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.

[brandeentertainment]

LOL Never you no way your just a ray of sunshine there BB ....

Cheers

[sickcityxiii]

Welp, I just made my last purchase on eBay.

Long time member with 100% rating buying and selling. 

Years ago eBay was the place to go to get a great deal, but other online markets have caught up.........now with these Import fees on top of the already overpriced shipping that US sellers put on items gives me NO REASON TO SPEND MONEY WITH eBay.

[bonorlea]

Nothing works well about the global shipping program. I buy small items. I have always done this to save dollars on my hobbies and buy interesting items not available in stores. I bought some beads from a person that lists global shipping. I bought two $3 items and the shipping was charged on each item, and was $18. The seller still thinks its a great option because all they have to do is put it in an envelope and take it to be mailed. Now isn't that how you send any package? This is gouging for the buyer and buyers selling small items will los sales. I wanted to buy about 10 items from this seller because they had nice items, but the individual transaction thing would have meant the postage was around $100. Its also not green because 10 padded envelopes would be used rather than one envelope or small box for combined shipping. I went back on ebay and bought 12 similar items from a different seller and the combined shipping for all items was $12. Canada Post and USPS are awesome, I have been buying for over 15 years on ebay and didn't ever have a problem There is hardly ever duty charged on hobby items, clothing. The only time I pay duty generally is for silver wire, which is understandable due to its cost and I don't mind that. One seller cancelled my items which was nice (they called ebay to find our what the heck was this global shipping), another seller cancelled and relisted the items I wanted as a group, another refunded the exhorbitant price charged fro shipping (but this will eventually hurt her financially). I also hear of sellings not being able to get out of the global shipping program once they sign up. I would think the only time this global shipping might be OK is for large size items where a buyer would only purchase one thing - that is the only way the costs will be fair to both seller and buyer.

[bonorlea]

When will sellers be properly informed about the fact that they are being gouged by the program and this will lead to buyers staying away from the purchase. If the global shipping courier stays, wouldn't it be better for ebay to explain to sellers as to what kind of items might be appropriate for global shipping. It certainly shouldn't be used for a seller that sells small items where buyers will bid on several items, thinking things are the same as before when combined shipping would be used!  I see the comments on this global shipping have been going for a long time and ebay or the company that offers global havn't resolved the global shipping dilemma and there is no answers for people. This is poor.

People if you don't want to lose your excellent USPS or Canada Post in a few years you better start using them and not using these couriers who either gouge up front, at the door with extra costs, or both!

[femmefan1946]

Can all you sellers STOP using Global shipping??!!!!

You will be pleased to know that all Canadian sellers have stopped using this program. Or more exactly, we never started using it, since it is only for use by sellers residing in the USA.

[marnotom!]

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@00nevermind00 wrote:

Was GSP tested on .ca before launching? Ha! That's a good one! Remember in the beginning, the GSP blurb wasn't showing at all on .ca. You had to view the listing on .com to find out if you were going to get fleeced or not.

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That's a good point.  I also seem to recall that it was reported that some executive-type from Pitney Bowes was actually very surprised to hear that buyers actually wanted to know this information when viewing the listing.  I guess all that education of buyers to read listings carefully and know what they're getting themselves into had paid off for eBay, but for some reason it hadn't filtered down to PBI.

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@00nevermind00 wrote:

There's no way around the fact that the GSP is a badly flawed program. Why eBay fell for PB's amateurish concept is beyond me. If they feel that the GSP is filling a real need, then they really should look at partnering with a competent service provider and ditching PB as soon as the contract is up.

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The basic concept isn't too bad.  After all, pre-payment of taxes and duties due on a forwarded shipment is pretty much things are done with most commercial freight shipments.  And I get the sense that most U.S. retailers don't like the idea of packaging and mailing shipments bound for out of the country because it's too labour-intensive and thus too expensive.  The GSP, I think, was intended for larger eBay sellers and an attempt to be competitive with other sites that offer international shipping of higher-ticket items.

The big problem is that it's not a solution that was created with eBay policies and procedures in mind, not just typical buyers and sellers.  For example, the GSP, is barely integrated with the Resolution Centre.  I get the sense that behind the scenes, a case or claim is handled with far less automation than one for a sale without the GSP.  Then there's the issue of combined purchases, or lack thereof.  And then there's the fact that buyers won't receive refunds of what they paid toward the program for a "no fault" return.

eBay likely put up with these shortcomings in exchange for not having to invest much--if anything--into the program itself.  With all due respect to Arlene, this isn't eBay's baby.  It's Pitney Bowes'.   When it comes to the GSP, I get the sense that the tail is wagging the dog.

Bowes-wowes.

[1049susanm]

Hi,

As most of our (Canada's) major airports are in big cities which are huddled along OUR BORDER, yours and mine, the Great Canadian Tundra should not affect most deliveries.  However, as a buyer, I have no complaint about speed; but I do about $$ ;  the GSP doubles the price and if it is a good deal, it triples it! Why this new way? nobody seems very happy about it!

Hands across the boarder,

Susan

[marnotom!]

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@1049susanm wrote:

As most of our (Canada's) major airports are in big cities which are huddled along OUR BORDER, yours and mine, the Great Canadian Tundra should not affect most deliveries.  However, as a buyer, I have no complaint about speed; but I do about $$ ;  the GSP doubles the price and if it is a good deal, it triples it! Why this new way? nobody seems very happy about it!

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I was actually being a bit tongue-in-cheek with the "Great Canadian Tundra" reference.  What affects delivery time for letters and parcels between the United States and Canada is usually how long the items sit around waiting for a plane to Canada and how long the items spend in customs.  But some U.S. sellers--not just Canadian buyers--don't seem to understand that.

What seems to have a big effect on the shipping price of a smaller GSP item is the seller's own charge for shipping the item within the United States.  I bought an item through the GSP that had a shipping price comparable to First Class International because the seller offered "free" shipping within the United States.

[dasia143]

Quoting bonorlea,

"People if you don't want to lose your excellent USPS or Canada Post in a few years you better start using them and not using these couriers who either gouge up front, at the door with extra costs, or both!"

Good point and another solid reason for not using the GSP and giving the powers that be the idea we love it (those that do are entitled to their opinion, of course.)  As I said in an earlier post, the head of Canada Post, Deepak Chopra, used to be a PB excecutive. The changes he's making to CP may not end with stopping home delivery and raising postal rates drastically.

[ericktus]

Shipping from U.S to CANADA are too slow for the price we pay pitney bowse service. same price as ups but they are faster and provide tracking number fastly. i'll never order again an item with the global shipping option. i prefer usps and deal with custom and fees by myself with canada post. they would charge 5$ for brockage and tax on the item value if is more than 20$, not more (under 20$ value no tax and no extra fees from custom). why doing so complicated....?

sorry my bad english i'm french speaker

[patti200865patti]

I think the same thing.  And I'm seeing some absolute ridiculousness of sellers charging upwards of almost $100 to ship USPS Priority on items whereby I've bought near the exact same thing and been charged $36.00 TOPS.  I hope Ruby Lane and Etsy and maybe another competitive program can come along with more reasonable alternatives.  As you say, I've ordered all over and ONCE been charged "customs" fees.   And it was $10 at that for an item worth hundreds. 

[patti200865patti]

Love everything you wrote.  As a dual, living half there and half here, I would agree with everything you've said.  Someone out there come up with an alternative to Ebay.  I know my American friends and family are using other buying forums where the buyers work with you on shipping costs and I've heard the same thing over and over...never had a problem with the standard mailing, nothing lost, nothing taking a year to arrive, nothing broken.  Personally, I'm starting to hunt out little shops with websites and working with the shops and ordering from there.  Always polite, never a hassle thus far.  Auctions are ridiculous as well, what with the cuts they take.  We are at the point of actually planning cross border trips and spending the day with our GPS and mapquest and making day outings for things were are interested in as collectors.  And now I see sellers with the arrogance to charge upwards of $99 to ship an 11 inch compo. doll!  Are you kidding?  These people should be kicked off.  Bad enough, Pitney Bowes gets paid for doing NOTHING.

[2011annabanana3]

Hi, 

I live in Canada and I ordered Nike Roshe Run shoes on March 11th 2014. It's almost been a month and I still have not received my order. I tried to contact the seller but he said that I would have to speak to you people through the ebay Global Shipping program. I would just like a refund please and thanks if that's not too much to ask. I paid almost $150.00 on those shoes. I ordered new ones through another buyer and they came within 6 days. So please kindly send my money back ! 

Thank you. Have a nice day

[marnotom!]

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@patti200865patti wrote:

And now I see sellers with the arrogance to charge upwards of $99 to ship an 11 inch compo. doll!  Are you kidding?  These people should be kicked off.  Bad enough, Pitney Bowes gets paid for doing NOTHING.

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Is that a GSP listing?  If so, what's Pitney Bowes' share of the shipping?  Sounds to me as though the seller is asking a lot to ship the item domestically and that's what's making the GSP shipping so expensive.  Or else they haven't provided the item's weight in the listing's Item Specifics so the Pitney Bowes bot has to guess at the item's weight.

It strikes me that a lot of the problems with the GSP are seller-created, often inadvertently as many sellers don't even realize they're using the program.

[karl*katz]

Hi there !

You are posting on a public forum not speaking to eBay staff.

If you want to open an "Item Not Received Dispute" click here.

http://pages.ebay.ca/help/buy/item-not-received.html

[toby_le_pue]

You will have to file an item not received claim through

the resolution center.

http://pages.ebay.ca/help/buy/item-not-received.html

[bogus_jones]

as a buyer in Canada I try to avoid the GSP as much as I can, it results in higher shipping costs, longer delays in shipping as well every item is opened & inspected & most of the time just poorly tossed back into the box with the packing materials thrown in on top thus un doing a proper packing job by the seller & putting the item at risk of unnecessary damage

I used the program twice & I will not use it again.

The GPS should be a buyers option, as for the seller it only takes 5 minutes to fill out a customs declaration so shipping to Canada is not a big deal or time consuming task.   

[00nevermind00]

If US sellers weren't so deathly afraid that there is a big black hole out there automatically swallowing packages shipped abroad, there would be no need for a program such as GSP. Educating sellers would be a much better idea, but that would require time and resources. It's much easier to put in place a half-baked program with the first service provider that comes along, no matter how incompetent.

[judychance63]

Global shipping is even more expensive than the item beibg bought. It's ridiculous, so why will I even buy it. Many times I ask the sellers and they dont even know how expensive the shipping was. My problem now, I asked seller if she can change shipping method and she agreed. But now, she sent the item without me paying it yet because I was waiting for her to change the shipping method but then later told me she doesnt know how. I can't pay either because the Global shipping is 31$..... Now, please tell me how can she change the shipping method so I can pay her?

[afantiques]

If US sellers weren't so deathly afraid that there is a big black hole out there automatically swallowing packages shipped abroad, there would be no need for a program such as GSP.

They just don't know how cheaply they can insure their shipments and how much better it is than the more or less useless seller protection.

Loads simpler than the GSP too.