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

mcollins3369 · ‎04-02-2014

Why suggest that these "terms and conditions" are reasonable, let alone binding? Without sellers, eBay would die.

marnotom! · ‎04-02-2014

@mcollins3369 wrote:

The $1 shipping was stated in the ad but not the reality, which the seller's add also stated (please read it all). That tube cost $14 to ship within Canada, but Canada Post is another story. I got a tube shipped cheaper from Germany around the same time as the tube you mention. The seller of the current tube has informed me that eBay will not let him send me a corrected invoice with the $9.50 shipping charge using USPS. Why is the seller bound? Pitney-Bowes and Canpar have one heck of a deal going on here!

As much as I like a reasonable conspiracy theory as much as the next reasonable guy, I'm being charitable here and putting it down to something to do with the fact that a GSP sale is split between the seller, eBay and Pitney Bowes (administrators of the Global Shipping Program). Given that it takes 24-48 hours for a seller to eliminate the GSP from an active listing, it wouldn't surprise me if there's some sort of computer kerfuffle that would ensue if sellers could simply switch to a different shipping method after the listing ended. My guess is it might be because information on shipping rates, etc. is actually fed to eBay by Pitney Bowes through some weird networking system.

I'm still puzzled as to why you saw a shipping rate of $9.50. Was this on the listing page, or was it on the search results page? On eBay Mobile or "classic" eBay? eBay.com or eBay.ca?

This is what I see, for what it's worth...

marnotom! · ‎04-02-2014

For what it's worth, the seller would be getting $5.80 of the GSP shipping charge as that's how much they charge for shipping the item within the United States (or more accurately, to the Global Shipping Center in Kentucky). That makes the GSP's actual shipping charge to ship it to me in BC $13.39. Still a bit more expensive than sending it as an oversize letter (First Class International) but less expensive than if the seller opted to use parcel post (Priority International).

mcollins3369 · ‎04-02-2014

When I go to pay and end up in the Purchases window, I hit the "calculate shipping" and I get $9.55 to my address. This is just coming across the border. I get tubes shipped from Europe for considerably less than $19. Kerfuffle? Weird networking system? No, just a cash grab!

mcollins3369 · ‎04-02-2014

I've been buying tubes on eBay from all over the world for years. Suddenly, things have changed. Shipping costs much more than the item. It's not a conspiracy, it's just free-wheeling capitalism. Nothing new there.

marnotom! · ‎04-02-2014

@mcollins3369 wrote:

When I go to pay and end up in the Purchases window, I hit the "calculate shipping" and I get $9.55 to my address. This is just coming across the border. I get tubes shipped from Europe for considerably less than $19. Kerfuffle? Weird networking system? No, just a cash grab!

Hang on, I'm confused now. Isn't $9.55 more or less what your seller quoted for USPS shipping?

marnotom! · ‎04-02-2014

@mcollins3369 wrote:

I've been buying tubes on eBay from all over the world for years. Suddenly, things have changed. Shipping costs much more than the item. It's not a conspiracy, it's just free-wheeling capitalism. Nothing new there.

So you'd gladly pay a total of $44 for a vacuum tube where the seller has violated eBay policy by stating an inaccurate shipping rate within Canada but the actual shipping price is half that of the tube, but you have an issue with paying a total of $30 for a vacuum tube where the split between the item price and the shipping price is different?

I'm really confused now.

mcollins3369 · ‎04-02-2014

Yes, but he cannot send an amended invoice with the USPS shipping cost. He is Locked In according to him.

mcollins3369 · ‎04-02-2014

There are different types of vintage tubes of varying usages, manufacturers and rarity. The preamp tube for $40 was an excellent bargain because of its tone and rarity. The tube I'm currently seeking is a power tube that is more common. There is an inherent risk in buying any vintage tube, but that's the choice I make every time. So far, so good. The Canada Post shipment was what it actually cost. What I am contesting is the current shipping policy that makes this tube a $20 shipment.

marnotom! · ‎04-02-2014

@mcollins3369 wrote:

Yes, but he cannot send an amended invoice with the USPS shipping cost. He is Locked In according to him.

Okay, I'm a bit less confused now. According to other posts on this subject, sellers can get around this by either sending an invoice through PayPal or else buyer and seller can mutually agree to cancel the sale with the seller relisting without the GSP.

By the way, have you received a pick-up notice from Canpar for your other item yet? I ask because even though I was notified that Canpar was handling the item I purchased, they only got it as far as Vancouver. Canada Post took over delivery of the item between there and my home on Vancouver Island.

taramialee · ‎04-02-2014

The program has driven me AWAY from ANY purchases from USA sellers ( I'm Canadian). IT SUCKS. HUGE RIP OFF. FEES we NORMALLY would NEVER pay at CUSTOMS. I DO know; I've had well over 1000 purchases from the US in the past. So don't give me the 'spin'. The program is awful. I will never purchase from any seller who uses it.

marnotom! · ‎04-03-2014

@taramialee wrote:

The program has driven me AWAY from ANY purchases from USA sellers ( I'm Canadian). IT SUCKS. HUGE RIP OFF. FEES we NORMALLY would NEVER pay at CUSTOMS. I DO know; I've had well over 1000 purchases from the US in the past. So don't give me the 'spin'. The program is awful. I will never purchase from any seller who uses it.

That's what I thought at first, too, and then I started tire-kicking Smartphones and looking at GSP listings for those versus ones where the seller shipped directly to their Canadian buyers, and the GSP listings actually looked better in comparison.

hdsports04 · ‎04-03-2014

Never had to deal with a seller that uses GSP before this week. The fees annonced first looked OK, a bit expensive to ship to Canada though... GSP fees were added to my PayPal account under Pitnes Bowes #transaction. Surprise! a 22$ extra charge over the 19$ already paid to the seller for shipping, Total 41$ to ship an 80$ value sticker that fits in a regular letter size envelop. Outch!

First but also last time I buy from a seller using GSP.

dasia143 · ‎04-03-2014

hdsports, it's that kind of uncertainty that keeps me from ordering GSP items. How do you know when they are done adding charges--doesn't seem to be before you commit to buy, and that doesn't seem right.

Also, marnotom! and others have claimed that GSP sellers are mostly people who wouldn't have previously shipped to Canada, but my recent experience says otherwise. In 2011 I bought a knife from a US seller, shipping was about $3. Yes I know shipping has gone up and would have been fine with up to 10 dollars.

However, the seller is now in the GSP. Shipping is $12.56, import fee 8. 49 (even though the item is up for auction at $13.95. I presume that's based on the BIN price of US $18.95. If I won it for less than $18 what would the charge be? Would I even know before confirming my bid??) Too much uncertainty, so of course I won't bid.

I combed through SEVEN pages of listings of similar knives and no non-GSP seller was offering the one I want. (There were several to choose from pre-GSP). For the first time I wrote to a seller to ask if they would ship to me outside the GSP, reasoning that the one who'd had a trouble-free transaction with me in the past might be willing to do it.

They were kind enough to reply, but the answer was no. Too much of a hassle.

I'd like the knife, but not at that price. I can only assume that eBay/PB are making so much money from international sellers who for whatever reason don't mind these high shipping costs, that they don't care about the Canadian buyers they're driving away with this program.

pjcdn2005 · ‎04-03-2014

@mcollins3369 wrote:
Yes, but he cannot send an amended invoice with the USPS shipping cost. He is Locked In according to him.

He can't change the invoice but as suggested in another post, he could send you an invoice directly through Paypal. The seller might not realize that so you could suggest it to them.

marnotom! · ‎04-03-2014

@hdsports04 wrote:

Never had to deal with a seller that uses GSP before this week. The fees annonced first looked OK, a bit expensive to ship to Canada though... GSP fees were added to my PayPal account under Pitnes Bowes #transaction. Surprise! a 22$ extra charge over the 19$ already paid to the seller for shipping, Total 41$ to ship an 80$ value sticker that fits in a regular letter size envelop. Outch!

First but also last time I buy from a seller using GSP.

Looking at item 201060756487, I see a shipping charge of US$16.39 and "import charges of US$15.98 (I'm in BC).

The seller's charge for shipping within the US is $5.60. That means that Pitney Bowes' charge to ship the item to me would be $10.79. Add that second shipping charge to the import charges and that would make Pitney Bowes' total share of the sale to me $26.77. The seller's share would be $95.59 (the value of the sticker is more like $90, not $80). What's the charge breakdown for you? It should be right on the transaction details in your "My eBay".

marnotom! · ‎04-03-2014

@dasia143 wrote:

hdsports, it's that kind of uncertainty that keeps me from ordering GSP items. How do you know when they are done adding charges--doesn't seem to be before you commit to buy, and that doesn't seem right.

Also, marnotom! and others have claimed that GSP sellers are mostly people who wouldn't have previously shipped to Canada, but my recent experience says otherwise. In 2011 I bought a knife from a US seller, shipping was about $3. Yes I know shipping has gone up and would have been fine with up to 10 dollars.

However, the seller is now in the GSP. Shipping is $12.56, import fee 8. 49 (even though the item is up for auction at $13.95. I presume that's based on the BIN price of US $18.95. If I won it for less than $18 what would the charge be? Would I even know before confirming my bid??) Too much uncertainty, so of course I won't bid.

I combed through SEVEN pages of listings of similar knives and no non-GSP seller was offering the one I want. (There were several to choose from pre-GSP). For the first time I wrote to a seller to ask if they would ship to me outside the GSP, reasoning that the one who'd had a trouble-free transaction with me in the past might be willing to do it.

They were kind enough to reply, but the answer was no. Too much of a hassle.

I'd like the knife, but not at that price. I can only assume that eBay/PB are making so much money from international sellers who for whatever reason don't mind these high shipping costs, that they don't care about the Canadian buyers they're driving away with this program.

You're looking at one particular type of item here, and one that's perceived to cause more problems than usual for U.S. sellers selling internationally. I'm not completely surprised that knife sellers have thrown their lot in with the Global Shipping Program. It seems to be the only way they can get some sort of reassurance of having the area below their tailbone covered in the event their merchandise goes missing (possibly impounded?) in transit.

elvis4meforever · ‎04-03-2014

Global shipping Program, A Total Joke at Best, and the Joke seems to be on Canadians buying through Seller who have opted to use the program, My Experience with this is a bidding and winning a Auction, a Bid of $140 turns into $207 dollars by the time Global shipping and Pay Pal take Their Cut, and on top of that once the Item is at the Canadian Border its goes Via Canada Post.

So Ebay where is the Benefit ?,

I Know I will Never Participate in an Auction or Purchase anything again on Ebay with a Seller using The Global shipping program.

A Total RIP OFF to Canadians

t-bone.tnt · ‎04-03-2014

Why doesn't Ebay offer USPS International shipping to Canadian buyers? It is ridiculous to pay such high fees on cheap items that normally aren't charge brokerage fees, customs, duty, taxes, etc.

Does Ebay own or get a kick-back from GLOBAL SHIPPING?

Furious that Ebay is causing Canadian buyers who purchase American items forcing Canadians to use a third company for shipping, thereby causing them to pay through-the-nose. for the USA items.