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.

[afantiques]

Good that this is sorted out, calling PP is what I would have advised as there have been several  reports of confusion with PP refunds for GSP items including this and similar problems that seem to indicate that there is poor system integration.

[afantiques]

I've spent months avoiding it and finally got hit with it.

You can't 'get hit with it' since the charges are visible before you pay. You must have accepted it, although obviously reluctantly.

[thebidsniper]

A few days ago I was interested in buying a poster, so out of curiosity, I shopped around a bit on Ebay and saw many US sellers charging $15 shipping + GSP charges at nearly $17.  There were literally ten different listings with this price, and I avoided them all.  I finally found a seller charging $8 TOTAL shipping in HUNGARY.  Can someone please explain this insanity to me?  It's cheaper to ship an item from halfway across the world than the country beside the one I'm in?  Such.a.joke.

[misterbriko]

I had this conversation with a US seller lately.

Me

Hi,

I will buy your item if you can offer me USPS instead of the global shipping program. Let me know. Thanks.
Dan

Seller

Sorry but I only use Global shipping for international shipping because that is the only way that payment is guaranteeded. Paypal won't backup any international payments.

Me

I don't know where you get this information but this is not true. If I pay with Paypal, you receive the payment in your account instantly. However, this is your choice but you're loosing potential buyer from Canada and foreign countries.

Regards
Dan

Seller

That's what pops up on the screen in Paypal when a payment from a foriegn country is made. They will give me the money but because they can't get verification on creditcards from international accounts if it's challanged they take the money back. There isn't anyway to verify if an international card is stolen or not.

End of conversation.

This is the proof that eBay are lying to american sellers where comes the time to sell and ship items to Canada or anywhere outside USA. I am Canadien. I have a Paypal account and all my credit card informations are up to date. I can tell you that I am verified.

They should of call it the global ripping program.

[bobenis]

Oh now ebay has reversed the tablet pricing vs yesterday.

Now the shipping has gone up to $23 and the import fees are $11.

What is going on here...

[i.am.canuck]

I attended Canada Revenue Agency seminar in 2007 and even the mention of Ebay made this person cringe. Next will be garage/yard sales. Canadians pay close to 40 cents per litre more for refined gas at the pumps than Americans (Can Am averages), mostly due to buying Canadian refined crude back from Americans and the taxes even before they are applied at the pump.

Do you really think the Honourable PM gives a rats ass?

[momcqueen]

I must stress it's not hard to avoid the Global Shipping Program because it's readily apparent in the search results (provided you're using a desktop computer) which sellers are using it. The subtitle next to the picture says Customs services and international tracking provided.

If you don't want to use it, avoid those listings. Then you are never unpleasantly surprised. 

[mater721]

You approached it the right way, and have done what you can. Unfortunately, some sellers are just too paranoid about getting the shaft on an international transaction.

Keep searching and keep trying to sway the sellers. Not much else you can do.

[coffeegulper905]

That little blurb:  "Customs services and international tracking provided." is no longer visible while scrolling through listings.  Ebay probably got rid of it because it's easier to haul in the less-than-enlightened ones if they're not forewarned.   (You can see it AFTER clicking a listing, but no longer while you're browsing)

[mater721]

It's still there - just did a search - showed up with items in my search.

Maybe it's your settings?  Or hardware - I was searching from a laptop.

[Anonymous]

How much does eBay lose in paying in refunds for damaging by those people at the hub (Pitney Bowes) since eBay offers US sellers the Global Shipping Program (GSP)?

I am sure a huge amount of $$$$$$$$$!!!  I wonder would eBay admit that GSP may a failure?

GSP may be good for the heavy expensive items but not for photos, magazines, books, other items that can be shipped by using E-Delcon via eBay Shipping.  Unfortunately too many US sellers don't realize that E-Delcon would be ideal than using GSP.  With El-Delcon the sellers can ship them directly to their buyers. 

While with GSP, they have to ship to the hub where there are incompetent people who don't know how to open any packages/parcels with care.  They re-packed them so poorly which is beyond words.

I have one package of 2 sections of newspapers packed with cardboard inserts and whoever was that idiot at the hub opened with a sharp knife went through the cardboard inserts into 2 sections of newspapers, cutting 6 inches damage through every pages!  Why on earth would anyone use a sharp knife to open it to "inspect" it???  Can't this idiot opened it with care like scissors at the end not across it??

I have another package coming damages through GSP.  One buyer claimed that he did put more than 7"x7" inches cardboard insert for each 45rpm record but whoever at the hub removed them and put 4x6" cardboard inserts instead.  As if the 4x6" inches cardboard inserts would protect a 7x7" inches record??   And also they used the most cheapest tissue papers that caused lints on the mint records, ruining the value of the 6 records!!

Other package of a brand new just off the shelf came damaged, which the seller did protected it very well with additional cardboard inserts to prevent it from bending.  Well it came bended in half!!  Guess someone at the hub was being cheapstake and removed that extra protection and pocketed the extra $$$ for themselves from the shipping costs.

It is beyond me as eBay still offer GSP when I knew that they have ended up paying lots of $$$$ in refunds.  Surely eBay needs to sit back and said, "Hmm, it seems not to be a good deal".  eBay needs to retire GSP and more promoting US sellers to use E-Delcon instead as it is a very good deal.

With E-Delcon the sellers get very fantastic reasonable postage rates with tracking number and can ship their items directly to their buyers than with GSP.  I wish Canada Post would offer the similar deal like E-Delcon for the Canadian buyers.  I have talked to a person at Canada Post a few weeks ago and she is very interested about it as it is ideal as they want Canadian sellers on eBay to be able to sell more items than usual.  Hope it will become a reality for us Canadian buyers, I am praying like crazy.

It would be excellent for those who sell small items like trading cards, stamps, photos, etc.  I always want to be able to ship the small items with tracking numbers to USA and International countries and also across Canada.

As for how much eBay has lost lots of $$$ in refunds due to damages by those who didn't open them with care or/& re-packed them poorly, I think eBay wouldn't want to tell us as it is a totally embarrassment to eBay.

Any of you knew? Thanks.

[4ashbury]

eBay is getting a kick-back as well. There would be no other reason for them to be involved in this gouge to Canadian buyers.

[4ashbury]

Pitney Bowes doesn't use Canada Post to forward your item to you (after they've had their way with it, financially and physically). Even though the sellers ships via USPS, Pitney Bowes uses Federal Express because they have an agreement to ship cheaper (increasing Pitney Bowes profit). This however is inconvenient to the buyer because Fed Ex only has one pick up location in the Greater Toronto Area as opposed to the post office which has hundreds, usually within walking distance. It is a 50 kilometer drive for me to pick up my package at Federal Express on New Toronto Street in South Etobicoke and I live in Scarborough. Then 50 kilometers to drive back. On top of what I've been gouged for, that is the **bleep**-off icing on the cake!

[4ashbury]

This is how sneaky eBay is .... most sellers don't even know they've opted into this GSP because they have to "uncheck" a box that eBay already has checked and it is positioned so that it can be easily overlooked by the seller when listing. I've made many sellers aware of this and they now know to uncheck the box. What makes eBay do something like this? THE KICK-BACKS!

[dasia143]

Along with the inability to combine shipping, the use of couriers instead of Canada Post is the main reason I steer clear of GSP listings. I can't take the time during working hours to drive across the Greater Toronto area and pick up my item from CanPar or FedEx. Two times I asked sellers to ship via USPS instead of GPS; one refused, the other wanted to but couldn't figure out how. By patiently watching and waiting, I've found some items I wanted in non-GSP listings. But overall, my eBay purchasing has been drastically reduced since the introduction of the GSP.

[femmefan1946]

I imagine that the cost of damages is covered by Pitney Bowes, who after all are paid to deliver the items securely. They write this off under their corporate insurance.

They also seem to auction off some items that they are unable to deliver for one reason or another. Guitars for example. So that's a profit centre.

That eBay's customers are unhappy is not relevant, PB's customer is eBay and eBay thinks everything is hunky dory.

[afantiques]

This however is inconvenient to the buyer because Fed Ex only has one pick up location in the Greater Toronto Area as opposed to the post office which has hundreds, usually within walking distance. It is a 50 kilometer drive for me to pick up my package at Federal Express on New Toronto Street in South Etobicoke and I live in Scarborough. Then 50 kilometers to drive back. On top of what I've been gouged for, that is the **bleep**-off icing on the cake!

The answer to this is an item not received claim. You are not obliged to pick the item up, they are supposed to get it to you.

[afantiques]

They also seem to auction off some items that they are unable to deliver for one reason or another. Guitars for example. So that's a profit centre.

Very unlikely that any profit is made selling off at trade prices anything they have refunded a full retail value on.

Buyers need to be encouraged to make a PayPal Not as Described claim, citing damaged in transit, for any and all defective packages as they should be aware that they do not have to pay out to return damaged items.

[francoeurdavid]

"I'm very sorry to tell you that again but there is nothing we can do, you have to ask the expeditor to contact us."

So that's it, even if they opened a ticket after I explained that PB Cross Border couldn't be reached, there is nothing they can do and my money just went straight to the fire.

I really hope you guys fix this issue because there is a serious problem. The seller can't do anything and he did tried to help, and I, the buyer, can't do anything to find my package.

There is a problem here.

[francoeurdavid]

I can confirm that they use Canada Post.