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!

[recped]

There is something about combined shipping.

Is it correct that the GSP does NOT allow combined shipping..

Buy two items from a US seller and each item must be mailed in a separate parcel.

Is that correct?

Yes and no.......

If buyers use the cart and request a total then you can combine and ship together using GSP.

The restrictions is a single PAYMENT not a single ITEM.

[1rafael2sophia]

I have purchased approximately 25,500 thimbles on Ebay from the USA and the UK.  Canada customs has charged me on about 300 of those.   Hence, I do not want to automatically pay for customs charges on all purchases when customs charges are not applicable.   There are no Canada custom fees on items costing $30 or less sent by the postal system.  Since this new eBay scam appeared, I have simply opted not to purchase from sellers whose listings have this program attached to it.    Can some one please tell me how a seller can uncheck this from their seller preferences so that I may pass this on to a seller when I really really want to purchase from them?

[pocomocomputing]

I have purchased approximately 25,500 thimbles on Ebay from the USA and the UK.  Canada customs has charged me on about 300 of those.   Hence, I do not want to automatically pay for customs charges on all purchases when customs charges are not applicable.   There are no Canada custom fees on items costing $30 or less sent by the postal system.  Since this new eBay scam appeared, I have simply opted not to purchase from sellers whose listings have this program attached to it.    Can some one please tell me how a seller can uncheck this from their seller preferences so that I may pass this on to a seller when I really really want to purchase from them?

The correct amount is $20 CAN and $60 CAN if it is a gift.

[i*m-still-here]

rafael........... that must be one world class thimble collection!

I've found that sellers are more than happy to ship without the GSP when I ask them.

It only takes them a moment to revise the listing, but I doubt that this would work for auction style listings with existing bids.

I've always kept my FB left for others pristine for exactly this type of thing.

I'm not so sure the same sellers would be so accommodating otherwise.

When all is said and done I'm pretty sure the GSP is working for me.

I can buy items for less money because other non-US buyers shy away from those items.

I'm also pretty sure that it's given my International sales a very notable boost. (Something has.)

When all is said and done.......... for Canadians....  maybe the GSP isn't the snake pit it threatened to be at first.

[templepriest]

As a buyer, I discovered this program AFTER I had won an auction and discovered there would be an extra $15.17 in so-called  "import charges" . 
At the moment I have 466 eBay purchases under my belt - I would reckon that at least 90% of those would have had duties assessed to them by Canada Post had they pulled them for assessment.

But in actual fact, I have ONLY HAD 4 of those parcels with any duties owing on them when I picked them up.  I was told by a Canada Post employee that of those packages qualifying for duty  only about 1 in 15 packages is pulled aside for that assessment.  I believe the truth - judging by my experience that the ratio is even better than that.
Why would I agree to pay duty on every single package I get in, when Canada Post and Customs would only require me to pay duty on a tenth of it?
I will not be paying any import charges to ebay or any seller on ebay.
I have paid my taxes to support an entire department of the Canadian Government to handle this kind of thing for me - -  this  is going to turn me and all Canadian buyers off ebay if it goes any further.

[87d21hardbody]

BOYCOTT Global Shipping Program!!!!!!

GSP = Complete Scam 

And is the only delivery system which has ever delivered a package to me late, but not only late , like 2 weeks late! and tried to hide the fact their truck broke down. A delivery system who could not deal with a broke truck? That's a joke right!?

USPS,UPS,FED-EX,China post ,Taiwan post ,Mexico post ,All on time.

Canada Post pulls parcels out for a random assessment, actual odds are 1/50 at best to be assessed,  anything under a $100 declaired value is generally ignored. So if 50 items are crossing the border (to Canada Post anyways) through GSP and 1 item is assessed then who keeps the fees which were charged on the other 49/50. 

In other words YOU WILL PAY IMPORT FEES WHEN OTHERWISE NONE WOULD BE APPLICABLE, THERE IS NO PROOF THAT THE FEES CHARGED WERE ACTUALLY USED FOR WHAT IT WAS CHARGED FOR.

There are no "duty paid" or "import fees paid" sticker on the packages delivered by canada post coming from GSP; which indicates that my import fees lined someone else's pockets.

There is also nothing on or in the parcel such as a packing slip that even mentions that a import/border fee has been paid NOTHING BUT MY PAY PAL RECEIPT!

If you use Global Shipping Program, your helping the CON, and loosing my business.

This is a fraudulent scam taking advantage of Canadian buyers and should be investigated by authorities 

[Anonymous]

There are more and more US sellers opt out of this insane scam (GSP) now and I wonder what does eBay have to say about that? 

I read in eBay Weekly Hour Session that one guy at eBay is very vague in answering to this question about GSP. 

I wonder how long before eBay finally came in and "retire" GSP? 

Every time I see something I want on eBay but has GSP, I contacted the sellers asking them if they would be willing to opt out this insane scam and also I explained of my experiences of receiving many pacakges/parcels from USA weekly and were never been dinged for the so-called import charges and also that they have to ship to a place where they have to open and inspect before closing them (I understand that they don't do a good job taping them) before ship them to Canada and out of USA, causing the unneccessary delay in mail delivery.   They were happy to opt out of it as they didn't want to lose the potentinal Canadian buyers.

I am so sure that eBay is noticing that a lot of sellers having opt out this insane program already but I am so sure that eBay refused to admit it as they are so greedy and want to get ore $$$ even they already generated over 14 Billion dollars!!  Yes in "B" as of Billion!!  What more do they want???

It is shame that eBay has to treat the sellers like that by trying to dupe them into opt into this program so they can get more $$$.

[antique.collector]

Actually, the problem is they collect more than what is allowed by the government.

I got charged an import charges of $3.34 from the global shipping program for 1 item (value $1.77). 

according to Canadian laws, all packages under the value of $20 CAD is DUTY-FREE. so no law of Canada wound allow them to collect that.

[Anonymous]

Excuse me, my error.  eBay made $165 Billion in profits!  That is huge!!!!!!!!

[rockandroll3000]

I ordered a $65 guitar pedal from the U.S. to test the GSP to Canada. It worked out to about the same cost as other non-GSP sellers. Normally, USPS First Class Mail International would be about $30, but the total shipping + GSP charges were $28. So, because the seller lowered his shipping cost to reflect a domestic U.S. rate ($11.20) the additional GSP charges made it a wash.

I also bought an $850 guitar head that was originally listed with GSP with a shipping cost of $100 and GSP charges of $175. I asked the seller to change the listing to non-GSP and he did. The shipping cost via USPS Priority went up to $150 (the actual postage was $141), so that was fair . . . it was a 45 lb item. I got dinged for $113 by Canada Post / Canada Customs, so by my estimate, I saved about $12 by not using GSP.

This isn't at all to endorse the GSP . . . I just wanted to report my experiences with and without it.

To me, there are four basic factors to consider:

1. U.S. sellers HAVE to lower the GSP shipping cost to reflect a domestic U.S. rate to Kentucky in order for it to even come close to par with a non-GSP listing. I've since seen a number of items listed with GSP that have shipping costs that are the same Canada/International rate as before (perhaps $45 as opposed to a domestic rate of $15 or $20). GSP sellers must treat GSP sales to Canadian/International buyers as "domestic sales" for shipping purposes seeing as they only have to send the item to Kentucky. In fact, I think that sellers who offer free U.S. shipping should offer free GSP shipping seeing as they only have to send it internally to Kentucky. That's the whole point of the "shipping benefit".

2. Canadian buyers have absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain by rolling the dice as to whether tax will be collected by Canada Post in a non-GSP purchase (see below). Why volunteer to pay tax when there's a good chance (about 1 in 8 in my experience) that Canada Post won't even bother to collect upon delivery.

3. Regarding the above, if any U.S. sellers (or any other eBayers for that matter) think it's only fair to own-up and pay all taxes according to the law, consider this: of the 100s of items I've sold to the U.S. from Canada in the past 13 years or so (everything ranging from $10 CDs to a $4,000 guitar) NOT ONCE has a U.S. buyer ever been charged tax or duty . . . whether the item was shipped via USPS, FedEx or Canada Post. U.S, buyers have become so inured to the fact they rarely, if ever, have to pay tax or duty for international purchase, I wonder how they'd feel if the shoe was on the other foot and the postman asked for $20 extra on a $90 item, or UPS asked for $70 extra on a $200 delivery, or FedEx asked for $350 extra for a $1,000 item? I think they'd blow a gasket, and would probably pass on buying anything internationally again. This isn't at all meant to slag U.S. buyers or sellers . . . it's just the facts, and I really don't think U.S sellers/buyers have a handle on what it's like to get dinged with "import fees" or federal/provincial/state taxes.

4. Until eBay lifts the 50% FVF discount being offered to U.S. sellers who use the GSP, there won't be anything to motivate U.S. sellers to opt-out (other than lost sales). If a seller can save 50% in FVF's by basically doing nothing but "opting-in" to a program which doesn't cost them a penny, why would they refuse.

All just MHO . . .

[pierrelebel]

" eBay made $165 Billion in profits! "

???

I am curious.  Where do you get that "information"?

The official eBay financial statements show a net after tax profit of US$2.6 billion

http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/ebay/2487008535x0x628825/e8f7de32-e10a-4442-addb-3fad813d0e58... 

No business anywhere in the world has a profit of $165 billion. One of the most profitable, Apple, made "only" $41 billion in net profit

[afantiques]

Items are shipped and customs cleared as one large shipment value CA$10,000, for example. The shipper pays some appropriate average GST/HST figure on the aggregated value of the whole shipment.

This means that the individual exemptions are lost and low value items are taxed pro rata regardless of whether they would be exempt if sent by post. It does mean that one clerk can collect a useful chunk of tax in the time it would otherwise have taken to collect on $25 package.

At no point except that of sale are individual items treated as anything but components of one large import.

Therefore, although the otherwise exempt items are taxed this is paid to the governent not pocketed by the shipper.

It is very much something to avoid as a buyer except for heavy inexpensive items that can work out cheaper shipped tax paid through the GSP  than posted by USPS Priority Mail (over 4 pounds weight) and delivered without tax/collection fee if you are lucky.

But all cries of 'this item is not taxable, ebay must be keeping the money', while not unexpected, are not justified.

[pierrelebel]

"This means that the individual exemptions are lost"

That is incorrect. The basic $20 import exemption still applies based on:

http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/import/postal-postale/duty-droits-eng.html#c1 

Calculations for duty (if applicable) and sales tax (GST/HST based on province of buyer) are made based on the individual value of each transaction, not the aggregate of all shipments.

So a typical $15 taxable item would not attract tax (unless it is an exception to the $20 exemption).  Pitney Bowes would still charge an "import fee" but that is more a handling fee than anything else.  It would not include duty or tax.

While the eBay GSP is generally detrimental to most Canadian importers of small and low cost items, there are instances where buyers actually save money as has been reported several times by buyers.

[rockandroll3000]

While the eBay GSP is generally detrimental to most Canadian importers of small and low cost items, there are instances where buyers actually save money as has been reported several times by buyers.

I appreciate the dialog, and I hope you understand anything I cite or say is not personal in the least. I just checked out about 25 items ranging from $50 to $2,000 from my Saved Searches to compare. About half were GSP and half were non-GSP.

First, I had to compare apples to apples. If two sellers were listing identical and new items at different prices, I had to reject those for comparison because you can almost always save by buying the cheapest one, unless the seller's shipping costs are much more expensive (Express vs Priority, FedEx vs USPS, etc).

Second, I had to determine which sellers were offering a cheaper "U.S. domestic" shipping rate to get the item to Pitney Bowes as opposed to the previous higher "standard" cost to ship directly to Canada. BTW--I was surprised how many U.S. sellers still list the standard "non-GSP" international rates instead of the cheaper "U.S. domestic to Pitney Bowes" rate. Bottom line, if sellers reduce the shipping rate to reflect a domestic shipment to Pitney Bowes, the difference on average is about one-third less than shipping directly to Canada.

The final tally was that in no instance could I find an item that was cheaper via GSP (even when factoring in the GSP import charges). Even by shipping directly at the higher "standard non-GSP rate", and adding Canadian tax & the Canada Post $10 import handling fee, there wasn't one single item that was cheaper.

The breakdown was:

About 30% were cheaper in total cost by not using the GSP.

About 30% were the same price whether by GSP or shipping directly through the most economical and reasonable carrier (generally USPS Priority Mail International)

About 40% were more expensive using the GSP (although not by much in most cases, if comparing apples to apples).

And of course, 0% were cheaper using the GSP.

So . . . if there are buyers out there who have saved money by using the GSP, I certainly haven't found more than a smattering of posts reflecting that assertion. I suspect the "saving money via GSP" reports are largely anecdotal, not proven or extremely rare. If I could have saved money by using GSP, I would have come across at least one, if not many, items to reflect that claim.

[i*m-still-here]

rockNroll........ I haven't saved money using the GSP as I won't buy that way.

IMO it's insulting to us.  To me it's like saying just give us your money and shut up.

However, what I am finding is that I save quite a bit of money when I buy items using the GSP.

I contact the seller and ask that the item be shipped via First Class mail and about 80% agree to do so.

I buy 90% of my items via auction and the items listed using the GSP sell for much less:

Works Well For Me.

I've worked hard (lots of restraint)  at keeping my FB left others pristine and that doesn't hurt either.

It's paying off now.

[chimera148]

rockandroll,    Thanks for your analysis.

 I expect the total cost comparisons between  GSP listed items less than $50 and those using USPS First Class Package Intl or Standard Intl to Canada would be even worse  for the GSP.

And there seems to be no way the GSP sellers can really tell they are losing sales to international buyers or taking the resultant lower purchase prices, unless informed by prospective buyers.    

[i*m-still-here]

"" And there seems to be no way the GSP sellers can really tell they are losing sales to international buyers or taking the resultant lower purchase prices, unless informed by prospective buyers."""

I only inform sellers about the issues that buyers have with the GSP if it's in my immediate best interest.

I do think there's the threat that buyers may leave ebay due to the GSP........

But............ I'd love to see each and every US seller sign onto it and put it to the test.

Sure would be interesting to see what happens............. could be a gift in disguise for Canadian sellers.

[rockandroll3000]

rockNroll........ I haven't saved money using the GSP as I won't buy that way. IMO it's insulting to us. To me it's like saying just give us your money and shut up.

However, what I am finding is that I save quite a bit of money when I buy items using the GSP. I contact the seller and ask that the item be shipped via First Class mail and about 80% agree to do so. I buy 90% of my items via auction and the items listed using the GSP sell for much less: Works Well For Me.

Good point . . . and I definitely agree 100% about the "faux convenience" of having eBay/Pitney as a middleman for any customs processing or taxes (regardless of country). I can see a bit of a point in that it at least eliminates the "delivery shock" for some foreign buyers (mostly in Europe, where they're medieval about collecting VAT and duties). For those buyers, it's probably a good idea to show them how much the ridiculous total will be before FedEx (or their agent) shows up asking for a ransom.

We're talking to the converted here, but it is totally stunned for eBay to get into the customs charges and tax collection business.

BTW--I just bought a deluxe soldering iron station direct from a large online seller in New Jersey. They have a deal with UPS (of all shippers!!) to deliver the entire shipment for an $8.00 flat rate . . . no disbursement charges, no bond fees, no customs processing, no extra "skim." They did charge me tax (probably because of the structure of the sweetheart deal they negotiated with UPS), but still . . . $8.00 shipping to Victoria via Express in 3 days, plus the tax I'd have to pay if I ordered it locally. To top it off, they actually called a couple of days after I received the stuff to find out if I was happy with the purchase and service.

There were a couple of the same items available on the Bay for the same base price, but 2 of the 3 sellers used GSP. I didn't even bother to ask if they'd ship non-GSP. Frankly, I'm fed up "begging" eBay sellers to change the shipping to make it possible for me to give them my money. I will do it if the item is attractive enough or hard-to-find, but only whilst holding my nose. I haven't as as much luck as you convincing U.S. sellers to ship First Class (or even the "correct Canada rate" for Priority). I don't know what it is sometimes . . . it seems like a lot of U.S. sellers just slap on ridiculous shipping costs because it's "out of country" and they have to fill out a small customs form. Canada isn't Outer Mongolia last time I checked ;-).

The soldering station purchase is a perfect example of the GSP driving a customer (me) to a different source to spend my money. No more needs to be said!

[rockandroll3000]

rockandroll,    Thanks for your analysis.

 I expect the total cost comparisons between  GSP listed items less than $50 and those using USPS First Class Package Intl or Standard Intl to Canada would be even worse  for the GSP.

And there seems to be no way the GSP sellers can really tell they are losing sales to international buyers or taking the resultant lower purchase prices, unless informed by prospective buyers.    

Glad to help out and add to the conversation any way I can, Chimera! And, you're 100% on the mark . . . the only way to battle the GSP is to let U.S. sellers know how negatively it affects not only their sales, but the perception people feel by getting ripped off. The old saying is true: "never let customers leave with a bad taste in their mouths". You can tell the sellers that are actively seeking foreign sales . . . there's more than a few than even take a hit on shipping to Canada to attract buyers (I won't mention names, but one in particular is my main "go-to" source for guitar pedals). They charge $4.00 shipping to Canada via First Class. They know the repeat business will more than make up for the $6.00 hit they take.

As far as the GSP . . . the most ridiculous thing about it (among the many) is that you have to go to eBay.com to find out the actual "Customs charges". How stupid is that? I mean . . . the program is intended for non-USA buyers, but those buyers can't even see the GSP charges on their home site (eBay.ca in our case). You'd think eBay would have at least waited until that function was in place before implementing the GSP . . . you'd think.

[rockandroll3000]

BTW . . .

Here's a few examples of the correct and incorrect use of the GSP

This is a 45 lb item that ships for $140 to Canada via USPS Priority Mail International direct. This seller uses the GSP but listed the shipping at $37.30 to Canada, which reflects the actual U.S. domestic cost of shipping to Pitney in Kentucky. This is the way it's supposed to work. Canadians save big-time on shipping because it's a domestic "within the U.S." rate, but break even (or perhaps even save a bit) on the total cost because of the reduced shipping costs. I've seen other sellers list the shipping at $100 or more for this item via the GSP, whereas $37.50 is indeed the correct U.S. domestic rate to Kentucky. I would definitely bid on this item if I didn't already own the same amp:

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/390598309816


This 8 lb item is listed via the GSP, but the shipping rate is the same as it would cost to ship direct via USPS Priority Mail International to Canada without the GSP "domestics savings". The USPS price is indeed the $40.31 the seller listed, but in fact, it will only cost him/her about $15 or $20 to ship to Kentucky. Notice the item is offered as "Free shipping within the U.S.". Why not offer free shipping for foreign sellers as well seeing as the item only has to go to Kentucky??? Last time I checked, "Free shipping within the U.S" and "Free shipping to Kentucky" were one and the same:

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/140979677958


Here's two non-GSP items that have the correct and non-inflated shipping costs to Canada via USPS Priority or First Class International:

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/321128795055

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/151046983148


Who would you buy from? Who would a seller in the U.S. buy from if the situation was reversed? I have to add the oft-cited proviso that many U.S. sellers don't actually know what the final tally is for their international buyers, but I would put forth that the good sellers do! And again, the lure of the 50% FVF reduction is irresistible. But, if a seller is going to use GSP, they have to get it right and do their homework. Everything has a catch, and if a seller is saving 50% on FVF's, then it's a no-brainer that someone else is making up the difference (aka the buyer).