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

sniffysniffer · ‎06-26-2014

I agree 100%. I have purchased hundreds of items on ebay from the US and have NEVER had to pay import or duty taxes, even on items that cost more than $20.00. When shopping on ebay I just skip over any item that uses the GSP, no matter how much I would like to purchase it. The shipping costs are absolutely outrageous. Small items that can't weigh more than a couple of ounces, cost under $10.00, and would fit into a small padded envelope can cost more than $20.00 to ship. And then you add in the import and duty taxes that we don't even have to pay...NO THANKS. I wonder if the sellers that use this program have noticed that they don't get much business from Canadian buyers. What a rip off and a bad business decision on the part of the seller. Shipping is expensive enough, without having to pay 4-5 times the cost of 1st class. I will only buy from sellers that are willing to ship 1st class where possible and I have NEVER had a problem. The items have all arrived in a timely matter and not once have I had a problem with an item going missing. Why would I want to pay so much more for the same service?

afantiques · ‎06-26-2014

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?

The liquidators sell items that never made it past Erlanger, not returned items.

pjcdn2005 · ‎06-26-2014

The liquidator that I've noticed is in Kentucky and does have items for sale that were originally sold through the gsp. They sell items that are sent to the gsp center but not sent on to the buyer because of size or for some other reason. This liquidator had many many guitars for sale which is one item that buyers have been complaining about not receiving.

pierrelebel · ‎06-26-2014

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

Contact the seller ans ask if he is willing to sell to you shipping by mail instead of using GSP.

Many American sellers agree to such request.

jacks-0dowefslo · ‎06-27-2014

Ordered June 23rd.When looking at the tracking I see they have shipped my order from California to Illinois to ship it back to the west coast of Canada. Now I understand why they estimate the lengthy delivery dates from July first to the 10th that is rediculous.do they know where British Columbia is? I would not use that service again.

bernie_u · ‎06-27-2014

I would never buy any item from a seller using GSP . I would like to see Ebay work with all shippers to give US and Canadians shoppers and sellers a safe and reasonable shipping.

drennon007 · ‎06-27-2014

To be quite honest this new GSP totally sucks. I'm a Canadian & one of the things that I loved about buying on eBay were the deals you could get. A seller could be selling a DVD for example & their price would be anywhere between $10-$15 for a relatively new/popular DVD/Blu-Ray and maybe depending upon the seller $3-$6 dollars shipping to Canada also depending upon the seller.

Now with this ridiculous GSP in place the shipping prices are often more then the item itself. Then their are 'Import Charges' what a load of garbage. When I contact a seller they blame it on eBay. However often a listing will have $18.00 for shipping to Canada and no Import Charges. So how does that work?

I think this is just opening a door for sellers to take advantage of all buyers not just Canadian's and blame it on eBay.

Go back to the former shipping programs. The buyer was protected as it should be. The seller is responsible for pleasing the buyer not the other way around.

reallynicestamps · ‎06-28-2014

I see they have shipped my order from California to Illinois to ship it back to the west coast of Canada.

Are you sure the seller used the GSP? He should have sent the item to Erlanger KY with Confirmed Delivery. The GSP/PitneyBowes takes it from there.

It's possible that, although the seller was signed up for GSP but shipped directly to you by USPS/Canada Post or even by UPS or another courier.

This will cost you extra money, especially if the seller went with a courier. Like PB/GST, couriers are required to charge you duty and tax and often have a service charge in excess of $25. You will be charged twice. Once the original 'import fees' to PB/GST and again on your doorstep.

The route is not important. Many shippers use a 'hub and spokes" system because, counter-intuitively, it is more efficient and often faster than direct shipping.

For example, most of the parcels I ship go to Montreal from here in Ottawa, even if they are going to end up in Detroit or Sarnia. I still get nice feedback on speed of delivery.

cecilia_mel · ‎06-29-2014

I dunno what happened in the last 4-5 months but all of a sudden sellers I've been dealing with for awhile, or first time sellers seem to be using this GSP program and not even realizing what it is.

I have been buying crafting supplies (mostly patterns) for years and years on ebay and never in my entire time of doing so have I had the problems that have cropped up in the last month.

Two different, totally unrelated sellers have now told me one thing and then not been able to deliver in the end on it. And all because ebay doesn't make it clear to them.

Problems with GSP:

1) Sellers don't realize that they are forced into the GSP program and can't just send a regular invoice and ship regular post like they always have. So when I have contacted sellers using the program I get told no problem just ignore the shipping ebay is quoting. Only to find out that they don't understand the program (and I really don't get it) and can't do so in the end.

2) The shipping fees are wayyy more than the item is even worth at retail costs in many cases.

3) the import fees are just ridiculous. There are no import fees into Canada or taxes required on used items. It's called free-trade agreement.

I will be having to stop using many sellers that I have known a long time and avoid other new ones because of this program. It makes me incredibly frustrated and sad on behalf of these sellers. But even more frustrated that my years of ebay buying are coming to an end because of some third party program that no one looked at from the right angles.

Look at the review below and tell me that I shouldn't be outraged!!!

pjcdn2005 · ‎06-29-2014

You're right, many sellers don't understand how the system works. If the seller is willing to send you the item directly rather than through gsp, they can send you an invoice through paypal with combined shipping.

The gsp does have some combined shipping available for fixed price listings. You have to put each item in the cart first and it should give you a combined shipping total. The combined rate may still be higher than if the order was sent direct to you by the seller.

When items are send through the post office, Canada customs does not always charge tax or duty even though it is due. But when a third party is processing the items through customs, they must charge duty and tax when it is owed. Any item over $20 is taxable regardless of whether it is new or used. Items over $20 can also be subject to duty unless they have been made in a Free Trade country such as the U.S.

cecilia_mel · ‎06-29-2014

Can you please provide exact instructions on how the sellers can send an invoice?
Each one has told me it's not possible and when they called eBay for direction they were not informed of that option.

If you'll note every item in my cart that you can see is way less than $20. So no import fees.
Plus I'm an Etsy seller and know the customs laws well. So long as I'm not reselling directly I can buy used at no import fees or customs from the US into Canada and vice versa.
Plus all the designers I'm buying patterns for are printed and work in the US or Canada. So no taxes due as they were already paid.

Therefore I want my eBay transactions to be direct with my sellers as was the idea when eBay was started and has been for years.
The scam to have sellers and buyers confused will only work the first couple times and then people will just walk away.
So if suggest those instructions on getting around GSP are pretty important if you want to keep Canadians buying.

afantiques · ‎06-29-2014

If you'll note every item in my cart that you can see is way less than $20. So no import fees.

3 ten dollar items shipped together counts as one thirty dollar item, so fees are charged.

Plus I'm an Etsy seller and know the customs laws well. So long as I'm not reselling directly I can buy used at no import fees or customs from the US into Canada and vice versa.

Sorry, but you can't under a strict application of the regulations. You'll get away with it because the postal imports to Canada will be too trivial to tax, and imports to USA have a far higher value level before anyone would be interested. Used or new is irrelevant.

Plus all the designers I'm buying patterns for are printed and work in the US or Canada. So no taxes due as they were already paid

If they are involved in the GSP and they do not specify in the listing that the item's origin is USA, they may be assumed to be foreign unless someone opens the package and takes a look and the patterns are actually marked 'Printed in USA'

The thing you do not seem to know about the 'customs laws' is that GSP items are handled as freight and not postal imports, with a strict application of the rules that tends to err on the side of caution in some cases.

I'm not saying it's not a terrible idea badly implemented, just that some of your conceptions are misses.

pjcdn2005 · ‎06-29-2014

Can you please provide exact instructions on how the sellers can send an invoice?

As far as I know, they cannot send an invoice through ebay once you have purchased the item but they can send one through paypal. Once they have signed into Paypal they can click on Send Invoice at the top and then Click on Invoice again. They will need to know your Paypal email address in order to create the invoice. It is difficult to send email addresses through ebay messages so you have to be creative. But if you have already purchased the item(s) from them they will have received an email confirming the purchase from ebay and that will have your ebay email address on it. If your ebay and Paypal address are the same then they can use that for the invoice.

I won't go into details on how to set up the invoice as they should be able to figure it out and it really depends on how much information they want to put in there.

If you haven't purchased the items yet, they could set up a separate listing for you that has all of the items in that listing and a combined shipping rate. They would have to opt that listing out of the gsp before they listed it. If you search customer support on .com there should be info on how to opt a listing out of the gsp...since I don't use it, I don't how to do it.

Another option that MIGHT be possible......Some gsp sellers have mentioned that if the buyer shops on .com and uses the cart, they can then request a total from the seller. Supposedly, if the seller then sends an invoice the transaction will be outside of the gsp BUT I don't know if this is really possible or if it is a myth.

If you'll note every item in my cart that you can see is way less than $20. So no import fees.

As AF mentioned, import fees are not based on each item but on the total value of the package.

So long as I'm not reselling directly I can buy used at no import fees or customs from the US into Canada and vice versa.

That's incorrect. If you bought those items at a used goods store in Canada, they would still be taxable regardless why you were buying them.

Plus all the designers I'm buying patterns for are printed and work in the US or Canada. So no taxes due as they were already paid.

If they were produced in the U.S. or Canada there is no duty charged but they are still taxable.

However, the gsp only knows where they were produced if the seller lists the country of manufacturer in the item specifics.

jinglekell · ‎06-29-2014

@pjcdn2005 wrote:

However, the gsp only knows where they were produced if the seller lists the country of manufacturer in the item specifics.

AND if ebay provides gives sellers the option on the SYI form.

I use GSP to ship 1930s and 1940s California Pottery Dinner Sets [Franciscan, Bauer etc] -- with shipping weights between 10-37 pounds.

The pottery and glass SYI does not allow the seller to indicate Country of Manufacture.

For non-NAFTA countries, it may not matter. For NAFTA countries, it clearly does.

I hope ebay updates this soon.

pjcdn2005 · ‎06-29-2014

I didn't realize that. When you send the item to Kentucky, do you mark the country of origin on the label or package? If it is marked....or if PB opens the package and sees that the dinnerware was made in the U.S., I'm sure that they wouldn't have to pay duty, even though the buyer may have paid it. They would still have to pay tax.

Out of curiosity I checked a couple of listings to see what they are charging Canadians for import fees. One set had a price of $375. The import fee to Alberta was $52 and to Ontario it was $85. The Alberta tax is 5% so the import fees should be about $24 ($19 plus PB's approx $5 service charge.) Ontario tax is 13% so import fees should be about $54.
It looks as if Alberta residents would be overpaying by about $28 and Ontario residents by about $31.

I do have to note that shipping on that listing was $132. It is a 60 pc set and the listing says it would be sent in 3 boxes so its possible that if the seller sent the order directly to the buyer, shipping might be more expensive.

I will definitely mention this to the ebay reps and hope that they will pass it on to the gsp people.

jinglekell · ‎06-29-2014

I have mentioned it to ebay and to the gsp reps months ago.

I've also mentioned it to a few of the PowerSellers who regularly use GSP and post about it.

robertqc2017 · ‎07-01-2014

Not only do the duties, taxes, costs involved not make sense & are a legal ripoff.

Global Shipping ships a parcel from Rochester N.Y.. with the destination to Canada via a tour of all over the US first.

Rochester, NY > Ohio> Kentucky> Illinois> Ontario, Canada

USPS Postal Service> Rochester NY > Ontario or Quebec, Canada.

Imagine a Parcel from California to Eastern Canada, it must get a tour of 46 States in the US first before arriving to Canada. .

khuong.hoang · ‎07-01-2014

On average it adds about 1-2 weeks to receive a package, now when I buy, I have to not only make sure its not coming from China, but also make sure its not part of the program, so I can receive my package at a reasonable time.

2011limey1 · ‎07-01-2014

You will see on the Boards the number of people that think the same way you do and this has been going on for what seems like forever. No, I haven't and will not buy anything to do with this program. But sorry, it ain't going anywhere!! and I don't believe whining, like we all did at the beginning, is going to go anywhere at this point!

FYI though, a couple of US sellers that I always used to purchase from (discontinued makeup in Canada) so very low $ started using it and I messaged them, and they weren't aware what the program entailed and opted out. But like I said wer'e talking VERY low dollars in these instances - they were wondering why they had lost their Cdn. buyers - great so I can buy from them now.

So if you think the charges are ridiculous and going through Kentucky, etc is insane, I suggest you just bypass them, without clicking - that way you'll never want what you can't have, or something to that effect!