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.

[nuvistors]

Both the Canadian federal and provincial governments love the Global Shipping program.

      It  allows them to  collect much more in HST/PST without exerting any effort at all.

[zemonti]

Easy for me.

After being ripped once i learned to avoid the sellers, using GSP.

[marnotom!]

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@zemonti wrote:

Easy for me.

After being ripped once i learned to avoid the sellers, using GSP.

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Unfortunately, a lot of U.S. sellers seem to follow this line of thinking, as well.

They try selling internationally under their own steam, get "ripped" on their first attempt and give up on it thinking that international selling is nothing but problems.

I don't see how anyone can get "ripped" with a GSP listing if they read it and decide whether or not the charges make sense to them.  Am I missing something here?

[marnotom!]

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@femmefan1946 wrote:

The GSP fee is made up of several fees.

Duty- if the item is not made in a NAFTA country. The duty varies from category to category.

Sales taxes- based on selling price. There will be a higher sales tax on a $305 item than on an $81 item. Sales taxes vary from province to province too, but that would not affect your experiment.

Pitney Bowes fee- which starts at $4.95 but rises with the value of the item shipped. Canada Post's minimum is $9.95 and also rises with item value.

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When did Canada Border Services (not Canada Post as they don't assess the taxes due) start charging an incremental processing fee?  I thought the fee was C$9.95 no matter what.

And I should add that while Pitney Bowes fee is liable to increase with the item's value, it's not an easy to calculate formula.  The nature of the item can affect that charge, too, given the nature of how duties are charged.

I just looked a a listing for an iPhone 5s selling for US$888.88 and set it to calculate import charges to a postal code in Ontario.  Assuming the item is subject just to 13% HST and not duties, PB's share would be US$5.60.

On the other hand, I found an old school Panasonic boom box selling for US$69.95 that would see $8.83 in charges after HST is taken off the import charges.

[stikflyer]

I just simply refuse to buy from a vendor that uses the GSP. No way is there $14.00 in import charges on a $40.00 item, what a scam.

[wadelaca]

I  am a new Canadian buyer, I caught on pretty quick to the Global Shipping **bleep**.

What I do is request cheaper shipping either before bidding or immediately after I bid. Usually it works although I think the US sellers are also confused. I had one ask me how I bypassed the Global Shipping----I don't know, I just know it can be done. I hope they drop this ridiculous system, it totally defeats the purpose for us Canadians.

[portfelt]

One positive of the GSP program is that it has increased my sales to Canadian buyers without affecting my US sales.

I don't buy from US sellers enrolled in the program period. I buy as is items that typically sell for no more than $50. Once the inflated shipping and GSP is added on forget it. I have avoided US sellers previous to this program as the vast majority overcharge or only ship the most expensive method. There was never a level playing field on auction items between US and Canadian buyers and even more so now.

When I do a search I specify Canada only. I can't be bothered  looking at US seller listings anymore because most are enrolled in this program. The big losers here are the US sellers who still offer USPS 1st class shipping to Canada. My sympathy goes out to them.

[champkin]

made arrangements with seller to ship FEDEX insted of global all efforts to invoice was blocked by global,ending in canceled sale

   my understanding is that global collect import charges only not gst/pst..BOTTOM LINE IS IT SUUKS

[martin*scott]

As a canadian buyer it's of absolutely no use to me and I will go out of my way to either buy from someone who doesn't use this program or I will buy from another site instead of Ebay. I almost never have to pay duty so I don't see why I would want to buy from someone who charges this upfront. Also the packages take twice as long to be delivered with this stupid system.

I see no extra protection for the seller. If they send it trackable post it's the same as the global shipping system, a signature is required either way. 

It's a cash grab, plain and simple. 

How will slowly loose all your Canadian buyers.

[jacada5]

Hi! Could eBay.ca please add an option in the shop by category column on the left side of the page to select/deselect the sellers that participate in the global shipping program. Unless I am buying from a seller who happens to live in Erlanger,Kentucky,U.S.A.(slim odds!) I will never,ever buy from a seller who uses this shipping option. You have more than likely loudly have heard from Canadians who are absolutely appaled at how blatant a cash grab this program is by eBay & Pitney Bowes. I honestly don't know how you can justify this to the Canadian buyers as well as the American sellers. Knowing that this lucrative shipping option will probably never go away, could you at least make our searches easier by allowing us to remove the American sellers who obviously do not want Canadians to buy from them. Thanks for your time.

[oonaghcrenagh]

This seems to be the only site where dissatisfaction on the GSP 'fees'. I just obtained an item from California. My bid was $64 plus sellers shipping of $11. By the time the GSP fees had been added the total cost was $94.40. To add insult to injury the package was shipped from central California to Cincinatee OH, to Mississisaga Ontario and then to Victoria. Total 8 days and brokerage fees to Pitney/Bowes $12.42 and the first time receiving items from the US I have paid Brokeragee, all previous shipments have come USPS and CP.. Shipped directely up the west coast would have been 4 days and a lot less handling.

It was not made clear that this would be GSP shipped, in consequence I will be most reluctant to buy further items. Buyer beware!

[pierrelebel]

As you can see from many other threads, most Canadian buyers find GST not favourable in most transactions due to higher fees and possible slower shipping.

However, the information about Global Shipping was in the listing:

Shipping:

$21.98 International Priority Shipping to Canada   | See details

Item location:

Petaluma, California, United States

Ships to:

United States and many other countries | See details

Import charges:

$18.06 (estimated and based on current bid)  

The total charged for taxes and handling fee (brokerage fee) compares favourably to what Canada Post would have charged if Canada Customs had levied 12% tax (GST/PST) on the parcel plus $9.95 brokerage fee.

[marnotom!]

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@pierrelebel wrote:

As you can see from many other threads, most Canadian buyers find GST not favourable in most transactions due to higher fees and possible slower shipping.

However, the information about Global Shipping was in the listing...

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I'm wondering if that poster was using eBay Mobile or had their shipping destination set to a U.S. location.  If you re-read their post, Pierre, you'll note that the shipping cost they quote is $11.00, which is for shipping the item within the United States.

I agree, though, that the information about Global Shipping is pretty apparent when the listing is viewed on a laptop, netbook or desktop computer.

[fallonjet]

This Global Shipping seems to be a deliberate slur on Canadian Buyers and will almost ensure all purchases on eBay will come from China and not the US. Global Shipping is a crock supposedly extolling the value of using eBay's overpriced courier connections and charging for customs and import charge that don't exist. Worst idea ever!!!

[debbiezig]

As a Canadian I will NOT buy anything with the added GSP shipping charges.  I have contacted a few sellers asking them why they opted to charge this, they had no idea what I was talking about. 

I have bought many, many items from the US and have only been dinged Customs charges maybe twice in all of the years buying.  So ebay, you have lost out on hundreds of dollars of my online family shopping. 

Why not just abandon the program, it obviously is not working.  Of course I wonder what the fine print in the Pitney Bowes/eBay contract reads.

[marnotom!]

It's not so much that the "program isn't working" as it's a case of sellers using it inappropriately, either because they haven't done their homework first by reading the help pages associated with the GSP, or else they've blundered into it by clicking on something they probably didn't realize was an "OK" to use the GSP.

The GSP makes a bit more sense with larger, higher-priced items than it does for the types of items that most Canadians buy on eBay: small, modestly-priced ones that can be shipped by the least expensive mailing method available.

[anguscoinshop]

This is for Kalvin;

It is very obvious that your GSP is extremely unpopular, ebay is loosing more sales than they ever anticipated.

This is my question;

When will ebay drop the program all together ? (please give me a date)

[doucer]

Just bought a $35 item. Paid $35 shipping and another $30 for the Global Shipping Program. When I questioned the seller, he had no clue what I was talking about. 

[pjcdn2005]

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@doucer wrote:

Just bought a $35 item. Paid $35 shipping and another $30 for the Global Shipping Program. When I questioned the seller, he had no clue what I was talking about. 

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That is really high, there must be a mistake on the listing.. What is the listing number?

[chatho506]

well I've had 2 experiences with GSP and have not yet found anything positive yet. There seems to be no consistency in the import charges. One item might be 15% and the next is 19%. Another thing I've noticed is shipping was double normal transit time. Also canadian and USA made products shouldn't be taxed  the same as items made outside north america. Untill this changes I will be doing my purchases in Canada and China.