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

00nevermind00 · ‎03-02-2014

@arlene_v wrote:
I have a suggestion about the GSP, it has probably been raised here before, but I have not read each and every comment, so here goes, sorry if it's been discussed here ad nauseam.

Buyers should be able to rate the Global Shpping Program's performance in much the same way they rate sellers.

The buyer should be offered a way of leaving feedback for the seller AND the Global Shipping Program.

The buyer could be prompted with something like this when they leave feedback..

"This item was purchased using Ebay's Global Shipping Program. Please rate this program"

How satisfied were you with the speed of shipping under the Global Shipping Program?
How satisfied were you with the shipping charges under the Global Shipping Program?
How satisfied were you with the tracking and info provided by the Global Shipping Program?
Were the program charges stated in a clear and unambiguous manner?

Possibly, there could be a comments section in the feedback that would enable buyers to communicate their concerns about the program.

Such data would be immensely useful to eBay.

eBay prides itself on making sure that sellers maintain certain ratings in order to continue selling here.

May I suggest that a program introduced by eBay and basically foist on buyers and sellers, be held to these same standards?

I totally agree with this. Ebay holds its sellers to very high standards and those who can't measure up risk being booted off the site. Ebay's pet program should be held to the same exacting standards. The middleman which puts added expenses onto the buyers for the peace of mind of the sellers should be held accountable somewhere down the line. And the program should live or die for the same reasons that sellers live or die on the site.

I think a rating system would show where the program is useful and where it really grates for buyers. Then maybe, just maybe, something could be done to better shape the program to the needs of its users, both sellers and buyers.

But I'm afraid that pigs will fly before any of this happens. Precisely because it is Ebay's pet program, still being foisted upon unsuspicious sellers (despite Ebay's assurances to the contrary.)

arlene_v · ‎03-02-2014

@pjcdn2005 wrote:
@marnotom! wrote:
@davesplace89 wrote:

Your numbers do not add up if you look at any GSP item that sells for 134.00 is over 20.00 in import charges but you say you only paid 11. and change some thing wrong her. Maybe you are lucky .

Depends on where you are. What seems to have happened here--and what seems to be the case with all GSP listings I've scrutinized--is that shipments to BC are only charged GST, just like in Alberta. PST isn't part of the equation at all.

Perhaps eBay is not considered to be "targeting sales from British Columbia", an idea suggested in this online article:

http://sbinfocanada.about.com/od/pst/a/BC-PST.htm
I've checked a couple of different items with different postal codes and the rate was the same for all non hst provinces.

So, am I understanding this correctly?

For non-hst provinces, the only tax charged is the GST plus any applicable duty when using the GSP.

I have tried this with only one listing and this would seem to be the case. I tried it on a Coach purse, used postal codes for BC, Manitoba, Quebec and Sask., and then compared it with my postal code here in Ontario, and one for PEI.

The "import charges" were identical for all the non-hst provinces. This makes no sense.

What makes even less sense is that Quebec, with PST of 9.95% had lower "import charges" than Ontario.

If accurate, this blows me away. As I said I only tried it with one listing, but it bears out what Marnotom! and Pjcdn have posted.

What a shambles. So how is this program financially viable if the PST for non-hst buys is not being charged to buyers, and yet presumably has to be remitted by the customs broker?

afantiques · ‎03-02-2014

What a shambles. So how is this program financially viable if the PST for non-hst buys is not being charged to buyers, and yet presumably has to be remitted by the customs broker?

The rate payable is probably that of the province of import. If the items are then shipped on to another province, no extra tax is collectable. Tax on the bulk shipment would be collected before the items are handed off to Canada Post and Canpar where they are treated as domestic items. Therefore the geographic location of the buyer would be of less significance than the regional hub used for that location. Western provinces stuff might all come in through Vancouver, stuff for PEI would go to an eastern hub.

It is therefore impossible to correlate address with tax rate.

arlene_v · ‎03-02-2014

And if this is true ..that PST is not being charged when it should be, I think this would be grounds for an investigation.

It certainly raises many,many questions about just how accurate this program's calculator is, also how this places potential buyers in HST provinces at a distinct disadvantage.

Rich indeed when we have been told repeatedly that the GSP is just doing what is "legally required." In some cases only, I guess.

As they say, location, location, location!!

arlene_v · ‎03-02-2014

Thanks AF.

I would like Bennett or one of the mods to look into this if possible and report back. If, as you speculate, items that come to Western provinces come via Vancouver, then those items should be subject to BC Provincial Sales Tax, which they aren't.

If items going to PEI come through Montreal, they should be subject to QST (Quebec Provincial Sales Tax) ..in which case the charges would be 9.95% plus GST. This does not correlate with what I am getting for PEI, nor for that matter with items actually going to Montreal (I used a Montreal postal code)

The only consistency I am seeing here is that it is based on whether the postal code entered is from a province with HST or non-HST.

If you are right (and I know well enough by now that you are a LOT of the time!) ..in a way this makes things worse, because it turns Canadian taxpayer rights to garbage. Basically.

arlene_v · ‎03-02-2014

So for example here is a listing that is very expensive and illustrates the point rather well.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Coach-Ltd-Ed-Pinnacle-Exotic-Cream-Ostrich-Leather-Sabrina-Handbag-Satchel-/1...

Now, using the following postal codes I will rather laboriously illustrate my point (having nothing better to do on this Sunday afternoon!)

So use the following postal codes as examples

Alberta: T2G 2M2 ..."Import charges" $334.54 Non-HST province

British Columbia ...V6B 6B6 ...."import charges" $334.54 Non-HST province

Manitoba ...R3C 5P5 .."Import charges" $334.54 Non-HST province

Nova Scotia ..B3H 4H9 ...."Import charges" $560.70 HST province

New Brunswick ..E3A 5T4 "Import charges" $515.47 HST province

Ontario ..K1B 3R9 ..."Import charges" $515.47 HST province

PEI ..C1A 4Z1 ..."Import charges" $538.08 HST province

Quebec ...H3A 0C9 ..."Import charges" $334.54 Non-HST province

Sask. ..S6H 0X6 .."Import charges" $334.54 Non-HST province

Newfoundland and Labrador ..A1C 5S7 "Import charges" $515.47 HST province.

I might be way off base, but I see a pattern here ..based on HST status.

pjcdn2005 · ‎03-02-2014

@arlene_v wrote:
I have a suggestion about the GSP, it has probably been raised here before, but I have not read each and every comment, so here goes, sorry if it's been discussed here ad nauseam.

Buyers should be able to rate the Global Shpping Program's performance in much the same way they rate sellers.

The buyer should be offered a way of leaving feedback for the seller AND the Global Shipping Program.

The buyer could be prompted with something like this when they leave feedback..

"This item was purchased using Ebay's Global Shipping Program. Please rate this program"

How satisfied were you with the speed of shipping under the Global Shipping Program?
How satisfied were you with the shipping charges under the Global Shipping Program?
How satisfied were you with the tracking and info provided by the Global Shipping Program?
Were the program charges stated in a clear and unambiguous manner?

Possibly, there could be a comments section in the feedback that would enable buyers to communicate their concerns about the program.

Such data would be immensely useful to eBay.

eBay prides itself on making sure that sellers maintain certain ratings in order to continue selling here.

May I suggest that a program introduced by eBay and basically foist on buyers and sellers, be held to these same standards?

I think that it would be an excellent idea for the buyer to be able to rate the gsp program separately.

But I doubt that it will ever happen. In many cases, I don't think that ebay holds itself to the same customer service standards that they expect the sellers to maintain.

arlene_v · ‎03-02-2014

Yes, as an earlier poster said pigs will fly before eBay considers a rating system for the GSP.

Following up on AFs hypothesis about the "regional hub", I have a suggestion that might actually make buying GSP items a bit more palatable.

PB should figure out how to ship ALL GSP items bound for Canada to the province that has the most competitive provincial sales tax. ie Alberta which is zero.

If it already does this in the case of the Western Provinces and Quebec, why not the central and Eastern provinces as well? The idea of a hub in Alberta being used for Quebec is a tad odd, but since the "import charges" indicate that it can't possibly have been taxed in any other province, and certainly wasn't subject to QST.... we will suspend our disbelief and go with it for the moment!

If the importer of record is not the actual Ebay buyer, but the customs broker, or an agent designated by PB, and the physical location of the buyer is of little relevance ..then this might, just might, rehabilitate this program for Canadian shoppers.

Now, would this be legal?

i*m-still-here · ‎03-02-2014

Or how about this:

For a GSP program to work in a situation like ebay, it's probably only possible to do if tax collection etc. is left to the destination country.

In addition, the choice of whether to use the program or not should be left to the buyer and not to the seller.

Sellers who choose not to ship out of the States probably shouldn't be shipping out the States.

Period!

They are too difficult to deal with anyway.

If ebay could offer reasonable prices for such a program it would probably be used a fair amount and a welcome addition to the venue.

That way every item would be available to every buyer (with perhaps the exception of a few high risk countries for the time being), and that is exactly as it should be.

arlene_v · ‎03-02-2014

Well, I'm still here, no argument from me. I am very much leery of the GSP, along with most others here,and would be very happy should it bite the big one.

I hope Bennett will explain why at first glance, buyers from different provinces are being treated differently under this program and why it would seem that buyers from Western Canada and Quebec are seeing "import charges" that are far less than what should be owed, and yet those of us in Central and Eastern Canada are being charged every last cent.

I really would like an explanation of this disparity between provinces.

i*m-still-here · ‎03-02-2014

Good Luck with that.

afantiques · ‎03-02-2014

Good research, arlene.

My suggestion about taxation at import hub is pretty much what happens in Europe, but although it would make sense for Canadian imports, a lot depends on the distribution routes available and the import sites used. Distances for onward shipping after import would also mediate which route is used.

I am prepared to be proven wrong about the points of taxation, it is just a hypothesis based on normal commercial practice and what I have been able to deduce from European tracked examples.

marnotom! · ‎03-02-2014

@arlene_v wrote:

I hope Bennett will explain why at first glance, buyers from different provinces are being treated differently under this program and why it would seem that buyers from Western Canada and Quebec are seeing "import charges" that are far less than what should be owed, and yet those of us in Central and Eastern Canada are being charged every last cent.

I really would like an explanation of this disparity between provinces.

Arlene, did you read the article I linked to back in post 2246? It suggests that in British Columbia, at least, if an online purchase is from a website that is not specifically targeting or soliciting buyers from that province, then the item is not subject to provincial sales tax. It may well be that there are similar rules or at least a lack of tax formalities for the other non-HST provinces.

Perhaps Canada Border Services collects PST (when they bother to do so) on purchases destined for buyers in those provinces because they have no way of ascertaining the circumstances under which the purchase was made.

arlene_v · ‎03-02-2014

AF - you are a poster whose opinion I hold in high regard.

I always appreciate your point of view.

marnotom! · ‎03-02-2014

@i*m-still-here wrote:

I don't know about other other sellers, but for this seller when the GSP sneaked into her listings, then other items without the GSP were blocked to International bids.

She is very eager for international sales and has always welcomed us and did not intentionally add the GSP and has a strong dislike for the program. (Now, more so than ever.)

She has been selling here forever and yet the GSP got into her listings in spite of being unwanted. Now it's too late because she's lost hundreds of dollars because of it.

Sorry to be late to the party on this, I*m. I had a busy weekend out of town.

I'm still not clear about whether this seller was even offering international sales in the first place before the GSP "snuck into" her listings. That is, did the listings indicate other countries besides the "United States" as "ships to" locations? If so, did the seller provide shipping rates for any of those countries?

arlene_v · ‎03-02-2014

Hi Marnotom!

Yes I read that. Thanks. I thought it referred to small business though and not large online companies. I might well have misread the article so will go back and reread, I read it in haste.

I am surprised by this, I must admit.

marnotom! · ‎03-02-2014

@arlene_v wrote:

Yes I read that. Thanks. I thought it referred to small business though and not large online companies. I might well have misread the article so will go back and reread, I read it in haste.

I am surprised by this, I must admit.

I'll admit I don't know a lot about being registered to collect sales taxes, but I can't imagine why it should be different for a large company versus a smaller one. A provincial sales tax registration is a provincial sales tax registration, as far as I'm concerned.