eBay

teenytrinkets · ‎03-15-2021

Is it a common occurrence for packages to be opened in the GSP center in KY when they're re-labelled to Canada? It's almost as though they had to open it because there was no apparent customs declaration or value on the sellers package. Only my name and the KY address. Do these sellers even know they're shipping to Canada?!

Thankfully everything was there in the large bubble envelope they repackaged everything into - the entire contents of my order (13 small items), including the original small, badly torn-open bubble envelope.

If this is common, it's no wonder stuff goes missing there!

pjcdn2005 · ‎03-15-2021

It happens but they definitely do not open and repack everything. The sellers are printing a domestic label so there is no area where they would mention what was in the package however there should be a gsp number on the label which would tell PB the value and contents. As there were so many items, perhaps they wanted to doublecheck??

richardcm · ‎03-15-2021

Yes. Normal to repackage and confirm content for duty purposes. Seller shipping within USA to Kentucky GSP center so no declaration on package. Added at center.

marnotom! · ‎03-15-2021

@teenytrinkets wrote:

Is it a common occurrence for packages to be opened in the GSP center in KY when they're re-labelled to Canada? It's almost as though they had to open it because there was no apparent customs declaration or value on the sellers package. Only my name and the KY address. Do these sellers even know they're shipping to Canada?!

The GSP is a glorified forwarding service that is supposed to make shipping internationally as straightforward for US (and UK) sellers as shipping domestically. Sellers have no need to use customs forms because they're mailing items to Kentucky. Somebody at the Global Shipping Center in Kentucky will look up the item using a reference number on the address label and try to get the customs information necessary from the seller's listing. If the seller doesn't provide enough information for customs, the package will have to be opened and the item inspected, usually for something like the item's country of origin or manufacture, or, as PJ suggests, to double-check that the list of items with the package matches what's actually inside it.

Your item's second shipping label will probably have a Canadian return address on it. All the customs information is on a shipping manifest that was presented to CBSA when the freight truck carrying your item (and likely scads of others) went through customs.

The seller doesn't need to know what country they're shipping to if they're using the Global Shipping Program. On the other hand, I've also seen a few threads on the .com community discussion boards from sellers wondering what the deal is with the "Airport Way, Erlanger KY" address they've been given by eBay. ("Is this a scaaaam?")

This is probably not one of my clearer posts to these boards; there was a lot of territory to cover with your questions. Hope I made some sense.

teenytrinkets · ‎03-16-2021

Thanks, I've used it a few times, so I sort of knew how it worked, but I didn't know the sellers weren't entering customs info. I guess for the past orders I've done, my items were easier to value without inspecting. It was just so weird how it arrived!

femmefan1946 · ‎03-16-2021

It's normal, but not the norm.

Repacking every one of thousands of packages arriving daily? Addin labour costs and packing materials costs to the cost of simply running a freight forwarding business? Not a good business plan.

But when the seller is not specific about what is being sold and exported, at the customs pre-clearance stage, the plant workers will determine what is really being shipped and repack, sometimes in different packaging.

This happened to one of my GSP purchases and there was a letter included explaining what had happened.

including the original small, badly torn-open bubble envelope.

It is also possible that the repackaging was because the bubble envelope tore and had to be repacked to prevent loss.

teenytrinkets · ‎03-17-2021

The envelope was definitely opened by the GSP people to inspect contents... and VERY poorly ripped open (it was a plastic bubble mailer that was very well- taped and packed). It's lucky the contents were not damaged by their hachet job.

Having said that, they did not lose anything, and the new envelope was large and puffy. So I guess I can't complain. Normally when customs opens stuff, they shove it back into the opened package and add a taped label explaining it was opened to inspect. I suspect the GSP people likely do this too, but it was likely too cumbersome to get it all back into the original envelope.

Anyway, it's good to know that this does happen. It's such a strange program...

marnotom! · ‎03-18-2021

@teenytrinkets wrote:

The envelope was definitely opened by the GSP people to inspect contents... and VERY poorly ripped open (it was a plastic bubble mailer that was very well- taped and packed). It's lucky the contents were not damaged by their hachet job.

Having said that, they did not lose anything, and the new envelope was large and puffy. So I guess I can't complain. Normally when customs opens stuff, they shove it back into the opened package and add a taped label explaining it was opened to inspect. I suspect the GSP people likely do this too, but it was likely too cumbersome to get it all back into the original envelope.

Most of my GSP-forwarded items have arrived with a sticker on them with the eBay logo on them and the message "Resealed at the Global Shipping Center" or something to that effect. My last one didn't, but then, it didn't look as though it had been opened and resealed, either.

It may be that your item didn't have this sticker because it had to be repackaged, rather than resealed. Also consider that it's not professional customs officers doing this stuff, so they may not understand the importance of this sort of butt-covering, although it's my understanding from the .com discussion boards that repacking is documented at the Global Shipping Center and this information is added to the file for the item.