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.

[smallretartedpeanut]

Don't have time to read thru all the comments here but I just wanted to be another voice (as I'm sure there al tons here already) to say the new "Global shipping program" is the freak if worst idea and program ever inplemented by eBay!! It's not that hard to ship an item overseas!! Copy and freaking past! GSP costs way more to ship and takes nearly as long to arrive from across the border as items from China!! I bought and item two weeks ago from Washington, and I live literally half hr away from the Washington/BC border!

Anyways DOWN WITH THE GLOBAL SHIPPING PROGRAM!

[reallynicestamps]

Yes. Most buyers hate it.

But it is a Seller Protection Program.

The US (and now UK) sellers who use it are only responsible for getting your purchase to the GSP plant in Erlanger KY.

Confirmed Delivery (tracking) is cheap within the US and UK, but very expensive internationally.

So the sellers are impervious to non-delivery claims from impatient or scamming buyers.

In addition, the buyer is paying assessed duty and SALES TAX plus a ~$5USD service fee to GSP/Pitney Bowes before the seller ships.

That's the high cost everyone complains about.

But the GSP seller cannot receive negative feedback about import costs, knows what they are before paying and is not shocked by these (legal, sorry) fees on his doorstep.

Those were the two concerns of US sellers who would not ship internationally. By removing the worries, eBay increased the number of sellers who would offer their items outside the USA.

Because it is a Seller Protection Program.

After over 30 years selling by mail order, it is my experience that it takes about 20 days for items to be delivered from the USA or Canada.

[erischwa-3]

I live in CANADA and my item was delivered to KENTUCKY. eBay wouldn't give me a refund because the tracking number said delivered. I never got the item or my money back and I will never purchase an item on eBay again

[afantiques]

This is a fairly common piece of mal-administration of the refund process.

More details might enable members to suggest a way to proceed. Assuming it was no more than 6 months ago.

[yoursecretdrawer]

This program is one of the biggest ripoffs, particularly for Canadian buyers of goods bought from American sellers. I don't even think that American sellers realize just how big of a ripoff it is. One of the worst ebay initiatives ever. I ask sellers if they are willing to ship using regular USPS. If they say no, I just move on to another seller.

[all_about_routers]

Disclaimer: I did not read all 275 pages of comments. 

As a buyer (in Canada), the GSP has essentially shut down my eBay purchases. It eliminates most or all price advantage eBay sellers had. 

As a seller, I imagine that checking one box to "sell internationally!" is appealing - as long as you're selling. Most buyers I spoke with were surprised at the actual fees and delays. They had no idea that almost everything is $20 to ship (those $35 jeans lost their appeal real fast). "No wonder my International sales are in the toilet!" - Indeed, friend. Sorry.

Because USPS shipping is so affordable and because of the low amount of small packages that get taxed (duty; you know what I mean), I can only assume that this is a means to generate revenue for eBay, who overcharges for shipping and charges duty and tax 100% of the time while only paying it when it is charged (less than 10% of the times, I've been told). 

Too bad, used to love eBay and find deals everywhere from honest American sellers. This GSP is a deal killer for me as a Canadian consumer.  

[afantiques]

charges duty and tax 100% of the time while only paying it when it is charged (less than 10% of the times, I've been told). 

Not arguing with your basic premise that GSP is not good for buyers, but the comment above is a misconception, all the money collected for tax is paid over to the Canadian government. The procedure for freight imports means there is no hit or miss collection as there can be with postal imports. Your informant was misinformed.

[marnotom!]

---

@afantiques wrote:

charges duty and tax 100% of the time while only paying it when it is charged (less than 10% of the times, I've been told). 

Not arguing with your basic premise that GSP is not good for buyers, but the comment above is a misconception, all the money collected for tax is paid over to the Canadian government. The procedure for freight imports means there is no hit or miss collection as there can be with postal imports. Your informant was misinformed.

---

I believe the passage was stating that the GSP "overcharges for tax and duty 100% of the time" which suggests to me that the informant is not aware that GSP's  "import charges" make up more than taxes and duty.

[towertreasuretrove]

But no one really knows how much Pitney Bowes pays to the Canadian government, do they?

[pierrelebel]

Actually no one really knows how much any business pays to the Canadian government, do they?

When you pay tax at the large discounter, how much of it goes to the government?  How do you know?

When you pay tax at the grocery store on taxable items, how much of it goes to the government?  How do you know?

When you pay tax at the barber shop, how much of it goes to the government?  How do you know?

When you pay tax at the the Canadian eBay seller collecting HST, how much of it goes to the government?  How do you know?

And I could go on forever...

In our society we expect everyone to respect the rules and obey the law.  We expect our employers to fully remit the money they withhold from our pay cheques (income tax, CPP, IE, etc...).  Why would you single out one company? 

[afantiques]

It's tedious but not impossible to read all the company accounts in their annual reports and dig this stuff up, and the government has people with even better access to check it all out.

There are more relevant things to complain about than where the money goes. It's all legal, it's just confusing and annoying.

[femmefan1946]

But no one really knows how much Pitney Bowes pays to the Canadian government, do they?

Of course not.

All information received by Revenue Canada is kept very very private.

When I was in university in the 70s some friends got temp work reviewing tax forms.

They were assigned to the agricultural division.

The farmers were very comfortable with telling Revenue Canada how much of their farm income came from growing marijuana, because they knew the information would go no farther. (My friends were astonished at how much of family farm income was involved.)

A publicly held company does open its books to its shareholders, but not to the general public.

That is considered proprietary information.

[towertreasuretrove]

Well, honestly...the GSP doesn;t bother me really. I completely ignore it. That is, any seller that uses it. I find that makes my buying much more selective and searching less onerous. So in a round about way it saves me both time and money.

[mater721]

"... knows what they are before paying and is not shocked by these (legal, sorry) fees on his doorstep."

Is the above in reference to the buyer?

Does not always seem accurate.

Example (also in the GSP Comments string) is a listing I recently won - 272269185331

The "Import charge" showed as $0.00 when I made my bid, but increased to $7.51 on invoice. That seems misleading.

Listing...
(Winning) bid = US $19.80
Shipping = US $ 20.39
Import Chg = US $ 0.00

Invoice...
Item = US $19.80
Shipping = US $ 18.50
Import Chg = US $ 7.51

[pierrelebel]

Somehow I cannot find the listing.

Was it an auction listing? or a fixed price listing?  and/or did you submit a "best offer" which was accepted?

[mater721]

Strange that the listing does not show under Advanced Search...

It was a straight Auction - no "buy now" and no "best offer".

So the bid price should have revealed the "import charge".

Or is this a case of no actual "import charge" (below a new threshold for GSP?) and the PB "handling fees" are now showing?

If true those "handling fees" should not be hidden. They should show as soon as I make a bid.

[pierrelebel]

When did the transaction take place?

[mater721]

Auction ended Jun 12, 2016, 11:12 am est.

[pierrelebel]

OK found it:

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Vintage-Mike-Powers-Secret-Mountain-Outpost-Treadmill-Door-Etc-Gijoe-AT-TEAM-...

You are absolutely correct.  The listing page in this specific instance is misleading.

I suggest you place a claim with PayPal for the Pitney Bowes "import charge" as the listing clearly states $0.00 on three separate occasions.

[mater721]

"I suggest you place a claim with PayPal for the Pitney Bowes "import charge" as the listing clearly states $0.00 on three separate occasions."

Haven't paid yet - but - the extra $ is not enough deterrent for me to forgo the win (seller offered to cancel but I will stick with item).

So what order of events do you suggest?

And which link do I use to make a claim (on this GSP listing)? Do GSP listings have different procedures than regular listings?