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.

[kasiablue2000]

As a Canadian buyer I don't like being hit with charges I didn't expect, after the fact. I'd like to see all costs up front before I click that final button. Total costs are going to affect what I will pay for the item.  I can see that down the road I will be buying less and less from American sellers that use GSP....and more and more from the Aussies. It may take longer to arrive but overall the cost will be much lower.

Additionally, I have just had the pleasant experience of having a Christmas present for one of our children go missing. The seller told me I had to contact 'Kentucky'...didn't give me any contact details but the mailing address. In other words the seller is not taking any responsibility for the lost package and is leaving me to twist in the wind.

What am I doing? Filing a claim. I wonder how many of those Ebay is going to get when more sellers start not caring what the GSP does. I am thinking they don't lose any money if the GSP is at fault so customer service goes out the window.

Nice Global Shipping Program. Not.

Like I said, from now on if I buy from a US seller it'll be from those that don't use the GSP

[marnotom!]

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@kasiablue2000 wrote:

The tracking information states that it reached the town where the postal office is. That is the last place it was seen. The community we live in, is 25 km away and has a different name than the one where the postal office is located. After the package reaches the post office, it is scanned and marked as 'delivered'. But then it makes its final trip to our little community up the highway where the mailboxes are located. Does that make sense?

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I grew up in a rural area where the addresses took the name of the nearby city where the post office was located, so I know what you're talking about.  Do you have rural route mailboxes or do you have Supermailboxes?  Canada Post's recent announcement of the end of home delivery of mail has sparked some investigations into the track record of Supermailboxes, and it seems that mail going missing from them or the boxes themselves getting vandalized isn't an unusual occurrence.

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@kasiablue2000 wrote:

Regarding the listing. I did not know what the Global Shipping Program is. Thank you for telling me. However, it doesn't really address the issue that the seller has no idea what address was put on my parcel....nor the issue that the seller has told me I am the one that has to contact Kentucky....and I have no hot clue how to do that. Do you know what the seller means by all that...and how I am to follow the instructions about contacting Ebay for help?

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The address the Global Shipping Center employee put on your package should have been the one eBay had on file for you when you made your purchase.  I think you're supposed to confirm it when you make a purchase from a listing that uses the Global Shipping Program.  (At the very least, your commitment to purchase the item is taken as an acknowledgement that you agree to the terms and conditions of the program.)

While your seller may have no liability in this situation, it doesn't sound as though he's as up on the program's workings as he could be.  As a buyer, you can't "contact Kentucky."  You're going to have to go through the formal process of filing a claim or case of non-delivery with the eBay Resolution Centre as this is the only way you have a chance of recovering not just the monies you paid for the item, but what you paid for shipping the item from Kentucky and the import charges as those went directly to PitneyBowes, the administrator of the Global Shipping Program, and not the seller.

http://resolutioncentre.ebay.ca/

To paraphrase another regular poster on this discussion board, they can't say "no" to you if you don't try to file a claim or case.

And, yes, the screenshot I provided was just as an example.  You've made several purchases of items that were shipped through the Global Shipping Program recently so I just chose one at random.  If you go back to the listing page for the item that you're referring to, that same "banner" and link for the GSP should be on it.

[marnotom!]

Kasiablue2000, there are also bad sellers who don't use the GSP who won't lift a keystroke to help you in the case of an issue, forcing you into filing cases or claims of non-delivery.

What's likely happening is that sellers who haven't shipped internationally in the past are adopting the GSP (intentionally or not) and, buoyed by the comfort that they're not liable for loss or damage on the international leg of the item's journey, are going all "Comic Book Guy" with their customer service in the event their international buyers have issues.

I'm confused about your comments about fees up-front, though.  If you purchase an item that's shipped by mail, there's a chance (although sometimes not much of a chance) that your item will get hit by a tax charge from Canada Border Services plus a processing charge for those taxes by Canada Post, and you'll have to pay for all that before you can receive your item.  If you like to see all your costs up front, surely the GSP is preferable, according to your thinking?

[kasiablue2000]

Hi!

Thank you so much for your time to answer me and try to help.

I guess we have what you are calling superboxes...my parents may have those soon in the city in which they live and they hate the thought as they are elderly and don't like the idea of having to be trudging to an outdoor set of boxes.

We have our own address and it is not attached to the name of the nearby city. They are actually supposed to scan the item out here one last time when they place it in our box...or place the 'key' to the parcel compartment in our box. The key link gets scanned too.

However, the last time the item was scanned was in the nearby city/town.

Having said that, I just got a call from a lady with a similar last name, who thinks she has our parcel. And here's the kicker. There is NO postal box number on the label. She was able to track our phone number down through a mutual friend. We are going to hook up in the next hour and hopefully it's our parcel. I forgot to ask her what the return address was.

So much for a good system with that 'Global' thing.

Thank you again for your input. It's nice to be heard and to get some much needed information. Ebay changes so often it's sometimes hard to keep up.

[kasiablue2000]

 After my latest experience I will be avoiding sellers who use the program as well. Costly and unreliable. First lost package in a decade of buying on Ebay!

[marnotom!]

If you do find it's your parcel, I'm curious about whether or not the address that is on it is anything like any of the addresses you have or have had on file with eBay or PayPal.

Keep us posted!  (No pun intended.)

(That's better than "reach out" too, isn't it, AF?)

[kasiablue2000]

Yes, what you are missing is that not all costs are shown up front. I have gotten the invoice copy after payment and had additional fees that were not evident when I paid. I have been on ebay for over 10 years. I hate surprises like that.

Also, I have had my first experience with this wonderful system losing a package for me. Oh...wait...no...they forgot my complete address. So I paid a whack of money for substandard service. Greeeaaaaat!

[kasiablue2000]

if Canada Customs had levied 12% tax (GST/PST) on the parcel plus $9.95 brokerage fee.

Your statement says it all. I have had the tax and brokerage fees charged to me a total of 3 times in over 10 years and I have bought around 250 items on Ebay. Now with the GSP, I can get charged EVERY time I buy. Yayyyyyyyyyy!

Not.

[marnotom!]

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@kasiablue2000 wrote:

Yes, what you are missing is that not all costs are shown up front. I have gotten the invoice copy after payment and had additional fees that were not evident when I paid. I have been on ebay for over 10 years. I hate surprises like that.

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I'm confused here.  An invoice is something that needs to be paid, so what you received wasn't an invoice if you already paid, if I'm understanding you correctly.  Are you sure you're not seeing the breakdown of the charges that were levied on your purchase?  The GSP splits your payment between the seller (who receives the item price plus whatever they charge to ship the item to Kentucky) and PitneyBowes (who receives the import charges and whatever the GSP charges to ship the item from Kentucky to you).

[lemayhobby]

 ebay fees , paypal fees , final fee value, 

i dont want to sound like an ass here but you seem to want to have a cheap deal for 7$ and expect it to be ship for 1$?

not gonna cut it....

if you would buy it locally you **bleep** sure know that you would pay taxes + higher price , this is why you shop on ebay

what you need to complain about is ebay asking so much 

and second of all complain to the goverment for being greedy too at the customs....

they are the one making you lose thousands a day when it comes down to it

if they would all be less ''asking'' of 1$ it would make a entire difference 

it's all about me myself and I no one cares so they put the prices you pay thats it.

[afantiques]

(That's better than "reach out" too, isn't it, AF?)

Anything is, marno.

[eremurus0]

Thanks ReallyNiceStamps, but you don't know what you're talking about. I am not disputing duty. I am disputing who shall collect it. This is about eBay deciding to pre-charge me duty and hand it over to the government, which they do not have to do. Many times when a package is sent from the US to Canada, even though it is eligible, it does not get charged duty. I would say that 75% of packages $100 and less go through uncharged. eBay wants to make that 0%. And thanks for the public spelling lesson, I hope you aren't suffering too much dislike from those around you for your compulsion to correct them.

[pierrelebel]

"I have had the tax and brokerage fees charged to me a total of 3 times in over 10 years and I have bought around 250 items on Ebay."

You are a very lucky person! 

Looking at your recent purchases, it may also have to do with the fact most of your eBay purchases made outside Canada are priced below $20 and are eligible to automatic tax and fee exemption.

"Now with the GSP, I can get charged EVERY time I buy. Yayyyyyyyyyy!"

Not every time but, unfortunately, with Global Shipping program, all imports valued at more than $20 are assessed the tax as required.

[drag60s]

To put it plain and simple, I will never buy anything from any seller who's only option is the Global Shipping Program. Like most Canadians, I view this is nothing less than greed. USPS is designed to harmonize with Canada Post. It is streamlined, fast and economical. There is nothing that is worth being gouged by Global. For me, it is a matter of principle. 

As an American seller, I would not want my auctions to be passed over by bidders who have no interest in getting ripped off by the excessive charges from Global. This is a very sad situation.  

[anguscoinshop]

another unhappy customer list has just grown by one

kalvin and ben, i understand, your at the bottom of the totem pole, you can't do anything about it or speak against it

[karl*katz]

http://pages.ebay.ca/help/buy/item-not-received.html

[marnotom!]

I do find it frustrating that those who feel that the GSP is all about "greed" don't elaborate on this.  Who's being greedy, and how?

I think one problem with perception is that some people don't seem to understand that there's really nothing that compares to oversize international letter mail (USPS First Class International / Canada Post Small Packet) for shipping small, lightweight items economically.  It's more expensive to ship a one kilogram parcel than it is a one kilogram "letter".  It's not cost-effective to ship a one kilogram item as part of a container-load of freight.  It is what it is.

Another problem is that some people don't seem to understand the make-up of the import charges, despite them being described in the terms and conditions page for buyers using the GSP.  While I'm up for a good business conspiracy, I really don't see how people can conclude that most of the import charges are going into some fat-cat's pockets.  The number-crunching I've done suggests that there's a very small pie being split up once the taxes and duties are taken off the import charges.

If I'm completely missing the mark with these descriptions of "greed," I'd appreciate some elaboration on the use of the term in the context of the GSP.

And before anybody gets on some sort of "GSP cheerleader" rant, keep in mind that I'm not a big fan of the program in its current incarnation, either.  I don't like paying taxes, but I do realize that they're necessary to keep a democratic society functioning.  I don't like the GSP, but I do realize that a program like this can have its place if implemented, operated and utilized appropriately.

[afantiques]

As an American seller, I would not want my auctions to be passed over by bidders who have no interest in getting ripped off by the excessive charges from Global. This is a very sad situation. 

Post your comments on the US Seller Central board. US sellers just will not see them here. Few Canadians will disagree with you, so you are preaching to the converted.

Everyone should post their thoughts on the US boards where GSP sellers have at least a tiny chance of seeing them.

[atorchia74]

Please get rid of this program! The only time I have ever had issues receiving a pkg. is when it is done through GSP. Lost items and zero customer service to try and find them. It is so bad that if I see a seller using it, I refuse to deal with them. Canadians are being gouged with this setup. I never pay duty on packages shipped USPS, yet Pitney Bowes is leading Americans to think they are helping save us money by charging the duty up front. Forget it! eBay is becoming less attractive the more they push GSP. If a seller wants my business, they should stand up against this **bleep** on our wallets! Canadians deserve better!

[atorchia74]

We Canadian buyers are being ripped off by Pitney Bowes representing themselves to US sellers as an ally to help make the selling and buying process better, but it is a LIE! I order from the US regularly and every single pkg. shipped through USPS has reached me without issue, and I have never been charged any duty or customs fees. The only time I have had those fees is with DHL (always) and FedEx an ups (sometimes). AND, the pkgs. that have been lost through the GSP? Zero customer service to try and locate them! I honestly would rather take my chances with good old US Postal any day! In fact, if you as a seller choose to use GSP, I am not interested at all in what you are selling. Judging by the discussion boards, there are many of us Canadians that feel this way. Pitney Bowes is causing you lost customers. Are you going to stand up and say NO!?