EBay International Shipping (EIS)

[names_all_taken]

I refuse to buy from any seller that does not offer an alternative to EIS. As a Canadian, I have bought items (not necessarily on EBay) from all over the US. EIS is by far the slowest system I have ever dealt with. For example, I bought an item from a seller in Colorado. The vendor shipped it out in less than 24 hrs. It took USPS a day and a half to get it to Chicago area (Glendale Heights). It sat there for 10 days before it was “processed“ and re-shipped to Toronto, ON Canada. It took another day and a half to get to my door. Total travel time - 3 days. Total time in transit - weeks!! Ouch!
Do better EBay!!

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

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@intimewithmusic wrote:

I've composed myself about EIS. There's no point in ruffling feathers. This brand new program is so backward, eco damaging and counter productive to selling it will naturally self destruct on it's own.

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@intimewithmusic 

Historically regular freight forwarders are usually cheaper in comparison to everything else out there. Mostly because their prices are based on space they have been able to buy at a discount. And usually but not always slightly slower than regular express premium services. So not sure what happened with eIS because they get a failing grade on both.

-Lotz

Personally I have used a variety freight forwarders for both air and LTL shipments. Always was a great deal and very reliable.

[marnotom!]

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@intimewithmusic wrote:

I've composed myself about EIS. There's no point in ruffling feathers. This brand new program is so backward, eco damaging and counter productive to selling it will naturally self destruct on it's own.

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The US Global Shipping Program lasted for about a decade before morphing into eBay International Shipping. The GSP had a lot of elements in common with eIS from the buyers’ perspective. I suspect what prompted the changeover was a desire for a service that worked better for sellers, particularly when it came to the handling of returns.

[marnotom!]

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@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:Historically regular freight forwarders are usually cheaper in comparison to everything else out there. Mostly because their prices are based on space they have been able to buy at a discount. And usually but not always slightly slower than regular express premium services. So not sure what happened with eIS because they get a failing grade on both.

We have to remember that eIS serves many, many markets in addition to Canada and many of them are much larger, meaning that the greater volume of sales to these markets mean greater cost and transportation efficiencies. The European Union has about ten times our population and shipments are made by air. Air shipments to Canada would likely be cost-prohibitive and quite pointless unless the eIS hub were, say, in Florida rather than hours to the US-Canada border.

I’ve started seeing listings where both First Class Package International and eIS are options on a listing, and to Europe eIS has FCPI beat both in terms of price and estimated delivery time. Interestingly enough, those same listings didn’t have an eIS option for Canada, possibly because eIS couldn’t compete with FCPI on those terms once the seller’s own shipping service to the eIS hub was added to eIS’s charge and transit time.

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

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@marnotom! wrote:

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@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:Historically regular freight forwarders are usually cheaper in comparison to everything else out there. Mostly because their prices are based on space they have been able to buy at a discount. And usually but not always slightly slower than regular express premium services. So not sure what happened with eIS because they get a failing grade on both.

We have to remember that eIS serves many, many markets in addition to Canada and many of them are much larger, meaning that the greater volume of sales to these markets mean greater cost and transportation efficiencies. The European Union has about ten times our population and shipments are made by air. Air shipments to Canada would likely be cost-prohibitive and quite pointless unless the eIS hub were, say, in Florida rather than hours to the US-Canada border.

I’ve started seeing listings where both First Class Package International and eIS are options on a listing, and to Europe eIS has FCPI beat both in terms of price and estimated delivery time. Interestingly enough, those same listings didn’t have an eIS option for Canada, possibly because eIS couldn’t compete with FCPI on those terms once the seller’s own shipping service to the eIS hub was added to eIS’s charge and transit time.

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Unsure how much of eIS stuff is still moving using USPS and then to the local post service (imagine it is a fairly large %) but according to a quick google search with both EasyShip and Shippo business customers have access to 91% savings with USPS for all services. Doesn't seem like any of those savings are being passed. eIS would also access to those kinds of discounts

-Lotz

USPS Commercial Plus Pricing refers to discounted shipping rates for high volume shippers. Commercial Plus Pricing is calculated based on the weight of the package and which zone it's traveling to (dependent on the origin address).

1. Use Easyship to ship with USPS: Easyship gives you up to 91% off all USPS rates.

The USPS offers different pricing tiers depending on your volume with them: Retail rates - This is the cost you pay when buying postage at the Post Office. Commercial Pricing - The steep discounts (up to 90% off Retail rates) you can get through Shippo.

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

Just find it strange that discounted shipping is next to impossible to find from US sellers...mostly due to eIS Both countries are able to offer discounted rates. With eBay USA they can specify either USPS/Fedex/UPS With ca its all or none. Strangely US sellers are exempt from paying tax on postal products including stamps. Where as Canadian postage users pay tax on stamps and postal products for anything going in Canada. When I do get a complaint from a buyer regarding shipping it is usually from someone buying something heavy/bulky from eastern Canada, but mostly from the USA. US eBay sellers do not have the same eBay high costs for using postal products as Canadians which leaves us between a rock and a hard place when it comes to us keeping customers happy or staying steady with sales. US sellers do not have those worries. 

^When made by common carrier or the United States Postal Service (USPS), transportation charges are exempt from sales tax if billed as a separate item (identifiable from other charges) and paid (directly or indirectly) by the purchaser.  Sales of postage stamps are exempt from sales t

ax.

^The fuel surcharge in the USA in 2023 averaged between 1 and 3 %

^For Canada Post: 2024:

The Fuel Surcharges are as follows: 

February 5, 2024 - February 11, 2024:

Domestic Services	23.50%
USA and International Parcel Services	15.00%
USA and International Packet Services	13.00%

January 29, 2024 - February 4, 2024:

Domestic Services	23.50%
USA and International Parcel Services	15.00%
USA and International Packet Services	13.00%

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

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@marnotom! wrote:

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@intimewithmusic wrote:

I've composed myself about EIS. There's no point in ruffling feathers. This brand new program is so backward, eco damaging and counter productive to selling it will naturally self destruct on it's own.

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The US Global Shipping Program lasted for about a decade before morphing into eBay International Shipping. The GSP had a lot of elements in common with eIS from the buyers’ perspective. I suspect what prompted the changeover was a desire for a service that worked better for sellers, particularly when it came to the handling of returns.

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@marnotom! 

Found this on A eBay ca eIS help page. Your search results may vary. Did this actually ever apply or was it just a limited time only special? I haven't purchased anything from a US seller in years. Because the help pages are not dated difficult to know if they are similar to zombie threads and no longer valid/truthful.

You can choose to pay for any customs charges, import fees and taxes either at checkout or when your item arrives. You'll see the following options at checkout:

• Pay import charges now – select this option to pay all taxes and duties at checkout
• Once you've completed checkout, the seller will send your item to our shipping hub, and from there it's shipped to you. Tracking is automatically added so you can track your item from the hub to your door.
• Defer import charges until delivery – select this option to pay all taxes and duties when your item arrives

-Lotz

[marnotom!]

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@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:

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Unsure how much of eIS stuff is still moving using USPS and then to the local post service (imagine it is a fairly large %) but according to a quick google search with both EasyShip and Shippo business customers have access to 91% savings with USPS for all services. Doesn't seem like any of those savings are being passed. eIS would also access to those kinds of discounts

Well, let's do a bit of comparing of like versus like.  Sellers using mail consolidators to ship CDs to Canada tend to be charging five to six Yankee bucks for shipping.  I found a seller offering free shipping within the US and eIS to Canada, so the shipping charge here is completely eIS's.  eIS wants US$11.91 to ship the CD.  

USPS retail for a 100 gram packet to Canada is US$17..00, so eIS is offering a shipping rate here that's discounted off USPS retail.  It's not as dramatically discounted as 91%, but it is a discount, and I suspect there's a fair bit of "pad" built into that shipping rate to underwrite all the perks sellers using eIS are getting, not to mention pay staff, etc.

Incidentally, that listing I found for the CD being shipped by eIS offers Canadian buyers the choice of pre-paying the non-existent taxes and duties on the CD or having the items assessed through customs.  The "pre-pay" option increases the shipping charge by US$2.50 and cuts down the estimated delivery time by one to two days.

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

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@marnotom! wrote:

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@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:

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Unsure how much of eIS stuff is still moving using USPS and then to the local post service (imagine it is a fairly large %) but according to a quick google search with both EasyShip and Shippo business customers have access to 91% savings with USPS for all services. Doesn't seem like any of those savings are being passed. eIS would also access to those kinds of discounts

Well, let's do a bit of comparing of like versus like.  Sellers using mail consolidators to ship CDs to Canada tend to be charging five to six Yankee bucks for shipping.  I found a seller offering free shipping within the US and eIS to Canada, so the shipping charge here is completely eIS's.  eIS wants US$11.91 to ship the CD.  

USPS retail for a 100 gram packet to Canada is US$17..00, so eIS is offering a shipping rate here that's discounted off USPS retail.  It's not as dramatically discounted as 91%, but it is a discount, and I suspect there's a fair bit of "pad" built into that shipping rate to underwrite all the perks sellers using eIS are getting, not to mention pay staff, etc.

Incidentally, that listing I found for the CD being shipped by eIS offers Canadian buyers the choice of pre-paying the non-existent taxes and duties on the CD or having the items assessed through customs.  The "pre-pay" option increases the shipping charge by US$2.50 and cuts down the estimated delivery time by one to two days.

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@marnotom! 

Regarding the choice option...Wonder if that involves a default setting somehow? At least if buyer is able to pay on receipt and need to process a refund for duties/taxes they have a physical receipt they can use to streamline the process. It's been reported but unsure of how valid it is that if it's eIS all the way the refund is very difficult especially if it is (returns) processed incorrectly. Similar to Intl. shipments where buyers have gotten charged VAT twice.

-Lotz

[reallynicestamps]

listings where both First Class Package International and eIS are options on a listing,

I am still unclear on what happens with import fees (duty and sales taxes) with eIS.

With GSP some of the complaints about high shipping were because the recipient was lumping in import fees (at first based on an import value over $20Cdn) with the actual shipping cost.

And add that to CBSA/Canada Post's decision not to bother to assess duty on most small packages while couriers, like those used by GSP, were legally required to charge and .... there are thousands of posts complaining about the GSP.

And occasional buyers are unlikely to be aware of  that CBSA/Canada Post decision.

Today, the duty -free allowance from the US has risen to $150. That makes shipping from the US seem cheaper than in 2019, if the same mistake is being made.

But if import fees are  being charged on the doorstep, the shipping looks cheaper than with GSP until the carrier knocks.

If they are being included by the unsophisticated buyer, the shipping looks cheaper because of the allowance change.

So when does eIS charge import fees? On purchase or on delivery?

And the FCIP rate is what it is, but any import fees will be charged on delivery but only if the item is valued over $150 (and taxed over $40)

[reallynicestamps]

Strangely US sellers are exempt from paying tax on postal products including stamps.

And some provinces charge sales taxes on books.Or children's shoes. Or tampons.Others don't . 

And the USA has no federal sales tax.

FWIW I have sold US postage to American customers and at least one was charged their state sales tax on the purchase.

[reallynicestamps]

Because the help pages are not dated difficult to know if they are similar to zombie threads and no longer valid/truthful.

Good point.

devon@ebay 

So two questions.

When is eIS to be paid?

Which choice is the default,or must the customer choose before continuing?

And a suggestion- that the help pages be dated when they are added or changed.

[intimewithmusic]

@names_all_taken  @lotzofuniquegoodies 

  I  buy as much as I can on eBay. Early in December I purchased a 100 year old OZ book from a seller in San Fran for delivery in Kelowna.  It went east across the USA to Chicago,  who knows where after that, and finally west across Canada to Kelowna . It arrived tatterred up from handling a month later in January. 

EIS

• took too long
• cost too much
• excessive package handling
• massive carbon footprint

  EIS is a bad reflection on good sellers.  The cookie they get for not dealing with returns isn't worth anything if they lose international sales.  Time will tell.

[marnotom!]

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@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:

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Regarding the choice option...Wonder if that involves a default setting somehow? At least if buyer is able to pay on receipt and need to process a refund for duties/taxes they have a physical receipt they can use to streamline the process. It's been reported but unsure of how valid it is that if it's eIS all the way the refund is very difficult especially if it is (returns) processed incorrectly. Similar to Intl. shipments where buyers have gotten charged VAT twice.

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Keep in mind that for buyers in most major industralized nations, @lotzofuniquegoodies. eBay is going to be charging the tax regardless of whether the item is going to be forwarded by eIS or shipped directly to the buyer.  I suspect the tax on a purchase and subsequent refund on an eIS-forwarded item would be handled differently for a buyer from an EU country (as an example) than it would be for a buyer from Canada as eBay has the mechanism in place to charge an EU buyer tax separately from eIS processes.

[marnotom!]

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@reallynicestamps wrote:

So when does eIS charge import fees? On purchase or on delivery?

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Short and simple answer: It depends.  Or, it varies.  Take your pick.  The item's category and value seem to be big factors in determining this.

And for listings where import charges aren't charged by eIS, there's a boilerplate note in the shipping section to advise potential non-US buyers that the item may be subject to further charges and those would be from customs.  Even if the item isn't actually subject to anything because of its value or category.

[marnotom!]

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@intimewithmusic wrote:

I  buy as much as I can on eBay. Early in December I purchased a 100 year old OZ book from a seller in San Fran for delivery in Kelowna.  It went east across the USA to Chicago,  who knows where after that, and finally west across Canada to Kelowna . It arrived tatterred up from handling a month later in January. 

We'll see what happens with my second eIS purchase which is supposed to arrive in the next few days, but my first purchase was shipped in a Priority Flat-Rate Tyvek Envelope and didn't look much the worse for wear when I received it.  If your book was shipped in a manner that allowed it to travel more or less directly north to you and it arrived "tattered up," would you blame the shipper or the seller for its condition?

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@intimewithmusic wrote:

EIS

• took too long
• cost too much
• excessive package handling
• massive carbon footprint

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Just checking out the Glenmore bus route in your fair neck of the woods.  It takes twice as long for it to travel to downtown from Doc Knox than it would to drive there and it doesn't exactly take the most direct route, either.  Do we complain about buses being worse for the environment than driving a private vehicle?

Your book didn't go on a solo road trip; it travelled along established transportation networks with dozens of other packages with some destinations in common.  For it to travel a more direct route, infrastructure would likely have to be created in the west that could knock down a forest or two and add to the number of commuters on the road who would be travelling to this new eIS hub.

Another way of looking at it:  If you had to fly to Calgary and could only get a flight from Kelowna that connected in Saskatoon, would you be doing the environment any more harm than with a direct flight, particularly if that direct flight only had half a dozen people aboard and the flight with the Saskatoon connection was full?  The flights are scheduled already, you're just a body in a flying sardine can.

I'm not saying that eIS is better for the environment than more direct shipping, but I don't think it's any worse for the environment, either.

As for the cost, from what I can see eIS's shipping costs tend to undercut the USPS retail rates.  It's the seller's own charge for shipping the item to suburban Chicago that can boost the overall shipping price considerably.

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@intimewithmusic wrote:

 EIS is a bad reflection on good sellers.  The cookie they get for not dealing with returns isn't worth anything if they lose international sales.  Time will tell.

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What I'm finding odd about your posts about this is that apart from the issue of the handling of returns, you're largely describing how the old Global Shipping Program worked for about a decade, and yet you seem to be postig as though this is a completely new phenomenon.

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

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@marnotom! wrote:

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@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:

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Regarding the choice option...Wonder if that involves a default setting somehow? At least if buyer is able to pay on receipt and need to process a refund for duties/taxes they have a physical receipt they can use to streamline the process. It's been reported but unsure of how valid it is that if it's eIS all the way the refund is very difficult especially if it is (returns) processed incorrectly. Similar to Intl. shipments where buyers have gotten charged VAT twice.

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Keep in mind that for buyers in most major industralized nations, @lotzofuniquegoodies. eBay is going to be charging the tax regardless of whether the item is going to be forwarded by eIS or shipped directly to the buyer.  I suspect the tax on a purchase and subsequent refund on an eIS-forwarded item would be handled differently for a buyer from an EU country (as an example) than it would be for a buyer from Canada as eBay has the mechanism in place to charge an EU buyer tax separately from eIS processes.

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@marnotom! 

The tax is a given. It's the lack of transparency for the transaction and how it is going to be processed and handled. With no way to appeal if it were incorrect. 

-Lotz

[intimewithmusic]

@marnotom! 

  Wow, you went to a great deal of effort challenging my personal opinions.  All of them...! They are based on my decade buying and shipping to this location and I can say I'm not alone with these opinions.  I didn't mention that after following up many delay issues with my own shipments to Illinois in December I discovered USPS there has a history of difficult weather events complicating things with choked distribution centers.

  As tempting as it is I don't see a need to compare or debate the EIS with public transit or to debate the carbon footprint of a city bus. I'd welcome any facts you have showing the carbon properties of transit are worse than the automobiles they remove from our roads.

   Seen as how you brought it up I don't mind boasting about it though. As a result of using transit consistently I put less than 3000 kilometres per year on my vehicle.  Unlimited transit use costs me $45/year. My vehicle insurance is down to $62/ month. We get a low kilometer discount.  Woo woo woo Translink! 

   The difficult part is getting off the bus with my eBay orders, getting them scanned at the post office, grabbing a few groceries on the way by Saveon and there's 4 thrift stores next to the bus stop. I only have an hour or I'll miss my bus and have to wait a half hour.  Oh what the heck.. there's 3 more thrift shops.

   Since the advent of EIS, my USA competitors raised their shipping charges considerably compared to when the GSP was their method. I'm not sure why, it could just be the USPS rate hike and not the cost of their eBay labels but I'm not complaining. Combined with eBAy dot ca's Tracked packet discount extension their rate hikes have been very good for me. 

  Based on my Dec-Jan experience I could have sent the same OZ book to the seller in 7-9 days for $15 dollars less than he had to charge me. The book would go to Richmond - San Fran with a day in customs. Your speculation that he overcharged me is wrong. He was more reasonable than other sellers in similar locations. 

  As for the EIS we have to wait and see.  In the meantime take advantage of it! Sell sell sell. The combination of the EIS and Canada Post's bonus discount on eBay labels gives us the first shipping edge I've seen in my time. 

  No debate here but it's nice to know you considered my opinion so much.

Thanks!

[marnotom!]

Wow, looks like I struck a nerve, @intimewithmusic, and apologies for that. But where did I state or even suggest that transit buses had a worse carbon footprint than private vehicles or that you were overcharged by the seller of your book?

By the way, your post brought back memories of my wife and I taking the bus from the Gonzales neighbourhood in Victoria to the downtown post office with garbage bags full of packages bound for our eBay customers. Ah, to be that young and energetic again!

[intimewithmusic]

@marnotom! 

  I think you may have missed my point. Neither of us said transit was worse but I don't understand your "city bus analogy". Comparing the carbon print of freight to a city bus is like comparing freight caused emissions to the emissions of farting cows.  Both are damaging but not related.

  Freight has but one purpose, to move a package efficiently from Point A to Point B. 

  In the transit example one bus trip included delivering packages to the post office, picking up groceries, and thrifting. Efficiency is the point. 

  Your comparison of EIS to the GSP is a solid one. To be sure they're similar. Both of those funneling zones (Erlanger & Chicago) are subject to severe weather events resulting in freight bottlnecking. The GSP debate from Canadians has been the same for over 10 years yet the subject of global warming has changed drastically. 

  I wonder why eBay wants to reinvent the wheel and not circumvent the failures of history? 

  Possibly it's because only Canadian eBay buyers are impacted and seem to take notice like @names_all_taken  the OP of this thread.  For those interested  who wish to save themselves the trouble of regurgitating the debate here's  link to the 2015 Canadian debate on the GSP.

https://community.ebay.ca/Global-Shipping-from-US-to-Canada-is-an-Environmental-Disaster 

    PS You have to love "Momqueen's" 2018 comment in the debate 

"This thread is many years old and the information contained therein may no longer be accurate."

[kh-phdan]

6 recent replies to a single post from last year.  NAR