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,

[cheynglawso_0]

How does one contact gsp for a missing items that claim delivery when they have not been

[pierrelebel]

For items not received, file a claim for non-receipt though eBay

http://pages.ebay.ca/help/buy/item-not-received.html

[afantiques]

How does one contact gsp for a missing items that claim delivery when they have not been

Some more details may be helpful. In general you will lose an ebay case if there is evidence of delivery.

However, we all know delivery men make mistakes.  Have you made any local enquiries.

[d_ca03]

Lisemae

PB told me they had yet to receive my parcel, not just me. Paypal states USPS picked it up from seller. Hence, the frustration

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I'm having the exact same problem. PB has no record of my parcel and the seller marked as shipped on Feb 3. Did you receive your item yet?

[dmil8030]

<<PB has no record of my parcel and the seller marked as shipped on Feb 3.>>

That's odd.  You didn't mention this in your other post.  If the seller marked the item as shipped then he should be able

(and willing!) to provide tracking information as far as Kentucky.

Once an item arrives in Kentucky the buyer is pretty much kept in the dark but at least you would know it is on its way 

and will get to you eventually.  

No response or tracking from the seller?  You know what to do:

http://pages.ebay.ca/help/buy/item-not-received.html#notreceived

[dmil8030]

<< How does one contact gsp for a missing items that claim delivery when they have not been>>

Hello 'cheynglawso_0',  

What do you mean "claim delivery"?  Is this your first time buying a GSP item?

I am thinking that perhaps this 'delivered' indication is telling you the item is in Kentucky.  Would that be right?

That would be normal.  When you buy from a GSP listing the item is first sent to a warehouse in Kentucky, 

and the seller can provide a tracking number to show it has arrived there.

After this, the item is repackaged, relabeled, and forwarded on to you - the buyer.  The seller cannot tell you where 

it is or provide information because he does not know.   The GSP folks will know where it is  but they won't bother to 

tell you.  

The parcel will, however, be on its way.  Eventually, it will even arrive.  

Was that what was troubling you or was it something else?

[cheynglawso_0]

According to the tracking it says I have the item has been delivered to my door but Canada post says it shows delivered but they have no manifest for it

[reallynicestamps]

Would the package be small enough to fit in your mailbox?

Do you have a community mailbox?

Would the carrier think it was reasonable and secure to leave the package on your doorstep?

Could the package have been stolen from your doorstep?

[cheynglawso_0]

According to Canada post they haven't had a package to deliver

[dmil8030]

Hello 'cheynglawso_0',  

You are not providing enough clear, concise information, and are now even sounding a bit contradictory.  

When you ask, 

<<How does one contact gsp for a missing items that claim delivery when they have not been>>

You have not indicated what you mean by "items that claim delivery" since items never claim anything, as they can

neither talk nor write.  

Later you add that,  <<According to the tracking it says I have the item >>  

What exactly does the tracking say?  In all my years I have never once clicked on a tracking number and read the words

"You have the item", - so be precise.

<< Canada post says it shows delivered but they have no manifest for it>>

Either the item shows 'delivered' on the Canada Post website or not, - which is it?  What do you mean "they have no

manifest for it"?  

This is the site to track an item in Canada via the postal system.  When you enter (cut & paste) the tracking number

into the form here, -- what do you see?  

https://www.canadapost.ca/cpotools/apps/track/personal/findByTrackNumber?execution=e1s1

Does it say "Delivered" to you in your town Saskatchewan?  Or does it say Erlanger, Kentucky?

(The latter would be perfectly normal in the first stage of the shipment.  GSP items are first delivered to Kentucky,

and then forwarded on to you, the buyer).

When (what day) did you pay for the item, and did you pay with a credit card or paypal balance?  Or did you use an

e-cheque which can take 10 days to clear, and thus delay your shipment by nearly 2 weeks.

You then say, <<According to Canada post they haven't had a package to deliver>>

Which is it?  Either Canada Post clearly indicates that your parcel has been delivered to your SK address, whereby

they will indeed have a record of it, - or it has not yet arrived.

In order for anyone here to assist you in sorting this out, you need to offer precise and unambiguous information, -

no paraphrasing, and no suggesting what you think someone might have meant. 

[1991l98]

I feel that the GSP charges are a hidden cost and buyers are caught unaware till billing arrives. The option of not being able to opt out of this money grab is unjustified. Although Ebay claims not to be responsible for this "scam" inevitably you are. You are guilty of not protecting your buyers interests and keeping the buyers uninformed of this issue [GSP]. As a repeat customer I find this issue is not being addressed and Ebay has adopted a unannounced buyer beware mentality.

[sylviebee]

I haven't followed this thread at all, but wanted to comment on the GSP as it stands today.

In the past, with the possible exception of very heavy items valued under C$20, the GSP was a total bomb.

Now, since the recent increase in First Class International shipping costs, the GSP should be reassessed.

For example, for items under a pound FCI shipping is now just under $16, and that's about the same or even more than the GSP charges.  

In many cases the cost for FCI is higher than the cost of shipping the item domestically in the US to the hub, transporting the item to Canada, and then shipping again via Expedited to the recipient.

In short, for low cost items under C$20 the GSP is now competitive with USPS FCI costs.

[dmil8030]

Hello 'sylviebee', 

If one is strictly concerned with costs to the penny, then yes, there are times when weighty but low-value items 

sent via the GSP will cost slightly less than those sent directly with First Class.  

It depends on what matters most to each individual shopper.  For myself, I still prefer my items to come by 

First Class directly, even if the cost is slightly more.  Unlike GSP items, First Class items are tracked to my door 

so I can be available when a parcel arrives.  

Unlike GSP items, those sent First Class or even with the pricier Priority are more likely to arrive safely because

the ultra-duty packaging that I am willing to pay extra to have will not be discarded in Kentucky to make more 

space on the truck.  Few things are as irksome as receiving a box of shards.  

But for those obsessed with nickels and dimes, certainly there will be occasions when the GSP will be the more 

economical choice.  For heavy bulky items it has always been that way, - a slightly less expensive option for those 

who don't mind risking the damage, -- or that the item will be on the GSP's "not allowed" list and not make it in to

the country at all. 

[marnotom!]

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@dmil8030 wrote:

Unlike GSP items, those sent First Class or even with the pricier Priority are more likely to arrive safely because

the ultra-duty packaging that I am willing to pay extra to have will not be discarded in Kentucky to make more 

space on the truck.  Few things are as irksome as receiving a box of shards.  

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While you do make some pretty good points in your post, I do have to wonder where these stories about the Global Shipping Center "discarding packaging to make space on the truck" come from.

A couple of months or so ago, my wife (somewhat reluctantly) purchased a lot of five or so CDs that was forwarded through the GSP.  The seller put the CDs in an oversized box about 12" a side and filled in the box's remaining space with dense foam peanuts galore.  If saving shipping space was important to the Global Shipping Center, those CDs should have been repackaged.

But they weren't.

[dmil8030]

<<A couple of months or so ago, my wife (somewhat reluctantly) purchased a lot of five or so CDs that was forwarded

through the GSP. . . . , those CDs should have been repackaged.>>

CDs??  You think CDs are fragile?   Of course you are welcome to all the GSP items you can afford, but when I am 

choosing items, such as the Royal Albert tea set that recently sold for a fraction of its value and was a GSP item, 

I would not be willing to risk those egg-shell thin cups in the hands of the orangutans at Kentucky. 

Perhaps your wife will have no problems when she buys fragile porcelain pieces and as one of the GSP's greatest 

proponents I have no doubt that we will hear all about your wife's successful GSP purchases.  I envy her, as I wish I 

had her conviction and courage, but as I personally find the prospect of endlessly chasing down refunds for items 

that could have arrived intact to begin with  to be not to my liking, I will continue to abstain from the program. 

Just my opinion, of course. 

[afantiques]

CDs??  You think CDs are fragile?  

The point was not that CDs were fragile, but that excess packaging was not removed.

This story about packaging being discarded has been around as long as the GSP has and is largely nonsense.

For a start, it makes no sense, the labour cost per package is liable to be more than any trivial saving in weight or volume, and it would tend to make items more vulnerable to damage, at a time when the GSP shippers have to pay for any damage. More damage claims would also cancel out any weight savings.

I have no illusions about how badly sellers can pack stuff when they put their minds to it.

I have visted the British GSP hub, watched the processing staff in action and talked to the management, and staff are not instructed to remove packaging or make parcels smaller. THe overall management of the British and Kentucky plants is the same person, I spoke to her in England about just this matter and was assured it was as silly an idea as I thought it was.

Some packages are opened to check the contents, they are closed again as they were found or better if needed.

The only real problem I could see was the use of box-cutters which if handled carelessly could damage thinly wrapped items.

No one really cares about the rather boring truth when the tales of ourangoutans are so much more colourful.

[sylviebee]

dmil8030, I agree with everything you posted.    

I find it incredibly intrusive to have my items repackaged.

They do in fact repackage most items.  

It's very obvious when you receive an item which has passed through GSP hubs that items have been repackaged by thick fingered employees.

[femmefan1946]

Are they still including a notice that the parcel has been repackaged?

[sylviebee]

I can't recall if I've received those notices or not, but it's always obvious they've been in there.  They don't try to hide it.

I've bought a number of GSP items and they've mucked around in every one of them.

So intrusive.  It's the same feeling you get when you know someone has been rummaging in your purse or drawers.

[sylviebee]

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@afantiques wrote:

 I have visted the British GSP hub, watched the processing staff in action and talked to the management, and staff

I have visted the British GSP hub, watched the processing staff in action and talked to the management, and staff

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Why would anyone visit the GSP hub unless they're part of the program?  Seems like an odd way to spend one's free time.

Also why would anyone (afantiques and marnotom!) spend countless hours and several years here trying to sell the program to Canadians unless they are part of the program?  Why the denial?  It's just a job.

Not one post passes that one, the other, or both fail to comment on it, usually one agreeing with the other and vice versa ;  Working in tandem.  No one else agrees, only afantiques and marnotom support each other.

The hours put into defending the program must be a full time job for afantiques and marnotom, yet both deny being part of the program.