Global Shipping Program

[Anonymous]

I live in Canada and I have recently bought an item that costs exactly 20 dollars - when I was paying for it, an additional charge of 9 dollars popped up - for import duties from the US to Canada because the seller is using the Global Shipping Program. Initially it wasn't on the listing and I don't think it's the sellers fault, its the Ebay that's charging it so that you don't have to pay duties upon delivery...BUT when I go to the Canada Border Agency's website it says "Under the provisions of the Postal Imports Remission Order, if someone mails you an item worth CAN$20 or less, you don’t have to..." Why the hell am I being charged then??? I know that Amazon has something like that but then they just refund the amount of import charges if they were not applicable but I really doubt that Ebay is going to pay me back!

[reallynicestamps]

Contact your seller and explain that the shipping cost with the Global Shipping Program is too high, because of the extra costs for the Pirney Bowes input and the delays from indirect shipment.

Explain that At $20 Canadians are required to pay duty and sales tax, but that when shipped directly by USPS/Canada Post, these fees are often waived.

Ask for a Mutual Cancellation and promise positive feedback for the seller’s cooperation.

If he agrees. Leave your positive feedback promptly.

The seller is probably unaware of the high cost of the GPS to the buyer because eBay only explains that  h will get a tiny discount on shipping by using it and stupidly told him that his buyers would know about the shipping cost at the time of bidding. Apparently they did not follow through on the latter.

In future, before bidding, ask any US sellers if they plan  to use the Program and explain why you do not buy from seller who do.

[Anonymous]

The thing is that at 20 dollars Canadians are NOT required to pay duty charges...and it's not the seller who charged me but Ebay with it's stupid Global Shipping Charge, what does the seller have to do with it? He didn't do anything wrong, he has already shipped the item.

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

Well, I just got off the phone with Ebay - I tried to explain to her that Canadians don't have to pay import charges on anything worth 20 dollars or less and she started telling me how I saved money on buying from someone who uses the Global Shipping Program. I paid 20 dollars for the item, 16 dollars for shipping and then the stupid import charge. So I gave her an example - couple of weeks ago I purchased an item for 35 dollars + 9 dollars for shipping (with tracking) and that was a seller who doesn't use GSP. So I don't see how it is supposed to save me money when it's actually quite the opposite...Anyway she was perplexed and transferred me to a guy from GSP who said that they use a third party company who sends the items to Canada and what I paid for was their brokerage fee and it's "much more complexed then just a duty charge" He said they get a lot of complaints from upset Canadians that are being charged too much so they definitely understand where I am coming from and appreciate my unput. Bla-bla-bla...long story short I can kiss the amount I paid for import charges goodbuy LOL I am never buying from anyone who's using the GSP again!

[toby_le_pue]

Looks like it may be the sun glasses.

Did you pay $20.00 Canadian or $20.00 Us because it comes up as $20.55 canadian.

Also when I bring up that listing it shows what the global shipping is in the listing.

[edulian]

same with me...i will not purchase anything from a seller that uses the global shipping...just a waste of money and usually the price of shipping is at times the value of the item purchased...

[nudibranch4569]

i bid on an item that i really wanted with gsp b4 i knew what it was,i contacted the seller,she refunded me and relisted it without that and i purchased,i will not in future buy from sellers with gsp.

[bidn4win]

FYI, Canada Border Services Agency (was Canada Customs) converts all purchases in US dollars to the equivalent in CDN dollars before they apply any exemptions or duties/taxes.  So, an item that costs US$20 (excluding shipping) when the Cdn $ is worth less than the US $, will be converted to an amount over C$20 for all purposes.  So, such an item would be subject to any GST/HST and duty that may be applicable to that C$ amount.

We have purchased from US sellers & had items shipped to a US address (most sellers are quite willing to do this, and often there is free shipping if the address is within the lower-48 states).  What I've described above is exactly how CBSA deals with any imports at the border, when returning to Canada from picking them up in the US.  Even if a person has been away from Canada for a long enough period to qualify for exemptions, the foreign-currency purchases are ALWAYS converted to Cdn. dollars before exemptions are applied (and the exemptions are in Cdn. dollars, of course).

Hope this helps.

[dougbramleydoug]

i have found that ebay will usually side with the sellers

[dougbramleydoug]

wake up ebay a lot of us will buy else were instead of using yr global shipping. global shipping is just another way of ebay being more profitible. i have bought over 800 items across the border and used mostly usps first class international and found it cheaper as there are no import duties. i think the problem arises were the government has come down on ebay as there are too much cross border missed custom charges.

[dougbramleydoug]

not much us buyers can do as ebay is more concerned about their sellers than buyers

[fotographie800]

i won't deal with GSP anymore, they lost my package wow impressive bunch of ......... add to file a complaint to Paypal have to wait 14 days for reimbursement now ...... no more ebay for me Amazon now ebay have lost me as a buyer

[fotographie800]

this is my issue now they tell me we don't know mister where is your package today's date August 30th 2013 they can't even trace there own tracking number GSP you impress me
Arrived at US shipping Center
Jul-23-13, 08:52 AM, ERLANGER, KY 41018

Processing at US Shipping Center
Jul-23-13, 07:24 AM, Erlanger

Enroute to US Shipping Center
Jul-22-13, 05:40 AM, ELSMERE, KY

In Transit-ARRIVAL SCAN
Jul-20-13, 01:02 AM, ELSMERE, KY

In Transit-DEPARTURE SCAN
Jul-19-13, 23:00 PM, LEXINGTON, KY

In Transit-ARRIVAL SCAN
Jul-19-13, 11:35 AM, LEXINGTON, KY

In Transit-DEPARTURE SCAN
Jul-19-13, 00:19 AM, HORSHAM, PA

In Transit-ORIGIN SCAN
Jul-18-13, 21:23 PM, HORSHAM, PA

[maximcass]

Sometimes I don't get charged taxes and duties on items no matter how much they cost! So why would I want to pay for them prior when I might have not even been charged in the first place. I think Canada customs can take care of charging us for taxes and duties, we don't need a third party (a broker) to do what Canada customs would do anyway.

I purchased an item from a seller not noticing or having heard of the program yet. And shouldn't that information be listed in the shipping section? Maybe I would have seen it then! I'm sure many sellers who usually don't ship to Canada may think this makes it safer for them, that they won't be charged any taxes or duties.

But it is a rip off, and if they are going to use this at least know the **bleep** rules! You don't charge for items less than $20 dollars. That shows right there they are just grabbing the money without even paying attention to what is exempt from duty charges.

[barnyardruble]

In Toronto,Canada and was just charged $13 for Global shipping on a customs exempt item (Saxophone neck).

So Pitney and Bowes are now the experts on tariff laws and issuing charges to eBay buyers?
They clearly do not know the rules.
What is the procedure to claim back these charges in this case and how much is unrecoverable "service charges?

Please do not buy from any Sellers using the Global Shipping program.

This is clearly beyond "Buyer Beware".

[femmefan1946]

If you are incorrectly charged tax (even used items are taxable) or duty on an item that cost $20 Cdn or less, you can call the Canadian Border Services Agency, at the 1-800 number on the back of the invoice. It's probably also on their website.

They will,eventually, process your refund.

You will not get the PitneyBowes processing fee back, even though they made a mistake.Well, you can try, but remember that the minimum wage in Ontario is 17 cents an minute. Is getting the $5 or so back worth your effort?

However, at the moment the US dollar is slightly lower than the Canadian dollar. If you bought an item that cost $20 US, the Canadian dollar equivalent would be approximately $20.72, over the maximum you can import free of duty.

If you think you can avoid this by having your seller ship by USPS/Canada Post, remember that these fees are due, although Canada Post is lax about collecting them. Be prepared to pay the $10 CP fee+sales tax+ possible duty.  And yes, CP does seem to be higher than the GSP fees. If you are successful, use the money you save to buy a lottery ticket.

[picasin2010]

I'll i will say it's a joke!!!!

[haugh-780]

Is this money grab part of the privilege of being a CANADIAN? I hope its only corporate greed, as the cure has already been expressed.

[2222cindyw]

global shipping is the worst for canadians with the large amount they overcharge and good luck getting any refund from the canadian border they try to charge you again, the only way to deal with this is to refuse package and send back. unfair to seller but they should be warned, if some ones listing global ask them to change it before bidding, i refuse to bid on any items listed with global shipping.

[marnotom!]

What do you mean by "customs exempt", Barnyard? While items may be exempt from duties, they're rarely exempt from GST/HST/PST. You were likely paying some sort of consumption (sales) tax plus a few other customs charges.

You say Pitney Bowes doesn't know the rules. Did you read up on how the Global Shipping Program works before purchasing your item?

http://pages.ebay.ca/shipping/globalshipping/buyer-tnc.html