LOL...Think about that for a minute. You are paying for shipping twice...twice!

You are paying for two stages of shipping, once each. Not one set, twice.

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You couldn't come up with a better example of using semantics to counter the point. Impressive...but I don't think anyone will see the distinction. At any rate, I see a third 'stage' in shipping charges soon. For the transfer of the package from the palette to the truck...

[afantiques]

Heaven knows users like AF and myself tried coaching sellers on First Class International back in the days when there was an International Trading discussion board on the .com site, though.

I am fairly sure some impression was made on some sellers. Ditching that board seemed to be indicative of ebay's attitude to its international sellers.

[pjcdn2005]

II used to lurk on that board quite often. It could be quite entertaining at times...especially when the topic was about lowering the value on an international parcel.

[marnotom!]

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@afantiques wrote:

I am fairly sure some impression was made on some sellers. Ditching that board seemed to be indicative of ebay's attitude to its international sellers.

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Or its international buyers.

I suspect the GSP played a role in that discussion board's demise.  No need to get help or support from a discussion board or answer centre when Pitney Bowes can offer all the "assistance" one needs.

[00nevermind00]

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@marnotom! wrote:

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I suspect the GSP played a role in that discussion board's demise.  No need to get help or support from a discussion board or answer centre when Pitney Bowes can offer all the "assistance" one needs.

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If memory serves, the demise of the International Trading board was part of a major revamping of the boards which occurred at the time Lithium took over.

I could be wrong about this, and I'm sure someone will set me straight if I am.

[pocomocomputing]

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@00nevermind00 wrote:

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@marnotom! wrote:

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I suspect the GSP played a role in that discussion board's demise.  No need to get help or support from a discussion board or answer centre when Pitney Bowes can offer all the "assistance" one needs.

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If memory serves, the demise of the International Trading board was part of a major revamping of the boards which occurred at the time Lithium took over.

I could be wrong about this, and I'm sure someone will set me straight if I am.

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The eBay.com forums were reorganized a couple of years back and many smaller forums were merged into the mega forums of today. I think there were 5-10 times as many forums with many smaller ones dedicated to specific subjects that were all lumped together into a megaforum like Selling or Buying. In my opinion, it destroyed some of the community spirit and many regular posters ceased posting because their special ebay niche was gone.

I rarely see the regulars that I followed in some forums on eBay.com. They just stopped posting because their home was gone. So much experience lost.

The new Answer Center format sucks in my opinion and I never read or help there any more.

The Canadian forums were smaller and had less forums and survived the change to these new forums. It is more or less the same group of forums as before.

The look and feel of the ebay.com forums is so busy with the left columns of suggested topics and the top is busy letting the actual topics list lost. I used AdBlockPlus to hide the useless left column and much of the junk at the top. Makes the pages load faster and not move around so much for late loading parts of the page.

If eBay.ca forums were to adopt the USA format, it would drive off what few posters we have today in my opinion.

[marnotom!]

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@00nevermind00 wrote:

If memory serves, the demise of the International Trading board was part of a major revamping of the boards which occurred at the time Lithium took over.

I could be wrong about this, and I'm sure someone will set me straight if I am.

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Sorry I wasn't very clear about this.  Yes, there was a revamp of the discussion boards by Lithium, but I suspect that the GSP was one of the reasons for the International Trading discussion board being eliminated in the revamp.

[luwilliam_0]

I am fairly sure some impression was made on some sellers. Ditching that board seemed to be indicative of ebay's attitude to its international sellers.

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Or its international buyers.

I suspect the GSP played a role in that discussion board's demise.  No need to get help or support from a discussion board or answer centre when Pitney Bowes can offer all the "assistance" one needs.

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I find it  extremely ironic that they killed an entire  International Trading Board and end up with an International shipping topic that probably has 100 times the number of posts than any other topic....

[afantiques]

But a topic that I'd say at least 99% of US sellers will never see.

Not that all that many US users see the US boards; who remembers when there was a big Community link at the top of the page, and how that moved to microtype at the very bottom?

[luwilliam_0]

Not that all that many US users see the US boards; who remembers when there was a big Community link at the top of the page, and how that moved to microtype at the very bottom?

They are not stupid....they don't really like the community boards because it exposes so many problems so they try to make it very discrete.,,, but they won't drop it because they want to keep the comments / posters here, close to home. They absolutely don't want a Facebook GSP page set up for people to post on!

[marnotom!]

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@luwilliam_0 wrote:

I find it extremely ironic that they killed an entire  International Trading Board and end up with an International shipping topic that probably has 100 times the number of posts than any other topic....

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The grammar geek in me wonders if anything can be "extremely" ironic, but that's neither here nor there.  😄

The International Trading discussion board saw more traffic than most of the Canadian discussion boards.  However, many of the threads were about the same subjects.  If one consolidated all the IT board's posts about the definition of "value" on a customs form, or all the posts from sellers who claim they "clearly" stated no international bidders or buyers on their listings, for that matter, you'd end up with threads longer than the two main ones about the GSP on this board.

[afantiques]

If one consolidated all the IT board's posts about the definition of "value" on a customs form, or all the posts from sellers who claim they "clearly" stated no international bidders or buyers on their listings, for that matter, you'd end up with threads longer than the two main ones about the GSP on this board.

True, dat.

I do rather miss winding up all the 'I woulld never lie' brigade. I had no objection to their purported principles, just their self righteous priggishness.

[00nevermind00]

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@afantiques wrote:

I do rather miss winding up all the 'I woulld never lie' brigade. I had no objection to their purported principles, just their self righteous priggishness.

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Indeed, it was the holier-than-thou attitude that made them quite insufferable.

They are still around, just on different boards.

[chemical_x_96]

I don't buy items from the global shipping program unless it's something I can't find anywhere else. But my new years resolution is to give only one star ratings on shipping for sellers that use it. I also plan on sending sellers screen shots of the price difference so they can see how much they are losing out on as I take the price of shipping into account when I buy something.

[afantiques]

GSP sellers are protected from poor DSRs for shipping.

[marnotom!]

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@chemical_x_96 wrote:

I also plan on sending sellers screen shots of the price difference . . . 

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What are you comparing?

[dmil8030]

Hello 'chemical..', 

<<I don't buy items from the global shipping program unless it's something I can't find anywhere else.>>

Well, I can't blame you there, not if you wish to keep as much of your money in your own wallet as possible.  

Yet at the same time, disagreeable as you claim it to be, you are willing to buy GSP items in a pinch, -- willingly

buying GSP items whilst "holding your nose" to do it, as someone here so astutely described this.  

<<...to give only one star ratings on shipping for sellers that use it.>>

You don't think that's a bit harsh?  Never mind that a seller can get it removed, it is rather an insult that may have you

blocked from buying anything else from the seller.  

So instead of using this underhanded passive-aggressive means to display your annoyance, why not grab the reins and

ask the seller if he will mail the item to you directly through the post.  USPS First Class International to Canada is a tracked

service providing sellers with Delivery Confirmation.  You can mention this when you offer your seller this link:

https://ircalc.usps.com/?country=10054

If you are kind and polite in your requests you will get very few refusals.  In the event that a seller declines, that is his 

right so thank him for his time anyway.  You never know, he may think on that for a few days and change his listings.

<<I also plan on sending sellers screen shots of the price difference >>

That's one way of doing it, I suppose.  Hmmm, it seems a bit 'loud', or 'in your face' somehow though.  Most sellers 

have no idea how much it costs Canadians at the checkout.  I would think if you simply tell a seller what it will cost

you it would not sound so much like you believed the seller was a bit thick.

Of course, even if the item is sent to you directly through the mail you may have to pay charges at the door anyway.

Any item over $20 CDN in value is subject to duties and taxes, so always be prepared to pay, - and willing to pay. 

But quite often these items (under $100 roughly) are not assessed, so it is worth the gamble in my opinion.

GSP items always include the charges.  

You do what you have to do, but I think it is wrong to kick an innocent seller who may not even know he is in the GSP, 

and certainly will have no idea what it costs his international buyers, especially when you have not made an effort to

improve your own situation first.  

If ever you do ask a seller to mail to you directly and he complies, - pay promptly, thank him profusely, and if there is 

a problem, resolve it quietly.  Anything less will only reassure him that the GSP is his best option.

Happy shopping.