eBay Global shipping program?

[worldwandering]

Anybody else get invited to this?

They deal with all customs forms, etc by shipping to a US address?  Feedback is protected from low ratings etc?

What the heck are they talking about?

I said yes, and now they are going to revise all my listings.  I don't understand this nebulous program.  Can anybody sum it up gracefully?

Thank you!

[rockandroll3000]

You can always forward the right amount to the Canada Revenue Agency. I am sure they would appreciate your honesty.

Would be interesting if everyone that was not charged anything when the parcel crossed the border, paid up what was estimated to be owed.....

Wonder how many millions of dollars CRA is losing ?

Wanted to say sorry if I took your comment the wrong way when I replied. I honestly wasn't sure whether you were being tongue-in-cheek or serious. If I wrongly offended, I apologize.

Anyway . . . I've often thought about the "reasons the CRA is losing out on taxes via foreign online sales" issue. There's a number of obvious answers, the topmost of all being that CRA and Customs simply doesn't have the manpower to process the volume of online items bought from the states (other than for security purposes).

I'm not certain, but it's always seemed there might be other factors involved. For one, U.S. states virtually never collect tax on incoming online items. This could also be a matter of manpower, or it could be a matter of policy (stay out of people's small purchases and concentrate efforts on bigger fish, kinda thing). Also, there's no federal tax in the U.S., so there's no "parent body" such as the CRA (and their proxy Canada Post) to oversee central collection of taxes.

The other thing that occurred to me (although it's a long shot) is that if the CRA and Canada Post increased their resources to collect tax on all online items bought from the U.S., it could lead to a serious drop in sales for our largest trading partner (33 million people in Canada is nothing to sneeze at, even for a country the size of the U.S.). Seeing as the playing field for tax collection isn't "level" between the different states and Canada, is it even remotely possible the Canadian government recognizes this and holds off on universal tax collection for online sales because it might seem as overly punitive and detrimental for U.S. sellers? You wouldn't think so, but then again . . . Canada has a strong and vested interest in streamlining commerce with the U.S. If Canada clamped down on all online sales coming from the U.S., is it possible "backroom notice has been given" that some action might be initiated by the U.S. to make Canadian sales to the U.S. less competitive (probably by charging state tax more rigidly).

I don't know . . . it's a real stumper. My best guess is the CRA/Canada Post doesn't have the resources to properly assess all smaller online sales coming from the U.S., but I can't help thinking there's other factors at play.

[cumos55]

Why does CRA not collect all of the taxes?

This discussion gives us the answer...

All of the taxes are included with the GSP  program... Buyers are unhappy

and not willing to pay....

Many Canadian buyers have said they will not buy if the GSP is present.

All we have to do is replace GSP with CRA... and if all of the taxes are collected  then     we can say  buyers will be unhappy....

and unhappy will result in less sales   and ultimately less taxes collected.

[cumos55]

Here is an interesting read on Seller Central on eBay.com

All about the a US seller that used the GSP, low ratings from a buyer  and how eBay is trying to deal with the situation....

http://forums.ebay.com/db2/topic/Seller-Central/Buyer-Didnt-Get/5100158815

As the days pass we may hear of more such situations...

eBay should  correct it  ...but... when.... 

eBay already has a rule in place, and in relation to buyers that have parcels shipped to a US address and then have someone forward one, and most likely several parcels to a foreign country... 

Buyer protection disappears once the parcel has been delivered to the US address..

[rockandroll3000]

Here is an interesting read on Seller Central on eBay.com

All about the a US seller that used the GSP, low ratings from a buyer  and how eBay is trying to deal with the situation....

http://forums.ebay.com/db2/topic/Seller-Central/Buyer-Didnt-Get/5100158815

As the days pass we may hear of more such situations...

eBay should  correct it  ...but... when.... 

eBay already has a rule in place, and in relation to buyers that have parcels shipped to a US address and then have someone forward one, and most likely several parcels to a foreign country... 

Buyer protection disappears once the parcel has been delivered to the US address..

Thanks for the link, there cumos55. Extremely interesting reading. What a mess things turned out to be, eh! Sincerely sorry to see it's disrupting sellers so much.

I only sell casually, not for a living, but sales and listings are what makes eBay tick, As it stands, the Bay is either going to have to retrench and try to ride out the storm (which they probably will do), or for once, repeal the program (which is about as likely as Ed McMahon showing up at my door with a cheque).

Despite it all, I still like eBay (or at least the concept). I can buy brand new guitar gear pretty well anywhere, but when it comes to used items or hard-to-find units it really is the Bay's strong suit. I'd hate to see that element get even more messed up than it already is due to another poor policy.

And of course, like many casual sellers, I've long-since started listing on local sites as Plan A, and eBay as Plan B. The GSP aside, I can sell a guitar that would go for $1,000 on the Bay for $850 or so locally and come away with the same amount of coin in hand (when you include FVF's on sale price, FVF's on shipping, PayPal fees, PayPal exchange rate "skim", etc).

It's a mess right now, that's for sure . . .

[grandogranto]

I will not purchase from any seller that ascribes to this farce.

I have never in 10 years on eBay had USPS or Canada Post lose an item.

One place tried to charge me $36.00 for 6 screws.  The screws were $17.70..... the rest was a gang grope on my wallet. The screws could have come through regular mail for $4.50 or so.

I have almost 300 good feedbacks ..surely a seller should refer to you history rather than give money and clients away for nothing.

[rockandroll3000]

I will not purchase from any seller that ascribes to this farce.

I have never in 10 years on eBay had USPS or Canada Post lose an item.

One place tried to charge me $36.00 for 6 screws.  The screws were $17.70..... the rest was a gang grope on my wallet. The screws could have come through regular mail for $4.50 or so.

I have almost 300 good feedbacks ..surely a seller should refer to you history rather than give money and clients away for nothing.

You're definitely talking to the converted in this thread (for the most part).

The only way to do anything at all to achieve "faux satisfaction" and/or "compel eBay to change" is to either stop buying from GSP sellers, E-Mail eBay repeatedly, or call them up to complain about the GSP.

Of course, that won't make a one iota of difference. When eBay instituted Final Value Fees on shipping costs, virtually everyone went ballistic and predicted the demise of eBay. When they raised the FVF's to 11%, there were cries of rebellion. When PayPal became the right hand of eBay for payment, doom and gloom was forecast. When people saw eBay's business focus was shifting away from the casual/hobbyist to a marketplace template people were in an uproar.

Although it seems like I'm slagging eBay, I'm actually not. I don't like a lot of the things they've changed in the past few years, but TTYTT, although they get less of my business lately (both as a buyer and a seller), I still like the idea of a large online marketplace where anything you want or need will eventually come up for sale.

But, they'll do what they want. There's so many instances of "the good old days" being better it's impossible to keep count. Somewhere in the hierarchy they have a plan and a model in mind, and it would qualify as a miracle if they ever canceled a program (such as the GSP) due to customer protest. I'm guessing there are some people who have insight into what the heck eBay is doing in the bigger picture, but for most of us it's always been a head-scratcher.

[pet98]

I completely agree.  I started to see these fees on my purchases.  I can count on one hand how many times I paid Canada customs fees on items shipped from the USA.  For well over a 1000 purchases there were no fees now suddenly I am looking at a pair of shoes and the Global shipping fee is $33 USD and with the CAnadian dollar down in the dumps I simply will not purchase this item.  It destroys my cost benefits and it no longer lets me take the risks.  In the end the seller will lose a lot of buyers.  It's not worth it in my opinion for items under $100

[marnotom!]

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@pet98 wrote:

I completely agree.  I started to see these fees on my purchases.  I can count on one hand how many times I paid Canada customs fees on items shipped from the USA.  For well over a 1000 purchases there were no fees now suddenly I am looking at a pair of shoes and the Global shipping fee is $33 USD and with the CAnadian dollar down in the dumps I simply will not purchase this item.  It destroys my cost benefits and it no longer lets me take the risks.  In the end the seller will lose a lot of buyers.  It's not worth it in my opinion for items under $100

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The Canadian dollar is in the dumps?  You've been a registered eBay user since 2000, when the Canadian dollar was a lot lower in value compared to the US greenback.  Keep thing in perspective.

Just out of curiosity, do you remember the shipping price of the shoes, and do you have an idea how much the shipping price would be through the postal system?

[sweetrosies2000]

If you enroll in this, You are the idiot

[pierrelebel]

"If you enroll in this, You are the idiot"

???

Why would you insult American sellers who wish to enroll and benefit from that program?

It may not be advantageous to you as a Canadian buyer but that has nothing to do with the potential benefits available to many American sellers wishing to sell higher priced items overseas.  You need to look at it from the seller's perspective.  It may be valuable to many:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/shipping-globally.html 

[barrykamin]

The Global shipping program... you are missing one important item and another main reason why your Canadian sales disappeared.

IMPORT CHARGES!!!!. THATS ON TOP OF THE EXTREMELY HIGH SHIPPING RATES. Knock on wood I have purchased probably 30 plus items internationally (shipped mainly thru post) with no import charges at all I too buy high end/priced items.There is more than enough protection between the buyer and the seller when paypal is used.Both are equally protected.Why would we need another middle man between buyer and seller? I have personally backed out of every single sale when GSP is used. I have contacted several purchasers regarding using US post or I wasnt going to buy the item about 50% were more than happy to ship thru postage.I believe many sellers do not realize exactly how the program works and many beleive that it is a benefit for increasing sales??? nor do they realize how pissed off  international buyers are with the GSP (Just read the responses to sellers cant track too hard to track where is my item  which shipping company is being used etc.) Its a heck of a lot more than a few bad apples!  International buyers are pissed.

Here is some food for thought and ask yourself if you would be happy with shelling out the extra dough. My daughter wants me to buy her the cherrios hotwheels truck. seller in NY. $5.99 purchase price  GSP fee $24.95 !!!  if US post was used $6.23  I dont need someone to unpack and repack my $5.99 purchase not to mention the extremely long shipping times. Item# 2 my nephew wanted

a 6 car hotwheels nose art diecast set. Seller in NY $29.99  purchase price GSP fee $27.95 Import Charges $9.99 . If US post was used $11.29. Do we really need the GSP. Paypal has been great anytime I have had an issue. All issues have been with sellers claiming the item is in mint new condition when the items have had  imperfections. THE GSP would have been no help with my issues correct? The collectible diecasts I purchase are like your hockey cards grade is everything!!! only Paypal can solve these issues. A few bad apples........ think again.

[marnotom!]

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@barrykamin wrote:

The Global shipping program... you are missing one important item and another main reason why your Canadian sales disappeared.

IMPORT CHARGES!!!!. THATS ON TOP OF THE EXTREMELY HIGH SHIPPING RATES. Knock on wood I have purchased probably 30 plus items internationally (shipped mainly thru post) with no import charges at all I too buy high end/priced items.There is more than enough protection between the buyer and the seller when paypal is used.Both are equally protected.Why would we need another middle man between buyer and seller? I have personally backed out of every single sale when GSP is used. I have contacted several purchasers regarding using US post or I wasnt going to buy the item about 50% were more than happy to ship thru postage.I believe many sellers do not realize exactly how the program works and many beleive that it is a benefit for increasing sales??? nor do they realize how pissed off  international buyers are with the GSP (Just read the responses to sellers cant track too hard to track where is my item  which shipping company is being used etc.) Its a heck of a lot more than a few bad apples!  International buyers are pissed.

Here is some food for thought and ask yourself if you would be happy with shelling out the extra dough. My daughter wants me to buy her the cherrios hotwheels truck. seller in NY. $5.99 purchase price  GSP fee $24.95 !!!  if US post was used $6.23  I dont need someone to unpack and repack my $5.99 purchase not to mention the extremely long shipping times. Item# 2 my nephew wanted

a 6 car hotwheels nose art diecast set. Seller in NY $29.99  purchase price GSP fee $27.95 Import Charges $9.99 . If US post was used $11.29. Do we really need the GSP. Paypal has been great anytime I have had an issue. All issues have been with sellers claiming the item is in mint new condition when the items have had  imperfections. THE GSP would have been no help with my issues correct? The collectible diecasts I purchase are like your hockey cards grade is everything!!! only Paypal can solve these issues. A few bad apples........ think again.

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The seller to which you are responding posted back in May and hasn't been back to the Canadian boards since.

If you check his listings, you'll see that he offers First Class International shipping to Canada for his less expensive items, and the GSP for his more expensive items where he likely feels he's more at risk of a fraudulent claim of non-delivery.

By the way, the Hot Wheels set you mention would attract more in "import fees" if sent through the mail and customs assessed it for taxes owing on it, even if you live in Alberta and you only have to pay GST on purchases.  Keep in mind that Canada Post would add another C$9.95 on top of whatever Canada Border Services would charge for taxes.

However, you are correct that the GSP shipping charges for small, lightweight items are pretty over the top compared to the U.S. equivalent of Small Packet air mail, just as Express or Parcel post is expensive for small items.

[pjcdn2005]

Here is some food for thought and ask yourself if you would be happy with shelling out the extra dough. My daughter wants me to buy her the cherrios hotwheels truck. seller in NY. $5.99 purchase price  GSP fee $24.95 !!!  if US post was used $6.23  I dont need someone to unpack and repack my $5.99 purchase not to mention the extremely long shipping times. Item# 2 my nephew wanted

a 6 car hotwheels nose art diecast set. Seller in NY $29.99  purchase price GSP fee $27.95 Import Charges $9.99 . If US post was used $11.29. Do we really need the GSP. Paypal has been great anytime I have had an issue. All issues have been with sellers claiming the item is in mint new condition when the items have had  imperfections. THE GSP would have been no help with my issues correct? The collectible diecasts I purchase are like your hockey cards grade is everything!!! only Paypal can solve these issues. A few bad apples........ think again.

Just to clarify a couple of things that you posted...They do not unpack and repack items at the GSP center. When the package reaches you it will be in the same unopned packaging that your seller sent

You mentioned long shipping times. I've heard a couple of comments about it taking longer but I have also heard many comments about delivey being fairly quick so I don't think that you can assume it always takes longer.

On the  $5.99 Cheerios set  that you meniton, the $24.95 isnt a GSP fee, that is a shipping cost although part of that cost does have some fees withn it. I agree that the shipping cost is really high but I don't that it could be sent to Canada for $6.23....maybe last year but not since the USPS prices went up. All of the other similar sets that I saw show shipping from $9 - $16.

I might be misunderstanding your last couple of lines but you're right, the GSP does not in itself help with problem items. However, it wasn't started up to do tt doesn't have anything to do with 'a few bad apples'

[lpwasy]

All the GSP does is save the seller filling out the customs forms and add a cost to the buyer. I suppose ebay/paypal take a small slice as well. 

I can't say but am guessing Pitney Powes does not use USPS.  USPS & Canada Post  have an agreement whereby Can Post does the brokering and if taxes are payable there is an $8.50 charge for collecting the taxes.  The costs with the GSP are higher and I will not purchase a GSP item.

[lpwasy]

Can someone explain the sign-up procedure, are you selected by ebay because of the nature of the item? Do they sign you up automatically or do they present the option and you opt in yourself? A screen shot would be nice.

How about opting out, can someone explain the steps so I can pass them on to a seller when the need arises?

Thanks

[lpwasy]

I found the page that explains it. 

Thanks anyway

[marnotom!]

---

@lpwasy wrote:

All the GSP does is save the seller filling out the customs forms and add a cost to the buyer. I suppose ebay/paypal take a small slice as well. 

I can't say but am guessing Pitney Powes does not use USPS.  USPS & Canada Post  have an agreement whereby Can Post does the brokering and if taxes are payable there is an $8.50 charge for collecting the taxes.  The costs with the GSP are higher and I will not purchase a GSP item.

---

You're correct that Pitney Bowes doesn't use USPS to get the item to Canada, but the Canadian carrier may vary.  I've read of at least a couple of cases where the American carrier has handed the item off to Canada Post at the border, not unlike when I lived in a remote location on Vancouver Island and everything sent by a commercial carrier got handed off to Canada Post at a major "central" island hub before making its boat journey to where I lived.

The program costs for buyers that are associated with the GSP seem to vary considerably and are based on a buyer's location, amongst other factors.  I just mentioned on another thread that I found a listing for an Android phone selling for just shy of US$100.  The shipping charges were about US$11 (pretty reasonable, all told, IMO) and the import charges for me in BC would be about nine bucks.  That's an amazing deal, especially considering that Canada Post's charge just for collecting and remitting taxes is now just shy of ten Canabucks.

[Anonymous]

To Pierre, as a seller yourself, WOULD you enroll this insane bogus program??  BE honest!!  Thanks!!

[pierrelebel]

"be honest".

I am always honest.

As a Canadian seller, I am not eligible to the program.  It is available strictly to American sellers wishing to export.

If the program were available to Canadians,  I do not think many would take advanatge of it as most Canadian eBay sellers are already familiar with the concept of shipping outside Canada. It is no big secret to us.

By the way, the program is neither "insane" or "bogus".  The purpose of the program in the USA is to help and assist American sellers unaware of export procedures.

As stated so many time before, the program is generally of no benefit to most Canadian buyers for most small transactions (under $100).

[tobyshitzu]

If it ever becomes available to us it may well make perfect sense to use it with CPs insanely high overseas rates  Quite conceivable it could work far better for  canada>overseas compared to US>Canada.   The same way people in toronto are using chitchat to get around cp.