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]

Bringing small packets to Canada is a total scam. You get charged upfront for fees that you would pay maybe 10% of the time, they sometimes more than double the shipping cost,

You are choosing courier/freight delivery. This is just the way it works and has done so for ages.

So it cost me twice the shipping amount to get my items damaged by a third party who pockets all the extra cash from repackaging items lightly and screwing them up.

Simple answer, start a 'Seriously not as Described' case with Paypal, citing 'damaged in transit' as the reason for the mis-description.

You will get a full refund and not need to return the items. The seller gets to keep his sale payment.

Freight  items are charged by volumetric weight. Reducing the actual weight makes no difference to the cost.

[marnotom!]

---

@jaypsee wrote:

I e-mailed the seller and he SWORE to me that he put so much shipping foam bits that the had to press the flaps down to hold it closed while he taped the box. He didn't even KNOW what GSP was!!

---

I suspect this is the crux of the problem.  If the seller were aware that his listing had the GSP on it, there's a chance your seller would have read up on the terms and conditions of the program.

http://pages.ebay.com/ae/en-us/shipping/globalshipping/seller-tnc.html

Under "Program Rules" there's this clause:

You will accurately specify, where possible, each Parcel's weight and dimensions plus the item's country of manufacture (if known) in your listing. In the event that eBay or Pitney Bowes conclude that any such information that you specify is inaccurate upon processing the Parcel at the U.S. Shipping Center, you authorize eBay, Pitney Bowes and/or any third party designated by either eBay or Pitney Bowes to correct this information on your behalf for this and future Parcels

The official word from PitneyBowes on repacking GSP items is that if the seller hasn't provided the Global Shipping Center with information on the item's country of origin, its staff have to go hunting for it.  I'm willing to bet that if your seller had provided this information, there's a fairly good chance your item would have been left in its original packaging.

[pjcdn2005]

If the items were damaged in shipping you should be able to get a refund in full from the gsp. You would have to file an item not as described claim through ebay and note that the gsp shipment was damaged in shipping. The seller may have their funds held for a few days but in the end you should get your refund and the seller will not be penalized.

Edit..oops...I guess this information was already given to you but it doesn't hurt to repeat it.

[minou-minou62]

I have been shopping on Ebay for more than 10 years.  I just purchased a $34 item that showed approx $11 shipping not realizing it was being shipped through the Global Shipping Program and that there were additional charges.  Will not be shopping US Ebay using this program again.  With US exchange the item will end up costing $77.  Hello Ebay UK and France !

[00nevermind00]

---

@minou-minou62 wrote:

I have been shopping on Ebay for more than 10 years.  I just purchased a $34 item that showed approx $11 shipping not realizing it was being shipped through the Global Shipping Program and that there were additional charges.  Will not be shopping US Ebay using this program again.  With US exchange the item will end up costing $77.  Hello Ebay UK and France !

---

Ebay UK also has the GSP.

There is a way to avoid GSP listings on the US and UK sites without clicking the links.  Use List View (not Gallery View). You can change that in the upper right-hand corner of the screen, under the blue "Search" button.

With List View, some items will have a "Customs services and international tracking provided" blurb. Whenever you see that blurb, you can avoid clicking the link because those are the GSP items.

[n_blades78]

OK Folks. I'm not going to rifle through hundreds of pages of comments. You all know the issues with GSP. Here's my concerns.

Global Shipping Program, from my perspective as a Canadian Buyer is a complete rip-off. It's a great concept though. Paying up-front for shipping, brokerage, duties and taxes and having nothing to worry about but to wait and receive your package by priority international tracked mail service is attractive on the cover. It is passed-off to Ebay.com members in the USA as an easy and very convenient way to facilitate international transactions. We've seen comments that many US sellers think GSP is mandatory, not voluntary. I've heard from US Sellers that certainly believe it's more convenient to them than worrying about filling-out export documentation on their items. So it is convenient for the Seller. 

Here's the Problem. It is NOT convenient for the (Canadian) Buyer. I won't speak for other foreign countries. 

1. Priority International mail is more expensive than First Class International, but it is no faster delivered to you. This is because every package has to go through Canada Customs. My experience is that there is no benefit to the buyer to pay more for the same level of service. 

2. Your package is shipped by Pitney Bowes using US Postal Service and arrives at the Canadian Destination via Canada Post. When you ship a package internationally, the postal system websites basically tell you step-for-step how to complete docs for international shipments. As I mentioned, the package arrives no sooner.

3. Canada Post does the customs entry for you when you receive an international arrival the regular way. You are not charged brokerage fees. If there are any duties or taxes applicable, the post office collects them and remits them on your behalf to the federal government. Therefore the GSP is rendered completely useless for that reason, and costs much more also for that reason.

4. Items that are Made in the USA or Mexico are not subject to import duties. Therefore with the GSP, you are paying unnecessary duty on an item, and you have no method to recover that up front cost.

So, at least for the Canadian Buyer, the Global Shipping Program is nothing but a hassle, as waste of time, and an unnecessary cost. But - it's making big profits for Ebay and Pitney Bowes, I bet.

I see lots and lots of complaints from frustrated ebay members about the GSP. My personal policy is to Not purchase an item that is listed with GSP (unless the combined cost is still the best option). I encourage any seller I contact to opt out of the program. So why, after 2 years of complaining, has Ebay and Pitney Bowes done Nothing to address the concerns of members? 

This is, in effect, an International Trade Barrier.

This is nothing new to any of you. To me, the next logical step is this:

How do eBay.ca members force eBay to address our concerns and modify the GSP to better suit our needs, or better, scrap the GSP for Canadian destinations? What can we do to enact the change we want? 

[afantiques]

OK Folks. I'm not going to rifle through hundreds of pages of comments.

Duplicate post,answered in Questions thread.

[marnotom!]

---

@n_blades78 wrote:

This is nothing new to any of you.

---

While I appreciate your efforts to express your concerns about the GSP in a well thought-through manner, there are a number of inaccuracies I feel need to be set straight as you and I aren't the only ones reading this for information.

1.  Items sent by the GSP do not get shipped as "Priority International Mail."  The term used in GSP is "International Priority Shipping" which is a catch-all term for a network of commercial freight carriers and logistics firms contracted by PitneyBowes.  As you suggest, though, it does not take "priority" over any shipping method, but then, neither does Priority Mail International.

2.  Canada Post may not be the Canadian shipper for a GSP item, depending on the carrier(s) used by whoever is handling the item upon its arrival in Canada and its final destination.  Canpar has been mentioned periodically as well.  There may be others.

3.  Canada Post does not do customs entry on items.  Canada Border Services does.  Also  note that the rare item that is assessed tax (and possibly duty) by Canada Border Services will also have a C$9.95 processing fee added by Canada Post.  Items sent by the GSP often if not usually have fees less than that.

4.  There are a few NAFTA items that are still subject to duty as well as taxes, but you'd be correct in your assessment that Canada Border Services generally doesn't bother with duty on items shipped by mail from the United States, just taxes.

5.  Shipping of larger items through the GSP can often be less expensive than through the mail--even with the import charges added--particularly if the seller uses "free" or inexpensive shipping for the leg of the item's transit to the Global Shipping Center in Kentucky.

Keep in mind that some--if not many or most--sellers using the GSP aren't even aware that they're using it.  Scrapping the GSP would likely make these items unavailable on the .ca site and we'd be back to the days of searching on .com and pleading with sellers to ship directly to scary, frozen Canada.

Seeing as you've given this some thought, n_blades, what changes would you like to see to the GSP?

[marnotom!]

---

@afantiques wrote:

Duplicate post,answered in Questions thread.

---

Drat.  Missed your post.  That's what I get for posting at 3 AM local time.  

[terryawhile]

I have been an ebay user for a few years, but the increasing use of the Global Shipment Programs by US sellers is beginning to limit my buying on eBay because: Invariably the shipping fees are more (in some cases quite a bit more) than they are when buying without the GSP; Once your item enters into the tracking lanes for GS items it becomes unclear where your package is or when it will be delivered; The added fees the Canadian buyer pays for using the GSP are unclear what he is being charged for. It is very frustrating having to pay more for an item to be shipped, and wait longer for delivery.

EBay has been a source of purchasing and selling items that are generally not available at the local level, at an auction price level, that perception is being eroded by programs like the GSP. 

[marnotom!]

---

@terryawhile wrote:

EBay has been a source of purchasing and selling items that are generally not available at the local level, at an auction price level, that perception is being eroded by programs like the GSP. 

---

I would suggest to you, though, that as the GSP seems to be largely on listings where the seller is unaware of its existence, those items likely wouldn't be available for shipping to Canada, period, if the GSP didn't exist.

[00nevermind00]

---

@marnotom! wrote:

---

I would suggest to you, though, that as the GSP seems to be largely on listings where the seller is unaware of its existence, those items likely wouldn't be available for shipping to Canada, period, if the GSP didn't exist.

---

It may be so, but what's the point of making items available to Canada if the GSP drives up the price so much that people don't want to buy? For the type of stuff I buy, the GSP is never a good option. So all those GSP items that I had no access to before still don't interest me. Quite the contrary, they are polluting my searches and I would absolutely love a GSP filter so that I wouldn't have to see them any longer.

[marnotom!]

---

@00nevermind00 wrote:

making items available to Canada if the GSP drives up the price so much that people don't want to buy? For the type of stuff I buy, the GSP is never a good option.

---

If the item isn't available on the local level, as suggested in the post to which I was responding, there may well be some people who will buy it if they're desperate enough.

Also keep in mind that it's sometimes not the GSP in and of itself that drives up the price, but the GSP plus the seller's charge for shipping to Kentucky.

As for the import charges, buyers should always consider the possibility of their mailed items being dinged for taxes and handling, no matter how remote the possibility.

[arlene_v]

---

@marnotom! wrote:

---

If the item isn't available on the local level, as suggested in the post to which I was responding, there may well be some people who will buy it if they're desperate enough.

---

I think this is exactly the reason why the GSP hits such a raw nerve with many posters. There is a visceral anger when you get "gouged" .. especially when you are desperate and have no alternatives.

And to add insult not a single thing has been done to ameliorate this sad state of affairs. We all know that sellers are very often  unwittingly part of this program - and instead of being educated on how to keep costs down,  are permitted to list,  with expensive consequences, especially for Canadians, with our very low threshold for tax on imports.

Oh well, this horse has been flogged repeatedly, so why I am even posting is a mystery. Just goes into the ether around here, and who needs to play " GSP ping pong" with another community member anyway? That is what most of this thread amounts to ...

 ...where are the reps is what I want to know? No need to answer, Marnotom!,  the question is rhetorical.

[00nevermind00]

---

@arlene_v wrote:

---

I think this is exactly the reason why the GSP hits such a raw nerve with many posters. There is a visceral anger when you get "gouged" .. especially when you are desperate and have no alternatives.

And to add insult not a single thing has been done to ameliorate this sad state of affairs. We all know that sellers are very often  unwittingly part of this program - and instead of being educated on how to keep costs down,  are permitted to list,  with expensive consequences, especially for Canadians, with our very low threshold for tax on imports.

Oh well, this horse has been flogged repeatedly, so why I am even posting is a mystery. Just goes into the ether around here, and who needs to play " GSP ping pong" with another community member anyway? That is what most of this thread amounts to ...

 ...where are the reps is what I want to know? No need to answer, Marnotom!,  the question is rhetorical.

---

In the early days, an eBay employee named Bennett would come on here occasionally and actually help out with buyers' problems. He would also try and explain the program but he was obviously very limited in what he could say because most of it sounded like pre-recorded PR messages. But at least he was trying.

He was transferred a few months later and since then it's been complete radio silence on the part of eBay. I've read on the US boards that if you want a straight answer about a GSP problem the best thing to do is to contact PB on their Facebook page.

Arlene, I think it's a mystery why any of us are still posting about the GSP. I do it mostly because I want to try and help the people who are having problems with their GSP purchases and those who are frustrated with GSP items cluttering up their searches. I find it really depressing that 3+ years into the program, buyers are still having the same problems getting a full refund when their transaction goes South. After more than three years, it's obviously not a question of ironing out the kinks. Ebay simply does not care about buyer experience with its pet program. They would never treat domestic buyers this way.

[vanhalendlrband]

I dont get why people wouldnt want to sell their items to these countries without it.

I hear you fill out a form and so on but i mean wouldnt you rather sell your item than not sell it? Or possibly in auction scenarios why needlessly lower the demand of what youre trying to sell?

GSP shows a need for people to learn about business. I laugh at how many times i wouldve bought off an american but wont because of poor shipping options. Many many times over i wouldve bought something. I really hope my package arrives after what ive read here

[tch_ca]

I buy and sell on Ebay extensively. I don not use the program to sell and when I come across an item listed through GSP I write the following email....

"Hello,

I do not support Ebay's "Global Shipping Program" due to the fact that the charges calculated significantly surpass what one would pay via conventional shipping methods. I would be more than happy to purchase your item if listed and shipped using direct shipping methods through USPS (or other service since a few countries are now using the program).

Thanks
"

I have never had a seller not sell me an item because I asked for above. And a few, once they realized what they are actually charging to ship, stopped using it.

[marnotom!]

---

@tch_ca wrote:

I buy and sell on Ebay extensively. I do not use the program to sell...

---

As a seller based in Canada, the GSP wouldn't be available to you anyway.

[bret_bair]

I found knowing import duties up front an incentive to use this program. The routing of shipments could use some streamlining. I've worked in and have good knowledge of the freight forwarding business and I found the 17 day delivery from South Carolina to Newfoundland to be a little excessive.

Thanks

Brett

[ciny2k]

I'm one of those buyers 🙂 Not long ago, scrolling through the ebay.com site, I found something I was desperate to have. Yes, the seller was using the dreaded GSP, but the charges weren't unreasonable so I completed the purchase. That opened up a *huge* can of worms! First a message from the seller telling me they have to issue a refund, because they don't ship to Canada. That was funny, telling a US seller that ebay's made their shipping destination decisions for them, and explaining the GSP. But I forgot to explain the Kentucky hub, so that was another round of messages - nope, I didn't change my shipping address, lol. What an experience for the poor seller - but she left feedback saying how easy international sales are, that one being her first, ha. 

I'm not as against the GSP now, as I was in the beginning. I really like that my parcels are coming through Canada Post these days, rather than by courier. Sometimes the GSP charges are actually on par with USPS charges (for items I'm looking at, anyway) so there's that, too. If I can have access to a broader selection because this program is being forced (lol!) on unsuspecting sellers, then good for me, right? I'm still more inclined to purchase from sellers using USPS, and I'll *never* buy anything breakable using GSP. But as long as the charges aren't ridiculous, I don't mind paying a little extra. 

"Paying a little extra" is something that I'm happy with, as long as I'm getting what I want. Today, for example, I'm waiting for an updated invoice because I need to pay provincial sales tax. I could've avoided that by buying from another seller, but so what? I wanted the locally owned one. I knew that I'd be paying a little more when I bid on the item. When I read the GSP listings, it's the same thing. When I see charges adding up to $40 or more, I laugh and hit the back button.