All of your questions have been answered in earlier posts-- but since we are at over 5000 posts in these threads.
As a Canadian I would like to know how much duty Pitney Bowes/eBay submits to the Canadian government. I would not be surprised if it is zero and the funds taken as "duties" are never paid, but just become more profit.
Pitney Bowes is a large international company with strong ties to Canada Post and decades of experience in Canada. It would be very very stupid of them to risk that by not remitting the collected Sales Taxes (most of the money is in tax not duty) and customs charges. They make their money on the ~$5 USD service charge on collecting the applicable fees.
BTW, did you know that Canadian retailers are paid by the provincial and federal governments for remitting sales taxes?
Items I purchase (vinyl records and music memorabilia) sent through USPS never have duty collected.
That's because CBSA have come to the sensible conclusion that it makes no sense to assess and charge duty and tax on items where the money collected would be less than the money spent collecting it.
Border officers earn around $30 an hour up.
When I see items I might want but are shipped through GSP I email the seller explaining that because of the GSP I am not buying or bidding on their items...
Good idea! It makes no sense to use the GSP on sales under $50 and probably on sales under $100.
Please note that it is the SELLER's responsibility to opt in or out of the GSP. However, when the program was introduced, many sellers were default opted in. Especially new sellers, who are one group that should be avoiding international sales.
ebay obviously makes additional profits from the GSP
The program was introduced to encourage US sellers to sell internationally, which they have historically been loathe to do. It offers US (and now UK) sellers protections against unwarranted disputes about foreign duties and taxes, slow delivery and non-delivery as well as some protection on damage in transit.
It is NOT in place for the benefit of the buyers.
Most of the additional profit would be on the increased sales made by those US sellers.
otherwise they could easily make it an option for the buyer to go with GSP or the regular postal system.
Can't comment on this because I am not a programmer.
If you are, perhaps there is a job opportunity with eBay or even a temp contract.
I have only purchased one item through the GSP. The shipping time is much longer than the regular USPS.
I allow 20 days for delivery from anywhere in the USA or Canada, no matter where I bought or whether the GSP was in play.
For comparison....Currently I have an open Dispute for non-delivery with AZ. I bought four items from four different buyers on Oct. 26. The first item arrived in two days, the third last week. The fourth item has been in transit for 30 days.
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