eBay

leaky-bucket-labs · ‎02-12-2021

Anyone else noticing these outragous shipping prices?

Its insane.

Small items that usually ship for under $20usd are now 60-70usd.

You wont be getting a sale from me.

marnotom! · ‎02-12-2021

Could part of the problem be that because of problems with USPS, some sellers are opting to use shipping methods to get their items to the Global Shipping Center in Kentucky that are much more expensive?

The next time you see a listing like this, change the shipping location to US zip code 41025 (the location of the GSC) to get an idea of the shipping cost breakdown.

Also keep in mind that if the seller has not provided information on an item’s shipping size and weight, the bot calculating the Global Shipping Program’s share of the shipping charges has nothing to work with and will have to use a guesstimate based on a category average.

I suppose there is the possibility that because of the problems at the Canada Post Gateway facility in Mississauga, the GSP may be the party responsible for choosing a faster, less fraught shipping method for the Canadian leg of these item’s journey.

Anyway, to answer your question, no, I haven’t noticed “insane shipping prices” for GSP-forwarded items along the lines of your observations. At least, not yet.

lady.stark · ‎02-13-2021

I see the contrary on items I am interested in. Most often than not, they are lower than regular USPS First Class shipping costs.

As marnotom! said, it might be because of domestic shipping costs that are really high.

reallynicestamps · ‎02-13-2021

To be clear, you do know that GSP "shipping" also includes the Canadian duty and sales taxes that Canada Post would be collecting on delivery?

These have actually gone down since last July, when, as part of the negotiation of the new NAFTA treaty, our duty free allowance was raised from $20 (~$15USD) to $150. At the same time the tax free allowance was doubled from $20 to $40.

However.

(There's always a however.)

CBSA had sensibly been ignoring the rules about assessing low value packages, and as a result, most imports under $100 were arriving duty and tax free.

Many Canadians thought there were no border fees at all probably because if NAFTA, instead of a goodwill gesture on the part of the Canadian public servants.

That stopped in July.

With the pandemic slowdowns many small low value packages are sliding through customs as before, just to keep the workload sane. But expect the rules to be applied more strictly- especially about sales taxes-- when we are all safely vaccinated.

luv4orphans · ‎02-14-2021

How do we know then what is duty free and what is taxes when you purchase an item. On a $23.95 item I ordered for a friend I was charged one or the other. Not sure which.

Or do you mean to say if we live in Ontario we pay the 13% taxes on anything we purchase. Just the regular normal taxes as if it was purchased in Ontario. Plus the $5.00 fee from GSP for processing.

I haven't purchased anything lately that hasn't had some sort of amount not added on. Just wondering.

femmefan1946 · ‎02-14-2021

How do we know then what is duty free

Theoretically, that's your responsibility as an importer.

and what is taxes when you purchase an item.

Ah now.

You , again theoretically, don't pay either.

GSP charges you and amount -based on Canadian duty and sales taxes- and uses that money to pay Canada. Plus as noted a ~$5 service fee.

On a $23.95 item I ordered for a friend I was charged one or the other.

Ummm- what currency?

If that were in loonies there should have been neither, just the service charge which usually is waived.

But if it were in USD, the loonie has been rising, to around 80c at the moment.

So about $28.74.

There should have been no import fees.

Unless.

When was this?

If it were before July 1, 2020, import fees were charged on any import over $20Cdn (at that time about $15USD).

The same $20 benchmark for both duty (if any) and sales taxes.

After July, under the new NAFTA treaty, that changed to the current $150duty/$40tax allowances.

If you are importing for personal use, the question is moot. Interesting, but not useful.

If you are importing for business use, the GSP specifically has said they are not a Business to Business service, and will not provide a breakout of what is in the import fees.

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎02-16-2021

@leaky-bucket-labs wrote:
Anyone else noticing these outragous shipping prices?
Its insane.
Small items that usually ship for under $20usd are now 60-70usd.

You wont be getting a sale from me.

Example of another bizarro absoluto shipping to Canada:

QEP 1/8' Tile Spacers. Pack of 1000. Can be used with all types of Tile!

Search: Shipping to USA is Free. 52.95 USD to Canada by priority mail

Not intended to shame. Only for comparison on 14.00 item 2 oz pkg. Examples like this are routine finds on eBay dot com.

-Lotz

marnotom! · ‎02-16-2021

That item you found is being shipped by USPS Priority Mail (parcel post), not by First Class International Package Service or the GSP.

There’s another listing for those tile spacers where the seller is using the GSP and the shipping price to Canada is less than half that of the other listing. In this case, the shipping price would also include customs processing charges.

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎02-16-2021

@marnotom!

The point @leaky-bucket-labs and I were trying to make is that most of the searches have been for awhile, been bringing up results like that for Canadian sellers. You have to do some major filtering to find many low value items with reasonable shipping. And because the vast majority of US sellers are now using either GSP. Standard International or Priority it makes it very frustrating for the average Canadian shopper.

-Lotz

Using QEP 1/8' Tile Spacers as search the first lowest shipping is 35.02 for a 5 dollar item to my location in up to 29 business day.(Not including customs delays) 3.50 to anywhere in the USA in 10 days. There is just no real way to defend sellers using those practices.

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎02-16-2021

@marnotom! wrote:
That item you found is being shipped by USPS Priority Mail (parcel post), not by First Class International Package Service or the GSP.

There’s another listing for those tile spacers where the seller is using the GSP and the shipping price to Canada is less than half that of the other listing. In this case, the shipping price would also include customs processing charges.

In your example customs charges/processing is being applied vs the alternative having it sent by USPS and arrived using CP's customs clearance where no fees would be applied 95 times out of 100.

-Lotz

marnotom! · ‎02-16-2021

@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:
@marnotom!

The point @leaky-bucket-labs and I were trying to make is that most of the searches have been for awhile, been bringing up results like that for Canadian sellers. You have to do some major filtering to find many low value items with reasonable shipping. And because the vast majority of US sellers are now using either GSP. Standard International or Priority it makes it very frustrating for the average Canadian shopper.

Guess I made the mistake of reading the post at face value, then, as the title makes mention of the GSP and the OP's post just reads as a complaint about GSP shipping costs. There's no mention of search results or other shipping methods.

@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:
@marnotom!

Using QEP 1/8' Tile Spacers as search the first lowest shipping is 35.02 for a 5 dollar item to my location in up to 29 business day.(Not including customs delays) 3.50 to anywhere in the USA in 10 days. There is just no real way to defend sellers using those practices.

But do you understand why they might be using more expensive shipping options than what we think are necessary?

@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:

In your example customs charges/processing is being applied vs the alternative having it sent by USPS and arrived using CP's customs clearance where no fees would be applied 95 times out of 100.

The reason why PB's custom processing charges would be added to the shipping charge in the example I cited is because no taxes would be charged on it. (The item's value is less than C$40.) My point is that for the listing that I found, the GSP's shipping charge appears to be way cheaper than the parcel post options other sellers are using with the same item, and the GSP shipping charge in this example also includes customs processing charges.

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎02-17-2021

@marnotom!

@leaky-bucket-labs

Not sure if the listing you used for your example was for 250 pieces or like mine 1000 pieces. Pro rated that would be quite a bit more expensive in the end. All we are trying to put across is it would be nice if US sellers would at least make an attempt to include fair and honest shipping options. In my discussions with US sellers many were not aware of the final cost Canadian buyers are paying compared to similar shipping Canada to USA.

-Lotz

marnotom! · ‎02-17-2021

@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:

Not sure if the listing you used for your example was for 250 pieces or like mine 1000 pieces. Pro rated that would be quite a bit more expensive in the end.

Seller is based out of Tennessee and offers free shipping within the United States. The package contains 1000 tile spacers and sells for US$9.99. GSP's shipping charge to my postal code is US$15.10.

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎02-17-2021

@marnotom!

There are limited advantages for a buyer to use GSP on low valued purchases. It adds that annoying processing fee and causes extended delivery times as many have been reporting for months. There was even a note in GSP help somewhere that the program is best suited for items over 50 USD. Many US sellers refuse to apply that concept to their low value listings.

-Lotz

marnotom! · ‎02-17-2021

The $50 recommendation was made in the early days of the GSP. Since then, the gap between the GSP’s shipping charges and those of USPS has narrowed. Yes, the program has its problems, but they’re largely the result of sellers using the program inappropriately and buyers not doing their homework on the program prior to purchasing.

I’m still wondering if you understand why sellers may use shipping methods that buyers feel are inappropriate, particularly parcel post (USPS Priority International) for small, lightweight items.

reallynicestamps · ‎02-17-2021

@lotzofuniquegoodies

most of the searches have been for awhile, been bringing up results like that for Canadian sellers. You have to do some major filtering to find many low value items with reasonable shipping.

I'm lost.

Why would high prices from US sellers be a Bad Thing to Canadian sellers?

Also.

Major filtering?

Just use Lowest Price Plus Shipping (or Highest Price plus Shipping which dumps the low end trash).

reallynicestamps · ‎02-17-2021

One reason that US sellers charge so much is how the USPS sets up the rate card for International shipping.

The first service on the list is the most expensive, Global Express Guaranteed.

The cheapest, First Class International Package, is down at the bottom of the list. There is no mention that this service is tracked.

Play with this for a bit.

Use 90210 as your zipcode.

https://postcalc.usps.com/?country=10440

marnotom! · ‎02-17-2021

@reallynicestamps wrote:

One reason that US sellers charge so much is how the USPS sets up the rate card for International shipping.

The first service on the list is the most expensive, Global Express Guaranteed.
The cheapest, First Class International Package, is down at the bottom of the list. There is no mention that this service is tracked.

Probably because E-DELCON is available as an add-on for First Class International for some countries and not others and then only when the postage is purchased online.

The fact that First Class International's delivery time "varies by destination" probably makes some sellers nervous, as well, particularly with postal systems in various states of chaos.

I remember back in the Bronze Age, I'd be pointing out to many US sellers that First Class International was a letter mail service while Priority International was a parcel service, except for the small flat-rate boxes which (at the time) went into the letter mail stream rather than the parcel stream.

I suspect there are some--if not many--eBay sellers who see "Priority" service as being superior to "First Class". Perhaps that's true when it comes to USPS's domestic offerings, but it's not really true of shipments to Canada, at least. Unfortunately, we have to accept it for what it is. Hand-wringing and ranting won't help. As someone on the .com pointed out recently, acceptance is not the same as defending.

bestdeni289 · ‎06-18-2021

this is why i have pretty much stopped using ebay all together. with the cad-usd rate being so poor. shipping sucks. pitney is even worse. want your item repacked so it breaks in transit use pitney bowes. and shipping takes so long. shipping in the states is cheap why is it so expensive?