Comments about the Global Shipping Program

[kalvin@ebay.com]

Feel free to share your thoughts about the Global Shipping Program here. 

A few questions to get the ball rolling:

• What has worked well for you with the Global Shipping Program?
• Any ideas to help improve the experience for Canadian buyers?
• What has deterred you from buying items offered using the Global Shipping Program?
• How have you managed to search for items outside the program?

Please try & keep the comments constructive 🙂

If you have any questions about the program, please post them here.

[780maxim]

We all keep posting here, when is anyone going to respond from ebay?  How many posts are enough to warrant a response?

[hotrodhype]

Nothing but a scam, seems e-bay is always trying to come up with ways to entice buyers. And allowed some brainiac to deter canadian buyers, it makes no sense. A big rip off to buyers and sellers. Who ever  the brain child is behind this one,should be fired. I Don't buy from sellers who use the GSP. If everyone does the same...it will surely be scraped.

[bennett4612]

Hi 780maxim.

Kalvin and I do spend time on the message boards. Let one of us know (on a thread or via Private Message) if you have a question. 

There is also a separate "Questions about the Global Shipping Program" thread that Kalvin and I also check regularly. 

Thanks.

---Ben

[kalvin@ebay.com]

Hi everyone,

We appreciate everyone's feedback & comments on the program. Ben has been fantastic at sourcing out answers for some really tough questions. The idea is to provide a platform to gather insights on the program so we can pass them on.

To highlight, Sellers are now able to opt out of the program, as well as content available for further Seller education, ie - the program is best for anything above $50, etc. Collectively, our knowledge of the Global Shipping Program grows, and the more informed the Community is, the better that knowledge can be leveraged to cater to both Buyer and Seller needs.

[16blythest]

When one is being bilked of money by some big corporation, I think some annoyance is perfectly understandable.

Calling annoyance & a refusal to be bilked again  "vitriol"  is a bit much !

[afantiques]

When one is being bilked of money by some big corporation, I think some annoyance is perfectly understandable.

Calling annoyance & a refusal to be bilked again  "vitriol"  is a bit much !

Some posts are downright rabid.  Bilked is pretty mild, but no one bilked you. You got the super expensive service you paid for, if you bought something.

I suppose you could fairly say 'milked' instead. But that's another matter.

But you made the choice to buy. You were told the price and you accepted it. It's annoying, but it's not actually cheating.

[doctorjack47]

ebay is creating an arbitrary purchase of import  charges when for the most part they are not necessary when dealing from canada to the us where there is a free trade agreement, it has recently caused an unnecessary riff between myself and the seller, as he had no idea that the package was going to my address in canada, due to the fact that when i paid this fee, pay pal sent him the address of the global international (pitney bowes) company in kentucky, usa.  It appears to me that this is a money grab on the part of ebay,  In the past of over 300 purchases i have never had a problem with duty charges, i have paid on items not made in the us and on others there has been no charge.  Ebay alleges that this is a more convenient method for both buyer and seller yet it just causes more strained relationships,  also i have learned from other ebay members that this global company has authority to open the package it and remove packing to make it lighter and cheaper for them to send thus opening a larger profit margin. 

[marnotom!]

---

@doctorjack47 wrote:

ebay is creating an arbitrary purchase of import  charges when for the most part they are not necessary when dealing from canada to the us where there is a free trade agreement, it has recently caused an unnecessary riff between myself and the seller, as he had no idea that the package was going to my address in canada, due to the fact that when i paid this fee, pay pal sent him the address of the global international (pitney bowes) company in kentucky, usa.  It appears to me that this is a money grab on the part of ebay,  In the past of over 300 purchases i have never had a problem with duty charges, i have paid on items not made in the us and on others there has been no charge.

---

I suspect what's actually been "arbitrary" for you is the manner in which Canada Border Services assesses and charges taxes--not just duty--on imports you've received by mail.  Technically speaking, all items imported by mail with a declared value of over C$20 are subject to tax.  However, Canada Border Services doesn't tax every single package that enters the country.  More information here:

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

On top of those taxes charged, Canada Post will charge a C$9.95 processing fee for collecting and remitting those taxes on behalf of Canada Border Services and you.

So if you've "never had a problem with duty charges" prior to your GSP purchase, I'm willing to bet it's because you've never been charged for duty--more likely taxes, actually--on an item that was subject to that charge.

One problem with the Global Shipping Program is that it doesn't allow for a breakdown of what constitutes the "import charges" on a purchase, so you can't see how much goes to taxes, how much to duty, and how much to the various customs-related fees.  If you're purchasing an item from the United States that wasn't manufactured in a free trade zone country, you're likely going to be looking at duty on it, not just the taxes.

Since your seller doesn't actually charge you the taxes and duty due, you're going to find it unproductive trying to work this out with your seller, particularly if--as seems to be the case here--your seller has no idea that they were even enrolled in the GSP and thus they have no idea how it actually works.  The only way around it as far as I know is to ask if he can relist the item with conventional postal shipping to Canada instead of the GSP.

---

@doctorjack47 wrote:

also i have learned from other ebay members that this global company has authority to open the package it and remove packing to make it lighter and cheaper for them to send thus opening a larger profit margin. 

---

The official word is that the Global Shipping Center can open packages under specific conditions of regulatory law.  The more information the Global Shipping Center has on the item's nature and country of origin, the less likely it will be opened to verify that information.  More info here:

http://blogs.pb.com/ecommerce/2013/07/17/global-shipping-program-faqs/

You're probably taking that information with a grain of salt, and to be honest, I don't blame you, but I'm just putting out what P-B says officially.

[kxeron]

Hi,

I have been observing an ongoing issue with eBay that has really damaged my experience with the site. This damage is incurred by shipping charges not being made up front on the search result listings. I feel in many cases that I have been led down a path of "bait and switch" where I find something cheap - something I'd buy if shipping was say $10 no problem, only to look into the listing and see a $20-60 shipping on a $5-15 item (less than 1kg) that could effectively fit in a bubblewrap envelope.

These cases have me thinking pessimistically of every eBay listing, wondering if when I turn that virtualized price tag around (clicking the entry) if I'll see an ugly price tag beneath that turns a $15 item into $65.

eBay claims it cannot fix these shipping prices and further claims that it is the shipping companies faults for incurring these costs while at the same time eBay involves itself immensely in the shipping process (look at the GSP) and has connections with shipping companies (including postal). While undoubtedly a lot of the cost is caused by Canadian shipping companies and Canada Post, I doubt it all is.

At the moment this "bait and switch" has ruined the eBay experience for me as I feel I cannot rely on the price in bold anymore for anywhere near what I expect to pay. The price in bold feels to me like a "reservation cost" where to get it released, you need to pay again triple (some cases quadruple) the cost.

THEREFORE:

I petition that eBay should either:

a) display the price of shipping in all search results listings and any other locations where a price may be located for an item

b) integrate the price into the listing "price in bold" cost and display what of that cost is for shipping within the listing

I consider myself a reasonable individual and think the above solutions are indeed reasonable as to better inform buyers of the real price so that they are not led into a bait and switch scenerio. (B) would be ideal as it'd further discourage auction sellers who utilize the shipping cost to "make up" for auctions that don't quite make their desired price (in effect making it an inflated "buy it now" where the buyer thinks they got a deal) and pocket the difference.

[marnotom!]

In these instances where you're seeing lower shipping prices in your search results than on the listing page itself, are these items located in the United States?  I'm wondering if--for whatever reason--you're seeing U.S. domestic shipping rates and not shipping rates from the U.S. to Canada.

[sierrasolitude]

Bottom line here is that the GSP is nothing but extortion, I can't believe that eBay is so ignorant that they don't know that items under a certain price are not charged duty and I think that the U.S. sellers need to know this, these sellers need to learn that eBay admin is not God almighty and that even though we buyers here in Canada are not that strong, we still do a lot of business with the U.S. and we are being penalized for doing it.  Is there no way we can educate them as to duty fees for what they are selling, there has to be some way of getting this info from Canada Customs and posting it to let them know what is going on, if this info comes from the horse's mouth, then maybe they will believe.  It might take longer to receive items from europe but europeans I don't think will fall for the GSP **bleep** but there again the U.S. sellers will suffer and I don't think that is right, there are a lot of nice people and I for one would not want their sales to hurt because of misinformation.  So, in my words, c'mon America find out the facts before you believe everything you are told.  HAVE A GREAT DAY.

[afantiques]

Bottom line here is that the GSP is nothing but extortion,

This is just sill, it is a commercial operation which you are free to use or ignore as you wish.

You may find it annoying but there is no call to  get the pitchforks out and go  and storm the castle.

Either ask sellers to opt out or buy from other sellers.

It should be a boom time for sellers who can manage the simple process of shipping abroad without much trouble.

[kxeron]

---

@marnotom! wrote:

In these instances where you're seeing lower shipping prices in your search results than on the listing page itself, are these items located in the United States?  I'm wondering if--for whatever reason--you're seeing U.S. domestic shipping rates and not shipping rates from the U.S. to Canada.

---

This is an issue where pages accross the entire site do not adequately include the shipping costs into the price tag of the items since shipping is a dramatic aspect of selling on eBay, making items seem cheaper than they actually are. This is an issue accross the board. Consider:

There have been many cases where I search for things by "Time Ending" and see $0.01 items ending with 0 bids, in these cases it seems almost always there's something dramatically incorrect or wrong with the listings. In many cases these listings have been rigged to have the "Retail Price" of the item has been inserted into the shipping cost and thus anyone who bidded would have to pay retail cost anyways PLUS what they bidded.

The problem I'm observing isn't the location of where the items are and/or shipping distance, but rather how the shipping costs are presented as "small print" costs as if they're minor fees when in fact due to eBay's involvement in the shipping processes they are a critical aspect to consumers being adequately informed. I could see the current system working where the shipping charges are a percentage of the item's worth/cost, but when they equal or are greater than, such a method breaks down quickly.

This is the same sort of thing where if a brick and mortar retailer were to have an item on the shelf and you see a price tag in large on the item, but turn that price tag around and see a contract where it's in fine print that you owe 2-4 times the cost on the tag, such a brick and mortar retailer would go out of business with these practices or be sued under consumer protection laws for false advertising. Consider if you went to the corner store and purchased a can of pop where they tacked on an extra dollar for "bringing it to the store" where you had to read tiny print hidden underneath that can (don't tell me the item is "already there", there's logistics involved in any sale of obtaining the item to sell in the first place).

Each listing is in fact an advertisement, as such all costs (barring formal sales taxes as governed by tax codes) realistically have to be made up-front and in all forms where an in-theory "final price" is displayed. Shipping charges are a service, not a tax and should be included in the "in-large" price, and THEN be broken down in details, not the other way around.

I would propose a set-up where you have the price in bold listed as normal as it is now which includes BOTH the current bid/price AND shipping into one and then in the listing itself have a breakdown like a mini-quote, for instance:

C $40.00

• Current bid: $10.00
• Shipping: $30.00

I hope this clears things up.

Securely,

K

[lady.stark]

So I promised to come back to tell you how my GSP experience went:

- I won item on October 19 and paid the same day.

- Seller also shipped the same day (accepted at the Post Office the same day).

- Took one week to arrive at Kentucky center (October 26).

- Item submitted to Mississauga center on October 26 and picked up by Canada Post on October 28.

- Item delivered today, October 31 (Quebec city).

That means it took almost 2 weeks to arrive, which is a little more time than some of my packages shipped by First Class Mail directly from sellers. But since some packages also take longer - even if it happens less and less since Delivery Confirmation has been included - I guess it's a good average.

One thing I learned is that the packages ARE opened in Kentucky. They seem to include a note now, because my package had one. I scanned it:

One strange thing: there is absolutely no custom form on the package. It's as if it was shipped from a Canadian seller: it has an Expedited label with the Mississauga address taped on top of the original label from the US seller.

I was afraid that my posters would be damaged with so much handling. Fortunately, they are in great shape. I might try the GSP again if I find another item that cannot be purchased elsewhere and if the total cost is still reasonable (as in this case).

[marnotom!]

Thanks for reporting back to us, Lady.stark.

---

@lady.stark wrote:

One thing I learned is that the packages ARE opened in Kentucky. They seem to include a note now, because my package had one. I scanned it:

---

Actually, this was determined a while ago, although I don't think every single package is opened in Kentucky as long as whoever's handling it can figure out the country of origin of the item.  (If the seller puts this information on the listing page, that likely helps.)

The official word on this from Pitney Bowes is here:

http://blogs.pb.com/ecommerce/2013/07/17/global-shipping-program-faqs/

I'm glad a note's starting to be included, at least.

---

@lady.stark wrote:

One strange thing: there is absolutely no custom form on the package. It's as if it was shipped from a Canadian seller: it has an Expedited label with the Mississauga address taped on top of the original label from the US seller.

---

Nothing strange about it at all, if the "AF hypothesis" (hypothesis on the GSP's workings by AFAntiques) is correct.  The item likely travelled with a pallet of other items destined for Canada which was cleared en masse.  Somebody in customs had a list or manifest to work from and had no reason to break into the pallet to check for irregularities.  This is how many if not most commercial shipments to Canada are handled and cleared.

So were the posters transported by Canada Post within Canada?  I'm not clear on this.  And is there any indication as to who handled your package between Kentucky and Mississauga?

[lady.stark]

---

@marnotom! wrote:

(a) The item likely travelled with a pallet of other items destined for Canada which was cleared en masse.
(b) So were the posters transported by Canada Post within Canada?  I'm not clear on this.

(c) And is there any indication as to who handled your package between Kentucky and Mississauga?

---

I added the letters to your post to match the letters from my answer below. It will be easier to follow 😉

(a) Thanks for the explanation. That must be how my package was handled.

(b) Yes, Canada Post. It had an Expedited label on it.

(c) No indication at all, unfortunately. But to travel that fast, my guess would be probably a company like UPS or FedEx.

[jeff4210]

Dont have the answer! but i will not bid on any item that uses the GSP and pay up front for something that almost everytime cost nothing extra in custom fees!

[karl*katz]

Actually only 44 of the worlds 196 countries are involved in the Global Shipping Program

If collecting taxes on behalf of the Government makes some one a thief then every retail store in Canada and every clerk in those stores would be guilty.

The idea behind the Global Shipping Program was good.

Instead of having people surprised by unexpected charges at the time of delivery they could pay everything in advance.

What eBay didn't take into consideration was that the vast majority of small items shipped into Canada via the post office passed through the system without being accessed even though they were eligible for charges. 

[karl*katz]

And it isn't on every item.

Not all sellers use the Global Shipping Program.

If a seller does use Global Shipping that is clearly shown on the listing.

You can choose to buy from sellers that do not use the program.

Or better still

Buy from Canadian Sellers and help the Canadian economy.