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

chimera148 · ‎07-11-2016

@sylviebee wrote:
For a quick reference, when you check out item 182201728284 do you see the Globe logo?

With Explorer I'm seeing the Global logo. The import charges show as 70.82 till I added it to the "Watch List", where the import charges change to 31.26.

Shipping charges stayed the same.

marnotom! · ‎07-12-2016

@sylviebee wrote:

It's not just that the logo is missing. The whole setup and wording is different.

It's very tricky when you're accustomed to seeing the globe and parcel logo.

Twice I started to process items to buy only to be smacked with the GSP. What a disappointment!

The GSP is mentioned on the listing page, though. The wording used to describe the shipping method is "International Priority Shipping to Canada via the Global Shipping Program" followed by what I assume is the usual link to further details at the bottom of the listing page. Do the import charges show up at the bottom of the listing page the way they do for me (and presumably most other people)?

This wording describing the shipping method is the same as what's used on the .com site, at least for me. Just out of curiosity, what do you see when you view the listing on the .com site?

waltz3141 · ‎07-12-2016

To me GPS is an absolute bust. It is way more than just a cash grab, it also makes the shipping VERY slow. I bought a laptop motherboard item: 112023539924 for $ 40 usd. Plus I have to pay $ 16.50 of GSP shipping, charges and taxes, ok, I will follow the rules, I made a mistake when I BIN and seeing it is using GSP. I found out today that I won't receive the until 1st week of August, which is OVER 3 weeks away! Tell me, I pay extra with all these fees and now I won't see the item for 3 weeks. I frequently get stuff from US via USPS for 10-14 days at the max If I only know how long will it take to get to me, I would not had buy the item at all. Can anybody explain to me why it will take more than 3 weeks to get to me?

pierrelebel · ‎07-12-2016

"Can anybody explain to me why it will take more than 3 weeks to get to me?"

It may be much faster. eBay is currently "padding" expected delivery times to allow for postal work stoppages.

Patience.

waltz3141 · ‎07-12-2016

Furthermore, the GSP program in this case is labelled as " International Priority Shipping to Canada". If this is priority shipping, how why is this LONGER than what USPS? Six months?? EBay is trying to doing everything in its power to mislead the buyer to use GSP. I had sellers which I bought off ebay before GSP took only 2 weeks to ship to me plus it is cheaper! I'm so **bleep** off right now..

marnotom! · ‎07-12-2016

@waltz3141 wrote:

Furthermore, the GSP program in this case is labelled as " International Priority Shipping to Canada". If this is priority shipping, how why is this LONGER than what USPS? Six months??

What does "priority" mean to you?

pjcdn2005 · ‎07-15-2016

@marnotom! wrote:
@sylviebee wrote:

It's not just that the logo is missing. The whole setup and wording is different.

It's very tricky when you're accustomed to seeing the globe and parcel logo.

Twice I started to process items to buy only to be smacked with the GSP. What a disappointment!

The GSP is mentioned on the listing page, though. The wording used to describe the shipping method is "International Priority Shipping to Canada via the Global Shipping Program" followed by what I assume is the usual link to further details at the bottom of the listing page. Do the import charges show up at the bottom of the listing page the way they do for me (and presumably most other people)?

This wording describing the shipping method is the same as what's used on the .com site, at least for me. Just out of curiosity, what do you see when you view the listing on the .com site?

On .com the import changes do not show up until you click on add to cart or buy it now. Clicking on see details brings me to the shippin tab which states that import charges will be shown at checkout. If you are not seeing the same thing then perhaps it's a test and just some users see it. I have been using safari sniff Firefox. When I get on my pc later today I'll check To see if IE shows the same thing.

femmefan1946 · ‎07-15-2016

https://ircalc.usps.com/

There seems to be a Priority Express International and a Priority International with no 'express'.

I'd assume that neither is particularly fast and it is just a name.

If you want to fool around with USPS parcel costs, note that there is an arrow on the right that gives even more options, some cheaper.

maxlevelgames · ‎07-16-2016

The Global Shipping Program has done nothing but slow sales from the USA to Canada. Hardly anyone wants to deal with the GSP **bleep**. It was a terrible idea and what's worse is it's still around. I will NOT buy anything from a US seller that uses the GSP unless it's still a very good deal ( pretty much .01% of the time ).

I can't understand why it's still being used.. Either ebay likes to **bleep** off international buyers and scam them at the same time while not caring about the sales $ or dumb are actually buying stuff from sellers using it.

I heard it's not easy to figure out how to disable it and still like 75% to 80% of US sellers use it. Pretty much killed my international buying since it went active.

Way to many negatives about it...

1. Higher shipping costs
2. Fake duty charges
3. Random shipping charges
4. Random fake duty charges
5. Slow shipping ( x2 slower than normal )
6. Pintey bowes opens up items and repackages them in smaller boxes with almost no padding/protection.
7. Items arrive damaged more often
8. US sellers hate dealing with these issues and then choose not to ship international anymore ( can't blame them ).
9. Can't combine shipping on items with GSP ( uhhhh why the hell not? )
10. Hard to disable the GSP
11. Annoying when you see a item for sale you want at a good price but oh no wait they are using the GSP and shipping is crazy high and not worth it now.

I can go on and on..

Get rid of this Global Ripoff Program please or make some changes to it for the better. Combined shipping would be a big one.. >.> "facepalm"

sylviebee · ‎07-16-2016

@pjcdn2005 wrote:

On .com the import changes do not show up until you click on add to cart or buy it now. Clicking on see details brings me to the shippin tab which states that import charges will be shown at checkout. If you are not seeing the same thing then perhaps it's a test and just some users see it. I have been using safari sniff Firefox. When I get on my pc later today I'll check To see if IE shows the same thing.

The only time I log into eBay.ca is when I come here. Just checked .ca the logo is still there for me on .ca.

Maybe the logo has disappeared for everyone on .com and it's a further attempt to pull .ca & .com apart? I don't know.

Since my eye was trained to pick that logo up at a glance and avoid the listing, now I keep getting sucked in and push the BIN button only to see import charges.

I'm getting used to it and re-training my eye to pick up the new GSP warning, but at first it seemed like a trick to get Canadians sucked into the GSP.

Once you push the BIN button you've decided you want the item so it's annoying when you have to reverse that decision.

hennmann · ‎07-16-2016

I totally agree with the complaints about the GSP and I avoid many purchases if that is my only option! The import charges are simply put- bogus. Like other posts I seldom if ever pay import charges or duty on items valued under $50. The shipping charges Pitney Bowes charges are inflated as well. As it is ebay's shipping calculator is totally inaccurate as well usually too high. Some sellers I deal with have in bold red letters stating for international orders and combined shipping DO NOT PAY UNTIL SHIPPING IS RECALCULATED BECAUSE EBAY SHIPPING CALCULATOR IS ALWAYS WRONG. It doesn't get any clearer than this that international buyers are getting ripped off. It is now getting to the point that I look for items elsewhere and Amazon is becoming a better option. A large percentage of my favorite sellers no longer use ebay and either sell online or sell using email and phone orders. Oh yes I almost forgot to mention during one attempted purchase with a seller using GSP I was paying close attention to the import charges and shipping as this is a major deciding factor in whether or not I purchase because if the shipping is too high the purchase is just not viable. I made a note of how much the charges were including the exchange rate that I can't do anything about. It was a buy it now item so I clicked "buy it now". Next I selected commit to buy. Now they got me here!! After that I went to pay and guess what? The import charges almost doubled and yet the price of the item certainly didn't. I canceled the purchase as well as the seller. He no longer uses ebay to sell his parts.

marnotom! · ‎07-16-2016

@sylviebee wrote:
@pjcdn2005 wrote:

On .com the import changes do not show up until you click on add to cart or buy it now. Clicking on see details brings me to the shippin tab which states that import charges will be shown at checkout. If you are not seeing the same thing then perhaps it's a test and just some users see it. I have been using safari sniff Firefox. When I get on my pc later today I'll check To see if IE shows the same thing.

The only time I log into eBay.ca is when I come here. Just checked .ca the logo is still there for me on .ca.
Maybe the logo has disappeared for everyone on .com and it's a further attempt to pull .ca & .com apart? I don't know.

Since my eye was trained to pick that logo up at a glance and avoid the listing, now I keep getting sucked in and push the BIN button only to see import charges.
I'm getting used to it and re-training my eye to pick up the new GSP warning, but at first it seemed like a trick to get Canadians sucked into the GSP.

Once you push the BIN button you've decided you want the item so it's annoying when you have to reverse that decision.

I'm using a Windows 7 laptop. I just checked a featured listing on the .com site with Chrome and while the GSP globe logo doesn't appear on the listing, import charges are front and centre just below the shipping information near the top of the page.

Your shopping process is likely different than mine. I usually check the shipping price and method right after the item price because I want to ensure that the seller isn't using a shipping method that's going to slug me with all manner of customs clearance and processing charges when I receive the item. You've probably got a way to clear these sort of shipments yourself so it doesn't matter so much.

Your observations on the .com and.ca split are interesting, particularly in light of the discussion on the Seller Central board about eBay's "study" on tax and duty on casual imports. My thoughts have been wandering in the direction of eBay making moves to wind down and close the .ca site's physical operations completely (after all, it only has about ten employees if my understanding is correct) and operate eBay.ca and cafr.ebay out of San Jose.

sylviebee · ‎07-16-2016

@marnotom! wrote:

Your shopping process is likely different than mine.

________________________________________________

No doubt.

pjcdn2005 · ‎07-16-2016

It isn't showing up the same way for everyone on .com right now.

i agree that the import charges should be clear on the listing but are you not seeing the customs services and international tracking on gsp listings in the list search view? That prevents me from clicking on gsp listings at all. Although that works for me the average eBayer might not realize what that statement means.

pjcdn2005 · ‎07-16-2016

Obviously you are not seeing the same thing as sylvite and myself.

Regardless of your shopping method do you not agree that withholding the import charges (as shown to me on .com) is a huge problem? A buyer looks st the shipping cost and item cost...decides to make the purchase, clicks on buy it now and then realizes the cost will be higher. Or, they may not even notice the new total until after they have paid. I'm sure that many people don't pay much attention when they approve the amount on a cc machine so some may not notice the extra charge at first.

marnotom! · ‎07-16-2016

@pjcdn2005 wrote:

Obviously you are not seeing the same thing as sylvite and myself.
Regardless of your shopping method do you not agree that withholding the import charges (as shown to me on .com) is a huge problem?

Right now I'm more inclined to think that it's a glitch associated with browsers on computers running Mac OS, otherwise we'd have heard a lot more about this by now. What happened when you checked those listings you mentioned earlier on a PC rather than a Mac, anyway?

xenotime · ‎07-17-2016

I'm looking to buy an item from a US seller that is $99.99. The GSP shipping is only $12.06 with no duty. Is this a glitch? GSP isn't usually this low.

pjcdn2005 · ‎07-17-2016

It's more likely a test than a glitch. A glitch may hide something bit wouldn't have added the words 'See import charges st checkout' in the shipping tab.

I originally noticed it on Firefox on my pc. I also see the same thing on safari and chrome on my iPad.

sylviebee · ‎07-17-2016

@xenotime wrote:
I'm looking to buy an item from a US seller that is $99.99. The GSP shipping is only $12.06 with no duty. Is this a glitch? GSP isn't usually this low.

That has happened to me several times as well.

Now and then the GSP doesn't add import taxes when it should, and seems like it doesn't even cover actual shipping costs or a handling fee.

I couldn't come up with a logical explanation either.