eBay

monaghanlane · ‎08-05-2013

First, I love Buying and Bidding on Ebay.

But, to all Sellers out there....

If you charge the new Global Import Fees....on top of....regular Shipping Fees, I have chosen to automatically not bid or buy from you and will search another Seller for the same of similar item.

With the added Global Import Charges, my expenses have practically doubled. Shipping fees are sometimes expensive enough, now to add Import Fees as well? Not a benefit to the Buyer.

As a Buyer I would rather take my chances of being surprised with having to pay customs or duites at my door. I have been on Ebay for over ten years and have had to pay duty only twice....and not as exhorbitant the amounts requested on the Import Fees on Ebay.

NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) is suppose to make free trade possible between Canada, U.S.A., and Mexico. in order to be competitive with International Countries.
I buy things internationally overseas and do not have to deal with Global Import Fees unless it happens to be an expensive item, or special category of item.

Just saying.....Sellers you may loose a lot of Buyers if you make Import Charges mandatory. Let the Buyers take their chances, and be responsible for the customs or duties instead of "forcing" the payment on your customers.

Still love buying and bidding on Ebay.

Thanks.

marnotom! · ‎08-05-2013

It's certainly your choice whether you wish to purchase from a seller who's enrolled in and using the Global Shipping Program, just as it's your choice as to whether or not you purchase from a seller who ships by FedEx, UPS, Express Mail, and so forth.

Just remember that the seller sees none of the import charges that you don't like. Those are collected by a party other than eBay and split up between various companies and the federal and provincial governments who get the sales tax portion of those charges.

You may wish to read up on the Global Shipping Program to get a better idea of how it works. It's good to know the ways of your enemy.

http://pages.ebay.ca/help/buy/shipping-globally.html

http://pages.ebay.ca/shipping/globalshipping/buyer-tnc.html

It's not a terribly cost-effective way to ship small, modestly-valued items, which seems to be what most Canadian buyers purchase on eBay. However, it does seem to have some promise for larger and/or higher-value items. Having said that, I probably won't be purchasing from a seller who uses it until there are other bugs in it that need to be worked out.

marnotom! · ‎08-05-2013

Oh, and one more point. NAFTA and "free trade" is all about eliminating duties, not taxes. What you paid for receiving those two shipments was likely some combination of PST/GST/HST/QST, the same taxes you'd be paying if you purchased that same item from a Canadian seller (be it an eBay seller, brick and mortar seller, etc.) registered to collect those taxes.

If NAFTA eliminated taxes, many of the goods we currently purchase from stores wouldn't be subject to sales tax, GST, etc.

katlover1952 · ‎08-31-2013

I totally agree with you - I too have purchased on ebay for over 10 years and can count on one hand the number of times I have had to pay taxes. When I calculated taxes on a couple of these items it was way more than what you would have to pay IF you were charged when it was mailed to you. I talked to one of the sellers who used the program and she had to ship the item to another state and then the company shipped it on to me. Of course the shipping would be more - somebody has to pay for shipping it twice and it's not the seller. I avoid those using Global shipping as well - it just adds extra costs onto the item. I feel that is very unfortunate that I see more and more sellers going this route. Filling out the customs forms is really not that difficult!

ypdc_dennis · ‎08-31-2013

@katlover1952 wrote:
I talked to one of the sellers who used the program and she had to ship the item to another state and then the company shipped it on to me. Of course the shipping would be more - somebody has to pay for shipping it twice and it's not the seller.

Double shipping does not mean an increase in shipping cost. For many items the shipping cost should be lower, particularily for small volume sellers.

Cheap domestic shipping PLUS high discount bulk international shipping usually adds up to a lower cost than expensive direct-from-the-seller international shipping.

My personal take: I buy a GSP item only if really, really makes cents to my pocketbook. Otherwise, I just skip to next listing.

joesalesman · ‎03-13-2015

People are so complacent - free trade agreement eliminates the "duty" so let label it a tax! and everyone rolls over - "AH it's a tax!"

sorry for the cynicism just annoyed!

73rhc · ‎03-13-2015

You should be posting this on the .com board. It doesn't apply here. There are no import charges between Canadian buyers and Canadian sellers!!!

38e_avenue · ‎03-13-2015

@73rhc wrote:
You should be posting this on the .com board. It doesn't apply here. There are no import charges between Canadian buyers and Canadian sellers!!!

Really? I though Canadian buyers buy mainly from US sellers.

38e_avenue · ‎03-13-2015

@monaghanlane wrote:

With the added Global Import Charges, my expenses have practically doubled. Shipping fees are sometimes expensive enough, now to add Import Fees as well? Not a benefit to the Buyer.

Not always so! Calculate!

I bought a very large and heavy book from US seller enrolled in GSP. The charge was 22 for the shipping + 12 import charge.

Another US sellers NOT enrolled in GSP charged for the shipping 58+ dollars!

It might not work for every item, but you should compare before you decide not to buy from GSP sellers.

Since I got the book, I always buy from GSP sellers, save money on shipping and I am very happy!

73rhc · ‎03-13-2015

"Really? I though Canadian buyers buy mainly from US sellers."

Yes, really!!! This a board for CANADIAN sellers!!!!

rockp5233 · ‎03-13-2015

Hi monaghan,

Thank you for this comment and I think it is the opinion of numerous ebayer...

My suggestion : focus on Canuck sellers, we are not that many but we are really good !

Cheers !

reallynicestamps · ‎03-13-2015

free trade agreement eliminates the "duty" so let label it a tax!

Duty is federal.

Duty is charged on many if not most items manufactured outside of nations with which we have free trade agreements. (These include not only the USA and Mexica, but Chile, Costa Rica, and some agricultural products from Israel.)

The government is currently negotiating Free Trade with the European Community.

Sales taxes are provincial and federal.

Canadians pay sales taxes every day when they buy anything from baby clothes to funerals.

Sales taxes are charged on almost all items when they are sold both retail and wholesale.