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,

[momcqueen]

Duty is only part of it. It’s the sales tax you still paid on a duty-free item.

[afantiques]

Also in one instance i was able to opt out of pre paid duties. but in true scare tactic style, the GS site warned me about higher charges later if I opt out of pr payment. I decided to take my chances.

This seems very improbable.

[momcqueen]

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@afantiqueswrote:

Also in one instance i was able to opt out of pre paid duties. but in true scare tactic style, the GS site warned me about higher charges later if I opt out of pr payment. I decided to take my chances.

This seems very improbable.

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I somewhat suspect the poster is confusing pre-paid duty and the Global Shipping Program with the currency conversion option that PayPal Checkout sometimes gives when the user chooses strictly credit card currency conversion instead. 

[reallynicestamps]

Hawaii is part of the usa....

So are Alaska, Puerto Rico, Guam, and APO (military) addresses.

There are still an amazing number of sellers who get very upset with buyers from their own country having the nerve to bid.

I guess in their minds Hawai'i is a small town in Kenya. And all the other places have too many brown people to be Murrican.

[reallynicestamps]

but in true scare tactic style, the GS site warned me about higher charges later if I opt out of pr payment.

I'd like to see the actual language, but very technically it's true.

Not because of the duty and SALES TAXES (taxes are due on duty free items) but because PB/GST charges the lowest service charge on customs brokerage.

Canada Post charges $9.95

UPS charges $25 and up, as do other couriers. There's a (locked) thread with over 3000 complaints about UPS brokerage charges.

And again, even if an item is duty free (used goods, NAFTA, other free trade agreements) the importer is still charged GST/HST/PST, which can be considerably higher than duty.

[momcqueen]

“There has been many listings that I would have normally already bought but haven't because of the global shipping program. its irritating to ask every seller who uses the program to NOT USE IT if you BUY from them.”

I’m no fan of the GSP but I am of facts, and I’m here to disabuse you of that notion. You would not have bought those items because they would never have been made available to you in Canada by their USA-based seller. The GSP is a seller-protection program, it gets added to listings where Americans haven’t agreed to ship outside the USA but also haven’t banned international shipping properly. Those items would not be yours for the taking unless GSP had been applied to them.

Edit: that particular message is five years old as part of this antiquated discussion we’re still for some reason continuing into conversation. Oh, how I loathe these old threads. As if that member is coming back to read my reply.

[shivsharm_782]

My package has a FedEx tracking that showed it went to pbi then pbi tracking that shows it was processed and is in transit but no more information about who is shipping it the rest of the way and no new tracking number. This is extremely frustrating because it was originating in central USA, was sent to the east instead of coming directly to bc Canada. It's taking double the time and I have no idea where my package is because pbi is no longer tracking it

[momcqueen]

The FedEx number to which you are referring was only the first part of your order’s journey: from the seller to the GSP hub in Kentucky. A new tracking number will be issued and shared after processing.

[marnotom!]

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@shivsharm_782wrote:

My package has a FedEx tracking that showed it went to pbi then pbi tracking that shows it was processed and is in transit but no more information about who is shipping it the rest of the way and no new tracking number. This is extremely frustrating because it was originating in central USA, was sent to the east instead of coming directly to bc Canada. It's taking double the time and I have no idea where my package is because pbi is no longer tracking it

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There's no "instead of" here.  This is the way the Global Shipping Program works.  It's a forwarding program.  The seller ships the item to PBI in Kentucky the same way they'd send the item if a US buyer had purchased it, and PBI forwards it to Newfoundland, Iqaluit, Liechtenstein, or wherever else it's destined.

It does sound as though your item has made it to PBI's Global Shipping Center in Kentucky and you've received a "in transit to destination country" message in the tracking.  Since it's a weekend right now, it may not be until after the weekend until you receive more tracking information.  You may be able to find out the carrier that will be handling it in Canada by checking the PBI tracking page, at http://parceltracking.pb.com .  Search by "parcel ID".  If there's some information on the tracking there, there should also be a link near the top of the page that you can click to track the item directly on the carrier's website.  (It's likely going to be Canada Post.)

Having said all that, a couple of weeks ago I ordered a phone from a seller using the GSP and a case for the phone from a seller not using the GSP.  The last scan the phone received was from Canada Post in Mississauga on Wednesday.  The last scan the phone's case received was from USPS on February 28th suggesting it was sitting in a warehouse near Los Angeles International Airport.

Guess where the case is?  In my hot little hands.  I received it this past Tuesday.  I figured out a few years ago that while tracking is great for ramping up one's anticipation for an item, it doesn't change the fact that I either have or don't have what I ordered.  If your item's delivery is still within the time estimate on the listing page, I wouldn't worry about it.

[femmefan1946]

And the whole point of tracking (and of the Global Shipping Program) is SELLER  Protection.

Your seller's responsibility for delivery ended on the doorstep of the GSP/PBI plant in Kentucky.

The rest is just warm fuzzies to keep you happy until the widget arrives. Or hysterical with worry. Depends on your personality, I suppose.

Most GSP purchases are eventually delivered by Canada Post. If you are not home when the parcel arrives, you will get a Notice telling you where and when you can pick up your parcel.

Usually that's the next day at your local postal outlet.

[johcolli8]

There has been much talk in the ongoing NAFTA negotiations about increasing the duty free amount to Canada from $20 to $800. If this were to happen, how would it affect the Global Shipping Progam charges? 

[marnotom!]

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@johcolli8wrote:

There has been much talk in the ongoing NAFTA negotiations about increasing the duty free amount to Canada from $20 to $800. If this were to happen, how would it affect the Global Shipping Progam charges? 

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Depends on whether "duty free" also means "tax free".

Remember, the bulk of the "import charges" one sees on a Global Shipping Program are the equivalent of the GST or HST one would pay on that same item if they were to purchase it from a Canadian retailer that is registered to collect that tax.  The rest goes to various processing charges to see the item through customs.

If there is duty charged in addition to GST or HST, it's usually because the item isn't manufactured in a NAFTA country.

In 40-odd American states, items are subject to "use tax" which is the equivalent of state sales tax on items purchased from out of state, including international purchases made online.  As far as I know, the $800 limit doesn't apply to use tax.  The hitch here is that only the states can collect use tax, not the feds, and they don't have very effective means of collecting the tax so many Americans don't end up paying it.

If there were to be an $800 tax-free ceiling on items entering Canada by mail or courier, it's unclear how this would affect Global Shipping Program shipments, as they travel in freight shipments from Kentucky to Canada.  For all I know, Pitney Bowes may be paying the GST and HST due on all the GSP items in those freight shipments, regardless of value, and absorbing the cost on the low value ones.  If an $800 tax-free ceiling doesn't affect freight shipments, the s"import charges" on GSP items would likely remain unchanged.  If Pitney Bowes is able to receive tax credits for those shipments, on the other hand, that's a different ball of wax. 

However, even items within the tax-free threshold are still subject to customs processing charges.  What's happened in Australia which has a tax/duty-free limit of AU$1000 on postal/courier imports is that items shipped through the GSP have no "import charges" with the customs processing charges being added to the shipping charge instead.

So, long answer short, if personal imports by mail, courier or GSP have a tax and duty-free threshold of C$800, it would mean that many GSP purchases made by Canadians would not see "import charges", but I suspect the shipping charges would likely go up instead.

[trojun74]

you pay twice

[momcqueen]

“you pay twice”

Who is ‘you’ and what is ‘twice’?

[anglia51]

The simple & shortest answer is. eBay is ripping of foreign buyers.  I am guessing eBay has bought Pitney Bowes. Why would anyone buy anything from a seller that is in the GSP? I know from personal experience that 99.99% of the time I don't have any extra duty & taxes to pay. I've paid maybe 6 time in 10 years & when I have to pay I just simply pay it no big deal. And not to mention that they are charging you in U.S. dollars.  

[momcqueen]

There is so much incorrect in your post that I don't know where to start.

No, ebay does not own Pitney Bowes. https://www.pitneybowes.com/ca/en?cid=SEM_CA_Brand_BrandOnly_Google_PitneyBowes_969775&gclid=EAIaIQo...

No, ebay is not 'ripping off' foreign buyers. The legal de minimus is $20 CAD on import by mail of items in MOST but not all categories. https://www.ebaymainstreet.com/issues/canadian-de-minimis

If it was shipped to you via the Global Shipping Program than you can be assured you would have otherwise NOT have been allowed to buy it. It's a Seller Protection program, aimed at ebay users who are terrified of export. 

As to charging you in USD...? Of course you're paying USD. You've willingly bought an item listed in USD by an American seller located in the USA. (Or UK in their currency.) What else would you expect to pay?

If, on the other hand, you're looking for tactics to avoid buying a product from a seller enrolled in the GSP, please ask. That is another matter entirely. 

[momcqueen]

Further to my answer above, in the categories (books for example) where the de minimus on import by mail is not $20 CAD, it is zero dollars. As in, no de minimus, nothing free from duty.

[marnotom!]

I notice that once again in its campaign to raise the de minimus, eBay neglects to mention that in many (if not most) countries where the de minimus is higher, taxes are charged on both the cost of the item and the shipping cost.

[momcqueen]

Oh, I’m not exactly planting my flag on the raise-the-de-minimus side of the camp. That’s not the only omission in that argument brought forth by eBay. At one point, it’s quoted that a Canadian can carry $800 worth of goods across the border but neglects to mention this isn’t a day-trip privilege that’s granted. The Canadian has to be on holiday for a set amount of time outside the country to be granted that de minimus.

[nhcanada09]

Is there any way to request a break down of the import fees?

I can't understand why my import fees work out to 19.5% of the value of the item. I purchased a vinyl record box set which was manufactured in the US. Thanks to NAFTA, this item is duty free. The only import fee this item is subject to is HST at 13%.