c!~~_7.JPG "kalvin@ebay.com"){kind=avatar}
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.
"we'd all be better off if American sellers could just ship items to us without the GSP or Pitney Bowes skimming the take. That you can't deny..."
We (Canadians) all agree. But that was not the question asked nor answered.
GPS is a service to benefit American sellers who previously did not ship outside the USA. It is not "buyer friendly" as far as Canadians are concerned. Also, compounding the problem, it is used by American sellers in many instances when it could (should) be avoided, mostly for low priced items (under US$50 as suggested by eBay)
Hello 'billybishop72',
<< we'd all be better off if American sellers could just ship items to us without the GSP >>
I couldn't agee more. But that's "we" as in Canadians who shop on ebay. The thing is, ebay has a different "we"
in mind, -- The American Economy. The GSP was never intended to be a boon to international shoppers.
Its chief purpose is to send even more of the world's money flowing to the US. It is not good for anyone except ebay
and Americans.
Do you think a whacking big company like ebay gave a scintilla of thought to the Canadian buyer when implementing
such a program? Ebay doesn't give a tinker's cuss about international buyers and have made this abundantly clear
when after 3 years worth of complaints about the system they have not made an iota of improvement to it.
Worse, they refuse to acknowledge people's fury and dissatisfaction presumably under the assumption that we can
all just get used to it. And it's not only in Canada, -- the rest of the world is not particularly fond of the GSP either,
for exactly the same reasons Canadians don't like it: it makes items unnecessarily expensive, is slow, unreliable,
and the purchaser risks getting a broken item. Then there is the colossal nuisance of having to spend an unreasonable
amount of time chasing down a refund for a damaged or missing item, -- problems which would not have existed
had there been no GSP, and had American sellers been educated about how to safely ship internationally.
<< I bought hundreds of neat items . . . maybe once. . . did I have to pay an added import charge. >>
Well then you have been very fortunate, or your items were not very expensive. I have had to pay, and I don't mind.
I don't mind the 10 bucks Canada Post charges to process the paperwork, -- jobs for Canadians! Even if the GSP
were a teeeensy bit cheaper, it's jobs for Americans and that is never good for Canada.
But whether we like it or not, the fault for the import charge is our government who wants a cut of every cent we spend
over $20. Pitney-Bowes is required by law to add those amounts on. The fact that items coming through the post
were rarely assessed on amounts under, say, $100 (give or take) is just our good fortune.
Don't get me wrong, -- I am not defending anything to do with that GSP, definitely not. I cannot see a single good thing
about it. I do, however, accept the reasons for its inception. I would rather get run over by a forklift that buy a GSP
item, but that doesn't prevent me from recognizing who benefits from it. As it happens that doesn't include Canadians.
<<There is no real legitimate reason for it.....>>
Again, you seem unwilling to concede the reasons for it in the first place. Huge numbers of American sellers do not
want to sell outside their borders. They don't really need to, -- there are sufficient numbers of Americans who will buy
their items. But that just keeps American money in the US and that was simply not good enough. The GSP makes
those items appear in Search and if people will buy them, that is more money from outside the US now going into it.
Loathsome as that program is, it is of great economic benefit to the US.
And so, as a disgruntled Canadian buyer, the best thing you can do for yourself is set up your search View for List
(not Gallery) and train your eyes to pass by all those listings that say,
Customs services and international tracking provided
When you see that, it is your cue to keep on browsing. Of course you can always sweetly ask the American seller if
he will take his item out of the GSP for you and ship with plain old First Class, pointing out that First Class provides
tracked Delivery Confirmation for American sellers. But if he declines you thank him kindly for his time and move on.
You'll be surprised how many of those sellers will comply. They want to sell, and if you promptly pay, thank them
profusely, and leave glowing feedback, -- they just might one day change more or even all of their listings.
As in everything else in life, you have to do all you can to help yourself because no one else will do it for you.
On ebay, that means abstaining from GSP listings to keep more of your money in your own pocket where it belongs.
Happy shopping. 
"One can only hope that an inflection point is reached where the number of Canadians that refuse to shop from GSP sellers increases enough that Ebay starts to lose on the program."
That will not happen as Canada is such a very small minuscule part of the big eBay picture.
Whatever is lost by Canadian buyers rightfully refusing to use GSP, is gained many times over by worldwide buyers happy to have access to products offered by American sellers and not available previously. And that is the key: millions of items are now available to worldwide eBay buyers from sellers wishing to ship to the USA only.
And, quite frankly, we cannot fight that!
It is back to contacting the American seller and arranging a listing where the seller uses USPS for Canadian buyers. A few are willing to go to the extra efforts.
Hello 'aleziss',
"but THEN I get the "refund" and I see that the seller only refunded me for his side of the shipping charges, and NOT
for what Pitney Bowes charged me"
Ah, you're a better sifter than me, -- I didn't see this for all the bleep. 
You say, 'aleziss, the seller refunded you in full but not the GSP part. The reason is because the seller cannot refund
the GSP part because the seller never had it in the first place.
It's not as if the seller 'forwards' the money to the GSP folks. The seller receives only the item price plus whatever
state-to-state shipping fee she has. In this case she sends it to Kentucky.
If you buy a listing for $39 US and the seller offers "free shipping" state-to-state, - all she ever receives is $39 US.
Whatever is tacked on by Pitney-Bowes, she likely has no idea.
This is why so frequently when we ask sellers if they will take the listing out of the GSP for us and just send it First Class,
they say they had no idea the GSP shipping cost was so much (not to mention the import charges).
<< I lost the pitney bowes (shipping/customs) part>>
You absolutely should not be out one cent over this. You do, however, need to either speak with a GSP specialist
when you call ebay (the regular person first to answer your call is often woefully clueless), or if you are saying you
have done this to no avail, after you have thoroughly checked your paypal account to ascertain that the money
was not returned, then yes, you ought to call Pitney-Bowes.
It is monstrous that this continues to happen. No one should have to leap through these hoops of flames just to
get back the money that is rightfully his.
'What are you going to say to Pitney-Bowes?' You will have all the transaction numbers and details in front of you
and will very politely explain that whilst the seller refunded you her portion, the remaining portion of shipping
plus import charges has not yet been forthcoming from P-B. You sweetly but firmly explain to them that you would
like it back, . . . . Now.
<< Another item I received defective. . . .shipping to return it (50CAD) . . . I got a full refund this time of the item + GSP...
but I am still 50$ in the drain for buying broken items>>
The mistake you made here was negotiating a return with the seller. On GSP items you open a case for Not as Described
and say in the claim that it is a GSP item. Pitney-Bowes just refunds, rather than get back a broken item.
This is because too often the damage is done by P-B, not the seller, as items in the GSP warehouse are opened,
repackaged (cheaply and less well) and the sent on to the buyer.
<< My last two ebay experiences where the worst in over 10 years of doing transaction on ebay...>>
You're older and wiser now, though, aren't you. In light of the tremendous distress caused to you by that program,
the best thing you can do for yourself is never ever buy a GSP item.
If you are shopping on a hand-held device a lot of this important information will not be visible. You would be wise to
shop only from a real computer thus ensuring you see all that is available and don't make mistakes.
You've seen it dozens of times here, -- set up your listings for the List view, use the Sort bar for Newly listed or
Price + shipping (anything but that 'best match), - try Canada Only from the Item Location at the left, and always
scroll on by when you see:
Customs services and international tracking provided
because that is a GSP item and no item on earth is worth the frustration that can result. You will live longer and
happier by skipping those.
There are lots of sellers on ebay not using the GSP. Reward them for their good sense by buying from them.
I wish you many more years of excellent transactions. 
".exclude Canada from the GPS"
eBay did think of that and American sellers have the option to exempt Canadian buyers from GSP.
The problem is that most do not. They do not want to be bothered or even learn about the program. GSP has made it easy for them as they ship domestically and are fully protected at no extra cost. Buyers pay all additional costs.
