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

rick31797 · ‎01-27-2014

@chimera148 wrote:

But...........Just for my curiosity i sent out 8 emails asking sellers if they would ship to Canada USPS...
I will post the comments, i got one back already..

All international buyers must use ebays Global Shipping Program.
Best of luck with that, after only being able to purchase one item that had been listed with the GSP and communicating with 11 GSP sellers I gave up. It was frustrating and anything but simple trying to help the seller opt out within a reasonable time so I could bid. Even Customer Service helping a seller didn't work.
On 2 GSP listed +4lb. books purchased for my neighbour, the shipping costs were good , delivery 15 days compared to my USPS items taking 7-11 days, both had been opened and tracking was very poor compared to USPS and CP.
Right now the import charges vary widely on similar non duty bearing items. They are so inconsistent that it wouldn't be worth the time for me to check through the GSP listed items.
A 80.00 BIN GSP listed shirt shows import charges of 8.00, yet a 35.00 BIN GSP listed shirt has 12.00 import charges.
Up until mid October the import charges on ebay.ca were sometimes 2-4 times as much as those shown on ebay.com for various categories.
Import charges were later revised to the lower charges shown on ebay.com.

Marnotom.......makes it sound like there nothing to it.. just ask..he don't seem to realize that before there was no GSP, there was still a search and filtering out process.

With searching for a new Apple Ipad, i am starting my search by looking for a specific model, color and gig, this brings the search numbers down, then you look for best price, fair shipping cost,decent seller profile,a product in good condition... all this brings you down too only a couple to choose from.

So now with the GSP, it pretty well eliminates what few you have to pick from....if you do get a seller that uses GSP that is willing change and ship USPS, there is usually a deal breaker , like an inflated shipping price..

I never will figured that out, a seller will email me and say, he will ship the item free, across the USA, but to Canada it will cost 45.00 .. like why...crazy people....

rick31797 · ‎01-27-2014

@i*m-still-here wrote:
I'm still buying from the States, but now it's reached a point where I have to prompt about half of my sellers on how to get around the GSP.

I have 3 items waiting for payments and two are GSP items which the sellers agreed to ship the normal way.
I just don't have the energy to deal with it today any more.
I'll try in the morning again.

I just paid for an item that I won on January 19th and it took at least a dozen emails till the seller managed to bill me correctly.

It's a lot of extra work for nothing.

that would drive me crazy...all that time spent and for what...ebay just making it harder for Canadians to buy..

rick31797 · ‎01-27-2014

In a previous post i sent out emails to USA sellers using GSP,and ask them if they would ship the item USPS..

here is a reply from a seller, you never know what they are going to say, had one seller say he was going to report me to ebay for asking.. this is the latest reply..

I don't know what the additional paperwork would entail. I would rather
just deal with ebay processes to keep it simple.

i*m-still-here · ‎01-27-2014

@rick31797 wrote:
that would drive me crazy...all that time spent and for what...ebay just making it harder for Canadians to buy..

rick: I do find it very tiresome.

However, the pieces I buy I put away as investments and so it's my job in a way, and the GSP is an aspect of my job that isn't fun.

Work isn't always fun or easy, but I do love what I do most of the time.

The bonus to it is that GSP items sell for less money.

The drawback is that the GSP means that I have to work harder for each item I buy.

For me filtering out GSP items wouldn't be an option even if it could be done.

chimera148 · ‎01-27-2014

@rick31797 wrote:
In a previous post i sent out emails to USA sellers using GSP,and ask them if they would ship the item USPS..
here is a reply from a seller, you never know what they are going to say, had one seller say he was going to report me to ebay for asking.. this is the latest reply..

I don't know what the additional paperwork would entail. I would rather
just deal with ebay processes to keep it simple.

Yes, and some US sellers have reported that they will not ship internationally at all, after having had a bad experience with the GSP.

rick31797 · ‎01-27-2014

I am also noticing some USA sellers that have GSP, and you scroll down to there description, they will say USA SHIPPING ONLY..

This tells me they don't even know they have GSP, or what it is.

marnotom! · ‎01-27-2014

@rick31797 wrote:
@marnotom! wrote:
@rick31797 wrote:

Its very depressing looking for items on ebay now, it just seems 98 percent are using GSP.

I've said it before, but I'll say it again for those who have missed it, I doubt that most of those sellers using the GSP are ones who have switched from using the postal system to ship their items, particularly for items such as iPads.

Those GSP listings you're seeing likely wouldn't offer Canadian shipping otherwise. Those that remain would likely ship by carriers that would ensure that you pay the taxes due on the item, as well as the possibility of other fees payable upon receipt or built into the item's shipping price.

But, hey, at least you'd be getting great customer service. 😉
your always quick to suggest things that you , yourself have not tried, and why am i spending the time filtering out ebay sellers that are using GSP but may or may not use it.

But...........Just for my curiosity i sent out 8 emails asking sellers if they would ship to Canada USPS...
I will post the comments, i got one back already..

All international buyers must use ebays Global Shipping Program.

Interesting. What exactly did I "suggest" to you in my post? I thought I was just offering observations and hypotheses.

i*m's experience with asking sellers to consider shipping without the GSP actually supports one of my conclusions on GSP sellers. If you feel a seller is using the GSP for an inappropriate item, it's likely that this seller doesn't know what he or she is doing. Why waste your time trying to deal with sellers who don't know what they're doing?

arlene_v · ‎01-28-2014

There is a seller posting on the international trading forum on the Ebay.com site bemoaning the fact that his life sized stuffed lynx that he sold via the GSP that was en route to a buyer in France was "disposed of" at the PBI depot in Erlanger, Ky.

Now this seller is upset ...the buyer has been refunded by PBI, the seller has been paid for the lynx and keeps that money .... but still wants his lynx back. Logic not being his strong suit.

This is just one example of the type of seller who has opted into the GSP, and who is now responsible for determining what international customers are seeing when they shop on Ebay by way of shipping charges and import charges.

Are there no checks on what is listed?

Is PBI or Ebay or any party at all doing a vetting of items?

Why are sellers not being held to a higher standard or facing some sort of sanction when listing an item without putting the correct info into the item specifics?

So, a calculator designed for say LL Bean or similar companies is now relying on some dude in his basement to enter data that will be used to calculate non-refundable charges (that are never clearly broken down) to be prepaid by international buyers.

Take a look at the PBI website with their promises of excellence and transparency, and then look at the mess here. Maybe, one day, this debacle will be a case study in business schools all over the world of exactly how NOT to implement a "global shipping program" on a site that is a venue for thousands and thousands of sellers with varying degrees of intelligence and competence.

arlene_v · ‎01-28-2014

By the way, Marnotom! I just hit the reply button on the last post ...the post was not directed at you. Sorry about that!

i*m-still-here · ‎01-28-2014

Well put arlene.

3islanders · ‎01-28-2014

@arlene_v wrote:

There is a seller posting on the international trading forum on the Ebay.com site bemoaning the fact that his life sized stuffed lynx that he sold via the GSP that was en route to a buyer in France was "disposed of" at the PBI depot in Erlanger, Ky.

....This is just one example of the type of seller who has opted into the GSP, and who is now responsible for determining what international customers are seeing ...

And maybe someone who isn't familiar with CITES & other regulations on shipping animals (was this a real lynx or plush? "Stuffed" can be taken both ways). Maybe it would've been illegal to export?

I have another question, although I don't know why I'm wasting my time here; I don't plan to buy from GSP sellers... but is there, anywhere, a page that tells you how these extra charges are calculated? Just curious, really.

Looking at some collectible dolls, the GSP fee is half the value of the item.

marnotom! · ‎01-28-2014

@3islanders wrote:

And maybe someone who isn't familiar with CITES & other regulations on shipping animals (was this a real lynx or plush? "Stuffed" can be taken both ways). Maybe it would've been illegal to export?

I have another question, although I don't know why I'm wasting my time here; I don't plan to buy from GSP sellers... but is there, anywhere, a page that tells you how these extra charges are calculated? Just curious, really.
Looking at some collectible dolls, the GSP fee is half the value of the item.

In the case of the non-plushed stuff lynx and beaver that seller had problems with, he stated in his post on the IT board that the reason they weren't shipped to the buyer is because they were too large. The sellers' terms and conditions page for the GSP does state that there's a weight limit of 66 pounds and a certain size limit. I have no idea if the seller actually breached that limit, but I'd say it's entirely possible. This sounds like a case where the seller could have avoided some of his problems by actually doing a little reading about what he signed up for.

As for your second question, the buyer terms and conditions page rattles off a laundry list of charges that may (or may not) be applied to the import charges levied on a GSP shipment. It doesn't get into specifics about when a particular charge may be applied or how it's calculated, however.

Check out section 3 "Payment and Program Fees":

http://pages.ebay.ca/shipping/globalshipping/buyer-tnc.html

sheeshallthenamesaretaken · ‎01-29-2014

I have been recently shopping on ebay for clothes. I am in Canada, and so many listing have the shipping price PLUS this global shipping fee as well.Now a lousy 10.00 shirt will cost me another 35-40 more to buy it with the insane shipping fees and this global thing. Is this a mandatory thing now? In all my years shopping on here I have only been hit 1 time with a fee due to delivery from customs and it was a heavy item. I can't afford all of these expenses for 1 shirt.

grinnandbarrett · ‎01-29-2014

I COULD NOT AGREE MORE.

i WILL NOT BID ON ANY ITEM THAT USES THE GLOBAL SHIPPING PROGRAM. IT IS OUTRAGEOUS TO CHARGE DUTY AND BROKERAGE FEES FOR ITEMS FOR WHICH THERE ARE NO DUTIES!!!!

I will ask the seller to simply mail the item. If they will not, I won't bid.

typhoonchef · ‎01-29-2014

i live in Montreal

when i see this listing http://www.ebay.com/itm/201026989923

it tells me the shipping will be $18.62

its just a piece of cardboard

it will be shipped in a bubble envelope

the shipping should be $8 maximum

GSP is awful

I'm going to amazon

this new GSP garbage has made vintage video game collecting impossible to do on e-bay

karl*katz · ‎01-29-2014

If the seller is using the Global Shipping program it is clearly stated in both the search results and the listing.

You can simply pass them by and buy from someone else.

grinnandbarrett · ‎01-29-2014

I think I said just that. Unfortunately many sellers are convinced that they HAVE to sell via the program.

Oh well, more business for China!

marnotom! · ‎01-29-2014

@typhoonchef wrote:

it tells me the shipping will be $18.62
its just a piece of cardboard
it will be shipped in a bubble envelope
the shipping should be $8 maximum

... if the item is sent as an oversized letter.

The GSP is not a mail service, however.

Having said that, the GSP does seem to be largely used by sellers who don't understand what it looks like to their potential buyers. That is, if they're even aware that they're using it in the first place.