eBay

bcar1970 · ‎08-27-2015

wondering whats up with the import charge and higher shipping to Canada. I was a bigger customer but these new rules have

really slowed down my ebay shopping. I am sure I am not the only Canadian who thinks this

.

judithsjewellery · ‎08-28-2015

Nope your not.

First thing I check now on a listing is the shipping method. If it shows this Global Rip Off I just move along.

If it is something I REALLY want I sometimes message the seller and ask if they will ship First Class International. Most of them come back with eBay's propaganda about how convenient it is blah-blah-blah. Far to many of them don't even know what it is or that they are signed up for it.

If it is a large seller of certain expensive items I look to see if they have a web site and go there to buy, if not I do without. All the small jewelry making supplies I used to buy from the US I now buy from China. If you don't mind the wait you often get free shipping and it's the same item an American seller has at twice the price plus the dreaded Global Rip Off shipping charges.

EBay must be getting a big cut from this program and I'm sorry to say most American sellers don't care if they are losing money on International sales.

The other thing that frosts my butt is the confiscation and resale of items that are not allowed to be exported to different countries. But that is another story entirely.

femmefan1946 · ‎08-28-2015

If it is a large seller of certain expensive items

On truly expensive items, the Global Shipping Program is often a better buy overall than the Canadian duty and Canadian sales tax that will be charged at the border by CBSA. And Canada Post's service charge on such purchases is actually higher than that of the GSP.

One of the many failures of the GSP, is that eBay does not remind sellers that it is not helpful with items valued under about $100CDN. This is because the CSBA workers have decided not to bother processing items that are so low value that it would cost the taxpayer more to collect duty (and sales tax) than they could possibly collect.

Your public service in action. (Seriously. This was a very sensible move on the part of the bureaucracy. Duty and taxes are supposed to be collected on any import over $20CDN - about $15.50 USD).

To avoid GSP sellers, don't shop on a mobile. The warning is not viewable.

Don't shop with Gallery View in Search. The warning is not viewable.

Do look for these words:

Customs services and international tracking provided

Which denote that the seller is enrolled in the GSP.

BTW, some nitwit at eBay decided to automatically enroll new sellers in the program. Most didn't even realize that they were selling internationally. Meaning that a lot of naive and nervous sellers are unknowingly in the program.

Politely, asking if the seller is interested in your purchase would help such sellers out. It would be a kindness.

judithsjewellery · ‎08-28-2015

On truly expensive items, the Global Shipping Program is often a better buy overall than the Canadian duty and Canadian sales tax that will be charged at the border by CBSA. And Canada Post's service charge on such purchases is actually higher than that of the GSP.

Sorry how do you figure that? CBSA charges $9.95 handling charge and in my case 13% HST on the FPP. The GSP charges 20% of the FPP. Some sellers charge Priority International Shipping while they use GPS. What Priority International to ship to Kentucky?

The whole thing is a mess that I stay away from.

I would rather take my chances with First Class International, which often doesn't get assessed by the CBSA that getting lost in some hub in Kentucky. Or worse still getting confiscated and re-sold by the same outfit that just determined that it can't be shipped overseas.

And if you have to return the item for any reason you can kiss those fees goodbye. At least with the CBSA if you have to return the item for any reason you at least get your tax back.

pjcdn2005 · ‎08-28-2015

Sorry how do you figure that? CBSA charges $9.95 handling charge and in my case 13% HST on the FPP. The GSP charges 20% of the FPP.

The GSP doesn't have a 20% flat rate. You would pay 13% plus their service charge which is around $5-$6 in most cases.

In some cases you would also pay duty with CBSA and the GSP. Less expensive items would look to be a higher percentage because of the service charge.

Most of the items I look at are at 5% (I'm in Alberta) plus the service charge.

Some sellers charge Priority International Shipping while they use GPS. What Priority International to ship to Kentucky?

ALL gsp shipments automatically list Priority International Shipping which is just a generic term. The seller doesn't have any input and you don't see which service they are using to Kentucky.

judithsjewellery · ‎08-28-2015

Let's see item # 191567977134 Buy it Now price $1,799.99 International Priority Shipping $104.39 Import charges $ 351.39.

Import charges are 19.52% of Final price PLUS shipping makes a total of 25.32% of the final price.

Or how about item 191652014966. BIN $695 International Priority Shipping $ 22.04 Import charges $137.97. Import charges are 19.85% of the final price PLUS shipping would be 23.02 % of total price.

Or lastly item 321844182135 BIN $27.45 International Priority shipping $8.96 Import charges $9.03 which are 34.87% PLUS shipping would be 65.5% of the total cost.

13% plus a $5-6.00 service charge? Maybe my math is wrong, but I make those charges way higher than CBSA plus they use the most expensive shipping they can with no tracking information.

Say what?

Please show me these 5% listings.

afantiques · ‎08-29-2015

ALL gsp shipments automatically list Priority International Shipping which is just a generic term. The seller doesn't have any input and you don't see which service they are using to Kentucky.

No, it is International Priority shipping, a meaningless term. Priority International is the USPS name for a specific service, and something quite different.

For a brief period the GSP called their shipping something less confusing, but the fact that they went back to calling it International Priority shipping seems to indicate the confusion is deliberate.

Once upon a time, USPS had a surface delivery rate, which was International shipping, and an air rate that was for Priority International shipping because air was faster than surface, Once they abandoned all surface shipping, the old Priority (which was faster) became the new standard (which is not faster because there is no service to be faster than).

Nowadays the term Priority used by any of them is simply a meaningless marketing word like 'New' or 'Improved' or 'Best', it is noise without meaning, they might as well both call it Xilbuxel shipping for all the significance it has.

00nevermind00 · ‎08-29-2015

@afantiques wrote:
No, it is International Priority shipping, a meaningless term. Priority International is the USPS name for a specific service, and something quite different.

For a brief period the GSP called their shipping something less confusing, but the fact that they went back to calling it International Priority shipping seems to indicate the confusion is deliberate.

I also think that this is done deliberately. And seeing the number of posts from confused buyers who are expecting a USPS International Priority shipment, it is working.

Quite unethical, if you ask me. But where eBay's pet program is concerned, ethics don't seem to matter much. For shame! A seller who intentionally misleads his/her buyers will no doubt get booted from the site pretty quickly. Yet it's OK for eBay and its partner Pitney Bowes to do exactly the same thing.

It's a real shame that eBay has stooped this low.

marnotom! · ‎08-30-2015

@judithsjewellery wrote:

Let's see item # 191567977134 Buy it Now price $1,799.99 International Priority Shipping $104.39 Import charges $ 351.39.
Import charges are 19.52% of Final price PLUS shipping makes a total of 25.32% of the final price.

Or how about item 191652014966. BIN $695 International Priority Shipping $ 22.04 Import charges $137.97. Import charges are 19.85% of the final price PLUS shipping would be 23.02 % of total price.

Or lastly item 321844182135 BIN $27.45 International Priority shipping $8.96 Import charges $9.03 which are 34.87% PLUS shipping would be 65.5% of the total cost.

13% plus a $5-6.00 service charge? Maybe my math is wrong, but I make those charges way higher than CBSA plus they use the most expensive shipping they can with no tracking information.
Say what?

Please show me these 5% listings.

Let's try as best as possible an apples-to-apples comparison.

This item is being shipped by First Class International. Shipping rate: US$23.35.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/281772961062

This item is identical except for the price, which is US$4.00 lower.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/281786115286

Shipping price to me in British Columbia is US$9.76. My import charges would be US$5.23. The total of shipping and import charges would be considerably less than the first item at US$14.99.

Now you're probably thinking that's not quite a fair comparison because the second item's selling price is less expensive than the first, and you're right. So let's do some math.

Due to a quirk in British Columbia's taxation laws, I don't have to pay PST on a GSP shipment. Therefore, 80 (US) cents of the import charge would be GST (the "5%" to which Pjcdn2005 is referring). The remaining $4.43 is for PitneyBowes to play with.

Assuming that PitneyBowes' cut of the import charges would be the same if the item were priced at US$19.99, that would make the total import charges (US$1.00 GST + $4.43 PitneyBowes' cut) for the item US$5.43, with a total for shipping/processing of $15.19, still less expensive than the item shipped by First Class International. Note that the total for the item shipped by mail doesn't even include the taxes and handling charge possibly levied by CBSA/Canada Post.

Seeing as you like to work with percentages, I guess I could note that the second item's import charges are about a third of the item's value, but I think it's more useful to examine GSP items in terms of overall costs rather than percentages charged.