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.

[femmefan1946]

they don't hit us with fees until $45.00. That's what it was the last time I crossed over which has been a few years. Do they have a different set of rules for mailing.

It has been a few years. The 'drive through' limit is now $200.

Yes, there is a different set of rules for mailing.

The appropriate address for complaint is:

The Right Honourable Stephen Harper

Prime Minister

East Block, House of Commons

OTTAWA ON   K1A 0A6

[luv4orphans]

Oh okay. Thanks for clarifying that for me. It never even dawned on me the exchange. I guess I don't want the item which is a small item that bad that I am willing to pay another $23.00 to get it shipped here when it could actually get here for $8.00 or maybe less.

[dasia143]

Quoting afantiques,

"...going postal about it just devalues useful criticism and gives the impression to anyone seriously reviewing this topic that because the opponents are so emotional and irrational, their opposition is more or less worthless."

Our parcels going "postal" instead of via GSP is just what most of us would like! 😉

But seriously, while I agree it's going to far to call the GSP a scam, in the sense of a swindle, it does smack of sharp practices. The shipping is not fast, yet it is expensive. There have been reports that excessive duties have been charged with no possibility of refund to the purchaser, and no transparency as to whether the excess goes to CBSA or is kept by PB. Negative option marketing (not clearly telling sellers about the system they've been opted into) tends to leave a bad taste in the mouth.

Kind of like sometimes happens in the funeral industry, where some funeral directors may insinuate certain practices are necessary when in fact they are not, the GSP adds charges for services that some find unnecessary and tries to convince us it's for our own good.

Not too many posters come across as irrational in my opinion, but many are obviously upset. It may be good for eBay to know that.

[brandeentertainment]

i can not believe this thread is still blowing up ... I have never seen traffic on a thread like this ever....

There are a ton of things on ebay you can buy elsewhere so if you hate the gsp programs buy domestic or buy off ebay ...

You have to remember Ebay has seen an increase in international sales sense the GSP programs so it's not going anywhere ....

If they seen major declines things might change so everybody who hate the GSP program soruce you stuff off ebay..

The only chance of change is to take away from ebay's bottom line ... Posting on here may change the program but only declining international sales will ever get rid of it

[lvlr.lvlonicker]

. 

I solved this GSP problem in a simple way.  I pay $1.oo for reshipping plus ''less than USPS rate''! 

So, I get my stuff cheaper and faster than with regular international shipping by the eBay seller. . 

Here's how. 

I got me a US shipping address with a reshipper in California, so I have a US street address that I

activate in my eBay profile as my ''preferred shipping address''. 

The I bid & buy as an ''American''.  My reshipper forwards individual packages for only $1.oo (yes!)

plus a postage rate that is inferior to USPS.  And I get mypurchases here in Europe after a

maximum of 10 days after auction end.  That's faster than GSP !!!  

The best thing?  I can (and must) fill out my own customs declaration form online. 

This is why I haven't paid customs duties or sales tax since I use this reshipper (shipito). 

Mr.Monicker

. 

[luv4orphans]

I see that you have only have one feedback. I am not sure where your expertise comes in here. I am also not comfortable with somebody that falsifies documents. I was complaining about the GSP program and I will not buy from a seller that won't budge. If it comes across the border into Canada and Customs decides to tax me that's fine. They rarely do but what you are telling me sounds illegal.
I have had a friend from the US before GSP came about and if a seller didn't ship here that would resend it for me. I still ended up paying 2 shipping which wasn't bad. But I will not bother her all the time with stuff like this. I just steer clear of GSP sellers.

[andyandted]

---

@brandeentertainment wrote:

i can not believe this thread is still blowing up ... I have never seen traffic on a thread like this ever....

There are a ton of things on ebay you can buy elsewhere so if you hate the gsp programs buy domestic or buy off ebay ...

You have to remember Ebay has seen an increase in international sales sense the GSP programs so it's not going anywhere ....

If they seen major declines things might change so everybody who hate the GSP program soruce you stuff off ebay..

The only chance of change is to take away from ebay's bottom line ... Posting on here may change the program but only declining international sales will ever get rid of it

---

I do not find this thread mind blowing at all. The minute I finished reading all the literature I could find about the GSP I knew there would be a huge outcry. There is absolutely no doubt that corporate giants like Ebay and Pitney Bowes instituted this process to make more money. Of course the spin doctors have tried to tell us that the GSP was used to encourage more US buyers to sell to Canada and the rest of the world. Most US sellers do not understand the system and they are STRONGLY discouraged from not using it. I do agree that the only way we will see this change is if we affect the bottom line of both Ebay and Pitney Bowes. I for one have started doing more selling locally and Canada only, and when Ebay sends me there feedback form out I let them know this. I have also tried to buy more locally and in Canada. In the end ( and yes I realize how cynical this may sound) the only ones whom want to suck the money out of us more than government are the big Corporations. You only have to look a few years back to the debacle in the USA to see that the big corporations not only took from us but from the government as well.

---

---

[marnotom!]

---

@froogal_electronic_parts_and_overstock wrote:

GSP was created as a revenue stream for Pitney Bowes and probably ebay gets a cut as well. It was created to collect taxes for countries and likely is the norm and will expand to other companies and postal services. 

This has been a big tax hole for many buyers and I am sure most countries are all for closing that loop. 

---

No "probably" about it.  The terms and conditions page for buyers states pretty clearly that part of the "import charges" is a referral fee for eBay from Pitney Bowes.  I doubt it's all that substantial on a single sale, though.

I do doubt that the GSP "was created to collect taxes, however."  Name a shipping service other than the post office that leaves the responsibility for export/import processing as well as assessing and collecting taxes and duty strictly up to Canada Border Services or its equivalent in other countries.

[marnotom!]

---

@arlene_v wrote:

Oh, and let's not forget the Non-HST Provinces. They are also losers, in those cases where  provinces have an agreement with the CBSA to collect the PST on imported items, they are not getting it under this program.

There is no PST or QST calculated on GSP items. 

---

If the posts from those complaining about the GSP's "import charges" are any indication, the provinces probably aren't getting much in the way of PST/QST/RST, etc. from items sent through the mail, either!  😄

[marnotom!]

---

@argenticspirit wrote:

The global shipping program is terrible, especially as a buyer. I understand sellers wanting to protect high ticket items but $14 shipping from the USA to Canada on $2 items with the GSP so there's tracking is ridiculous. It's a loss of sales for the seller and discourages buyers from buying intentionally.

---

This item isn't terribly expensive in the grand scheme of things, either, but Priority Mail International charges are over two and a half times the item price:

http://www.ebay.ca/itm//161267089582

Priority Mail International isn't "terrible" in and of itself but I think listings like this just show that just because an item can be sent through the mail, it doesn't mean that it's worth selling on eBay.

[froogal_electronic_parts_and_overstock]

---

@marnotom! wrote:

---

@froogal_electronic_parts_and_overstock wrote:

GSP was created as a revenue stream for Pitney Bowes and probably ebay gets a cut as well. It was created to collect taxes for countries and likely is the norm and will expand to other companies and postal services. 

This has been a big tax hole for many buyers and I am sure most countries are all for closing that loop. 

---

No "probably" about it.  The terms and conditions page for buyers states pretty clearly that part of the "import charges" is a referral fee for eBay from Pitney Bowes.  I doubt it's all that substantial on a single sale, though.

I do doubt that the GSP "was created to collect taxes, however."  Name a shipping service other than the post office that leaves the responsibility for export/import processing as well as assessing and collecting taxes and duty strictly up to Canada Border Services or its equivalent in other countries.

---

I don't understand your question about naming a service..... Pitney Bowes is acting as the brokerage firm for ebay. All brokerage firms charge a fee, and collect taxes on behalf of the government they are importing/exporting to. 

Your question doesn't really make sense. All major carriers either contract out their brokerage requirements, have it in house, or a quasi in house separate company. All shipping lines that do not have their own in house or contracted services use external brokerage firms.

All items that get imported into a country ( i can only speak for Canada as I am certain about that) are either subject to taxes and duty and must go through a brokerage, or are smuggled in, or go through Canada Post where, due to their implementation, they have been very haphazard in assessing and collecting taxes.

While I don't mean that GSP was specifically initiated by governments, the writing on the wall is clear that all governments are looking to close all the tax loopholes they can. Pitney Bowes / ebay are taking advantage of this, and the governments I am sure are not complaining.

If you want to buy an item, you only have 2 choices, aside from not buying. Either buy it here, or buy it there. Here you pay taxes, there, now you pay taxes. 

It has been a loophole that buyers, including myself, took advantage of and is now closing.

I am not saying I like GSP, just that this is not the beginning of the end, but the beginning of the beginning. Expect more online stores, companies, countries, etc. to get better and better at collecting taxes and the fees that go with it.

[marnotom!]

---

@froogal_electronic_parts_and_overstock wrote:

I don't understand your question about naming a service..... Pitney Bowes is acting as the brokerage firm for ebay. All brokerage firms charge a fee, and collect taxes on behalf of the government they are importing/exporting to. 

---

I'm not sure if Pitney Bowes is technically "the brokerage firm for eBay" but that's neither here nor there.  You actually more or less answered my question later on in your post:

Your question doesn't really make sense. All major carriers either contract out their brokerage requirements, have it in house, or a quasi in house separate company. All shipping lines that do not have their own in house or contracted services use external brokerage firms.

All items that get imported into a country ( i can only speak for Canada as I am certain about that) are either subject to taxes and duty and must go through a brokerage, or are smuggled in, or go through Canada Post where, due to their implementation, they have been very haphazard in assessing and collecting taxes.

While Canada Post isn't responsible for assessing taxes and duties due on a postal imports, you've answered my question that it and CBSA's handling of "casual imports" is pretty much an anomaly.  All other carriers need some sort of brokerage service to advance or collect taxes/duty due to the government before the item reaches the recipient.  (My understanding is that even UPS/FedEx Ground Shipments from the US to Canada see taxes/duty advanced.  The recipient is simply reimbursing the carrier.)

In other words, the postal system is the oddball when it comes to assessing and collecting taxes/duty, not the GSP or any other carrier, for that matter.

---

@froogal_electronic_parts_and_overstock wrote:

While I don't mean that GSP was specifically initiated by governments, the writing on the wall is clear that all governments are looking to close all the tax loopholes they can. Pitney Bowes / ebay are taking advantage of this, and the governments I am sure are not complaining.

---

Right, but this is different from your earlier contention that the GSP was created to collect taxes.  Granted, I may have said something along these lines myself in the past, but my thoughts are actually more along the lines that it's the GSP's "job" to collect taxes due on a personal import.  It's simply the nature of the beast that a shipping service other than the post office ensures that taxes (and duty) are collected on a personal import.  I think that if Pitney Bowes were to somehow find a means to forward items to buyers outside of the United States that somehow didn't collect taxes/duty as part of the shipping process and would cost them less money in the process, they'd do it.

---

@froogal_electronic_parts_and_overstock wrote:

I am not saying I like GSP, just that this is not the beginning of the end, but the beginning of the beginning. Expect more online stores, companies, countries, etc. to get better and better at collecting taxes and the fees that go with it.

---

No quibbles with you here, or with most of what you have to say, actually.  I think this is a bit like PayPal, which also had its share of missteps and growing pains on its way to becoming the juggernaut that it is today.  When you're breaking new ground, you're bound to screw up while you hammer out the best way to do things that's going to work for your customers without bleeding you dry in the process.

The big difference is that PayPal was a lean and mean internet start-up that could turn on a dime back then.  In comparison, Pitney Bowes is bloated, wheezy and chock full o' nuts suits.

[bennett4612]

Hi huntersaebaryu.

Quick two cents. 

The intention of the GSP is to open up the marketplace, for both buyer and seller. The idea being that this is good for everyone; buyers get new (US) sellers, seller get new (international) buyers, and eBay enables more transactions. 

We are certainly aware that there are complaints about the program -- from CA and elsewhere. We do keep track of these complaints (hence the CA "comments" and "questions" boards), and use suggestions found here to inform changes in the Program. 

One of these changes was to add additional levels of customization to the GSP. For instance a seller can choose to use the GSP to other eligible countries but then choose NOT to use it for Canada. See the "Using the Global Shipping Program" page under the heading "Alternative international shipping options" -- http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/shipping-globally.html#offering

Sellers are encouraged to evaluate the Program, to see if it is right for what they are selling. And buyers are encouraged to shop around, and evaluate potential purchases on whatever factors are most import to them. 

Hope this helps. 

---Bennett

[pjcdn2005]

---

@bennett4612 wrote:

Sellers are encouraged to evaluate the Program, to see if it is right for what they are selling. And buyers are encouraged to shop around, and evaluate potential purchases on whatever factors are most import to them. 

Hope this helps. 

---Bennett

---

If sellers are encouraged to evaluate the program why do we hear so many stories about sellers who don't even know they are in the program or have any idea of how it works?

If buyers are encouraged to shop around to evaluate what works best for them, why are they not able to specifically search for non gsp listings?

[susann1471]

I have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING POSITITIVE to say about the Global Shipping Program (and yes, I am Canadian). Often the total shipping price,  as many have already noted, is NOT clear, as the bidding may rise and the shipping price with it.  Everything takes far longer to get to Canada,, because of having to be routed via PB  in Kentucky, and everything on the GSP has apparently to be sent via First Class Priority Mail, when plain First Class (and even earlier, Standard) International Mail never cause any problems.   ltems charged the additional 'Import' fee are often not even dutiable. I can understand the GSP may offer sellers protection in the event of selling to countries with less than reliable postal services, but Canada Post, though at times slow (and most Canadians are aware of this) is reliable, and if a buyer is considered a possibly delinquent payer, all the seller has to do is check that person's rating.

I consider it horrendous that prospective buyers are treated in this way by eBay, and I will not buy or bid on anything that is being sent by the GSP.  Sellers should be informed they can indeed opt out of using it - many have kindly done so for myself when purchasing an item from them . "Susan from where it is still snowing......"

[thebidsniper]

Perfectly stated, but don't expect an answer from him.  Your question makes too much sense and is far too direct.  

[jean-philippe.vert]

You promote shipito in every forums, but that would be the last forwarder I would use after reading those reviews:

http://www.sitejabber.com/reviews/www.shipito.com

[marnotom!]

---

@jean-philippe.vert wrote:

You promote shipito in every forums, but that would be the last forwarder I would use after reading those reviews:

http://www.sitejabber.com/reviews/www.shipito.com

---

In fairness, J-P, I think that we're looking at a situation similar to that of the GSP.  People aren't generally going to post an online review when a service has done the job it's supposed to do.  We really don't know how representative the complaints about Shipito or the GSP are of all users' experiences with these services.

[digitronix]

I'm not a fan of the GSP, ( in Canada here ) however I understand why some sellers might choose to use such service. The only issue I have with the program and this is more on eBay then the sellers, is not having an option in the search module to filter out sellers who use the global shipping program. I think as a buyer I should be able to search with or without GSP instead of having to manually filter thousands of listings. My 2 cents.

[turbsy0]

I know I'm not the first and I'm sure I will not be the last but the GSP SCAM has turned me off from using Ebay or at least from any American seller. And yes the GSP is a SCAM.

Short rant and Ebay buying over.