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.

[bobenis]

Agreed...most items, unless used or collectibles, can be found on Amazon from the same sellers for equal prices or less. 

Plus fast shipping and easy returns. 

[6guitars]

I used to buy mostly from US seller. Since this RIP-OFF system called "Global Shipping Program" I will only buy from a US seller if they do not use this system or I have no other source, In other words if there's a gun to my head. The shipping on the same item from the US cost $53.83 CDN and only $22.65 from the UK. I'm 45 min from the US border. I reluctanly bought something from the US and it's taking double the time to get here because it went to Kentucky instead of directly to me. Do you selves a service and just don't buy from US seller if they use the GSP program. Also once I get my item I will advise Canada customs to verify if they are getting the money from Kentucky. I somehow doubt it.

[reallynicestamps]

The Global Shipping Program is set up for  Seller Protection.

It is basically useless for buyers.

One exception, if the item is Not As Described and the unhappy buyer opens a Dispute mentioning that it was handled by the GSP, the Program takes full responsibility.

The GSP will refund the buyer without requiring a return, which is always fraught if the transaction was cross-border.

The GSP doesn't argue, they just take the refunds as a cost of doing business.

But you are not going to find anyone who thinks it is a good program for Canadian buyers.

[marnotom!]

You can find a few good instances where the GSP can be advantageous, particularly with heavier or fraud-prone items, but those instances are few and far between.

I've purchased a couple of mobile phones that were forwarded through the GSP. The shipping cost much less than the mysterious courier services used by most sellers not shipping through the GSP and the phones arrived before the cases I purchased from sellers shipping by mail. (Go figure.) I also didn't have to worry about being dinged for taxes and processing charges upon or after receipt of the phones.

I haven't purchased anything forwarded through the GSP since then, however, as I haven't found anything I want on eBay that makes sense to be handled through the program.

[robbwell]

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@robbwell wrote:

Interesting experience ...?

Bought a carb part the size of a 25 cent coin from Ohio. Paid 10USD to seller and 13.40USD to Pitney Bowes - still 25% cheaper than buying the part through the local Arctic Cat dealer.

Nine days after ordering (5 holidays and 4 business days) it has moved 64 miles to the PB hub at Erlanger, KY ... further away from me, of course.

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Further to my earlier comment, this shipment is stranger than I indicated.

Item left Ohio on Tuesday May 30 and cleared the Erlanger, KY hub - 62 miles away - Thursday June 8,  (now in Mississauga.)

The weird thing is yesterday I got three emails form eBay assuring me it was on its way. Perhaps there was a one-time glitch.

Next time I want something the size of a coin, costing less than 20CAD I'll just ask the seller if they can put it in a stiff envelope with a customs declaration sticker and bill me the postage.

[marnotom!]

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@robbwell wrote:

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@robbwell wrote:

Interesting experience ...?

Bought a carb part the size of a 25 cent coin from Ohio. Paid 10USD to seller and 13.40USD to Pitney Bowes - still 25% cheaper than buying the part through the local Arctic Cat dealer.

Nine days after ordering (5 holidays and 4 business days) it has moved 64 miles to the PB hub at Erlanger, KY ... further away from me, of course.

---

Further to my earlier comment, this shipment is stranger than I indicated.

Item left Ohio on Tuesday May 30 and cleared the Erlanger, KY hub - 62 miles away - Thursday June 8,  (now in Mississauga.)

The weird thing is yesterday I got three emails form eBay assuring me it was on its way. Perhaps there was a one-time glitch.

Next time I want something the size of a coin, costing less than 20CAD I'll just ask the seller if they can put it in a stiff envelope with a customs declaration sticker and bill me the postage.

---

Fair enough, but keep in mind a few things about your sale.

The trip between Ohio and Kentucky is the seller's responsibility.  Presumably they used the same domestic shipping service to get the item to Kentucky as they would to a buyer within the United States, but there's nothing to stop them from cheaping out and going for a less expensive shipping service.  Speaking of shipping costs, I'm not clear on if the US$13.40 charge you mentioned is actually all going to Pitney Bowes or if it's a combination of the seller's shipping charge and Pitney Bowes' charges.  I'm guessing that it's all Pitney Bowes and given the size and nature of the part, the seller decided to fold the domestic shipping charge in with the item's selling price and use a cheap and slowish domestic shipping service.

Also worth noting is that the only component of the program that seems to be operated by Pitney Bowes is the Kentucky shipping centre.  Everything else is contracted out, so those three emails that you received may have been triggered by any of the other parties responsible for getting your item to you.  One of them may have even been from the seller.

Making a request of a seller not to forward their item through the GSP and sending it directly to you is great in theory, it's a little tricky to implement as sellers can't simply revise the listing to eliminate the GSP and add a direct shipping method instead.  The entire listing has to be cancelled and replaced.  Also consider that many sellers with the GSP on their listings aren't' aware that it's there in the first place as they didn't make international shipping an option on their listing and eBay just added the GSP option, so you may get some confused responses to such a request.  Some sellers may blanch at the thought of filling out an "official government document" to get an item to Canada.  

Another consideration is that some sellers--particularly of smaller/less expensive items--use mail consolidation services to keep shipping costs down.  The trade-off on price is much slower transit time.  My wife recently purchased a CD from a seller on "that other site" that took about twice as long to travel from Los Angeles to Vancouver Island as one sent through the usual oversize letter mail channels.

So long story short, you can ask sellers if they'll consider shipping directly to you rather than using the GSP, but if your main objective in this exercise is to cut down on the transit time, the seller may not consider the perceived hassle to be worth it or else it may not actually do much to resolve this problem.

Is your item still on track to arrive within the estimated delivery time stated on the listing page?

[bobenis]

Unless something has changed with the GSP, the seller only has a few days to get the parcel to PB in order to be covered by ebay's protection so cheaping out would not work in their benefit. 

[marnotom!]

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@bobenis wrote:

Unless something has changed with the GSP, the seller only has a few days to get the parcel to PB in order to be covered by ebay's protection so cheaping out would not work in their benefit. 

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Would you be able to find a reference to that condition for me, Bobenis?  I'm in a bit of a rush right now and the seller FAQ page isn't being cooperative.

[bobenis]

How will the program affect my Detailed Seller Ratings?

Your buyers will be able to provide Detailed Seller Ratings for transactions involving GSP items. However, you will be eligible for automatic 5-star detailed seller ratings for GSP items in the following circumstances:

1. If you provide free domestic shipping (i.e., free shipping to the Global Shipping Center), you will automatically receive a 5-star detailed seller rating for shipping and handling charges; and
2. If you provide 1-day handling, upload tracking information within 1 business day of receiving cleared payment, and the tracking information shows the GSP item as being delivered to, and it is accepted at, the Global Shipping Center within 4 business days of your receipt of cleared payment, you will automatically receive a 5-star detailed seller rating for shipping time.

I was rusty on what I recall reading it appears 😛

Regardless, it appears to be in the best interest of the seller to ship it ASAP via Priority to get that 5 star shipping time bonus so using snail mail would not be a good choice. 

[marnotom!]

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@bobenis wrote:

Regardless, it appears to be in the best interest of the seller to ship it ASAP via Priority to get that 5 star shipping time bonus so using snail mail would not be a good choice. 

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The way I read what you posted, and the way I understand the DSR for shipping, is that it's only the seller's handling time that means anything, i.e. how quickly they get the item sent off.  The actually transit time of the item isn't part of the equation and shouldn't be on what the DSR is based.

[bobenis]

That was my point, the speed in which the seller gets it to PB thus using an alternative shipper that would be slower is counterproductive to the seller's shipping rating. 

[marnotom!]

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@bobenis wrote:

That was my point, the speed in which the seller gets it to PB thus using an alternative shipper that would be slower is counterproductive to the seller's shipping rating. 

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That wasn't my point, though.  In a regular direct shipment, the DSR for shipping is only based on the seller's speed in getting the item sent off to its destination.

The blurb you provided only says that a five star DSR rating will be "automatically" given if the item is accepted at the Global Shipping Center within four business days of cleared payment.  It doesn't say that the seller will necessarily receive anything less than that in other circumstances or how this DSR will be generated.  "Automatically" may mean that a bot will do it as opposed to a human being, not that this is a matter of course.

Given that a number of sellers don't realize that the program has been applied to their listings or for whatever other reasons don't understand how the program works, many of them are probably unaware of this condition.  There have been several posts from buyers that suggest that sometimes a seller will freak out when they realize their item is destined for a location outside of the United States and feel that they're going to be losing money from their own pockets to additional shipping charges.  This is where the cheaping out on shipping may come in.  Weird logic, I know, but fear addles some people's thinking.

Then there are some people who sell so little internationally but so much domestically that they may feel they can take a small hit on their shipping DSRs, if one actually does happen.

[cdnannihilator]

eBay's Global Shipping Program (GSP) is a total scam and in all evidence it's there to stay (just look at the dates of previous posts complaining about it in this thread). I just bought a small and lightweight item from a USA seller for $20 USD and eBay's GSP charged $11 USD shipping + $6 USD "import charges" that Canada Customs will never see, since they don't even bother collecting on items valued under $100 USD that are sent USPS into the country anyway. I've ad hundreds of packages between $20 - $100 sent over, never had any duty or tax collected by the post office.

This item being the rare exception (base price was less than a third of what it sells for locally), but I NEVER buy anything that uses the GSP on eBay and this sole fact actually pushed me to shop at Amazon a lot more. I used to shop on eBay regularly, but now it's no longer worth it with the fraudulent GSP they're pimping to US sellers, who simply don't know any better.

I know many Canadians who have abandoned shopping on eBay altogether for that very reason too (outrageous and unjustified "import charges up front" - charges that would've never been collected by customs anyway). How's that greed working out for you, eBay?

[marnotom!]

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@cdnannihilator wrote:

eBay's Global Shipping Program (GSP) is a total scam and in all evidence it's there to stay (just look at the dates of previous posts complaining about it in this thread). I just bought a small and lightweight item from a USA seller for $20 USD and eBay's GSP charged $11 USD shipping + $6 USD "import charges" that Canada Customs will never see, since they don't even bother collecting on items valued under $100 USD that are sent USPS into the country anyway. I've ad hundreds of packages between $20 - $100 sent over, never had any duty or tax collected by the post office.

This item being the rare exception (base price was less than a third of what it sells for locally), but I NEVER buy anything that uses the GSP on eBay and this sole fact actually pushed me to shop at Amazon a lot more. I used to shop on eBay regularly, but now it's no longer worth it with the fraudulent GSP they're pimping to US sellers, who simply don't know any better.

I know many Canadians who have abandoned shopping on eBay altogether for that very reason too (outrageous and unjustified "import charges up front" - charges that would've never been collected by customs anyway). How's that greed working out for you, eBay?

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You appear to be assuming that taxes and duties for GSP items are assessed and collected the same way as they are for items imported by mail, but they're not.  Imported items transported by means other than mail have taxes and duties assessed by individuals not employed by Canada Border Services and those items won't cross the border until those fees have been paid or there's some guarantee that they'll be paid sometime down the line.  Pitney Bowes actually pays the taxes and duties calculated on GSP items.  The "import charges" are how the buyer pays Pitney Bowes back, and then some, of course.

Most of the time, the GSP doesn't make a whole heckuva lotta sense for smaller, modestly valued items that can be sent as oversized letters.  On the other hand, the way I look at it most items that have the GSP used inappropriately are likely from sellers who wouldn't ship outside of the United States or at the very least wouldn't readily go out of their way to do so.  The GSP is simply revealing all those sellers whose listings wouldn't show up on a .ca search without it.

Given the small size of the Canadian market compared to that of many other countries, I doubt that what Canadians think of the GSP and how Canadians are changing their online shopping habits as a result of the GSP is making much of a difference to eBay's bottom line.

[gbmontrealer]

Chalk me up as a victim of the GSP. Was slapped with a $77 import fee that I only found out about upon payment.

I don't even understand how eBay justifies Import fees on things. Canada and the US have free trade agreement - you may have heard of it called NAFTA, that exempts import fees on second hand goods (this is a hockey card that has been removed from its pack, it's obviously a second hand item). 

I just sent a PM to the seller apoligizing for not being able to buy it. Just on principal, the idea of paying $75 for an item that can be shipped in an envelope is ridiculous.

[femmefan1946]

Most of the import fees paid on NAFTA- manufactured goods go to sales taxes not to duty.

There is no duty on secondhand goods, but sales taxes still apply.

If you were told import fees would be $77, and we remove the $5 GSP service fee, then your item cost somewhere between $1540. CDN (Alberta) and $480CDN(BC) , since the sales taxes vary by province.

Your seller probably felt more comfortable with the Seller Protection he gets from the GSP.

But you were within your rights to refuse to pay when you saw the GSP charges.

The GSP is not meant to be helpful for buyers. It is -- no more and no less-- a Seller Protection.

[gbmontrealer]

The item actually came to to $371 US - or about $500 Canadian. After the shipping and GSP "Import Fees" were tacked on, the final tally came out to $600 Canadian meaning shipping and GSP fees combined accounted for 1/5th of the total costs of the item. I refused to buy it just out of principal.

[marnotom!]

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@gbmontrealer wrote:

The item actually came to to $371 US - or about $500 Canadian. After the shipping and GSP "Import Fees" were tacked on, the final tally came out to $600 Canadian meaning shipping and GSP fees combined accounted for 1/5th of the total costs of the item. I refused to buy it just out of principal.

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The likelihood of an eBay seller of collectors' cards just sticking one of these things in an envelope and mailing it uninsured and untracked outside of the United States is pretty remote, though.  If a seller hasn't got some sort of system in place for managing loss or fraud, the least expensive way to send something like this with tracking and insurance would be by parcel post, which would set you back US$35.00.  A parcel post item would be more likely to get stopped by Canada Border Services for assessment of taxes, which would be at minimum US$18.55 (5% GST).  Canada Post would then add a processing fee of about US$7.50 at current exchange rates to collect that tax from you.

That would make the shipping and tax-related charges for the card shipped by mail as a parcel to be--at minimum--about US$61.05, which is 16.5% of the card's value.

[femmefan1946]

@gbmontrealer

If that came out of nowhere -- and with auctions the duty and Sales Tax cannot be calculated until the auction is completed-- I be pretty annoyed too.

As stated, this is a Seller Protection program and not meant to be helpful to buyers.

Again, the first step in avoiding GSP charges is Searching with List View (not Gallery).

The second is Searching on a laptop or desktop rather than a mobile, since not all the information that the seller provides is easily viewable on a mobile.

And that is even more important on a high value item like this.

You can contact the seller, if you were a nice polite Canadian is refusing to complete the transaction with the GSP, and ask him if he is willing to make you a private listing.

Suggest that he use Fixed Price/Immediate Payment Required and that he make the title your ID, so no one else finds it easily.

And then that he use First Class International Parcel shipping, which-- and this is the important part for him-- includes Confirmation of Delivery.

https://postcalc.usps.com/?country=10440

Tell him to use the Shape and Size link for FCIP

If you do this yourself you will see the actual cost he will be paying out. You will not see whether or not CBSA and Canada Post will be charging you duty (probably none) and sales tax (just under 15% if you are in QC) and the Canada Post service charge of $9.95.

That's always a gamble. It might pass unassessed on the carrier may be charging you on your doorstep.

Politely.-- Captain Malcolm Reynolds

[krispymac]

Once again, the Global Shipping Program has proven itself counterintuitive and completely ridiculous.

I bought an item from a reliable seller in Eugene, Oregon, for which I've left positive feedback. However, eBay's GSP receives the lowest marks possible. It took over two weeks for the parcel to reach me in Vancouver, BC, Canada––the same time zone on the West Coast as the seller (see attached screenshot of the tracking for said parcel). Because of how GSP works, my parcel was diverted to Kentucky. It makes far more sense to pay for customs duties and taxes at this end than to send parcels on outrageously long wild goose chases simply because sellers cannot (or is it will not? not allowed to?) fill out the shipping details for international orders. 

Between the asinine GSP and the terrible exchange rate, I am almost to the point that I will no longer buy or sell on eBay after an almost two decade membership. GSP not only demonstrates how geographically challenged the eBay Powers That Be are, it is environmentally irresponsible to send parcels on milk runs around the United States.

In short, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and Canada Post process parcels faster than the short-sighted and expensive GSP. I will continue my move to other less expensive, more expedient, and more reliable sources for my purchasing needs.