Questions about the Global Shipping Program

[kalvin@ebay.com]

Do you have questions about the Global Shipping Program? Please post here & I'll do my best to track those answers down for you!

If you have any comments about the program, use this forum instead.

Thanks,

[afantiques]

Can you give some more details.

Do you have tracking from ebay that shows the item was sent to Erlanger, Kentucky.

Do you have another tracking number that starts 'UAxxxx'

Who is currently holding the package and where?

Have you contacted the seller to  check how they sent the item?

This situation is very interesting to students of the GSP, although it is of course no fun at all for you.

Please be aware that if the seller bypassed GSP shipping and sent the item direct, it would be liable to import customs charges.

[afantiques]

There must be some sort of reference number for the payments.

Your post is not very clear about exactly what happened.

[chimera148]

You could try "Customer Support" at top right of this page.

[chimera148]

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@afantiques wrote:

I wonder if that thread was locked because there was a US seller willing to actively co-operate to find some answers about GSP tax calculations by practical experiment.

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Maybe, something in the recent posts seemed to have triggered the lockdown.

[marnotom!]

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@chimera148 wrote:

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@afantiques wrote:

I wonder if that thread was locked because there was a US seller willing to actively co-operate to find some answers about GSP tax calculations by practical experiment.

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Maybe, something in the recent posts seemed to have triggered the lockdown.

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Another GSP thread on that board that was (and still is) heavily contributed to saw about a page of posts disappear, too.

[pjcdn2005]

You've recently purchased 3 items and 2 of them would have been sent through the global shipping program which is run by Pitney Bowes. The import charges and some or all of the shipping charges on those 2 listings would have been paid to PB.

[carrollnb]

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@marnotom! wrote:

Carrollnb, Global Shipping Program listings have "International Priority Shipping" listed as the shipping method.  Shippers shipping directly to their buyers by US parcel post have "Priority Mail International" listed as the shipping method.  To complicate things further, USPS has renamed its international express mail service (EMS) "Priority Mail Express International."  

This use of the term "priority" to describe shipping methods has become so inappropriately used and overused that it's practically meaningless now.

By the way, First Class Mail International (AKA international letter mail) packages are now trackable to Canada if the seller purchases the postage online.

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Thank you for your reply marnotom!

It used to be a breeze buying an item on eBay and having it shipped to my address in Canada. But of late eBay has screwed around so much with the business end that it is not a pleasant experience any longer. For some reason I had never read at anytime the FCMI was now traceable in Canada. So why are sellers not offering that option or make it the only option and bury that PMI in a deep hole. Hopefully, it's not another moneymaker for them, with eBay's blessing? I'm sorry but I feel scammed by a seller using Priority Mail International, charging me $27.95(US) for a $0.95(US) Barbie ring. That makes no sense! I would like eBay to get on sellers to add FCMI as an option or better still, have all the options for shipping the used to have.

From what you describe, that Global shipment strategy is only there for ebay's benefit. I don't need them to ship anything to me. That's the sellers job and if I am charged duty on the item which, depending on the item, very rarely happens, Canada Customs sends my package on with a note taped to it showing what I owe and I go pay it. EBay should stay the hell out of it shipping. EBay had a great system but, now they've bollixed it up.

I stopped bidding on eBay because of the exclusive PMI shipping option. I have missed out on a few things I really wanted but, I decided I wasn't going to pay for PMI shipping. I only search for the buyer friendly sellers that give more then one shipping option. I do appreciate that from a seller.

[melsieh67]

So I could swear I saw a post recently suggesting that the GSP may become mandatory I 2015.

Is this just a rumor?

[faircrochet]

The use of Business Policies will become mandatory sometime in the future, don't know about GSP.

[melsieh67]

Ah, I see, thank you.

I wish I had bookmarked the post but I had several boards open at the same time...I was stalking this one as I had an item going to Canada (delivered fine, thank goodness).

Sometimes it's hard to tell what's rumor, what's rant, what's truth and what lies somewhere among all three, LOL.

[bennett4612]

Hi melsieh67.

There are no plans to make the GSP mandatory. 

---Bennett

[melsieh67]

Thank you very much. 🙂

[fiff]

I have bought 2 X 10oz silverbars with 99.5 % purity. On checkout I was hit with US$78.22 import charges; but there is no duty

or import taxes on these into Canad: No PST, no GST.

How can I claim a refund?

[marnotom!]

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@fiff wrote:

I have bought 2 X 10oz silverbars with 99.5 % purity. On checkout I was hit with US$78.22 import charges; but there is no duty

or import taxes on these into Canad: No PST, no GST.

How can I claim a refund?

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According to dutycalculator.com, a ten ounce silver bar with a declared value of US$295 would be subject to C$42.53 in HST if imported into Ontario.

[bennett4612]

Hi fiff. 

Duty and import charges are not the only parts of the GSP Program Fees. For a more complete breakdown of charges, see the Buyer Terms & Conditions page -- 

http://pages.ebay.com/shipping/globalshipping/buyer-tnc.html

Hope that helps. 

---Bennett

[pjcdn2005]

dutycalculator.com is not reliable

From Scotia Bank

http://www.scotiamocatta.com/products/faq.htm

Do I have to pay any sales tax or GST / HST?

Precious metals are exempt from GST / HST.

A precious metal is defined as a bar, ingot, coin or wafer of gold, silver or platinum, refined to a minimum purity of 99.50% in the case of gold and platinum, and 99.9% in the case of silver.

Gold, silver and platinum products are exempt from HST/GST. Palladium products are subject to HST/GST.

Provincial sales tax is applicable in certain provinces.

[pjcdn2005]

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@bennett4612 wrote:

Hi fiff. 

Duty and import charges are not the only parts of the GSP Program Fees. For a more complete breakdown of charges, see the Buyer Terms & Conditions page -- 

http://pages.ebay.com/shipping/globalshipping/buyer-tnc.html

Hope that helps. 

---Bennett

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Bennet,  the fees that are not duty or taxes are basically service charges. Since there is no hst on buillon .995 or more, you are saying that PB is charging $78 for service charges?  Don't you think that it is more likely that they are mistakenly charging taxes on the bullion?

[pjcdn2005]

I should have read more carefully. As someone pointed out to me, according to the site that I quoted, the OP's silver would be taxable as it is .995, not .999. But it does look as if the gsp is taxing some of the .999 silver listings - item 19109262225 & 171260658208

Hmm..I wonder if bars are considered as currency as currency is not allowed by the gsp.

Prohibited Items

Currency (including bank notes, stocks, bonds, coupons, credit cards, unused travelers checks, securities, certificates, and other negotiable items)

Also prohibited are some types of jewelry or bullion?

Jewelry, gold or any other precious metals (whether manufactured or non-manufactured) that are subject to carrier and/or customs restrictions

[peacockvintagepens]

How do I know where the item is?

With the Global shipping program, you get a GSP number. The next number you get is a tacking number that indicates that it has been received at the shipping centre. 

How do you find out what the tracking number is in the destination country? The shipping centre should have that information and have it updated immediately upon printing the new postage documents for the item. 

On the buyers end, the buyer gets an email from say Canada Post with a Canada Post tracking number but there is no way to tie that tracking number to the Global Shipping Service number or the Global tracking number or even the item itself. If they go to their purchases page and look at all their items and check their global shipping program items, sometimes that new tracking number for the destination country is NOT updated. How do you make the link?

I have gone back to an item where the link was made through the purchase page(one that I know matches up) and checked the following different reference numbers that happen during this process: item number, global tracking service number, the global tracking number, the reference number and the new tracking on the Canadian side.  There is no way you could link any of the reference numbers provided by ebay, the global shipping program, the global tracking number, or the new tracking number in the destination country.

So, question is, when an item has been sent through the Global Shipping program, and there is no update of a tracking number for the destination country, is there a way to get that number? 

[reallynicestamps]

Iwas looking at the CBSA website and it looked to me that there can be duty of up to 8.55 on some forms of silver and other precious metals, including palladium and rhodium.