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.

[iamthekraken]

I've used Ebay for years with my last account and current one and had a pleasant experience until recently. I am one of those people who refuse to buy anything from anyone using the GSP. It's completely bull.  A better name for it: Retail **bleep**.

Well unless you like paying twice as much to ship an item than it actually costs, then hey, you're in luck. I object to paying brokerage fees, hiked up shipping and then customs on top of that, estimated by brokers not by my border agency.

Used to be simple. You bid on something, you won, the person worked out what it cost to mail to you and you paid them that amount. You dealt with customs fees when it arrived and often there are none. It was a friendly pleasant experience. Now you pay over the odds for everything. If I wanted to lose this much money I'd just throw it out the window while driving.

It used to be a great market place. You didn't want something you could sell it on to someone who did. Everyone was happy. Now it's just all stores fleecing you with high store prices and the occasional private seller on the GSP. I'm done.

[jesusisking111]

This is the first experience I've had with gsp/on. I've bought some razors all low dollar value items and have been shafted on 4 orders with charges of nearly$70. I have never before been charge this way, I recently just bought a tool with no charges, all I can say is eBay is no longer a deal and I will be leaving as this I'd not affordable. I seen a post about never being charged these import charges previously or take the chance. I was charge on delivery once for this- $6 cash on a $200 tool. I will take that any day as opposed to $19 charge on $20 item. not to mention it won't even show tracking. EBay I'm not impressed I will be sending messages to my sellers telling them I will never purchase from them again due to this program.

[pierrelebel]

Thank you for the eBay.uk scanshot.  The same has also been confirmed by eBay.ca staff using eBay.com

So that excuse is not valid.  The "import charge" is visible by Canadian (or foreign) buyers when viewing listings on eBay.com using a smart phone.

It does not make the program (GSP) a good thing for Canadians.  It is not.  But let's base criticism on facts.

[marnotom!]

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@pierrelebel wrote:

The "import charge" is visible by Canadian (or foreign) buyers when viewing listings on eBay.com using a smart phone.

---

I'm going to have to disagree with you to a point, Pierre.  I didn't complete the purchase process for this item I viewed about half an hour ago on my phone, but it appears that the information presented on the listing page does indeed differ between .ca and .com.

Here's a few screenshots from the .ca listing:

                    

When I clicked on the "read more" link on the listing page, it lead me to this page:

However, the information as presented on the .com mobile site for the same item is a bit different for me:

          

No shipping price to Canada nor import charges listed.  Now, granted, I wasn't logged in at the time I viewed the .com page, so this may have something to do with that.

However, I did have to log in to start the "buy it now" process, and several steps into the process I still wasn't presented with the import charges:

     

[pierrelebel]

The question was raised today with eBay.ca staff at the weekly Board Hour.

Question:  When a Canadian buyer shopping on eBay.com with a smart phone (iPhone, etc...) does the buyer see the shipping charge and import charge for items using GSP?

---

Yes. This image was captured on the iPhone app, from my own account (Canadian user with Canadian shipping address), while browsing the US site.

Post #14 :

http://community.ebay.ca/t5/Weekly-Board-Hour-Session/May-27th-2015-Weekly-Board-Hour-Special-Extend...

[pierrelebel]

When viewed on eBay.com with a computer browser (Firefox) o course the charges are clearly visible:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-UNLOCKED-Verizon-PagePlus-Nokia-Lumia-822-GSM-4G-Windows-SmartPhone-WHIT...

[marnotom!]

Now that I'm logged into eBay.com on my phone, I tried viewing the listing page again.  I still don't see import charges or Canadian shipping charges, for that matter, on the listing I was viewing earlier, Pierre.

[pierrelebel]

The price and shipping charge (after you logged in) from your images:

Price : $74.99

Shipping: $10.11

Total: $93.13 - Obviously that total is more than price + shipping.  I suspect it includes "import charge" (about $8.  Does that make sense based on your province?)

[pierrelebel]

"Now that I'm logged into eBay.com"

Are you logged in with a Canadian address?  (from time to time I use a US address and forget to change it)

[00nevermind00]

It's been a while since I last browsed eBay on my phone, but my experience was the same as Marno's: no GSP charges shown on .ca. The same items viewed on my desktop clearly showed the charges.

IMO all the GSP charges should be clearly shown right there on the listing page. Because that's where buyers expect to see them. If the buying experience becomes such a minefield that buyers have to scrutinize every screen that they are presented with, they will simply shop elsewhere.

[marnotom!]

---

@pierrelebel wrote:

The price and shipping charge (after you logged in) from your images:

Price : $74.99

Shipping: $10.11

Total: $93.13 - Obviously that total is more than price + shipping.  I suspect it includes "import charge" (about $8.  Does that make sense based on your province?)

---

Good catch, Pierre.  Yes, import charges of $8.03 show up on the listing page when I view it on my laptop.

This may explain some of the posts from outraged users who don't understand why there's a "mysterious" charge from Pitney Bowes on their PayPal account.

[afantiques]

One thing I noticed on the top of the discussion page screenshot was tiny letters 'VPN' which made me think, all mobile devices must be using some form of VPN (virtual private network).

When using a PC or laptop with an ISP ebay uses the geographic location of your IP number to determine your location to show the appropriate page, so without my doing anything I see shipping to England, etc.

Mobile devices on the move do not have a fixed geographic location so do they all connect through one virtual ISP for each network? How this works is abit above my head, as I have no personal interest in trying to see stuff on a minute screen that  I find a lot more comfortable with on a foot by 18 inch screen?

Some of the screenshots that I have seen involve scrolling to see all the information, so if people do  not keep looking for more, they may miss vital information that is there but easy to overlook. Also some of the shipping and import charges are pretty small on my laptop pictures of mobile screens, and although I know you can zoom tiny screens to show details,are you going to do this if you don't notice the tiny details in the first place.

My tentative conclusion is that  there are enough ways that it is is quite easy to miss vital information  for people to honestly say they never saw the charges without being complete idiots.

What I would like to see is the 'commit to buy' screen that you see after hitting the 'buy now' button on a BIN listing, and actually commiting to buy the item. (At this point it is possible to simply abandon the purchase, since it is only when the commit to buy button is clicked that the purchase is made.

On the commit to buy page, the price, postage and import charges are clearly shown and surely no one could miss them unless they simply flick to the commit to buy button without reading what is in front of them?

[zoomzoooie3861]

It's been several years since the GSP scam was suspiciously introduced and I see more and more U.S. sellers using it than ever before.

As a Canadian, GSP hurts my opportunities to purchase hard to find items only offered by USA sellers on ebay due to excessive additional costs which I cannot afford, nor would pay.

The only benefit GSP offers U.S. sellers is they don't have to leave the house to ship Internationally. Yes this might be helpful for the few living in rural locations, but as whole there is a post office near by for most U.S. residents.

There is only one reason why ebay is still engaged in this scam since U.S. sellers have been losing International sales and ebay is no longer collecting seller fees on those lost sales.

...The money ebay is making from the GSP scam is far more than they would make from International seller fees.

The question is...why have U.S. sellers not questioned the lose of International sales?

Along with GSP ebay has imposed U.S. sellers use USPS Priority International shipping over first class which has at least doubled, trippled and sometimes quadrupled the shipping cost. If a buyer wants or needs tracking and insurance they should have the option and not be forced. In addition to this ebay policy on shipping was sellers should use a lower cost shipping option. What happened to that?

I also see some US sellers state in their listing that International buyers must use GPS.  

Are they getting a cut of this GSP scam action?

If I find something I need and the the seller is using GSP, I message them informing them I am interested in the item however shipping cost is too high and they are using GSP. I inform them how GSP is scam to make ebay and P&B more money and all the negative points. (They already know the only one benefit..they don't have to leave to house). Sometimes they will change the listing to first class shipping and remove the GSP, but it seems more and more U.S. sellers will not change the listing and would rather lose the International sales.

If I could find the items I need elsewhere, I would not buy on ebay.

Why do I think GSP is a scam? ...Simple.

Ebay introduced GSP suspiciously and most US sellers did not know what they were signing up for.

Ebay charges Import Fees on items still in the USA which are actually being Exported.

It hurts International buyers with high additional costs.

It hurts U.S. sellers since International buyers avoid U.S. sellers using GPS.

The only ones who benefits is ebay.com and P&B.

I'm sure there are a lot more reasons....

The sad thing is US sellers are still using this GSP scam.

In addition, have you ever noticed ebay.ca has very few Canadian  sellers?

Regarding what you see in a listing, appears to depend on what you have under shipping and payments tab of the listing. If I have Canada and my postal code I see the shipping cost go up and if GPS is included I see that on my computer. If I have United States under country I see much lower shipping costs relating to shipping in the U.S.

I don't know if that will effect what you see on your phone, but see if that helps.

GSP = FAIL

[tolarianorth]

Why I HATE the GSP:

1. I can no longer buy anything under $50 (it's not worth paying $10 to ship something under $50)...

2. I can no longer buy anything OVER $50 (it's not worth paying 30% of $50...better to buy it on a different site...)

I only buy stuff that has a well established market value...so it's hard to pay $2 let alone $30 on an item for shipping and taxes and fees...

Please kill the GSP!

:'(

[marnotom!]

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@tolarianorth wrote:

Why I HATE the GSP:

1. I can no longer buy anything under $50 (it's not worth paying $10 to ship something under $50)...

2. I can no longer buy anything OVER $50 (it's not worth paying 30% of $50...better to buy it on a different site...)

I only buy stuff that has a well established market value...so it's hard to pay $2 let alone $30 on an item for shipping and taxes and fees...

Please kill the GSP!

---

There are deals to be had with the GSP--particularly with items that would otherwise likely be shipped directly by some overkill tracked shipping method that may see you hit with hefty brokerage fees upon or after receipt--but you have to find sellers who have figured out the GSP and know what they're doing.  And that ain't easy.

The problem is, many sellers using the GSP either don't realize they're enrolled in it or else they've enrolled in it without doing their homework and have no idea what it looks like on the buyer's end.  Or else they haven't done their homework and figured out they need to use the "item specifics" portion of the listing and list it in the proper category to ensure that their buyers don't get hit with unnecessary taxes and duties.

[scotsdm_sryze7z]

You have the worst internet problem contact page I have ever experienced. I ordered an item via EBay which I have never received and when I try to resolve this issue by contacting the vendor I can't find the company and when I try to contact Ebay and enter my item id all i get back is they have no record of me or the item.

I have searched both Ebay.com and Ebay.ca

A horses  to you people for extremely poor design and service

Stuart Scott

[afantiques]

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/371211140144

This Chinese thing?

Go to the Money back guarantee at the bottom of the item page and open an item not received claim, if this is your problem. Did you buy as a 'guest'?  In that case claim through your Paypal account.

This is not a GSP related matter.

[theshobo]

I purchased an item using the GSP and paid the $20 shipping + $28 import duties/fees. I'm fine with this.

I just got a message from UPS on the tracking that there is now $93 COD owed for import duties.

Why do I have to pay import fees twice, isn't Pitney Bowes supposed to be the importer of record and the bill go to them?

[afantiques]

I just got a message from UPS on the tracking that there is now $93 COD owed for import duties.

Why do I have to pay import fees twice, isn't Pitney Bowes supposed to be the importer of record and the bill go to them?

The seller appears to have sent the item direct to you without using the GSP at all. UPS is not involved in GSP  deliveries. This is purely a seller mistake.

Do not pay. Phone ebay customer service and ask for a rep specialising in GSP problems and explain what has happened. Have the item number handy and they should be able to sort out the problem, at least as far as refunding all your GSP charges goes.

I cannot stress to much that you need a rep who understands the workings of the GSP. Otherwise you will get useless advice like 'try to sort it out with the seller.'

[theshobo]

Thank you, those were my thoughts on the situation to.

Just to let everyone know what happened in my case - ebay support told me to open a resolution ticket as item not as described and pay UPS their $94 and the seller would have to cover that as they were the ones who made the mistake in this situation.

I assume the money I paid to Pitney Bowes will be forwarded to the seller to help ease the pain as they are the ones who handled the shipping to me and now the import fees as well.