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.

[arlene_v]

I've visited the .uk site to see the new GSP programme. Based on the info there, it is clear that when a buyer returns an item that is NAD to the seller, there is no refund of customs charges. So, if this latest incarnation of the GSP is an indicator, then my "theory" stated above is totally off base.

Oh well, one can dream, huh?

So, lestweforget, I initially read this the same way as you ....but ..... how can this be enforced? And how does a buyer go about getting this customs  info to the seller - do they scan the customs document and include that with the return? None of this makes sense  .... what if the seller refuses to refund?

It becomes very complicated, very fast.

AF, your interpretation seems to be the much more likely one  ....the statement refers to customs costs for items re-entering the US.

Just wondering if you found info on this somewhere? A link maybe?

But why state this in a User Agreement, is this ever an issue?

So strange. And as always, so vague.

[reallynicestamps]

The seller pays for any customs charges on the returned item.

Which is not how it works. The sender must mark the item are 'Returned Goods' and the receiver will not be charged customs or sales tax on receipt.

But of course, most buyers will never have done an international return and will not know to do that. Many will not even realize they need a customs form or know where to get one.

Which means that the seller would be charged for the return on his doorstep by the USPS or UPS agent and would have to go to his customs office to get that refunded.

A lot of work for a $10 refund.

[pierrelebel]

Yesterday, at the Weekly Board Hour, when asked about who pays for return shipping, what type of service, etc... eBay.ca staff answered:

"We are still ironing out such details and will make them available as the launch date gets closer. We are working diligently to ensure that common sense is indeed observed and that the policy is as fair as possible for everyone. Sorry to not have more to say about this at this time."

Based on that comment from eBay, I think it is best for everyone to wait until we have written information from eBay instead of speculation or assuming our own interpretation is the correct one.

Time will tell.

In the meantime readers who missed it yesterday may want to review the many answers given by eBay-Canada yesterday:

http://community.ebay.ca/t5/Weekly-Board-Hour-Session/August-13th-2014-Weekly-Board-Hour/m-p/257855#...

Often comments found on eBay.com do not apply to Canadians.

[arlene_v]

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Based on that comment from eBay, I think it is best for everyone to wait until we have written information from eBay instead of speculation or assuming our own interpretation is the correct one.

---

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I think speculation is quite healthy and useful. Not to mention very human!

In this instance, for example, the differing "interpretations" of a single sentence updating a user agreement clearly indicates that eBay needs to clarify this statement.  Sellers could jump to either conclusion with significant ramifications.

So, this is quite useful info for eBay and  provides them with feedback. (Yeah, they are reading this thread  right? LOL)

Reallynicestamps, thanks for that info in your post, much appreciated.

[songtag48]

For me,this particular program,and I use the word loosely,means only one thing: stay away  from sellers that ship their stuff trough this "program".Look,shipping from US sellers(70 % of them)is usually high enough,and then comes "import charge",which of course

is completely unwarranted,since we seem to have a "free trade agreement".I can't say who's bright idea was this extra charge to the international customer,but I know one thing for sure: it doesn't encourage me to buy from US sellers at all! I'd rather

 buy from Chinese sellers(lower shipping charges,and so far no import charges)than throw my money away  because of that "Global shipping charge".Sure,it takes a bit more time for items to arrive from half a world away,but hey,if it means to save you some money,why not.......?

[pjcdn2005]

"The seller pays for any customs charges on the returned item." I think that they are referring to any custom charges that the seller may have to pay to their own country...there is no mention of reimbursing the buyers. I think that ebay is just covering themselves 'just in case' as a seller shouldn't have to pay any custom charges on a returned item. I did ask the Canadian reps about this. See post 53 http://community.ebay.ca/t5/Seller-Updates/2014-Fall-Seller-Update/td-p/257149/page/3

[toby_le_pue]

Maybe you should look up the difference between Free Trade and taxes. most anything imported by mail from outside of Canada with a value over $20.00 Canadian is subject to taxes and GST. With GSP it is seen in the listing before you bid so why complain after you already agreed to it.

[xraygc333]

Not true, I rarely get charged duty or taxes when purchasing online. I won't buy from sellers who add this global shipping charge. I don't think the sellers are aware how this impacts their ability to sell to Canadians.

[toby_le_pue]

http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/import/postal-postale/duty-droits-eng.html#c1 Importing by Mail FeaturesIn this section •Duty, Taxes and Handling Fees on Items Mailed to You •Goods and services tax •Harmonized sales tax •Provincial sales tax •Disputing Duty and Taxes Duty, Taxes and Handling Fees on Items Mailed to You Duty and tax exemptions The CBSA can examine almost any item that comes to Canada by mail. You may have to pay duty, the goods and services tax (GST) or the harmonized sales tax (HST) and the provincial sales tax (PST) on items mailed to you. If you owe duty and tax, it will be indicated on Form E14, CBSA Postal Import Form, which will be attached to your mail item when it is delivered. The amount of duty or taxes you may owe on an item depends upon the following: •the item’s value in Canadian dollars; •whether or not the item is a gift; and •any exemptions specified in related legislation. The item’s value in Canadian dollars Under the provisions of the Postal Imports Remission Order, if someone mails you an item worth CAN$20 or less, you don’t have to pay duty or taxes on the item. If the item is worth more than CAN$20, you must pay the applicable duty, the GST or HST, and any PST on the item’s full value. Items that do not qualify for the CAN$20 exemption include the following: •tobacco; •books; •periodicals; •magazines; •alcoholic beverages; and •goods ordered through a Canadian post office box or a Canadian intermediary. Handling costs To process goods imported as mail that are subject to duty and/or tax, Canada Post charges the recipient CAN$9.95. If the item is duty-free and tax exempt, no amount is charged. All amounts must be paid at the time of delivery (by cash, certified cheque, VISA, MasterCard or your Canada Post commercial account). Agreements and disagreements If you disagree with the duty and/or taxes assessed, two options are available to you.

[walker0017]

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Arlene_V wrote: I think speculation is quite healthy and useful. Not to mention very human! In this instance, for example, the differing "interpretations" of a single sentence updating a user agreement clearly indicates that eBay needs to clarify this statement. Sellers could jump to either conclusion with significant ramifications. So, this is quite useful info for eBay and provides them with feedback. (Yeah, they are reading this thread right? LOL) _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ I totally agree with you there, however there are several things that based upon past experiences are a given and we know will happen: 1. This new program is not so much to make things easier for buyers and sellers, but an additional method for eBay and company to generate a quick profit. 2. This new program will be screwed up from the start and it will not get properly fixed.( I know they say they are working on ironing out the bug but where did we hear that one. 3. The new T&C will be written in such a way that again there will be no risk, liability or responsibility on eBay and it's subsidiaries. 4. Buyers will be hosed on this no matter what. 5. Buyers will have no options but to opt in if they want to sell outside of the US. I know too cynical and gloom and doom but really based upon past performance all 5 points have a better than 80% chance of happening.

[afantiques]

I think you meant 'sellers' a couple of times there.

[afantiques]

Not true, I rarely get charged duty or taxes when purchasing online. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GSP items are not imported by mail, that's the big difference. Freight imports do not have the chance of a free passage that mail imports do.

[arlene_v]

PJ, thanks for posting that. I find Rodney's reply to your question re the GSP quite interesting ... "The situation for US sellers who use Global Shipping (GSP) is a little bit different, because of the way eBay and our partners intermediate the shipping. eBay needs to continue to pay for the return shipping and import fees on SNAD GSP transactions - at least for the time being. 🙂 " ???????

[arlene_v]

None of the edit functions are working on these boards at present, there are no options under the three tabs, there is no ability to preview a post, and no way to create paragraphs. I've tried three different browsers (IE, Google Chrome and Firefox) . What is going on?

[micaylah]

I have to say that I am doing the same thing. There is enough competition out there that make things very easy for transfer over the border and I am using these sites. Where I shopped on ebay every day has gone down to maybe once a week.

[micaylah]

Wouldn't it have been best to "iron out the details" and fix the GSP before rolling out something new?

[micaylah]

"None of the edit functions are working on these boards at present, there are no options under the three tabs, there is no ability to preview a post, and no way to create paragraphs. I've tried three different browsers (IE, Google Chrome and Firefox) . What is going on?" Maybe they have turned them off? Or we might have broke the Forum?

[arlene_v]

Even the buyers are broke thanks to the GSP.

[walker0017]

afantiques wrote: I think you meant 'sellers' a couple of times there. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ I saw the mistake on the last part right after posting it but for some reason the system would not let me get into editing mode to change it, or do the quotes any more. Same thing today, kind of weird, eBay must have done a system update.

[walker0017]

arlene_V wrote: None of the edit functions are working on these boards at present, there are no options under the three tabs, there is no ability to preview a post, and no way to create paragraphs. I've tried three different browsers (IE, Google Chrome and Firefox) . What is going on? _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Don't take this the wrong way but I am glad someone else is having this problem, I was starting to think it was my computer. They must have done a system update that surprise, surprise has some bugs in it. You would think they would beta test their updates first.