eBay

kalvin@ebay.com · ‎09-26-2013

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.

~Kalvin
eBay.ca Community Manager

kalvin@ebay.com

reallynicestamps · ‎07-06-2016

trying to raise revenues from stagnant sales.

Yep.

US sales were flat so eBay developed this program with Pitney Bowes to encourage US sellers (a provincial /xenophobic lot) to offer their products internationally.

The US (and now UK) seller is protected from claims of slow or no delivery and returns due to customer refusal to pay their nation's import fees.

It is a Seller Protection program.

And it has been very very successful.

I haven't been able to rationalize a single benefit I derive from the program

That doesn't mean it is good for buyers. It means more US (and now UK) sellers are offering their products internationally and eBay has seen that flatline start to rise.

It is possible that some items you might never have been able to buy are now available-- as long as you are willing to pay Canadian duty and sales tax (it's usually mostly sales tax) .

cruzmiester · ‎07-07-2016

that sounds like eBay Kool-Aid logic. If it's not good for buyers it's not good for sellers. Because unless someone in the USA / UK starts selling some elixir to give me perpetual youth, improve my looks and intelligence there is NO way in the known universe I will ever buy from a seller who insists on using this service.

I was thinking of buying some cufflinks with the Union Jack from the UK, forget it. I was going to buy a UAG case, hello Amazon.

the case to prepay duty and sales tax is a VERY BAD ONE, when a seller has sent me items I've purchased via USPS I have never paid duty or GST (taxes). If you read other people's experience on this forum duties and taxes are rarely applied to items coming from the USA via USPA. I'm sure overworked customs officers are busy with much bigger issues like cargo containers and suspect packages from certain countries.

I had asked my seller if it was possible to ship via air (yes I was wiling to pay extra costs, duty and taxes) because shipping electronic equipment ground is risky. but even ground what used to take 10 business day from almost anywhere in the continental USA, for me at first was stretched to 5 weeks and now the tracking page says delivery ETA "unknown"... this is soooooo comforting!!

00nevermind00 · ‎07-07-2016

@cruzmiester wrote:
that sounds like eBay Kool-Aid logic. If it's not good for buyers it's not good for sellers. Because unless someone in the USA / UK starts selling some elixir to give me perpetual youth, improve my looks and intelligence there is NO way in the known universe I will ever buy from a seller who insists on using this service.

It's not Kool-Aid logic, it's simple mathematics. Canada's population is a little over 36 million (I just looked it up). Ebay knows we don't like the program but they're willing to sacrifice those sales to Canada in order to gain markets in Europe (population over 600 million) and, especially, Asia (population almost 4,5 billion)

Simply put, we're too small to matter.

sylviebee · ‎07-07-2016

@sylviebee wrote:
I don't follow this thread closely, but I have to wonder if there are fewer complaints about the GSP.

In my category, American GSP listings have been reduced substantially. (In the UK they're still plentiful.)

It looks like someone has been paying attention.

It took so long, and if Canadians made good on their threats to leave eBay because the GSP, it may be too late to repair that damage.
Also, in the meantime First Class shipping rates sky-rocketed making the GSP more attractive for items valued under C$20.

In amy case, if my category is any indication of eBay in general, then it looks like someone has been paying attention to what we've been saying for many years.

Actually , I take that back. What they've done is really sleazy.

They're burying the GSP notification and you can hardly see it. Then, when you go to BIN the extra charges show up.

They're not going to let this go no matter how much Canadians dislike the program. They're listening all right, and then figuring out ways to lure us in now that we've become more vigilant.

Buyer Beware!

marnotom! · ‎07-07-2016

@sylviebee wrote:

Actually , I take that back. What they've done is really sleazy.

They're burying the GSP notification and you can hardly see it. Then, when you go to BIN the extra charges show up.

What do you mean by "burying the GSP notification"?

When I search by list view I still see the "Customs" message for GSP items. You don't see that when you do your searches? What browser are you using?

cruzmiester · ‎07-08-2016

yeah I've heard that line of reasoning before, but I counter with if US seller can't sell to Canada they can't sell anywhere else either. The markets are very similar and our economies very integrated. In most circumstances shipping an item to / from the USA / Canada is a little 1 page form with a few simple questions.

because of my work I deal a lot with Asia, only an educated guess, but I don't think Asians will be buying much form US sellers, other than some niche items. Most Asian countries put huge artificial import barriers, most Asian countries subsidize their postal system, US seller will never be able to compete, if Canadian find GSP expensive Asians will find it more so. Asians have so many other online choices offering cheap cheap merchandise with low shipping rates.

As for Europe most European countries are very poor, I would guess to say the actual potential European market is significantly smaller than your figure of 600 Million, I don't see too many Portuguese, Spanish, Greeks, Polish, Hungarians, etc. buying from eBay USA.

Canada gets taken for granted A LOT. Canada is the USA's larges single market, the US sells more goods and services to Canada than anywhere else.... hence I reaffirm if a USA seller including eBay, can't sell to Canadian successfully they won't be able to sell anywhere else successfully either.

My other point is GSP is an ill conceived program, I don't mind paying for a service, but at least offer me a much better service than the alternative. For example my item has been sitting in Kentucky for 1 week, who would call this exemplary efficiency ? And STILL NO delivery ETA!!! Before I used to have a few shipping choices, select the amount of insurance.... that is all gone. If an item gets damaged in shipping who pays? my item cost $500 US according to USPS documentation at least from Florida to Kentucky it has a an insurance up to $50.

They are not bypassing any carrier or process, they're adding a significant extra layer in the process, in my opinion I was FORCED and because of my stupidity TRICKED into a service buying an expensive service that brings me less value than before that's why I feel wronged. Ultimately if feel this program has the potential to damage buyer / seller relationships, I don't see how this is good for sellers!

femmefan1946 · ‎07-08-2016

my item cost $500 US according to USPS documentation at least from Florida to Kentucky it has a an insurance up to $50.

Insurance protects the seller. You as buyer are not protected by insurance. If it is lost or damaged in transit, the seller gets the payout.

I don't see too many Portuguese, Spanish, Greeks, Polish, Hungarians, etc. buying from eBay USA.

Britain, Germany, France, Holland, Belgium/Benelux, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway however are very prosperous.

For example my item has been sitting in Kentucky for 1 week, who would call this exemplary efficiency ?

It may be in KY, and if so it is because of the Canada Post labour disagreement.

More likely it is on its way to you.

GSP does not do much about making tracking information easy for the buyer.

And in my opinion, there is no reason to.

Tracking (like insurance and like this entire program) is for the benefit of the Seller. Tracking is how the seller proves that the buyer has received the item he is claiming was not delivered.

Another poster put this information together:

TRACKING SYSTEM FOR GSP
It's not user friendly... But I found how to track your package via the global shipping program, once it gets to Canada you need to:
- Log on to eBay.ca
- Under the My eBay menu select Purchase History
- Under your orders find the specific order. It should have something like the following:
Estimated delivery Mon, Jan 11 - Thu, Jan 21
Tracking number: Tracking number UPAAB000000#########
- Click on the UPA number. This should open up a Shipment Details window, which should contain something like this:
This shipment has been transferred to CPC for delivery to the final destination # 70351#########
-Click on the Canada Post number to see where the Canada Post Tracking history and expected delivery

You may find it useful.

If you are not home when your purchase is delivered (and I got a mail delivery today. Canada Post is still working) the carrier (CPO or courier) will leave a notice of where and when you can pick your item up.

Since it is coming through the GSP, there will be no further charges on pickup.

tonich007 · ‎07-10-2016

I am a Canadian buyer who sometimes buys good from USA. I try to avoid items shipped with GSP, but sometimes I want things that only a certain seller offers (vintage items). I try to convince them to change their shipping method. Once I asked the seller to cancel the sale and sell outside of eBay. I know It my sounds unfair but I got what I want and he got paid so...

Sorry, eBay, you totally suck by pushing everyone to your stupid GSP! You've been loosing sales and will continue to loose more in the future.

sylviebee · ‎07-10-2016

I'm an experienced buyer and I continue to get duped by the new way they're showing the GSP.

I'm so used to the old way that I keep missing the way they've buried it now.

Here is an example of the new GSP warning. See item 182201728284

Shipping shows as $16.14 which sounds right for FCI mail.

When you punch BIN it suddenly jumps to $86.76.

Annoys me when I'm treated with so little respect.

The GSP has set standards back 50 years. It operates very much on the Buyer Beware principle which consumer groups have worked so hard to extinguish.

pierrelebel · ‎07-10-2016

Looking at that listing I see different from you. I also live in a different place.

I see US $16.14 (approx. C $21.12) for shipping

and Import charges: US $70.62 (amount confirmed at checkout)

I view eBay listings using a desktop with Firefox as the browser (same information using other browsers)

marnotom! · ‎07-11-2016

I see the same as Pierre when I set my postal code to an Ontario and using Chrome on both on .ca and .com.

sylviebee · ‎07-11-2016

I knew they'd altered something because I keep getting sucked into GSP listings. It took me a while to pinpoint exactly what that is and to do so I had find a screen shot of an old GSP listing.

They've buried the GSP warning. Here is a screen shot of the old GSP listing. My eyes were trained to see that logo at a glance and move on.

Now the GSP alert is buried and very easy to miss until you go to the checkout.

The screen shot is from post 5422 above. Compare that to the way the GSP warning appears now and how it's blended right in with regular shipping methods. When your eye has been trained to see the logo it's easy to miss until you get to the checkout.

Its the old "Foot in the Door" technique. They get your interest and then once you are ready to purchase they smack you with reality.

marnotom! · ‎07-11-2016

GSP listings still look the same for me and Pierre as in the examples you posted, Sylvie. Can you show us a screen shot for a listing where the information is "buried"?

Or does the listing revert to its "old" appearance after you've tried purchasing the item?