No Shipping To Canada

[domecreeke]

Ebay has a policy which charges fees just not on the item sold, but on the shipping charges attached to that item.

Therefore, American Ebay sellers are blocking Canadians from purchasing their items unless pre-arranged and even then this does not mean anything, unless the Ebay Seller goes online and unblocks your bid for their item.

Case in point. Today I wanted to purchase an item from a gentleman in Flordia. I had gone to the trouble of contacting this person and asked him how much to ship his item to Canada. He came back with the price and I thanked him. I then entered the bidding game and I entered a bid of $250.00 but it was blocked. I tried contacting this person about our previous Email, but there was no response. So bidding ended today without my bid of $250.00 even reaching the seller. The item sold for $88.00 .

Ebay - what a frigging joke.  Given the high fees and this blocking ability, Canadian are being discriminated against.  So much for the North American Free Trade Agreement. We want to give Americans money $$$$$$ for their goods but we are blocked from doing so by economic fee barriers being erected against Canadian Customers.

After today, I will start looking for alternatives to the Ebay Marketplace.

[seratone]

I read this entire thread in 30 minutes while an item I wanted from an American seller who wouldn't ship to Canada was counting down.

Here are my 2 cents.

I primarily buy vintage American guitars, so finding them in Canada and the UK is not an option. (occasionally collectors in the UK have what I'm looking for but charge up to 4 times the American going rate).

With the guitar I was bidding on this week, I couldn't even contact the seller via email. I googled his Ebay handle and approached him from another auction - perhaps completed - I'm not actually sure how I got through. He responded with the fact he simply didn't know A) what was involved in the potential extra paperwork shipping to Canada, B) where Canada was. It turns out we're about 400 miles apart - a mere drop in the bucket from how far this guitar will travel to get to me.

I offered to pay his 'Buy it Now' price if he'd open up his auction to Canadian bidders - reserve wasn't met yet to I assume that was possible. Communication quickly ceased as he misunderstood my enthusiasm for a scammer. 

I have a sister in Wyoming, in the past she'd buy things for me on her Ebay account and ship them to me - or we'd make arrangements with the seller to send it there.

From this thread I just simply changed my primary address to my sisters and bought the item with a winning bid using my Canadian Paypal account - or should I say the Paypal account attached to my Canadian Credit Card. I paid $1200 - his 'Buy it Now' price was $1500 - the actual value of the item is about $3700 - but that's irrelevant. 

So, long story short - the cross border restrictions are based on the shipping address not the Ebay registration info, or the location of your bank.

I know for a fact Fed Ex and UPS are applying ridiculous brokerage fee's to Canadian buyers  - I was personally informed by Canada Customs that it's illegal - and they WILL get your money back for you - in a few years. Three's also a class action suit in Candaa trying to get the Government to intervene - my fingers aren't crossed.

I got a great deal - $1000 less than a similar item I saw going for in Toronto...The actual hoops I had to jump through made the experience all the more enjoyable.

[femmefan1946]

Have your sister in the USA open an eBay account and a Paypal account. Then ask her to bid for you. OR you could have her open the accounts and give you her passwords, so you can bid using her name.
Some of the restrictions PP has are based on US law and are not just random annoyances.

[femmefan1946]

"I know for a fact Fed Ex and UPS are applying ridiculous brokerage fee's to Canadian buyers - I was personally informed by Canada Customs that it's illegal - and they WILL get your money back for you - in a few years. "

Unless your informant has an EX 1 job classification or higher, the information is wishful thinking and gossip. And EX's don't talk about legal cases their Department is pursuing. Most public servants work with many levels of Confidential and Secret security and contravening those rules is a firing offence.
A customs counter clerk is not in the loop on such matters.

[taramialee]

Really.

I was just online at the USPS and read that Priority Mail International picks up at the door ( free), as well as

providing free packing materials, and free tracking.

International sellers would do well to just use the internet. Easy to see your ( and the sellers) options.

[archp2005]

I rarely buy from the United States except when USPS shipping is clearly specified by the seller. I generally buy from China or other European countries where almost everything is manufactured and where is shipping is typically free or very cheap and where sales and other taxes are seldom levied because everything is marked as a gift regardless if you ask or not. Is it possible to exclude the United States from Ebay searches? 

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@taramialee wrote:

Really.

I was just online at the USPS and read that Priority Mail International picks up at the door ( free), as well as

providing free packing materials, and free tracking.

International sellers would do well to just use the internet. Easy to see your ( and the sellers) options.

---

[dawziecat]

I have dealt with the "only ship to the continental US" issue from both sides.

I appreciate it is frustrating for CDNs to so effectively be "shut out" of the largest marketplace in the world.

However, when I lived in the US, I did the same thing.

The problem does not lie with the sellers, or with ebay. Amazon.com too is chock-a-bloc full of merchants who just will not ship to Canada. It seems to be the case more and more.

The problem is far larger than this forum. The real villain is the red tape the CDN government ensnares every item coming into the country with. Taxes must be collected. Contraband drugs must be stopped. Potentially harzardous foodstuffs and biohazards to our agriculture must be rooted out. UPS and FedEX must deal with this. Hence we have brokerage fees . . . occasionally quite onerous ones. The CBSA is a huge, largely self-serving bureaucracy that makes it unattractive for lowly ebay sellers to ship here. So, they don't.

Of course there are vested interests that don't want it any easier for CDNs to buy anymore from the US than they already do as well.

Unfortunately, it's not gonn'a change. Put the blame where it belongs! Our own government!

Not only is it understandable many ebay sellers won't ship to Canada, I found myself doing exactly the same thing when I lived there.

Shipping outside the country is a nuisance!

[Anonymous]

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@domecreeke wrote:

Ebay has a policy which charges fees just not on the item sold, but on the shipping charges attached to that item.

Therefore, American Ebay sellers are blocking Canadians from purchasing their items unless pre-arranged and even then this does not mean anything, unless the Ebay Seller goes online and unblocks your bid for their item.

Case in point. Today I wanted to purchase an item from a gentleman in Flordia. I had gone to the trouble of contacting this person and asked him how much to ship his item to Canada. He came back with the price and I thanked him. I then entered the bidding game and I entered a bid of $250.00 but it was blocked. I tried contacting this person about our previous Email, but there was no response. So bidding ended today without my bid of $250.00 even reaching the seller. The item sold for $88.00 .

Ebay - what a **bleep** joke.  Given the high fees and this blocking ability, Canadian are being discriminated against.  So much for the North American Free Trade Agreement. We want to give Americans money $$$$$$ for their goods but we are blocked from doing so by economic fee barriers being erected against Canadian Customers.

After today, I will start looking for alternatives to the Ebay Marketplace.

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The amount of items I now come across which state "May not ship to Canada", have Canada completely removed from the list of countries shipping to and that charge ridiculous rates is bordering on obscene.

Why do I think this is EBay's way of punishing Canadians for not participating in their Global Shipping Scam, I mean "Program"...........

[pjcdn2005]

The problem is far larger than this forum. The real villain is the red tape the CDN government ensnares every item coming into the country with. Taxes must be collected. Contraband drugs must be stopped. Potentially harzardous foodstuffs and biohazards to our agriculture must be rooted out. UPS and FedEX must deal with this. Hence we have brokerage fees . . . occasionally quite onerous ones. The CBSA is a huge, largely self-serving bureaucracy that makes it unattractive for lowly ebay sellers to ship here. So, they don't.

How exactly does any of that affect a U.S. seller?
The seller prints the label through ebay. The price of the item and the type of item is already on the label. The seller may have to state the country of origin on the label but that is the only extra 'work' that the seller has to do for an non U.S. buyer. There is no need for them to know what our import rules are or how our customs system works.The buyer pays any brokerage fees and/or duty or taxes that or due.

[kymbeee]

I hardly shop on eBay anymore, but I have been searching more often lately. What the heck is going on with US sellers shipping to almost every country on God's green earth except Canada?!?!? Here's an example, and I've seen this ALOT lately:

"Item location: Brooklyn, New York, United States

Shipping to: United States, United Kingdom, Denmark, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Estonia, Australia, Greece, Portugal, Cyprus, Slovenia, Japan, China, Sweden, Korea, South, Indonesia, Taiwan, South Africa, Thailand, Belgium, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Russian Federation, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Switzerland, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Croatia, Republic of, Malaysia, Turkey, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Jamaica

Excludes: Alaska/Hawaii, APO/FPO, US Protectorates, Canada"

They're even shipping to Italy for gods sake, which used to be one of the first countries American sellers ixnayed due to items not arriving at destination. eBay if you're reading this, any input? I have half a mind to FB message Mat or Russ or Colleen in Toronto to get the real scoop here.

[pierrelebel]

Yes you should contact Russ and ask him.  His answer will be: contact the seller and ask

The seller makes the decision where to ship.  Nobody else.. 

[kymbeee]

I know the seller makes the decision. I want to know what is going on that is causing sellers to make that decision. I've been away from eBay for many years now and I don't know what's going on behind the scenes anymore. Too many changes in the mechanism of the site, I'm completely lost whereas I used to be able to navigate it blindfolded.

[pierrelebel]

"I want to know what is going on that is causing sellers to make that decision"

Once again you should ask the sellers.  They are the one who really know.  Everyone else, including eBay staffers and managers, is speculating.

Do it with three or four different listings and you will get some idea as to why that is happening. 

I suspect some sellers may be influenced by the Global Shipping Program (GSP) where many Canadian buyers have been complaining.

[pjcdn2005]

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@kymbeee wrote:
I hardly shop on eBay anymore, but I have been searching more often lately. What the heck is going on with US sellers shipping to almost every country on God's green earth except Canada?!?!? Here's an example, and I've seen this ALOT lately:

"Item location: Brooklyn, New York, United States

Shipping to: United States, United Kingdom, Denmark, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Estonia, Australia, Greece, Portugal, Cyprus, Slovenia, Japan, China, Sweden, Korea, South, Indonesia, Taiwan, South Africa, Thailand, Belgium, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Russian Federation, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Switzerland, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Croatia, Republic of, Malaysia, Turkey, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Jamaica

Excludes: Alaska/Hawaii, APO/FPO, US Protectorates, Canada"

They're even shipping to Italy for gods sake, which used to be one of the first countries American sellers ixnayed due to items not arriving at destination. eBay if you're reading this, any input? I have half a mind to FB message Mat or Russ or Colleen in Toronto to get the real scoop here.

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It is possible that particular seller may use the ebay global shipping program. The gsp does include Canada however ebay recently blocked Canada  for gsp listings that were under a certain amount...$25 in the case of buy it now listings. If you see a shipping list similar to that...check the sellers listings and chances are that more expensive items will show shipping to Canada. Most gsp sellers aren't even aware that ebay has done this and have no idea that their lower cost items are not showing shipping to Canada. 

The seller may be willing to ship outside of the gsp  if you ask them to.  However, if they are uncomfortable shipping to places like Hawaii and Alaska and U.S. Protectorates, there's a good chance that they are not willing to ship anywhere outside of the U.S. without going through the gsp.

[kymbeee]

Honestly, it's not worth my time. I can get all the crafting supplies I need/want on Etsy with none of the eBay hassle. And it's eBay Canada's responsibility to powwow with San Jose and figure out what's going on, they're the ones getting paid handsomely to do so, not to mention flying back and forth every time they turn around. I did my time working for eBay, and I'm not going to do their job for them now. They used to be very in-tune with what the .com problems were for Canadian buyers and sellers. If they've lost touch, again their problem, not mine. I came here to ask because the community usually know what the scoop is. Simple curiosity, thanks for not satisfying it. Peace out!

[argosy33]

Interesting discussion.

I live in Canada, and have ordered dozens of items from the USA via Ebay.

Including bicycle frames and wheels in big boxes.

Only one item has never arrived.  It was a $2 item sent without tracking.

For US sellers: don't be afraid to ship to Canada.

However, please always ship via the US Post Office.

With tracking. It should arrive in Canada fine.

The same tracking number is used in both the usps and canadapost websites.

Good integration of systems. 

However, please don't ship via Fedex or UPS, unless it's over $1000.

Fedex and UPS have serious additional broker and other fees.

Which really angers customers like myself.

And defeats the purpose of ordering from the US.

Good luck.

[treasure.hunter.d]

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@pierrelebel wrote:

.  Canadian buyers generally refuse to buy from sellers using UPS or Fed-Ex because of their perceived high brokerage fees. 

"

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Nothing "Perceived" about it. If you have something sent via standard ground services with any of the couriers the brokerage fees are horrendous. There is also generally a handling fee tacked on as well. The brokerage fees are less for upgraded shipping services but then the fees for those service are much higher.

The only way around it is to broker your own package however the process, while not terribly complicated, is time consuming, requires multiple trips to a Border Agency Office and reliance on the fact that the courier will give up the paperwork from their end that is required. My experience has been that they try to refuse in almost all cases. Eventually you will get it but it's almost always a fight.

I have been through this on numerous occasions trying to find a way around it as many of the shipping agents that deal with auction houses I frequent in the US do not want to ship via USPS. Unfortunately, as of yet, other than if you broker your own package to save the money, there is no way around it and the fees make couriers just too derned expensive to use to ship anything of any value, size and/or weight from the US to Canada.

Cheers,

thD

[pierrelebel]

", there is no way around it and the fees make couriers just too derned expensive to use to ship anything of any value, size and/or weight from the US to Canada."

Back to square one!  You perceive these fees by UPS and Fed-Ex to be high.

Over the years I have often used UPS for high value shipments from the USA and did not perceive those fees to be high.  To pay $96 brokerage fee for a $2200 shipment is OK with me. It is a cost of doing business and, all things considered, I would rather use UPS for those high value shipments than the postal service which may save me a few dollars but is not as quick nor as reliable.

It is all a matter of perception.

When it comes to low value shipments ($20 to  $100), we all agree it is a waste of money to use UPS or Fed-Ex.

[kellshev_0]

I wanted to buy from a store online in Canada and they don't ship to america. 😞

[reallynicestamps]

Canada is in (North) America.

Do you mean the USA?

That's unusual, but the seller probably has reasons for now selling into the world's largest economy.

Can't think of any off hand though.

[hlmacdon]

From the seller point of a view there can be a variety of reasons. Some won't alter declared values and have negative experiences with Canadian buyers leaving neutral/negative feedback for tax/handling fees given our extremely low exemptions (I hear this often from fellow US sellers/merchants). Some US sellers are not educated on the e-delcon program for USPS first class, which is a relatively semi-recent thing and some still process via the post offices, where the e-delcon wasn't an option for first class (it launched via electronic postage options). Others aren't educated on filling out custom forms and may have a mental block perceiving it as extra work. Retailers may not be setup to process international credit cards. Some may restrict international cards due to their fraud prevention policies, etc.