Heads Up!....Global Shipping Program no longer displays import charges..

[fort2b]

In the item description, the GSP no longer shows import charges, just the shipping cost.  The buyer won't know he's going to be charged import charges, which are often way higher than they should be, until after he/she has bought.   Expect some angry buyers if you use GSP.

This probably won't effect many Canadian sellers as I doubt many of us use GSP but for those that do, beware.   The US and UK sellers, many of whom do use GSP,  are going to get a lot of angry buyers from this change.  Nice surprise charge after you've committed to buy.  Cool.

[momcqueen]

I didn't know that thread was still active. 

[pjcdn2005]

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@mjwl2006 wrote:

I didn't know that thread was still active. 

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Heck.... A thread about complaints about the gsp will never die.

i noticed the missing import charges a little while ago too.  As I said on that thread only some people are seeing it that way which is how they often do tests.  Of course I can't think of a single reason why they would want to test hiding the charges.

[momcqueen]

Unfortunately, the only reasons I can think to hide it would be a reason that is unethical: to make it harder for a buyer to tell the seller is using the Global Shipping program for that listing; to make it harder to see additional costs in the form of import charges will apply, and to keep both secret until it's too late for a buyer to back-out for those reasons.

I'll say it until I'm blue in the face but hiding costs from customers until the last second is NOT a good idea, and it will backfire 99 per cent of the time. 

If the problem is that ebay thinks buyers are avoiding sellers who use GSP, these hide-the-import-fees shenanigans will make those burnt-buyers avoid ebay altogether. No one appreciates someone else trying to be sneaky with their money. 

Bad bad bad. 

[fort2b]

my guess would be that the GSP is dying a bit and they are trying to stir up more business for it, by hiding the import charges.  I can imagine the rationale being that buyers generally don't know what custom and duties they will be paying when they buy anything else online from another country, so why does ebay have to advertise it before they buy from the GSP?  Of course this ignores the fact that the GSP usually charges about double what a buyer would normally have to pay if assessed customs and duties by their country's revenue agency.

[sylviebee]

My impression is that they're using the "foot in the door" technique.

What's been happening to me is that I make the decision to buy an item and push the BIN button only to get zapped with import fees.

It's a drag having to reverse the decision to buy after it's been made.

No doubt it works fairly often and that they make a lot of sales that way.  

[mrdutch1001]

I do not see any Import charges on the first listing but I do see the import charges on the second listing - I am logged in on .ca

[pjcdn2005]

If you click on buy it now and see the total you can still back out as long as you haven't committed to buy.  But even then I can understand a buyer being angry as they had already spent time on the decision to buy that particular item.  Being able to back out doesn't mean they are going to try the process again And possibly waste more time.

[silverpinups]

"Of course I can't think of a single reason why they would want to test hiding the charges"

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Shipping:

$33.46 International Priority Shipping to Canada  via the Global Shipping Program 

See payment details

Any international shipping and import charges are paid in part to Pitney Bowes Inc.

The import charges may be hidden on eBay.com but it is still disclosing that this item will ship via Global Shipping Program with import charges!

[momcqueen]

It's sneaky.

The River collects import charges in advance too. Upfront and with NO handling fees. In fact, they've even refunded overcharges once it's been processed by Customs. Like to the penny. Visible and transparent.

[Anonymous]

I see no import charges on my end.  It is lethal not knowing if any import charges and of course it only make us not want to buy from those sellers!! 

[ypdc_dennis]

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@mjwl2006 wrote:
It's sneaky.

The River collects import charges in advance too. Upfront and with NO handling fees. In fact, they've even refunded overcharges once it's been processed by Customs. Like to the penny. Visible and transparent.

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But that's for stuff that The River does the shipping and handling for -- they handle the money and shipping from start to finish. So it is easy for them to do.

-..-

[ypdc_dennis]

Additional testing for those links:

If I replace the .com with .ca I do see the GSP import charge when using eBay.CA

So for me it is site dependent when viewing.

This makes it a reasonable display decision because eBay programmers believe the eBay shopping cart works.

-..-

Tested on a desktop computer, Firefox 17 (yeah, it's old).

-..-

[pjcdn2005]

Not many people read the fine print.

[pjcdn2005]

The change has only been seen on .com as far as I know.

[sylviebee]

Yes, and the reason that this is such a notable issue now is because it seems to be designed to deceive.

For me the GSP logo disappeared from all the listings overnight and my initial reaction was that sellers were no longer using the GSP.

It wasn't until I tried to purchase an item that I realized what had happened.

Our Canadian "eyes" have become accustomed to picking out the GSP warning at a glance.

Going from that huge in your face logo to fine print is no accident.

I'm sure they're finding it to be a very profitable swicheroo .

[momcqueen]

I am honestly very concerned this is going to turn people off ebay, period. A new buyer will get slapped in the face with a wet dead fish known as GSP Import Charges -- now hidden until the last second -- and think it's liable to happen anywhere on ebay because they won't know they were just knackered into a Global Shipping Program purchase.

Alternatively, I suppose it could turn people off buying from anyone in the USA which might be good for Canadian sellers but I think the second scenario less likely than the first. 

[silverpinups]

"Not many people read the fine print".

Yes, I know, but ebay.com is still disclosing it.....

Is it sneaky? DEFINATELY!!

[lucitabby]

I am seeing the import charges on both .ca and .com.  On both Safari and Firefox on my desktop iMac.

[marnotom!]

So if this is indeed some sort of beta test, the guinea pigs appear to be eBay users registered in Canada who regularly use the .com site to shop instead of .ca.

Seems to me that if these users are that wedded to the .com site, they should have two browser tabs going, one for .com and one for .ca so they can see the import charges before going through checkout on .com.

It would be interesting to see if the charges are the same in checkout on .com as they are as stated on the listing page on .ca.

[kashka]

This happened to me the other day..using the latest FF and on the .com  and .ca sites.Works on Chrome today but didn't the other day...Just one more  reason for me not to shop here..Bad enough I have to try different methods of finding something with the pathetic search..now I have to switch browsers to see how much something costs?..don't think so..They just keep shooting themselves in the foot.