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.

[bonafide_bidder]

The president/CEO of Canada Post was a VP at Pitney Bowes, coincidence????  He is the person who decided that Canada Post won't deliver mail to homes any more.  He's setting up Canada Post to be sold off to private interests - Pitney Bowes???  Makes me wonder if the CBSA is also run by a Pitney Bowes 5th Columnist.

[pjcdn2005]

PS - Personally, in addition to the many changes or improvements suggested, I still feel eBay made a major mistake by having international buyers (including Canadians) carry all the extra costs of the program and giving sellers a potentially profitable program at no cost to them.  It appears unfair to me.  If the program really helps American sellers sell more, they should be ask to carry some of the extra costs.

Totally agree. GSP sellers do not pay any extra costs PLUS they also benefit in many ways. In most cases, they are not responsible for items not received or items damaged in transit. They are not held responsible if they send an item not allowed by the program. If a buyer is unhappy with the cost or any aspect of the gsp,  any feedback they leave is deleted. If  a seller chooses to use gsp, it doesn't seem fair or reasonable that a customer  can not express their displeasure with problems in the program.

[darklordsidius]

I make many transactions per month/year and I won an auction that used GSP for a Playstation 1 game that cost me $10USD but the shipping charges were $26USD in the end, having to pay the seller and PB. it took a day for my item to get to PB but it took them 2 weeks for it to arrive at the Canadian border. When it arrived at my door, Canada Post charged me an additional $15CAD in order to get my game. Almost $45CAD in shipping fees for a $10 item that was sent in a bubble envelope.......

In 13 years of buying on ebay, I have NEVER had to pay duty fees for a game, no matter the value of the game. an example, I spent almost $400USD in March on 2 games from the same seller and the games arrived in one package, with the value clearly stated on the shipping label and I paid $0 in duty fees!!! But a $10 game cost me $15CAD in duty because PB clearly arent charging you for the Duty fees, not to mention that we aren't supposed to pay duty fees on low valued items under a certain dollar amount.

[pierrelebel]

"When it arrived at my door, Canada Post charged me an additional $15CAD in order to get my game. "

That does not make sense.  It should not happen.  When an item is shipped to Pitney Bowes in Kentucky, it is reshipped by Pitney Bowes in bond to Canada (PB or agent arranges Customs clearance and payment of taxes) and the parcel is transferred to Canada Post for domestic delivery.  It could not have included taxes or Canada Post $9.95 service charge.

Are you sure the seller in fact shipped the parcel to Pitney-Bowes? 

What does the return address show on the parcel you received? Does it show a postage charge (or stamps)?  What name and address of seller is shown on the Canada Customs invoice? What is the value shown for Customs purposes?

I suspect the seller made a mistake and shipped the parcel directly to you instead of shipping to Pitney Bowes as instructed by PayPal at time of receiving payment.  If that is the case, contact eBay and ask for a refund of the "import charge" paid to Pitney Bowes.

"we aren't supposed to pay duty fees on low valued items under a certain dollar amount."

That is correct.  Goods imported by mail with a value of less than Cdn$ 20 do not attract duty or taxes (with a few exceptions)

http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/import/postal-postale/duty-droits-eng.html

Something has gone terribly wrong with this transaction.  Please let us know how it works out once you have determined what the actual problem was.

[pierrelebel]

Was this the purchase: http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=261485351902 ?

[opcguys]

THIS PROGRAM MAKES NO SENSE FOR CANADIAN BUYERS GENERALLY……TWO RECENT EXAMPLES…….A $6 FINAL BID REQUIRING $17.56 SHIPPING…….AND A .99C FINAL BID REQUIRING $13 SHIPPING…….WOULD YOU BUY FROM THESE SELLERS AT THIS RATE?

I WILL NOT BUY FROM SELLERS USING THIS PROGRAM AND AM INFORMING THEM OF HOW UNFAIR IT IS ESPECIALLY FOR LOWER VALUE PURCHASES. I HAVE HAD NO PROBLEM WITH CROSS BORDER SHIPPING, ESPECIALLY FOR PURCHASES UNDER $20, I OBVIOUSLY EXPECT A SLIGHTLY HIGHER CHARGE BUT NOT TO THE EXTENT GSP ASKS FOR. I BUY QUITE A BIT ON EBAY FROM THE US. THIS WILL CERTAINLY DETER ME FROM BUYING WITH SELLERS WHO USE GSP AND I KNOW MANY MANY OTHER CANADIANS FEEL THE SAME WAY.

WOULD APPRECIATE A RESPONSE OF HOW THIS MAKES EBAY BETTER FOR ME, YOUR US SELLERS….

TONY

OPCGUYS

[opcguys]

FORGOT TO ADD….IN BOTH CASES THE FULL SHIPPING CHARGE WAS NOT AVAILABLE UNTIL I WAS INVOICED…..THE SHIPPING CHARGE SHOWN WHEN I BID WAS FAR LOWER……THIS LED TO PROBLEMS WITH THE SELLERS INVOLVED.

[afantiques]

it took a day for my item to get to PB but it took them 2 weeks for it to arrive at the Canadian border. When it arrived at my door, Canada Post charged me an additional $15CAD in order to get my game. Almost $45CAD in shipping fees for a $10 item that was sent in a bubble envelope.......

I too would be very interested to see any evidence of this, for the reasons pierre states above, it should not be possible.

[00nevermind00]

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@pjcdn2005 wrote:

PS - Personally, in addition to the many changes or improvements suggested, I still feel eBay made a major mistake by having international buyers (including Canadians) carry all the extra costs of the program and giving sellers a potentially profitable program at no cost to them.  It appears unfair to me.  If the program really helps American sellers sell more, they should be ask to carry some of the extra costs.

Totally agree. GSP sellers do not pay any extra costs PLUS they also benefit in many ways. In most cases, they are not responsible for items not received or items damaged in transit. They are not held responsible if they send an item not allowed by the program. If a buyer is unhappy with the cost or any aspect of the gsp,  any feedback they leave is deleted. If  a seller chooses to use gsp, it doesn't seem fair or reasonable that a customer  can not express their displeasure with problems in the program.

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Yes, yes, yes!!! There really should be a way for buyers to express how they feel about the GSP (other than these threads which eBay obviously doesn't care about.) Why not have an extra FB section to rate the program for every GSP transaction? Buyers would be able to give a positive, neutral or negative rating for the GSP, leave a comment and rate the GSP stars for speed, reasonable rates, etc. Let those who are footing the bill speak!

[femmefan1946]

It's hard on the sellers, especially those who did not realize they had/ had been signed up for the GSP, but a low Shipping Cost rating and a remark about the GSP in feedback, whether positive, negative or neutral, would have a strong effect on the sellers using the Program.

But, the buyer has to take some responsibility too. There is a note on the listing that says the GSP is being used. The amount of the import fees is given before the buyer clicks to pay the second time.

The GSP was badly explained to sellers and has been badly implemented, but some of the early problems have been corrected (badly of course) and telling potential buyers that they will be paying for importation before they buy is one correction.

[femmefan1946]

…TWO RECENT EXAMPLES…….A $6 FINAL BID REQUIRING $17.56 SHIPPING…….AND A .99C FINAL BID REQUIRING $13 SHIPPING…….WOULD YOU BUY FROM THESE SELLERS AT THIS RATE?

Probably not. Why did you?

These sellers are not good at the job. They are obviously afraid of being ripped off, so are frantically overcharging on postage to cover their assets. In my opinion, someone who is afraid of dishonest customers is often reacting to what he would do in the same situation.

[00nevermind00]

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@femmefan1946 wrote:

It's hard on the sellers, especially those who did not realize they had/ had been signed up for the GSP, but a low Shipping Cost rating and a remark about the GSP in feedback, whether positive, negative or neutral, would have a strong effect on the sellers using the Program.

But, the buyer has to take some responsibility too. There is a note on the listing that says the GSP is being used. The amount of the import fees is given before the buyer clicks to pay the second time.

The GSP was badly explained to sellers and has been badly implemented, but some of the early problems have been corrected (badly of course) and telling potential buyers that they will be paying for importation before they buy is one correction.

---

I'm not suggesting that sellers be penalized. At the very least, they shouldn't be for as long as eBay keeps enrolling them into the GSP without having the courtesy of letting them know. What I'm suggesting is that buyers be able to leave two FBs on GSP transactions: one for the seller (positive, neutral or negative rating, comment, and stars), and another for the GSP (same components).

Yes, a buyer has a choice to buy or not buy. Many of them seem to choose the latter. Which is fine when the item you're looking for can be bought from dozens of sellers. But if you're looking for a one-of-a-kind item, sometimes it will be GSP or nothing.

Ebay wanted US sellers to offer their items internationally so badly that they completely forgot about the other part of the equation: the international buyers. Almost 2 years into the program, isn't it about time to give them a voice (again, other than these boards, which eBay doesn't seem to care about)? The sellers could be shown the GSP feedback left by their buyers. It wouldn't impact their performance, but it would let them know whether the GSP is seen by the buyers as a "good fit" for their items.

[kxeron]

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@femmefan1946 wrote:

It's hard on the sellers, especially those who did not realize they had/ had been signed up for the GSP, but a low Shipping Cost rating and a remark about the GSP in feedback, whether positive, negative or neutral, would have a strong effect on the sellers using the Program.

But, the buyer has to take some responsibility too. There is a note on the listing that says the GSP is being used. The amount of the import fees is given before the buyer clicks to pay the second time.

The GSP was badly explained to sellers and has been badly implemented, but some of the early problems have been corrected (badly of course) and telling potential buyers that they will be paying for importation before they buy is one correction.

---

Thing is, regardless of the buyer/seller responsibility, Pitney Bowes is not taking responsibility for their conduct under the programme and in order to resist issues with the programme's performance, they choose to shield sellers from all fault while with any normal shipping, an INR claim goes against the seller directly, but with the GSP? Once it reaches Erlanger, Pitney Bowes themselves step in between the buyer and seller and due to PBI's size as a corporation, makes it impossible for a buyer to adequately call out PBI on lack of performance or the like.

Buyers need to hold their current ground here otherwise if buyers "take responsibility" of that "Calculate" button or the like, it'll give eBay and PBI leeway to say "Look, it wasn't that hard, was it? It's easy and fun to use the programme!". Only when the other sides of the equation starts taking responsibility should buyers relent. If eBay will not allow sellers to be held responsible systematically, they should be held responsible for their logistics socially.

I understand the need for buyers needing to take responsibility for aspects of the programme, but at the moment systematically 100% of the onus of the programme is upon buyers as a group, there is little to no responsibility anywhere else. PBI's "money back" mechanism isn't responsibility, it's a systematic cop-out to avoid answering for lack of performance. But only should buyers take responsibility when final charges are automatically displayed to the buyer, not hidden behind a calculate button. Only should buyers take responsibility when sellers are mandated to enter certain details about the item, Only should buyers take responsibility when they can utilize the tracking numbers PBI provides. Only should they take responsibility when they can see how much of their money will be going toward duty and taxes and to which province is being paid those taxes. If PBI can't or won't figure out the logistics of those items, that means they're not fit to be conducting the programme.

[kxeron]

As an addendum to myself..

I would just like to say that in the unlikely event if I were to purchase through the GSP and the shipment were to fail due to an internal PBI process that isn't listed anywhere publicly (e.g. over-interpretation of a law or arbitrary size restrictions or the like or if PBI didn't instruct eBay to correctly program their website software), I would seriously consider telling PBI to keep my money provided they mailed instead, a letterhead letter with a formal apology from a member of management, and a detailed evaluation of why the failure happened and to describe what internal policies were in play that led up to the failure and  to describe to me what will happen from there to the item.

Yes, I would actually *pay* PBI to be accountable for their actions, because the moment I'd get my money back, is the moment they're no longer in debt to me and that's the moment they can walk away scott free without being accountable.

[wichm]

I'm buying for years films on Ebay, which are shipped to me in the Netherlands . I paid for a reel around $25. Now that sellers direct their items via global shipping I have to pay double that amount! Global shipping  charge for import duties which I never paid. So I have stopped to bid on all items that use EBay's global shipping instead of USPS priority.

[6buffy6]

As most people seem to see the Global Shipping program is a jokle and Pitney Bowes are making out like bandits.

There should always be an option not to take the Global shipping program. I have no problem paying taxes or import charges on items that need it. But e-bay hasn't done a very good job implementing the system or explaining it. Anyone remember NAFTA.

The global shipping charge isn't included as part of the actual shipping cost and is shown as an add on. If this is an add on let me take it off. It isn't used when you sort by price+shipping and that gives you a false idea of what yopu will actually pay. 

It has turned items that cost $10.00 and might have all of dollar in tax to have another $15.00 added before we even get to the actual $5.00 it will cost to ship it. This is crazy and someone is making alot of free money. They never explain how the fee is figured out either, how much is Tax how much is duty and how much is brokerage charge.

Can't say I enjoy brokerage fees, but I would rather customs or the post office contact me(like befor) than just giving money away to Pitney Bowes for no apparent reason. I have never recieved any physical documentation from them about payment made and brokerage fees as I would if any other company or myself handled the import. As far as I can tell Pitney Bowes never actually handles the package just takes the money, most of which is their brokerage fee and not actuall import costs. Could this be why they don't explain the charge breakdown.

Global shipping has made me not buy a number of items and I try to avoided it best I can. I'll pay more for the item not to have Global Shipping.

It hurts both buyer and seller the only one it really helps is Pitney Bowes.

Thank you for your time.

[dasia143]

All excellent points, kxeron.

To,"Only should buyers take responsibility when they can utilize the tracking numbers PBI provides." I'd like to add that before purchasing, buyers should be able to know what method of shipping will be used.

I never purchase from sellers using UPS or other couriers because of brokerage fees and the risk of having to pick up the item from a distant warehouse. With the GSP, brokerage is reasonable but there is still the concern they may use CanPar.

That's a deal-breaker for me. A friend had an item shipped to his small business premises. His opening hours, 12 to 8 pm, are clearly displayed on the door. CanPar made two attempts to deliver, both in the morning! Could they not have read his sign and made the second delivery in the afternoon? He had to drive an hour to their warehouse during their business hours.

(Edited for a typo.)

[highland.2112]

Well I want to buy a pair of used boots. Price is 50 bucks.

$31.15 for shipping to Canada.

$21.90 for Ebay extra charges.

Huh?

[iankimmerly]

Since disputes refunded under the GSP do not seem to require that the disputed item be returned anywhere, I wonder if these liquidators have any relationship to Pitney Bowes or eBay at all?