eBay

kalvin@ebay.com · ‎09-26-2013

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.

~Kalvin
eBay.ca Community Manager

kalvin@ebay.com

marnotom! · ‎02-09-2014

@arlene_v wrote:

It would be very easy indeed for Ebay to remove Canada from the list of eligible countries for the Global Shipping Program.

Some might say "But buyers deserve to have the choice".

I would simply refer such objectors to read this thread and count the number of satisfied happy GSP shoppers. Look at the posts with the highest number of kudos ....and then argue that Canadians want any part of this program.

We have a unique situation in Canada ....possibly the "suits" did not do their homework when considering Canada for this program, because had they done any kind of market research,they would have realized in five minutes or less that this program is a disaster for the typical Ebay shopper on this site.

Not having this program available to Canadian shoppers would be the best business option for Ebay as far as their Canadian market goes.

For the rest of the world it might work very well, but not for the US-Canada situation.

From the U.S. boards you visit, Arlene, do you get the sense that a lot of U.S. sellers have switched over from using the postal service for their international sales to using the GSP?

My sense is that most of those who did switch (due largely to the incentives offered by eBay) have switched back or will be doing so unless it really does make more sense to use the GSP in their sales due to the nature of their item.

This leaves a lot of sellers with little to no prior experience selling internationally who have opted into the program unwittingly or unknowingly and are thus using it inappropriately.

The way I see things based on what I've read on the US boards and my own searches on eBay, eliminating the GSP for sales to Canada would be more or less the same as just removing all the GSP listings. They wouldn't be replaced because the sellers wouldn't be set up for direct shipping to Canada.

What are your observations and conclusions?

marnotom! · ‎02-09-2014

@i*m-still-here wrote:

All of the problems associated with the GSP for low end items are magnified with high end items.

This is an example of one of your posts where you seem to think you've posted more than you have. Somebody coming into this thread and just reading the last page or two may have no idea what problems you're referring to, and indeed, since you're comparing low end items to high end items, I'm not sure what problems you're referring to specifically.

Maybe my repeating my contentions bothers you, but not everyone has read every single post on this thread, either.

Anyway, I would like a bit of elaboration on your point. This is from the phone I recently purchased (on my usual ID) on eBay. It's not really a high end item, but it's not bottom of the barrel, either. From just the information you have on the listing page, could you tell me what problems I've got myself into here?

pierrelebel · ‎02-09-2014

"Since we have a free trade agreement that is pretty much worthless"

Once again, what does the "free trade agreement" (NAFTA) have to do with GSP?

NAFTA generally deals with quotas and tariffs, not shipping charge, handling fees and consumption taxes (GST/HST/PST).

Why is NAFTA brought back in this discussion every week? It has nothing, I mean absolutely nothing, to do with eBay and GSP.

For readers who missed the link earlier, let me offer one more time the link to the official NAFTA agreement:

https://www.nafta-sec-alena.org/Default.aspx?tabid=97&language=en-US

We all know GST is not good for most transactions by Canadian buyers and there are plenty of posts explaining the real and perceived problems. Why mention NAFTA again when it has nothing to do with it?

arlene_v · ‎02-09-2014

Hi Marno,

I am a regular on the US jewelry board .... and you are spot on.

My take on the GSP is that sellers on the jewelry board are very unconcerned with it ... those few who have taken the time to research it might comment but for the most part ..indifference and no idea whatsoever about the costs to buyers if they are enrolled, nor how important the info is that they bring to the equation.

And I am pretty sure that a lot of them would not offer shipping to Canada if it were not for the GSP.

Sometimes I get a bit "hot under the collar" but try hard to remember I am an international visitor on their board and don't really want to come across as a rabid crazy chick ....not good for the Canadian image!

BTW, please keep us posted on your recent GSP purchase. I hope all goes well.

arlene_v · ‎02-09-2014

Pierre - I am talking about duty. Not HST/PST/GST

I have posted multiple examples of items attracting duty that shouldn't under this program.

I am really not sure how you can say this isn't an issue.

arlene_v · ‎02-09-2014

And Pierre I am more than willing to stand corrected .... if you could please explain what covers the issue of "duty" ... I know that the CBSA uses NAFTA in its terminology ... so what is the correct usage here?

I am trying to indicate that Canadian buyers should not be paying duty (I am not talking about taxes) on items that are exempt and are made in the USA or Mexico. This program is levying such charges sometimes, due to seller error.

ringettechamp · ‎02-09-2014

The Global Shipping Program really sucks for Canadians. I will no longer be buying from sellers using this program as the costs are outrageous. I spoke to a couple of sellers about the program and they don't seem to understand how the program affects the buying costs for Canadians. The shipping + duties and taxes cost more than the items I want to purchase! Small purchases usually cross the border without any taxes and/or duty however the most I have ever had to pay at the post office was 13%. Sellers will be losing all of their Canadian business.

pierrelebel · ‎02-09-2014

My comments applied to ""Since we have a free trade agreement that is pretty much worthless""

NAFTA is OK. That is not the problem. It is not worthless.

The problem is how GSP is administered, not NAFTA.

Until eBay gets its act together, we can all spend ten hours a day finding problems with duty/tax calculations. Unfortunately, they prove nothing and will not change anything until eBay realizes they must change how they administer the system.

eBay is aware of the problems. What will they do to correct them and when?

i*m-still-here · ‎02-09-2014

marnotom! wrote:

i*m-still-here wrote:

All of the problems associated with the GSP for low end items are magnified with high end items.

The point is really simple.

There have been numerous posts indicating that the GSP does not work for items under $50, implying that it's fine for items over $50.

I think that these posters are just grasping at straws.

They know it doesn't work for the $20 items that they are buying, and so they reason that it must work for "someone else." .....................

otherwise ebay wouldn't be pushing it like this.

They then conclude that it works for items over $50.

Trust Me: It does not!

siemenpoes · ‎02-09-2014

I live in Belgium (Europe) and I will never buy anymore from sellers in the states using GSP.

It takes weeks (normally NEW YORK -Brussels is 5 days) ,no tracking and more expensive.

i*m-still-here · ‎02-09-2014

@siemenpoes wrote:
I live in Belgium (Europe) and I will never buy anymore from sellers in the states using GSP.
It takes weeks (normally NEW YORK -Brussels is 5 days) ,no tracking and more expensive.

That's interesting.

A few regular posters to this board have stated that the GSP is not a problem for overseas buyers.

Do you disagree with that?

arlene_v · ‎02-09-2014

I'm*still*here---

I have seen a few posts on the US jewelry board from several Australian buyers and they HATE the GSP! They made no bones about it .. these would be buyers of light weight,costume jewelry.

mater721 · ‎02-09-2014

"The GSP isn't changing the rules when it comes to when taxes and duty are collected"

Now you are being obtuse. We are talking about buying on ebay. Not some hypothetical cross-border purchase in any environment.

Of course the rules are changed within the ebay environment. When buying through the GSP program, buyers are automatically forced to pay the extra charge 100% of the time. Not so before GSP program. It was luck-of-the-draw at the border, and in most cases of smaller-ticket items, never charged.

pierrelebel · ‎02-09-2014

"A few regular posters to this board have stated that the GSP is not a problem for overseas buyers."

I read every post (I am retired with lots of time on my hands) and I do not recall anyone suggesting, even remotely, that GSP was not a problem overseas.

What I have seen are posts from "regular, well informed posters" stating that, based on posts in discussion boards in the UK and Europe, the GSP did not seem to generate as much animosity or negative reaction as it does in Canada.

pierrelebel · ‎02-09-2014

"Of course the rules are changed within the ebay environment. When buying through the GSP program, buyers are automatically forced to pay the extra charge 100% of the time. Not so before GSP program. It was luck-of-the-draw at the border, and in most cases of smaller-ticket items, never charged."

I do not disagree with you.

Are you suggesting that many Canadian buyers object to GSP because they have to pay taxes (GST/HST/PST) which could have been avoided when the seller shipped directly through the postal system?

mater721 · ‎02-09-2014

Yup.

And PBI is not doing their part for free. Guess who's paying that...

siemenpoes · ‎02-09-2014

I disagree with that.

The problem is the same for Europe.

Takes much longer ,sometimes it never arrives and it is more expensive

siemenpoes · ‎02-09-2014

I agree completely with you ,in Belgium we have exactly the same opinion

pjcdn2005 · ‎02-09-2014

@pierrelebel wrote:

Are you suggesting that many Canadian buyers object to GSP because they have to pay taxes (GST/HST/PST) which could have been avoided when the seller shipped directly through the postal system?

I think that sums it up and is the major bone of contention for many posters. Personally, the less taxes that I pay for a product, the better.

Also, in many cases the shipping charge is higher than what a seller would charge when using First Class International and people resent paying higher for shipping. However, buyers have always complained about many U.S. sellers refusing to use First Class International so there is no way of knowing of how many of the now GSP sellers would use First Class.