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.

[chimera148]

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@xenotime wrote:

I'm in BC as well. For me, there is nothing showing up for Import Charges on the .com site. The header "Import Charges" does not exist. I only see it on the .ca site. It's the same whether I use Chrome or Firefox, logged in or not.

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Mine shows the same in BC on .com.

Under the "Shipping and Payments" tab, "See import charges at checkout".

[marnotom!]

Chimera and Jepcik, are you using a Mac or a PC? Or something else?

[xenotime]

PC

[rvannooij]

I noticed this a week or so ago. That the .Com site was not showing the Import Charges in the item description like it used to. It was showing up fine on the German and French sites.
It truly felt like an underhanded trick to get people to use GSP. And it irritated me to no end.
The day after I noticed the "import charges" were back.

[00nevermind00]

This is what I see on eBay.com. No import charges:

And this is what I see on eBay.ca. Import charges clearly shown (to ON in this case):

Firefox browser, Windows 7 on a PC.

Since we're not all seeing the same thing, the most logical explanation is that eBay is once again conducting some inane test with a (random?) selection of eBayers. I agree with those who think that it makes the program appear shady and underhanded. As if the GSP needed more bad publicity with Canadian buyers!

Not all Canadian buyers shop on eBay.ca.  Some prefer to shop on eBay.com for a variety of reasons, and they have every right to do so. The information presented really should be the same, with the only difference being that the .ca site shows a Canadian dollar conversion. There is no valid reason for one site (.com) not to disclose all relevant GSP information to potential buyers.

I would pass on this specific item anyway. If you scroll down to the Shipping section of the seller's listing, it's obvious that he's enrolled in the GSP without his knowledge.  He has a blurb about not shipping internationally and not accepting non-USA Paypal payments. Back button!!!

There should be a "fun" aspect to buying on eBay. If the site turns into a minefield where buyers have to watch their every step, they'll simply shop elsewhere.

[marnotom!]

What version of Windows does your PC run, Jepcik?

[pjcdn2005]

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@marnotom! wrote:
What version of Windows does your PC run, Jepcik?

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Why do you keep asking about browsers, operating systems etc?  It seems fairly obvious that eBay is showing specific users different things. 

[pjcdn2005]

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@xenotime wrote:

I'm in BC as well. For me, there is nothing showing up for Import Charges on the .com site. The header "Import Charges" does not exist. I only see it on the .ca site. It's the same whether I use Chrome or Firefox, logged in or not.

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Under the shipping tab it should say that import charges will be added at checkout and it also has the gsp logo in that area.  That's not very helpful since I doubt that most people click on that tab.

[chimera148]

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@marnotom! wrote:
Chimera and Jepcik, are you using a Mac or a PC? Or something else?

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Windows 7 with Explorer on a PC.

[marnotom!]

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@pjcdn2005 wrote:

Why do you keep asking about browsers, operating systems etc?  It seems fairly obvious that eBay is showing specific users different things. 

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The "specific users" appear to be ones who habitually use the .com site for shopping, but I'm wondering if this is more of a tweak to the .com site that's gone awry and it's these users who have unwittingly unearthed it.

As I noted earlier, what I saw on .com, even with my postal code set correctly, were import charges for Ontario.  These charges would presumably be adjusted once I go through Checkout to reflect my location in BC.

For habitual .com users, there may be some sort of subroutine that's kicked in to suppress the display of the import charges, the rationale possibly being that they're not always displaying properly.  These buyers regularly shopping on .com should know that they'll be facing them come checkout so does it make any difference if they have to wait until Checkout to see them?.  From what I can tell, these listings note that the import charges will be calculated at Checkout, and the GSP is mentioned at the top of the listing page even without the "globe logo" so those who avoid GSP listings and who haven't seen the "warning" notice in a list view search still have a chance for a heads-up.

I was asking about platforms and browsers because I'm thinking that there may be an attempt to mesh the user experience of viewing and purchasing from a listing on a laptop with that on a phone, where a bit of digging is needed to dredge up the import charges, at least on the mobile site.  (I don't have any experience with the eBay app.)

I'm not trying to minimize anybody's experience here, as I'm sure this is a huge pain below the tailbone, but I'm not sure there's anything as nefarious going on here as most of us are suggesting.  It's just another half-baked initiative or experiment that wasn't thought through, although I do think there may be some "side effects" that eBay is hoping will work in its favour, such as the de minimis issue.

[xenotime]

I'm using Windows 8.1. There is no mention of import charges in the shipping and payments tab. I did a find search for the word "import" and I only get:

Any international shipping and import charges are paid in part to Pitney Bowes Inc.

By the way, the shipping is different today. Now it says $11.82

[marnotom!]

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@xenotime wrote:

I'm using Windows 8.1. There is no mention of import charges in the shipping and payments tab. I did a find search for the word "import" and I only get:

Any international shipping and import charges are paid in part to Pitney Bowes Inc.

By the way, the shipping is different today. Now it says $11.82

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Yes, shipping and import charges are both different for me today on both .com and .ca.

Import charges on the .com site are $14.89 (default) and $8.33 on the .ca site (BC), down from $17.68 and $9.48.

The note about shipping and import charges should be another tip-off for experienced .com users that they're looking at a GSP shipment.

I don't get the sense that buyers who rarely use the .com site would be seeing a half-baked page for a GSP listing, but what do I know?

[chimera148]

Yes, the item price has dropped 20%,  from US 99.99 to US 79.99, at least for me. 

[tonja10]

I well not be buying anything from anyone who uses gsp again, one problem with the shipping address and the seller and ebay just washes their hands with it. Point the finger at each other saying it's the others problem. So it's the buyers problem then? Great that's just awesome. Gsp is a scam, why is pbi opening up packages in kentucky then repackaging them? Unreal this program is borderline fraud. My next call is to the police department to file fraud charges, take my money but don't send me my item? That's fraud!!

[pjcdn2005]

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@tonja10 wrote:

I well not be buying anything from anyone who uses gsp again, one problem with the shipping address and the seller and ebay just washes their hands with it. Point the finger at each other saying it's the others problem. So it's the buyers problem then? Great that's just awesome. Gsp is a scam, why is pbi opening up packages in kentucky then repackaging them? Unreal this program is borderline fraud. My next call is to the police department to file fraud charges, take my money but don't send me my item? That's fraud!!

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If you can give more details it's possible that someone here can help.  

[marnotom!]

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@chimera148 wrote:

Yes, the item price has dropped 20%,  from US 99.99 to US 79.99, at least for me. 

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Good catch.

[marnotom!]

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@tonja10 wrote:

Gsp is a scam, why is pbi opening up packages in kentucky then repackaging them? 

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They're opening up packages because they've been authorized by the feds in the US to do so.

My wife and I haven't purchased many GSP items, but the ones we've received only show evidence of having been opened, not repackaged.

[afantiques]

they've been authorized by the feds in the US to do so.

Minor quibble, they need no authorisation from anyone as the packages are addressed to them.

[biguglyram]

I cant understand how i could be better to pay more money for shipping, watch my item leave 30 miles from canada border and do a 5 day tour in the usa so global shipping gets a cut. The result of this program is higher shipping costs and longer wait times. Product should have taken 6 days. I have an eta of 3 to 4 weeks. As ive purchased from this state before without gsp.
Some sellers are brain washed into thinking this is the only option for international shipping. What a joke. Cant wait to see you go!

[pierrelebel]

"The result of this program is higher shipping costs and longer wait times. "

From a Canadian buyer perspective, that is correct in most instances.  That program was not designed with Canadian buyers in mind, is generally not Canadian buyer friendly and should be avoided in most instances.

It is that simple.

"Cant wait to see you go!"

That will not happen as the program is beneficial to American sellers (and eBay getting more fees) and that was the original goal. As such it is considered successful by eBay Inc.