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.

[pierrelebel]

I do not know of anyone here "defending" Pitney Bowes and certainly not anyone working for Pitney Bowes.

"There is NO $10 tax/duty/etc on such an item. Get off it already. "

Posters here do not make the law.  Canadian Members of Parliament do.  Here is the law from the Canadian Government website:

http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/import/postal-postale/duty-droits-eng.html

A Cdn$50 item manufactured in the USA (no duty) would require payment of $2.50 to $7.50 in GST/HST depending on the province of the buyer and $9.95 handling fee by Canada Post (flat rate regardless of value when tax is collected)

And, no, I do not work for eBay or Pitney Bowes or Canada Post or the federal government.

[pjcdn2005]

I understand when it comes to some items and I understand its a bit easier but all this taxes/duty/etc is nonsense when its on a $.50 item some kid is selling. There is NO $10 tax/duty/etc on such an item. Get off it already.

I've never seen a 50 cent or a $5 item on ebay charged tax and duty by PB. Do you have an example?

[billybishop72]

....and why are they not shown the true cost to the buyer....

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There's over 60 qualifying countries for the Global Shipping Program.  How are you envisioning that information for every single one of these countries gets communicated to the seller?

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I don't see that being an issue...If the buyer can see the GSP charges why is it hidden from the seller? 

[billybishop72]

A Cdn$50 item manufactured in the USA (no duty) would require payment of $2.50 to $7.50 in GST/HST depending on the province of the buyer and $9.95 handling fee by Canada Post (flat rate regardless of value when tax is collected

Then why isn't Canada Post  the one collecting it...from the buyer?

[pierrelebel]

If it comes by mail, Canada Post is the one collecting.

If it comes by couriers (UPS, Fed-Ex, etc...) the courier is the one collecting.  Fees are generally higher from couriers.

If it comes through a consolidation (like Pitney Bowes administering the eBay Global Shipping Program) then the consolidator collects.

At times, some American retailers are duly registered to collect duty and taxes.  Then the taxes are paid to the retailer at time of purchase (LL Bean for example)

[otaking97]

I do work for Canada Post. And I buy lots of cd's, dvd's etc all usually around $1.00. GSP is ALWAYS set between $16.00-$19.00 for these items. Also on items from personal sellers (not a store, professional seller,etc) 99% of the time there is no duty/taxes and none should be collected. If you were charged on such an item thru Canada Post you can fill out the correct form to get your money back.

I love being told that's "just how much it is to ship to me" when I can easily check the real cost. Its sad really. Years ago when people were overcharging on shipping Ebay was valiant on stopping people from doing this. Now I guess they just decided they should instead of the seller. They must be feeling the hurt thanks to free selling sites like kijiji and facebook sites. Least I can still buy from Asia without gsp nonsense.

[billybishop72]

If it comes through a consolidation (like Pitney Bowes administering the eBay Global Shipping Program) then the consolidator collects.

We still don't know exactly what they are collecting and how much they are paying, do we? Why is the exact cost to a buyer hidden from the seller? We can see the the GSP charges, why can't they?

[marnotom!]

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@billybishop72 wrote:

We still don't know exactly what they are collecting and how much they are paying, do we? Why is the exact cost to a buyer hidden from the seller? We can see the the GSP charges, why can't they?

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It's already been explained to you how you can find out roughly how much is going to taxes and duty and how much is going to Pitney Bowes and its contractees.  Use an online duty and tax calculator if you can't do all of the math yourself.

As far as the GSP charges go, can you see on the .ca site how much it would cost to ship an item to France?  Not unless you specifically change the shipping location to that country.  Same deal for US sellers shipping directly to international destinations.  Unless they've set the shipping rate themselves, rather than using a calculated shipping, they can't see how much they're charging for shipping to another country unless they've done their homework first, or they view their listing with a shipping destination other than somewhere in the United States, or they simply wait until the listing has closed and the buyer makes their purchase.

Since the seller doesn't receive any of the GSP "program fees," it was likely decided by Pitney Bowes that this information was unnecessary to add to the seller's receipt of payment.  Is that what you mean?

[pierrelebel]

"We can see the the GSP charges, why can't they?' "

That is pretty simple to understand.  The dollar value for import charge will be different for each buyer depending on location.  The seller and eBay have no way of knowing where the potential buyer resides.

If the buyer resides in Alberta for example, the import charge may include 5% GST

If the buyer resides in Great Britain the import charge may include 20% VAT

If the buyer resides in Nova Scotia the import charge may include 15% HST

etc...

It is pretty obvious that only the potential buyer can ever see what the charge would be based on the buyer's location.

[pocomocomputing]

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@pierrelebel wrote:

"We can see the the GSP charges, why can't they?' "

That is pretty simple to understand.  The dollar value for import charge will be different for each buyer depending on location.  The seller and eBay have no way of knowing where the potential buyer resides.

If the buyer resides in Alberta for example, the import charge may include 5% GST

If the buyer resides in Great Britain the import charge may include 20% VAT

If the buyer resides in Nova Scotia the import charge may include 15% HST

etc...

It is pretty obvious that only the potential buyer can ever see what the charge would be based on the buyer's location.

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I do not follow your last line above.

I can change my location to any postal code within Canada or to any country in the world in the listing Shipping and Payments tab and simulate any location in the world for any buyer to see the charges. So anyone can do this, not only the potential buyer.

Perhaps I misunderstood your post.

[pierrelebel]

" to see the charges. "

Yes but the amount of the charge will change based on your location as a buyer.

Until a buyer actually makes a purchase, there is no way for a seller to know what the "import charge" will be.

Nor do most sellers care for that matter.  That is the advantage of GSP for them: they ship domestically.

The whole question about sellers seeing the "import charge" is... oh well... you know... irrelevant.

[pocomocomputing]

I reread the latest topics and see what you are saying now in context to the previous related posts.

This megatopic is terrible for following threads within threads, responses and so on.

[pjcdn2005]

I remember reading  at one time sellers could see what the buyer had paid for gsp fees etc on the order details page but I don't know if that was only temporary. Even if it is still set up like that, the seller still wouldn't know the gsp charges until after the purchase but I don't think that is what the the one poster is asking.

[pjcdn2005]

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@otaking97 wrote:
I do work for Canada Post. And I buy lots of cd's, dvd's etc all usually around $1.00. GSP is ALWAYS set between $16.00-$19.00 for these items. Also on items from personal sellers (not a store, professional seller,etc) 99% of the time there is no duty/taxes and none should be collected. If you were charged on such an item thru Canada Post you can fill out the correct form to get your money back.

I love being told that's "just how much it is to ship to me" when I can easily check the real cost. Its sad really. Years ago when people were overcharging on shipping Ebay was valiant on stopping people from doing this. Now I guess they just decided they should instead of the seller. They must be feeling the hurt thanks to free selling sites like kijiji and facebook sites. Least I can still buy from Asia without gsp nonsense.

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When tax and/or duty is due on an item, it doesn't matter who you made the purchase from.  Buying from a 'personal seller' does not make an item tax free. If you are buying anything under C$20, you won't be charged tax or duty by the gsp but there is a handling fee that would be in the shipping price.

[gilliankehler]

Here's what's wrong with the Global Shipping Program from one buyer's perspective.

I was recently watching two items in the US, both GSP. First one was $69 US with $0 import fees. Second one was $34 US with $12 import fees. I assumed the first one must have been a glitch what with zero "import fees" (whatever those are comprised of?) on a pricey item and took advantage. Sadly I still paid $30 in shipping for a small leather purse, "expedited" shipping by the way, which, thanks to Pitney Bowes, will still take 3-4 weeks to reach me, and only be trackable 50% of the way depending on PB's mood that day.

Normally I would not purchase a GSP item at all, and have turned down many, many items because of this new stupid program. I used to be eBay's biggest spender haha I swear! But since the Global Shipping Program came about I give my spending money to other websites, most of which offer FREE shipping, by the way.

There is no rhyme or reason with the Global Shipping Program, it appears to blatantly and unabashedly rip off Canadians (big time!) without having to offer an explanation for itself. How did this even end up becoming a thing in the first place?! If you ask me, eBay should bury this in the ground where it belongs and move on, and never look back. 

[gilliankehler]

Also, each GSP transaction showing up as two separate transactions on Paypal/credit card statements is confusing! The first time I saw it I was like, "Who the is this Pitney Bowe?" and I know of many other buyers who have had the same scare. Makes it pretty much impossible to track purchases.

[gilliankehler]

One more thing! Haha yes. Many issues here. I also wanted to add that I, too, will normally ask a GSP seller if they're willing to ship a different way, offer to pay for tracked for both of our peace of minds, I'd say about 50% of the time they will, and if they don't I generally will pass (the purse was the one exception haha).

[habsfan59]

The Global Shipping Program is a joke to Canadian Buyers.

Shipping costs are just plain crazy.   For example,  a 8x10 poster,  shipping to Canada is $20.50 when it should cost

the same as shipping a letter to Canada.   I ship that poster to the US for $1.80 CDN.   Another example,  a small lighter......$52 shipping to Canada......seriously!

Do they think Canadians are stupid!

I used to buy a lot from US sellers,  I don't even look at these listings that uses this Global Shipping Program..

A lot of sales lost for US buyers as a result.

[marnotom!]

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@habsfan59 wrote:

Shipping costs are just plain crazy.   For example,  a 8x10 poster,  shipping to Canada is $20.50 when it should cost

the same as shipping a letter to Canada.   I ship that poster to the US for $1.80 CDN. 

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How much does it cost to ship that poster as a parcel?

The Global Shipping Program is, unfortunately, not a letter mail forwarding service.

[cpr_2816]

In my experience I have paid too much for any items purchased using GSP and will not purchase anything from sellers that use the program. The first thing that I look for is GSP and if they use it I will not buy from them. By the way, the listing policy in CAD only on ebay .ca is one of the worst ideas ebay had ever come up with and may lead me to inactivate the account

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kalvin@ebay.com wrote:

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.

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