eBay

pdks.ca · ‎07-26-2013

I just had my first experience with ebay's deceitful new Global Shipping Program. The only fee I could see in the listing was a $15 shipping fee, which was reasonable for the item. When an invoice was sent, the previously invisible - and mandatory - GSP kicked in and the fee spiked to $58.

This is obviously outrageous. I've reported eBay and this program to the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC). Perhaps if enough people complained, eBay would have to come clean with both buyers and U.S. sellers, who seem completely unaware that their ratings are being screwed by eBay's sneaky cash-grab.

marysavory69 · ‎10-19-2013

I think they need to get rid of this program , its making buying on eBay crazy expensive! I wanted to buy a pair of sneakers at 75 bucks but by the time this GSP kicked in they were over 125, and it was a used item! Shipping for the US was 8 bucks, but would cost me 50? I have used eBay for a long time but probaly wont anymore. This will also affect the US sellers as people in other countries arent going to want to pay all these charges. Well at least I know I wont! Im really disappointed in eBay for using this program, I had only ever been charged an import fee for one item in my whloe eBay user life and that came from Japan. I could see if it was an item we couldnt buy in this country, but really , we do have sneakers and stuff in Canada for god sake!! Well ebay , import charges on items listed as used ? no thanks!!

marnotom! · ‎10-19-2013

@marysavory69 wrote:
Well ebay , import charges on items listed as used ? no thanks!!

Sales taxes are charged on used items as well as new ones. Check your receipt next time you buy from a "non charity" thrift store such as Value Village.

marysavory69 · ‎10-20-2013

Even so ,if i did buy something for 75 bucks at a place like Value Village, they charge tax in my province, lets say 15 percent. so that adds an extra 11 dollars , not even close to the amounts being charged here! I dont mind paying shipping charges, and if the GSP charges were cheaper, Id deal with it, as Im sure many others would. As canadians we shop ebay for deals as Im sure people world wide do. As of now , there are no deals! We may as well not bother with eBay at all, and Im sure alot of people wont. Im not happy about it, and Im sure it wont change, but thats the way it is. I guess a lot of people will be keeping their money in their own pocket. Im sorry for the sellers and Im sorry for the buyers that the whole eBay experience is pretty much ruined.

pierrelebel · ‎10-20-2013

"As of now , there are no deals! We may as well not bother with eBay at all,"

You may be right, depending on what you are looking for, As cost of doing business on eBay has gone up substantially over the years, sellers have increase their selling prices to cover additional fees. Shipping rates everywhere have gone up and, let's face it, the buyer ends up paying for it.

Does Value Village offer better deals than eBay? I do not know (not my kind of shopping!) but suspect you are correct since we have often heard over the years of eBay sellers buying "stuff" at Value Village on their sale days to resell on eBay. So of course it makes sense to shop at the source and save the seller's markup.

On the other hand, I noticed you recently purchased a new Coach bag for about $125 including shipping and import charges. The listing states a retail value of US$358.00. If the item is genuine (I have no way to determine that by looking at an image) you really got a bargain. I do not think you could have had such a deal on a new bag at Value Village or any other discounter in your locality.

So keep an open mind and do not stop browsing on eBay. You may find "stuff" that interest you at prices meeting your budget. If, like most Canadians, you do not like GSP, simply avoid looking at listings from American sellers offering GSP. They are easy to identify on the search result pages.

marnotom! · ‎10-20-2013

Also do the number-crunching, Mary, and decide whether the overall cost makes sense.

With the "right" kinds of items, shipping through the GSP can sometimes be less expensive than having the item sent through the mail, and Pitney Bowes' share of the import charges can be less than what Canada Post charges in the event that the item is assessed taxes through Canada Border Services.

Having said all that, my concerns with the GSP are more with its lack of transparency and what appears to be poor customer service given to those who are actually paying to use the service, and that's why I'm holding off on GSP purchases for now.

anguscoinshop · ‎10-20-2013

The two previous poster are always trying to sugar coat what is simply a bad program all around.

It absolutely does not make sense to keep a program that pushes away buyers. Look at all to post for and against anywhere on the discussion board.

The against GSP members have an overwelming majority.

marnotom! · ‎10-20-2013

@angus_coin_shop wrote:
The two previous poster are always trying to sugar coat what is simply a bad program all around.

It absolutely does not make sense to keep a program that pushes away buyers. Look at all to post for and against anywhere on the discussion board.

The against GSP members have an overwelming majority.

If the posts on the GSP are any indication, it would seem that if all of a sudden there was an epidemic of U.S. sellers using Express Mail to mail small, inexpensive items, people would start posting about how horrible and unnecessary Express Mail was and that they'd stop using eBay because of Express Mail.

And that would miss the point of the problem. The problem in this hypothetical situation isn't that Express Mail is horrible. It's that sellers are using it--for whatever reason--inappropriately. There are some situations where shipping by Express Mail may be beneficial, depending on the nature of the item and its price.

I can't see why the same line of thinking can't be applied to the GSP. I've gone through the Checkout process for a GSP test listing and looked up many GSP listings and there seem to be some situations where--from a financial standpoint--it really ain't all that bad as long as the buyer is prepared to pay the taxes they should be paying on the item in question. In one case, I compared two listings for the same item from the same seller and the GSP listing was only 36 cents more that the one where the same item was sent by mail, even with the dreaded "import charges" on the GSP listing and no taxes on the non-GSP listing.

But as I said in my previous post, the lack of transparency with its charges as well as its questionable support for buyers don't make me a terribly big fanboy. That's not "sugar coating" according to my dictionary, at least.

anguscoinshop · ‎10-21-2013

Your logic is totally flawed.

marnotom! · ‎10-21-2013

And your counter-argument has nothing to support it. 🙂

anguscoinshop · ‎10-23-2013

Wow, now that's strange, you didn't come back with any pro enay statement.

marnotom! · ‎10-24-2013

And I'm not surprised you seem to have missed the last paragraph in the post that got up your craw.

anguscoinshop · ‎10-24-2013

Shallow writing and thinking

pierrelebel · ‎10-24-2013

La parole est d'argent mais le silence est d'or.

kh-leslie · ‎10-24-2013

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buysellcanuck · ‎11-19-2013

GSP for Canadians is a lousy program. I asked ebay customer service today what the value is to the sellers, and honestly at least in my opinion it does make sense for them to use it. So I guess i will just avoid any auction with that service, unfortunately more are using it.

What doesn't make sense is why can't the final value be calculated until i've fully committed to buying the item? Shipping costs are fully known, but GSP isn't? Seems odd to me; and void of reality; or maybe I am wrong and the new "consumerism" is deceit!

afantiques · ‎11-19-2013

What doesn't make sense is why can't the final value be calculated until i've fully committed to buying the item? Shipping costs are fully known, but GSP isn't? Seems odd to me; and void of reality; or maybe I am wrong and the new "consumerism" is deceit!

For buy it now items you do see the full costs before you hit the commit to buy button. The 'buy' button on the item page is not a commitment to buy.

For auction bids it is trickier. Best to estimate the import cost element at 20% of your high bid. The shipping cost should be firm.

pierrelebel · ‎11-19-2013

"Seems odd to me'

Three factors come to mind

1) the selling price for auctions is not known until the auction has ended

2) the location of the buyer (province where the goods are shipped) may affect the rate and amount of taxes being charged

3) in some instances the seller may not have provided eBay with enough information to properly assess taxes and/or duty (for example: purchasing a guitar from the USA will attract 6% duty (in addition to GST/HST/PST) if made in China (most guitars are made in China)

There may be more factors that do not come to mind just yet. Maybe someone else could add to the list.