eBay

twocraftywomen · ‎07-12-2013

I looked at an itemthe other day (it was a 2.5 yard piece of Silk Dupioni), the seller was signed up for global shipping program, the import charges showed as $0.00. I thought great and went ahead and committed to purchase the item (it was a BIN). When I got to the part where I had to pay - all of sudden the import charges were $7.70! Why? It said zero - another of this same sellers items 130945301476 is also listed with zero import duties. What is going on. I normally stay away from sellers who use global shipping - but I thought this one would be OK as it said zero.

Who designed this stupid system?

inuk_the_polar_bear · ‎07-12-2013

You are paying the thrid party handling fee. Seller is not getting that money, the third party shipper is.

Let the seller know why you refuse to buy from them. Tell them to opt out of GSP. Tell them you refuse to pat extras that you never had to pay before.

bb_cool_stuff · ‎07-12-2013

A lot of sellers are opting out of the GSP in my category, Inuk.

I'm sure many other sellers will follow suit.

tobyshitzu · ‎07-12-2013

Did you buy more then 1? The item number provided would have no tax on one but be fully taxable on 2

I see other <$20 items are now showing zero without the base fee that was there before, though they might have jsut moved that into the shipping line

inuk_the_polar_bear · ‎07-12-2013

Toby, I noticed that as well. They had the third party handling fee in taxes. They seem to have moved that. I am guessing that our OP found that charge further down stream. More and more the whole program is devolving. The snot nose kids got it wrong to start and now they are breaking something that is already broken.

pierrelebel · ‎07-12-2013

" now they are breaking something that is already broken."

I am prepared to give them the benefits of the doubt - maybe they are in fact repairing something that was broken by eliminating both the tax and brokerage fee on non-taxable transactions (under Cdn$20) .

And yes, by making a multiple purchase, this buyer increased the value of the transaction to more than $20 triggering taxes and fees.

I wish eBay would find a better way to warn buyers of such possibilities (although that treshhold ($20 in Canada) varies from country to country)

marnotom! · ‎07-12-2013

If this isn't a case of a multiple purchase, I'm wondering if the import charges and shipping charges were separated differently than what was stated in the listing. That is to say, is the total paid in shipping and import charges still the same?

This is from the section on import charges in the Global Shipping terms and conditions for buyers page:

Note: at eBay's discretion, applicable classification and export compliance charges, third party brokerage fees, and operational expenses may instead be included within the Shipping amount that is quoted to you.

I hope Twocraftywomen returns (return?) to explain things a bit more.

cumos55 · ‎07-12-2013

It is my understanding that there is no combined shipping with the GSP.

Buying from two different listings would not work...

However, if there are several items offered in the same listing, a buyer can purchase more than one item from the same listing.

Or... there are many different colors of the same item for sale in one listing. Each item in a listing is priced individually.

cumos55 · ‎07-12-2013

More

and

More

and

More... confusion about the GSP

tobyshitzu · ‎07-12-2013

It was a multi buy over $20, I should have just searched by buyer instead of asked

Though I also think the shipping line is a little higher on those small under $20/free domestic shipping items with no import fee now

inuk_the_polar_bear · ‎07-12-2013

Pierre, I have an expression about me: "Don't argue with me, especially when I am wrong". I will defend my position no matter what. I will never admit any error on my part. I will continue to dig the hole deeper and deeper.

eBay is the same way. No matter how wrong they are, they will never admit it. The snot nose kids came up with their American view of the world and implemented it. One size fits all. Now they are altering it. Won't work.

tobyshitzu · ‎07-12-2013

I suspect ebay sees the wirting is on the wall for most ebay type sellers sending internationally with things like USPS increasing rates up to 160% at once, and with what AMZN is putting in place around the world. There are American sellers with inventory sitting in AMZN Toronto warehouse that I could buy Saturday, have delivered Monday with less gone to shipping then an ebay seller, using the GSP or not. AMZN also doing things like putting in their own mal boxes for pickup in grocery stores and testing running their own delivery routes in big cities. People stuck with retail or close postage service aren't going to be able to compete.. Suspect ebay has plans to eventually offer complete fulfillment service to try and keep up with that

marnotom! · ‎07-12-2013

@pierrelebel wrote:

I wish eBay would find a better way to warn buyers of such possibilities (although that treshhold--$20 in Canada--varies from country to country)

I think eBay does an adequate job of giving buyers heads-up about the possibility of paying taxes on a personal import. The problem is, some buyers seem to think that this doesn't apply to them for some reason.

If nothing else, this whole GSP debacle has certainly made it apparent that due to CBSA's increasing lack of enforcement, there are some--if not many--Canadian eBay users who seem to think that the taxes on a personal import are some sort of money grab on the part of the GSP, not recognizing that a mailed item not assessed for taxes is supposed to be the exception, not the rule.

chimera148 · ‎07-13-2013

@twocraftywomen wrote:

...... another of this same sellers items 130945301476 is also listed with zero import duties. What is going on. I normally stay away from sellers who use global shipping - but I thought this one would be OK as it said zero.
Who designed this stupid system?

Yes, another thing to watch for is the shipping charges shown on your "Watch List" can be lower than those charges shown on the listing when you make a bid. It seems on the listing the import charges have been included in the shipping charges.
Just more confusion for an unaware buyer that could possibly result in sellers receiving unwarranted negative feedback.

marnotom! · ‎07-13-2013

Given that the difference between the shipping amount on the listing and the shipping amount on the watch list is that three dollar and change amount that gets paid in import charges for non-taxable shipments, I'd just call that a glitch that's likely due to the programming/calculation of shipping for the watch list hasn't caught up with that of the listing page.

cumos55 · ‎07-13-2013

The matter may be a question of economics.

How much would it cost CRA to collect all of that money that does not get collected?

If it costs more to collect all of the money, than the value, not paid by Canadian buyers with cross border shopping then it would make sense for CRA not to collect the money.

Strictly economics.

NOW... If the GSP collects that money... there is no cost to CRA...

and ... That is the difference!

Who pays who to collect the money?

and ... Ultimately eBay may eventually be "forced" to collect "fees" on all sales by US sellers to Canadian buyers.....

The money collected through the GSP becomes a windfall for CRA.

How much money does Canada Post collect for the CRA? .................with respect GST/HST/PST?????

and ....How much does Canada Post charge and remit to CRA?

Dare we ask CRA about the GSP?

cumos55 · ‎07-13-2013

The following is an example of economic logic....

Downtown Winnipeg

Parking meters must be fed from Monday to Friday ( also Sunday)... otherwise one gets a ticket...

Parking is free on Saturday... two hours are free...as stated on each parking meter.

It costs more to pay someone to work on Saturday... they have already worked five days... and then others have to be hired to work on Saturday.... and give tickets where appropriate.

It costs more to pay people to administer fines for Saturday (and holidays) than the total amount of money taken in for delinquent parking on Saturday.

Free parking also promotes downtown shopping on Saturday.

Economic principles win....

Does CRA follow similar economic principles?

twocraftywomen · ‎07-13-2013

Thanks all for your feedback. The item that I purchased (130944540325) was for $17.50. The shipping was listed at $18.99 with import charges of zero. I did go ahead and purchase this item and it was a checkout that the zero import charges all of a sudden went to $7.70. Why? My item cost was under $20.00? I did go ahead with the purchase as I wanted the item, and the vendor gave me a lower shipping cost that $18.99 - but I still don't understand the $7.70 - for an item that was under $20.00

Thanks to everyone for your input.

pierrelebel · ‎07-13-2013

" but I still don't understand"

OK - here is something most buyers are not aware of.

When calculating value for Custom purposes, the shipping charge from the point of shipping to Canada is not included in the value. Duty and taxes are calculated on the FOB value

However, whatever shipping/handling charge are included within the USA to the point of exportation (FOB) will be included in the value for duty and tax calculations.

In this listing, the value of the item was US$ 17.50 + US$ 5.95 shipping/handling within the USA to the Pitney Bowes Kentuky Distribution Centre for a total of US$ 23.45 or appx Cdn$ 25.00.

Taxes (HST/GST/PST) will be calculated on Cdn$ 25.00.

For example, I still remember the "good old days" when I imported goods from Europe and the Far East. If a container load was purchased for $10,000 FOB Hong Kong, it meant that the freight charges from Hong Kong to the Canadian destination were non dutiable and non taxable. However, the costs of transporting the container from the point of manufacture to the port of Hong Kong were included in the value subject to taxes and duty.

That may explain the problem outlined above.

I wish eBay or Pitney Bowes would address those technical questions. As we have all seen in the last several weeks, eBay is ignoring those questions, giving us platitude and general answers that do not address the factual problems faced by Canadian buyers.