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.

[coffeegulper905]

Have you noticed what they've started doing lately?
Before (while browsing listings) you could easily see in advance which sellers were using the GSP because there'd be the notice "Customs services and international tracking provided" at the bottom of those listings of those sellers using the program.  Used to save a lot of time, so you wouldn't have to waste your time reading a listing, checking out their photos and THEN finding out they enroll in the GSP program.
Now there isn't any such notice (interpreted:  "warning")!  The words "Customs services and international tracking provided" are no longer in plain sight before clicking a listing.
I guess they cottoned onto the fact that people caught on to what those words really meant and that they were avoiding such listings, so now they've decided to give us the knockout punch re: the exorbitant GSP fees only after we've been tempted by the listing details, first.

[chimera148]

It's too bad the GSP has made ebay such a waste of time for most purchases, unless you don't mind all the associated aggravation .

[afantiques]

Haha what a crock, you cannot be serious?

Have some proof these fees we are paying are 100% reducing "the provincial and federal deficits and debt."?

Worth noting that not all items over the $20CDN ideology are charged duty.

Items under NAFTA are 100% duty exempt among other specified items.

'Duty' and import sales taxes are not the same thing. The North American Free Trade Agreement has nothing to say about import sales taxes, which are the equivalent of Provincial and National sales taxes. The poster is in command of the facts and is quite serious.

Also regarding the 'legal duty' comment; the amount of items that customs has to deal with daily via checking every item for illegal substances under x-rays, sniffers, etc delays things so much that they cannot allow each item to also have paperwork filled out for duty, taxes, etc.

It is hard to see your point here. But no customs service examines every item. Especially ones from the USA.

If you want them to then perhaps you should write your MP or PM and ask them to hire more Canada Customs agents or you would just have to wait an additional 2 months to get your item. 😃

No one is asking for more inspections. The poster's point is that all GSP items are taxed on entry if it is applicable, most postal ones are not. The difference is down to how the clearance process is documented and handled.

However, since you seem to be so pro on the GSP, then one would assume you would never complain about receiving an item months later and you most certainly would never file a "item not received" claim within 45 days since Customs would be doing their legal duty in taking the time to be certain all items are charged taxes.

Correct?

I have never seen a poster here who is in favour of the GSP. Correcting misunderstandings about the process does not amount to approval, it just represents a small shot in the battle against ignorance. Some people prefer to take a reasoned and balanced view of the situation based on facts, others are more inclined to the rope and pitchfork approach.

[mayaraschad]

I will NEVER buy from a seller offering GSP. I usally buy smaller items, not always, but if that's the shipping method, it quite often costs more than the item. 

Many sellers will respond if you ask them to ship by regular mail,but on an auction, when there is limited time, that's not always possible.

 According to ebay policy, duties and taxes are the Buyers responsibility, and I'm more then willing to pay for those, but I'll pay for them here, in Canada, when the item is delivered.

 What does Pitney Bowes do with the money they estimate you owe, when the item turns out to have no taxes or duty payable?

The solution for me, is just not to buy from sellers only offering that option.

 That is echoed by most of my friends, too. 

 So if US sellers wonder why their Canadian sales are down, The GSP is mostly responsible. 

(PS, I can usually get the items from another country fairly easily, and I only pay a fair shipping charge)

[mater721]

"WHY would Canada Customs charge for that again?"

They don't.

That's what the GSP is used for.

I think the program should never be used for anything under $100 Cdn, but many US sellers use it for all items. Unfortunate.

[irishregbuff]

"Please try and keep the comments constructive"?? WTH?? Are you kidding me, What a load of nonsense. Nothing good can be said about this program. 

I can not even track my damned package. Canada post doesn't recognize the tracking number, and the Global system useless.

Last Scan date; N/A

Package Location N/A

Domestic Tracking; 0

Shipping status; BLANK

Shipping Carrier; MULTIPLE CARRIERS

You guys are bunch of MORONS. STOP STEALING FROM US. Dump this money grabbing program and get back to basics, STOP being such greedy little thieves. There is no number to contact that I have found. No email address that I have found either. 

This my first and LAST experience with Global Shipping. 3 times the shipping fees, charged for import duties which do not exist, longer shipping times and I CAN'T EVEN FIND OUT WHERE THE HECK MY PACKAGE IS. 

[hushstar]

The GSP is a scam plain and simple.  Most any ebay seller can ship for a fraction of cost that the GSP is charging.  Their import duties are a farce.  As a Canadian buying from the US, I often clip the shipping fees I'm being charged by the GSP and send them to the seller asking them to remove their item from the GSP program because the import duty fees are ludicrous.  The sellers are amazed at how much the buyers must pay when they ship GSP and the seller usually obliges my request, because I refuse to buy any item shipped via GSP.    Last time I posted here was 6-months ago when I flabbergasted by the import duties the GSP was charging for importing a telescope from the US to Canada.  The GSP shpping included a $300 import duty for a telescope.  I just checked again this week and the same ridiculous import fees apply.  If you call Canadian Customs you'll find there are NO IMPORT DUTIES on telescopes.  The GSP is a well run corrupt enterprise, and I will continue to encourage sellers to remove their items from the program until the knuckle-heads who are in charge of the GSP get replaced with common sense.

[femmefan1946]

I also sent an email to the third party company (PB Cross Border, with a shady website), but I have yet to hear back from them.
These guys? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitney_Bowes
They are one of the largest shipping companies in the world, although if you had ever worked in an office you would know them from the postage meter machine.

or the third party company that acted as a middle man that did not ship the package to the right address.
Yes. Pitney Bowes is responsible.

Open a Paypal dispute for an Item Not Received. Generally what seems to happen is that the buyer is refunded since PB cannot show that the item has been delivered. And with the item currently showing as being in Gaspe for whatever reason you should be refunded, or the item will arrive.

[afantiques]

The GSP shipping included a $300 import duty for a telescope.  I just checked again this week and the same ridiculous import fees apply.  If you call Canadian Customs you'll find there are NO IMPORT DUTIES on telescopes. 

You were asking the wrong question. Ask customs about import sales taxes instead. These do apply to anything valued at over Can$20

I'm guessing the telescope was $2000 to $3000, and what you'd be paying is the equivalent of your local sales taxes which you'd be paying if you bought from a Canadian supplier. It pretty certain that an item of such a value sent by other methods, including USPS would not reach you without being assessed and charged the appropriate import taxes.

The program is not a 'scam', just an expensive way of doing something that can be done usually cheaper some other way.

I'm not saying it is a good idea, just that it is extremely misunderstood by the buyers it does not suit.

[ciny2k]

And then on the other hand: gee I wish my paranoid potential seller was enrolled in the GSP, because he intends to use the most expensive USPS rate to mail a sweater from California to Canada: his shipping's quoted at almost $50, for a BIN $75 item! I asked for a switch, but his reply was that it "Wasn't worth the risk."  What risk? I don't need it overnight, it a Christmas gift, as I told him.  Ok, fine, move along....I found another seller who's mailing me 2 sweaters (also US) for $10 combined. The first sweater was a nice item, but there's no way in hades I'm paying that crazy amount. Which is how I view the GSP listings - the item has to be waaaay beyond "nice" for me to consider tossing that money away. 

[mater721]

"Wasn't worth the risk."

Seller may have been burned on previous shipments to outside USA.

What choices from USPS (to Canada) offer tracking and insurance?

"Which is how I view the GSP listings - the item has to be waaaay beyond "nice" for me to consider tossing that money away."

Or well above the threshold where you will get dinged by Canada Border Services.  At a certain price (>$100?, $200?, $300?) you are almost assured of paying "import fees" - plus the fee collected by the courier (which can be relatively high) to collect those "import fees".

[ciny2k]

IDK know which USPS services offer what, in terms of tracking and insurance. All I know is that the last time I paid anything close to that, my order contained 15 pieces, at a charge of $60.  This sweater we're talking about is a lightweight cashmere, lol.  Maybe the seller has been burned before, and the best way to find out would be for me to purchase the item, and leave negative feedback? That doesn't make sense to me -  I bid/buy with good intentions,  in agreement to pay what the seller's asking. If I try to negotiate shipping and I fail, then I move on. 

I did pay taxes once, through Canada Post, on an item that cost $900 US - and on top of that, I paid $10 for handling. Not including the $80 postage. That transaction may have been better off via the GSP too, since altogether it cost about $200 to ship. There must be some cases where it does work to our benefit? 

[radiostoys]

29 Oct 2014

DO NOT USE EBay's GSP!!!!!!!

Ebay's GSP is broken, slow and expensive

There is no way to track what is going on, and there is no way contact anyone to get information about a shipment.

Where is my package and why can't I track it?

it has been at the erlanger location since the Oct 18

Global tracking #:

UPAAA000000078338757

Carrier:

Multiple Carriers

Status:

ACCEPTEDIN TRANSITDELIVERED

Arrived at US shipping Center

Oct-20-14, 14:43 PM, Erlanger, KY 41018

In Transit-Arrived at FedEx location

Oct-17-14, 20:51 PM, INDEPENDENCE, KY 41051

In Transit-Next scheduled tracking update: Oct 17, 2014

Oct-15-14, 14:25 PM, BLOOMINGTON, CA 92316

In Transit-Arrived at FedEx location

[mater721]

"and leave negative feedback? That doesn't make sense to me -  I bid/buy with good intentions,  in agreement to pay what the seller's asking."

My view is that if seller met all obligations of listing, they should not get negative feedback. But that's just my opinion.

"There must be some cases where it does work to our benefit?"

I think there is - just depends on available shipping for the non-GSP item. Threshold seems to be when automatically paying GSP costs outweigh value of item. If item is $40, and GSP costs are $30+, likely not a good deal as you are paying "import fees" on an item not likely to get dinged.

However, if item costs $250 plus GSP of say $65, it might be worth it.  For non-GSP you could be looking at ~ $35 import cost + $10 Canada Post fee for collecting that $50 plus shipping - which could be anywhere from $30-$50 depending on weight/size.

I have never bought an item with GSP, but the numbers might justify it for the 2nd example (which is modeled from an actual listing).

[mg152]

Hit there, you should get a Canada Post tracking number when it leaves the US. I'm sorry you're having these problems. If you can call here's the number for Pitney Bowes they handle GSP
1 (800) 522-0020

[lmjsk]

I just got burned by the GSP system , my 80USD dollar item came to a whopping 130 USD Never again if I see gsp I'm walking away, I may even walk away from ebay entirely cause the shipping fees people charge especially for a lousy book ? .. come on doesn't take 30 dollars to ship a simple dnd book

[jsho9748]

Bought $13 worth of product and they charged me $52.10 for shipping to BC. I paid for it because I have the money and really wanted what I was buying for my sisters Christmas present. Stay away from them. Nothing but a scam.

[ciny2k]

Look on the bright side: you got something you really, really, really wanted. Why else would anyone pay that kind of money? I had a seller switch from the GSP to USPS for me today (Thanks! Sold!) with the dire warning that I could be on the hook for duty, taxes, and the handling fee. That's fine...I know...but I'll pass on the GSP collecting them ahead of time. Over 100 transactions later, and I've only been charged once. And even if I do have to pay (which I don't object to, fair is fair) then I'd rather give my money to Canada Post than to Pitney Bowes.  

[ciny2k]

I order books all the time, and what I do is compare the price first, then compare what the seller is charging for shipping. I usually pay around $8 per book. I'd *never* use the GSP for a book, unless it was some rare edition I couldn't live without, and the seller wouldn't budge on the terms of shipping.  

[wilfridroma]

I hit the floor every time I see a good deal from USA and  and the shipping plus unmentioned  costs exceed the item value  so I keep looking and go worldwide  , the whole system is ridiculous  and I feel sorry for the USA seller who by now  has  his sales  steadily  dropping to Canada . and I end up being screwed much of the time on the Chinese market since the shipping trend takes 30 days on average and the 45 days limit litigation imposed by eBay and PayPal contribute to a massive decaying  of the wonderful eBay I use to turn to when in need , again , Why trying to fix something that was not broken in the first place .

I keep asking myself why they go along with a system that can only benefit the brokers and shippers and leave a a seller in a situation similar  to facing the Berlin wall trying to regain a good market in Canada which we all need .

What happened too our trade agreements?

There are still a few USA sellers who used their basic postal service with no problem at all and they do survive without that questionable system .