eBay

taramialee · ‎09-15-2013

Stay clear of anyone using Global Shipping. HUGE additional charges are added that Canadians wouldn't normally pay. AWFUL AWFUL AWFUL. I won't go near a seller using this program again!

i*m-still-here · ‎09-25-2013

@pierrelebel wrote:
"I'm pretty sure that Canadians would all but stop buying eBay (for example) items from the States."

ALL ???

That is where I have a problem with many of those types of statements. ALL?

Everything is not black and white, it is not always ALL or NOTHING.

Things are seldom black and white.

That's an interesting twist on mis-quoting my post.

I didn't say that ALL Canadians would stop buying on eBay.

I said that Canadians would ALL but stop buying on eBay. Big Difference.

Taxing everything over $20 would change the picture.

Sales would continue but at a drastically reduced rate.

IMO Canadians sales for items under $20 would decrease as well because it would become too much of PITA searching out items under that threshold.

However, quite a few shoppers are just looking to spend and don't care too much about cost and they'd keep on buying.

The rest would care.

i*m-still-here · ‎09-25-2013

@pierrelebel wrote:
By the way, I should add that I do not expect the federal government to implement a system where all parcels would be taxed as required by law. It would raise millions of tax dollars for the federal and provincial governments but that would be political suicide for the governing party.

It is much easier to waste mliions of dollars of taxpayers money than risk losing votes.

And yes, I am cynical.

There is huge flaw in that logic!!!

First ........... Implementing a system where all parcels over $20 are taxed wouldn't matter to taxpayers because that isn't even on their radar.

The percentage of Canadians who actually care about that is minuscule and it wouldn't put a dent in the votes.

However...........IF the way they collect taxes on these particular items did have an effect on votes, then they would have increased the amount from $20 to $250 (or whatever) a long time ago.

What a tricky maneuver that would be!!!!!!

Since they already collect on items under $250 so rarely as it is.................. that would be a Freebie maneuver to buy votes.......... IF anyone cared that is.

pierrelebel · ‎09-25-2013

Testing.

White

pjcdn2005 · ‎09-25-2013

@pierrelebel wrote:
By the way, I should add that I do not expect the federal government to implement a system where all parcels would be taxed as required by law. It would raise millions of tax dollars for the federal and provincial governments but that would be political suicide for the governing party.

It is much easier to waste mliions of dollars of taxpayers money than risk losing votes.

And yes, I am cynical.

But would it actually bring in millions of dollars considering that it would also cost much more to have the staff to do that?

Personally, I would rather they focus on finding and stoping illegal drugs and weapons from coming into the country rather than on Joe's ebay purchase.

pierrelebel · ‎09-25-2013

"rather than on Joe's ebay purchase...."

That may be part of the problem. When parcels sent by mail come through Canada Customs, in most instances, there is no way to know if it is a purchase of a DVD set by Joe on eBay, or a commercial sending, or a birthday gift from Joe's uncle. I would think that while eBay is a big outfit, it still represents only a fraction of all goods coming by mail into Canada.

If it takes a clerk ten minutes to read the Customs Declaration and assess taxes (and duty if applicable) on a $50 taxable import, CRA would collect $5 on average (some of that would be shared with most provinces but Alberta). On a $100 import, the tax on average would be $10 (from a low of 5% in AB, 12%/13% in BC/ON and 15% in NS).

In an hour, a clerk should be able to assess $30 to $60 in taxes (on average). The cost of the clerk's time and collection is covered by the $9.95 collected by Canada Post.

So yes, millions would be raised.

And yes, CRA should keep chasing the big tax evaders. They are the real problem, but that is no excuse for such uneven administration of incoming parcels by mail when, as described by many, it is like "playing the lottery". That is no way to administer the tax system.

pocomocomputing · ‎09-25-2013

A simple suggestion to help improve the processing would be to raise the limit to $50 or higher. This way customs would yield a larger revenue for the effort to process the item. Make the limit match the reality of the cost of processing.

A $21 item yields little tax revenue and has a large handling fee of $9.95 added by Canada Post making the buyer unhappy as well.

I often wondered how customs work. Do they random sample a container of packages without looking at declared value and process the sample chosen regardless of the potential revenue? That would be a fair application of the law. Or do they pick based on value which to process passing those that are not worth the time to process? That would be an unfair application of the law.

I assume the rest that are not even reviewed or random sampled and are kept a certain time to be checked for illegal substances or terrorist devices by dogs, x-rays, other detectors and then released without assessment. Hopefully, not too many items are passed on without the security checks.

I always found it ironic that courier companies like UPS are so vilified here in the forums as to extra charges when they HAVE to follow the law and have to have accurate records of the amount assessed retrievable for years if needed and enough people on hand to process the items in real time (1-2 days) to provide guaranteed service times. Perhaps the true costs of handling imports is what a courier charges and not the poorly enforced Canada customs and Canada Post charges. Imagine the amount of records that would have to be kept for processing all items imported into Canada by mail. Would a record have to be kept of item that was under the limit as proof it was under the limit. A courier has to keep a record I would think at their cost of processing even if it was under the $20 limit.

pierrelebel · ‎09-25-2013

"I always found it ironic..."

So do I.

The Canadian government requires all GST/HST registered Canadian merchants to keep track (for six years) and remit every penny of tax collected, even for small transactions under $1. They have the same requirements for foreign sellers (including many large American mail order businesses) and forwarders registered to collect and remit the tax. Every penny must be accounted for, regardless of the cost of such administration. Heavy fines and penalties for those who fail to keep track or remit.

Yet, Canada Customs is the only department feeling they can do as they see fit and ignore the same rules because it is convenient to them or would cost them too much to follow the law!

Ironic indeed.

i*m-still-here · ‎09-25-2013

I used to travel frequently, and as you know they require an itemized account of purchases while out of the country.

It was not uncommon for the agents to actually reduce the amount declared so that no payment would be necessary.

That never failed to amaze me................... same thing.

crispygpimp · ‎11-03-2013

I paid 30 import fees plus another 20 for shipping on a pair of oakley sunglasses. This is ridiculous. And am i wrong in believing that since Oakleys are made in the USA there should be no duty on them anyway??

marnotom! · ‎11-03-2013

@crispygpimp wrote:
I paid 30 import fees plus another 20 for shipping on a pair of oakley sunglasses. This is ridiculous. And am i wrong in believing that since Oakleys are made in the USA there should be no duty on them anyway??

You're right, but what you paid in import fees was taxes plus custom clearance charges.

All "casual" imports by mail or commercial carrier with a declared value of over C$20 are subject to taxes (GST/RST) as well as duty, if it applies. Canada Border Services doesn't always assess the taxes due on items sent by mail, however. More information here:

http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/import/postal-postale/menu-eng.html

Seeing as a US$250 pair of sunglasses would be subject to federal GST and Manitoba RST totalling US$32.50, it looks to me as though you were charged fairly. Also keep in mind that items sent by mail are charged an additional C$9.95 by Canada Post for collecting taxes due should Canada Border Services hit you with a tax bill for them.

dp56addict · ‎11-04-2013

I purchased items that had $0.00 on Global on the listing. It wasn't until I purchased the item that the import charge was there to Canada. I agree. Its a rip. I don't pay duty or anything where I am. I will avoid anything that even mentions global and so my ebay purchases will drop drastically. I will go somewhere els.

dp56addict · ‎11-04-2013

I purchased an item that had $6.66 Global whatever charges. I purchased pens for $24.00. The cost wasn't on the first set of $11.00. I also don't pay duty or any charges as I live in a remote area and there is no way of collecting it. I avoid listings with this international fees etc added. I am about done with ebay if this keeps up and why does Pitney Bowes get $19.86 for shipping some packages of pens that weigh net to nothing? The extra was added at the check out. The seller is new to international selling and didn't know how to take it off. She apologized and I paid but won't go near anything until I know the invoice is sent by the seller personally. Bad enough shipping is so high thanks to our post and the USPS, plus the exchange and an extra 3% from PayPal. Cost me over $17. US for two small books from CA to BC. I don't need an extra charge as well. I find it time consuming to have to email a seller for each item to verify the cost of shipping so I don't pay $16+ for a postcard which I have seen often due to the Global charges. So I agree, it is AWFUL and will deter me from shopping on ebay.

bb_cool_stuff · ‎11-04-2013

I find it time consuming to have to email a seller for each item to verify the cost of shipping so i don't pay $16+ for a postcard which i have seen often due to the Global changes.

Wow, just wow.

I really can't believe you would post a statement such as that.

marnotom! · ‎11-04-2013

dp56addict, as explained in the post previous to yours, you're not likely paying duty with the Global Shipping Program, but you are paying taxes plus customs processing charges. All "casual" imports of goods with declared values of over C$20 are subject to taxes. As you've found, the feds aren't all that great at collecting their own and the provinces' taxes.

A US$24.00 set of pens would be subject to US$2.88 in BC PST plus GST, which leaves a little shy of US$4.00 for PitneyBowes' and all the other parties involved in the transaction to divvy up.

I used to live in a remote location on Vancouver Island and the post office was across the water. I had to travel by boat once to collect a modestly-priced item that had taxes assessed on it by Canada Border Services. There was also a post office processing fee on top of that which was more than four bucks. (If the item hadn't been assessed taxes, it would have been put in a mailbag and picked up by a good samaritan who took it to the other side of the water for me to collect.)

Seems to me that it would be best for anybody contemplating a purchase made through the Global Shipping Program to do the research and number-crunching and see if it makes sense for that particular purchase. Unfortunately, some if not many US sellers using the GSP are using it where it doesn't make a lot of sense.

bb_cool_stuff · ‎11-04-2013

Seems to me that it would be best for anybody comtemplating a purchase made through the Global Shipping Program to do the research and number crunching and see if it makes sense for that particular purchase.

You & many others have been posting that statement for months now marn.

It makes sense yet others just don't seem to be getting it.

afantiques · ‎11-04-2013

I also don't pay duty or any charges as I live in a remote area and there is no way of collecting it.

I like it. Must be crowded with tax exiles up there.

carlmarxx · ‎11-05-2013

@marnotom! wrote:
dp56addict, as explained in the post previous to yours, you're not likely paying duty with the Global Shipping Program, but you are paying taxes plus customs processing charges. All "casual" imports of goods with declared values of over C$20 are subject to taxes. As you've found, the feds aren't all that great at collecting their own and the provinces' taxes.

A US$24.00 set of pens would be subject to US$2.88 in BC PST plus GST, which leaves a little shy of US$4.00 for PitneyBowes' and all the other parties involved in the transaction to divvy up.

I used to live in a remote location on Vancouver Island and the post office was across the water. I had to travel by boat once to collect a modestly-priced item that had taxes assessed on it by Canada Border Services. There was also a post office processing fee on top of that which was more than four bucks. (If the item hadn't been assessed taxes, it would have been put in a mailbag and picked up by a good samaritan who took it to the other side of the water for me to collect.)

Seems to me that it would be best for anybody contemplating a purchase made through the Global Shipping Program to do the research and number-crunching and see if it makes sense for that particular purchase. Unfortunately, some if not many US sellers using the GSP are using it where it doesn't make a lot of sense.

The Ebay.com has been auto signing up Newbie sellers into GSP when it rolled out . for a while when you signed up for GSP you had a option to use it by checking the box off on the listing item page, Because items under $20 where not worth the cost of GSP. Ebay started doing the auto in GSP on all items with out telling the sellers to check their item before listing . Which upset us sellers . Lucky for me ebay had added the OPT-out option which I did in july after I they auto in GSP on my items . I will NOT USE GSP. .

tonerama · ‎11-05-2013

LOL - nealry every post in htis forum (certainly the top 5 o6) references the Global Shipping Fiasco. Is the Canadian eBay market large enough for eBay to recant this policy? I for one have drastically curtailed my purchaisng, and do no tbother if there seller is registered with GSP. I can't beleive this new policy has not hurt eBay sales to Canada. Perhaps they don't care. I certainly won't care for eBya whilst their sellers still use this sham cash cow.

marnotom! · ‎11-05-2013

@tonerama wrote:
Is the Canadian eBay market large enough for eBay to recant this policy? I for one have drastically curtailed my purchaisng, and do no tbother if there seller is registered with GSP. I can't beleive this new policy has not hurt eBay sales to Canada. Perhaps they don't care. I certainly won't care for eBya whilst their sellers still use this sham cash cow.

My sense from hanging out on the U.S. boards is that while Canadian sales make up the lion's share of international sales for U.S. buyers, overall Canadian sales still make up a pretty small proportion of most U.S. sellers' sales. I doubt that any U.S. sellers' total sales figures have gone into the toilet as a result of using--knowingly or unknowingly--the GSP. In other words, we need them far more than they need us.

Having said that, if the GSP were being used by most sellers where it made a bit more sense, with higher-priced, larger items, we likely wouldn't be having all these discussions. A big problem with the GSP is that many sellers don't do due diligence and find out what it looks like to their potential international buyers so they have no idea of the fees charged.

techrtr · ‎11-16-2013

It's a complete rip-off. Customs charges are included when something is shipped to you via USPS or Canada Post. Why would anyone pay an extra $20 on top of shipping fees? It increases delivery times and costs you more money. It's like having something shipped via UPS or Purolator - they often charge you a ridiculous "customs brokerage fee" that's not charged by USPS. I bet you ePrey gets their cut from Pitney Bowes too.