Global shipping scam!!

[jrad655]

I have NEVER paid duty or import charges on items and I have bought dozens of items through the years. My first item shipped with Global shipping I had to pay $8 extra to ship a record! I'll never buy from a seller using this cash grab again unless they agree to just put it in the mail!

[ypdc_dennis]

---

@jrad655 wrote:

I have NEVER paid duty or import charges on items and I have bought dozens of items through the years. My first item shipped with Global shipping I had to pay $8 extra to ship a record! I'll never buy from a seller using this cash grab again unless they agree to just put it in the mail!

---

Lucky you on all those other occasions...

The current duty and tax free limit on imports shipped into Canada is $20.

The overworked customs agents handling postal mail just happen to be very slack at enforcing it for amounts under $50 (1 chance in 20 according to one report). The same is not true for Pitney-Bowes (GSP managers), FedEX, UPS and other non-government shipping companies.

The GSP thread (going since 2013): https://community.ebay.ca/t5/Buyer-Central/Comments-about-the-Global-Shipping-Program/td-p/149059

-..-

[femmefan1946]

The Global Shipping Complaints threads are now even longer than the (possibly locked) UPS Complaints thread which had over 5000 posts complaining that various couriers had charged them duty, SALES TAX*, and a $25 or greater customs brokerage fee on items that were between $20 and $200.

Most posters to that thread seemed to understand that if an item was over $200 or so, there might be import fees.

*Most of these charges are sales taxes plus a ~$5 service fee to GSP for processing.

[Anonymous]

There are many US sellers didn't know that they have GSP on their listings!  It seems that eBay sneak GSP onto their listings. 

I was told by some US sellers that they are having a real heck trying to opt out of GSP.  Can't eBay allow sellers to have their options not to be controlled by eBay??

[ypdc_dennis]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

There are many US sellers didn't know that they have GSP on their listings!  It seems that eBay sneak GSP onto their listings. 

I was told by some US sellers that they are having a real heck trying to opt out of GSP.  Can't eBay allow sellers to have their options not to be controlled by eBay??

---

eBay.COM certainly does not make it easy for American sellers to avoid if they are unfamiliar with the rules. Especially as it kicks in automatically for some items that match eBay criteria.

The opting out choices are the bottom sections of http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/shipping-globally.html

-..-

[marnotom!]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

I was told by some US sellers that they are having a real heck trying to opt out of GSP.  Can't eBay allow sellers to have their options not to be controlled by eBay??

---

I think the problem is more that many US sellers aren't keeping up with changes with the .com site's user agreement.  The possibility of items having the GSP applied to them by eBay is mentioned in the UA, as well as stating how to prevent this from occuring.

[bpl521_sell]

---

@jrad655 wrote:

I have NEVER paid duty or import charges on items and I have bought dozens of items through the years. My first item shipped with Global shipping I had to pay $8 extra to ship a record! I'll never buy from a seller using this cash grab again unless they agree to just put it in the mail!

---

Out of curiosity did you not find that the GSP shipping rate was cheaper that what you would normally pay for shipping. That has been my experience, yes you pay the duty and taxes but often the shipping charges are way less. 

[reallynicestamps]

I'll never buy from a seller using this cash grab again

Who do you think is grabbing cash?

Canada has a $20 duty free allowance. (~$16USD).

After that possibly duty and certainly Sales Tax must be charged by any private shipping company. They also are allowed to charge a service fee for wrangling the shipment through customs.

If you are really annoyed, rather than asking US sellers to make an exception for you (and taking the chance that they will stop shipping to Canada entirely) write a letter to :

Mark Eyking MP

House of Commons

OTTAWA ON K1A0A6

 He chairs the Committee on International Trade that is looking at the duty free import allowance.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/canada-post-phasing-out-controversial-shipping-di...

Liberal MP Mark Eyking, who chairs the Commons trade committee, said he and his colleagues will issue a report on e-commerce issues. They are also planning a related study on Canada's de minimis – or duty free – threshold. That limit is currently set at $20, but U.S.-based online retailers like eBay are urging Canada to match the American limit of $800 and want the change included as part of NAFTA discussions. Some Canadian retailers warn such a move would hurt Canadian firms and undermine the tax base.

Mr. Eyking said it is clear to him that Canadian legislation needs to be updated to reflect the rise of online commerce.

[sarahsplace100]

Only annoyance/s for me is 1) being charged duty on items over 100 years old, despite the sellers putting detailed information for Pitney Bowes, making them aware of the age of the item and 2) No Invoice in the box from Pitney Bowes with a breakdown of fees paid or remitted to Canada Customs.

[femmefan1946]

1) being charged duty on items over 100 years old,

You probably were, BUT in most cases the import fees are more Sales Taxes than duty.

Subtract ~$5 from the 'import fees'. That's the GSP service fee.

Is the remainder roughly equal to the GST/PST/HST/QST in your province?

If it is about the taxable amount, you probably were not charged duty.

(Roughly because of foreign exchange.)

2) No Invoice in the box from Pitney Bowes with a breakdown of fees paid or remitted to Canada Customs.

It's another failing of a poorly designed Seller Protection service.

Remember the GSP has no value for buyers.

There is a technical reason for the lack of a breakdown.

GSP /Pitney Bowes is actually the one paying the import fees (duty and taxes) to Canada Customs. Not the buyer.

GSP/PB is charging the buyer a fee (import fees) to cover what they pay to Customs. 

And since the GSP is specifically noted NOT to be a business to business service, but a business to consumer service, there is no need for specifics. Consumers don't get import tax credits.

You could try, if the amount is reasonably substantial, contacting PB and asking that the amount they charged you for duty be refunded. It might work.

Even if they just do it as a public relations gesture, rather than changing their policy.

Because I am a cockeyed optimist, I assume that the money they assessed (wrongly) on the non-dutiable product did in fact go to Canada and only the ~$5 service fee staying in their hands.

[marnotom!]

---

@sarahsplace100 wrote:

Only annoyance/s for me is 1) being charged duty on items over 100 years old, despite the sellers putting detailed information for Pitney Bowes, making them aware of the age of the item and 2) No Invoice in the box from Pitney Bowes with a breakdown of fees paid or remitted to Canada Customs.

---

I'm assuming this post is a follow-up to this thread you started the other day:

https://community.ebay.ca/t5/Buyer-Central/Another-Global-Shipping-question-Antiques/m-p/388863

Perhaps you could provide the item number of an example of the type of listing you're referring to in your first annoyance.

[marnotom!]

I checked on some antique pottery listings and here's an example of what I found.

Listing number 232578840805, selling price US$79.99, import charges to Ontario: US$18.16.  Age of item is more than 100 years old.

US$10.40 of those import charges would be Ontario HST, leaving US$7.76 unaccounted for.  All GSP items have something leftover for Pitney Bowes to play with, as it's not doing this out of the goodness of its corporate heart.  For this item, I really don't think any of that amount would be duty.  It seems a perfectly reasonable amount for processing the item through customs, roughly equivalent to the C$10.00 Canada Post charges for collecting and remitting taxes and duty owing on a postal import.

[annandrew-37]

My order had $25 added at the boarder by paypal/globalshipping a surprise to me I have called my credit card fraud department and tried e-mailing globalship, I don't use paypal anymore and will not buy from the U.S. after this.

[marnotom!]

---

@annandrew-37wrote:

My order had $25 added at the boarder by paypal/globalshipping a surprise to me I have called my credit card fraud department and tried e-mailing globalship, I don't use paypal anymore and will not buy from the U.S. after this.

---

In your other post you're complaining about $13 being "added" to your transaction's price by the seller(?).   Did I misread something?

I doubt anything was "added" to your total.  I get the sense that the payment split between Pitney Bowes (administrators of the Global Shipping Program) and your seller was not made clear to you at the time you went through checkout.  Last week, I bought a cell phone from a seller using the GSP and it was apparent during the checkout process and in my emails from eBay that I would be making two payments.  However, I was using a laptop computer for my purchase.  If you were using a phone, there's a possibility that the payment split would not be explained so well at checkout.

View the listing page on eBay.ca and not eBay.com and do it on a laptop or desktop computer rather than a phone.  Add the item price, import charges and shipping charge.  Go to your PayPal account and add up the two charges associated with the sale.  They should be pretty close, with any slight variation being attributed to differing exchange rates being used.

[annandrew-37]

Find out a bit more about e-commerce.  I paid shipping when I ordered the item and was not informed about the extra $25.53 on this package because it was crossing the boarder nor was I told of separate billing that would appear on my credit card.  In Canada a letter to MP Mark Eyking House of Commons Otawa, K1A 0A6.  Ordering from the U.S. from companies that absorb this cost just puts the price up and this is a charge that should not be applied.

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

There was a petition sent out approximately a year ago. Not sure if it was generated by eBay but it was requesting that limit be increased from that "$20.00" to something similar to the limit for the USA. I do recall signing it because its a rational suggestion, but have yet to see any sort of follow up as to how fast the wheels of government move on this issue. Low Value Entries take very little time to process if you fill in the boxes properly.

-CM

[reallynicestamps]

It is not up to the seller or the shipper to tell the importer what the cost of imports to their country is.

A few years ago eBay supplied this boilerplate for sellers who were selling internationally to the 178 countries in the Universal Postal Union.

 Import duties, taxes and charges are not included in the item price or shipping charges. These charges are the buyer's responsibility.
Please check with your country's customs office to determine what these additional costs will be prior to bidding/buying.

Ordering from the U.S. from companies that absorb this cost just puts the price up and this is a charge that should not be applied.

It is a legal charge. The $20 duty free allowance has been in effect since the mid-80s.

If the company is not charging it, they may be paying it directly, or shipping from within Canada.

The amount of the import fees are on the listing if you are shopping on eBay Canada. They do not appear until checkout when you are shopping on eBaydotCOM, because most shoppers there are in the USA and the fees are not applicable to them.

If you are buying at auction, the final fee is dependent on the winning bid and may not show until then.

The USA is a different nation.

[marnotom!]

---

@annandrew-37wrote:

Find out a bit more about e-commerce.  I paid shipping when I ordered the item and was not informed about the extra $25.53 on this package because it was crossing the boarder nor was I told of separate billing that would appear on my credit card.

---

I take it you haven't gone back and compared the total of your two PayPal charges to the total charges on the item's listing page.  If your item was indeed forwarded through the Global Shipping Program, those two sets of charges should be more or less the same.

This is one of the emails I received from eBay for a phone I ordered just over a week ago.  The seller shipped the item to the Global Shipping Center in Kentucky, and the Global Shipping Center is in the process of getting the item off to me on Vancouver Island.



The email explains that I will be charged twice:  One charge will be to the seller, the other charge will be to the Global Shipping Program.

The seller shipped free within the United States, so I only had to pay the seller for the phone.  That was US$164.99.  Pitney Bowes charged me US$12.20 for shipping and US$13.20 in "import charges" which works out to the GST I'd pay on the phone if I bought it from a Canadian seller charging GST, plus a few bucks towards various customs processing and clearance charges.

All three of those charges add up to the US$190 and change that I was charged at checkout.  The two charges to my PayPal account add up to that same US$190-plus charge.

All personal imports by mail or courier with a declared value of over C$20 are subject to charges for taxes and duty.  (It doesn't mean that they are always charged for taxes and duty, but they're certainly subject to being charged for 'em.)  That includes items purchased online.  Here's more info from the Canada Border Services Agency:

https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/import/postal-postale/menu-eng.html

For items sent through the Global Shipping Program, Pitney Bowes pays the taxes and duty owing on your behalf.  The "import charges" are your way of paying them back, and then some.

[ngg007]

Definitely fraud.

My item has been "shipped" from eBay international hub. But 5 days later DHL still does not have the item. And the customer support is clueless. I am going to report the fraud to my bank if they do not come up with an explanation quickly enough.

Oh, and they are also liars 2x. Before buying, I asked how exactly it is going to be shipped to Canada. They said CanadaPost. I asked them in various forms if they guarantee it will not be one of these expensive carriers charging a lot for "brokerage fee". They said no. And now turns out they ship with DHL

eBay is a fraud.

[mrdutch1001]

You have responded to a thread from 2017 which may contain irrelevant, outdated and misinformation as the Global shipping program was terminarted and it is now "eBay International Shipping" program which has its differences from its predecessor.

If you have concerns or issues with eIS best to start a new thread to draw attention to current timeframe