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,

[pjcdn2005]

For most items shipped to Canada...especially inexpensive ones...Canada customs rarely charges for tax. With the gsp you have to prepay tax. That's only one reason why people don't like it. If you read the gsp threads you'll see that there are many other reasons, some more valid than others.

[mwc1942]

"Your making it very difficult for me to spend my money as I refuse to buy anything from a seller that is part of the  GPS.

Why stop with sellers that list by the GSP?  To have any impact at all, what really needs to happen is for buyers to stop buying from the eBay, period.

[marnotom!]

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@mwc1942 wrote:

"Your making it very difficult for me to spend my money as I refuse to buy anything from a seller that is part of the  GPS.

Why stop with sellers that list by the GSP?  To have any impact at all, what really needs to happen is for buyers to stop buying from the eBay, period.

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Why would you want to hurt US eBay sellers who have done their homework and are still shipping directly to their international buyers, or hurt Canadian eBay sellers for that matter?

I think we're flattering ourselves if we think that Canadians have much of an overall impact on eBay's bottom line.  We're a market one-tenth the size of the US market, less than half the size of Germany, and not much more than half that of countries such as France and the United Kingdom.

An informal straw poll of US sellers has suggested to me, at least, that Canadian sales don't make up much of a proportion of most US sellers' overall sales, despite the fact that Canada and the United States are such heavy trading partners.

What Canadians don't buy on eBay as a result of a boycott will more than likely be purchased by somebody else.

[mwc1942]

"Why would you want to hurt US eBay sellers who have done their homework and are still shipping directly to their international buyers, or hurt Canadian eBay sellers for that matter?"

The concern eBay has for what Canadians think of the GSP is self evident, its all about increased market for its sellers and eBay's bottom line.  Obviously the many pages of dissent from this post and others is of no avail.  Not bidding on GSP items is pointless, how is the seller going to know you didn't bid.  Sending request to sellers to drop out off the program can be useful to a limited degree, until it becomes bothersome to them.  So until someone comes up with a better idea, my choice is try and effect eBay's bottom line and yours is? 

"I think we're flattering ourselves if we think that Canadians have much of an overall impact on eBay's bottom line.  We're a market one-tenth the size of the US market, less than half the size of Germany, and not much more than half that of countries such as France and the United Kingdom."

If our impact is so small, why even have Canada on the GSProgram unless it was for the extra revenue.

"An informal straw poll of US sellers has suggested to me, at least, that Canadian sales don't make up much of a proportion of most US sellers' overall sales, despite the fact that Canada and the United States are such heavy trading partners."

Should your little straw poll be true, that would explain why many US sellers are eager to dump the GSP to get Canadian bids again.

"What Canadians don't buy on eBay as a result of a boycott will more than likely be purchased by somebody else."

And if they are happy with the items, great.

[teslatek]

Got a real chuckle out of your comment defending the GSP. I don't buy from US sellers enrolled in the GSP. When I do search for items I only buy locally or from China. There has never been a level playing field between US and Cdn buyers when bidding or buying an item and even more now withGSP and devalued Cdn dollar. Not only are Cdn buyers being abused but also honest US sellers who don't participate in the GSP as I never see their items when I do a search.  China gets more competitive with free shipping to increase business while the US erects iron curtains with their trading partners.

[ciny2k]

I just bought a bathing suit from Florida, and the seller had GSP listed. Ha - I am NOT paying $30 shipping! But, since I wanted it bad enough, I contacted the sellers and asked if USPS could be used instead. No problem 🙂 I bought it, and it's going to cost me $13 instead. Which is the exact same price of shipping within Canada, as I found out from another seller here. Don't other people contact the US sellers and ask them to consider using USPS instead? I've been doing this ever since I got burned with GSP the first time, lol!

[marnotom!]

From what you've written, I still don't have any idea why you think punishing all eBay sellers who are doing things properly is going to encourage other sellers--or even eBay--to drop the GSP.  Why should the "innocent" get caught in the crossfire?

[mwc1942]

"From what you've written, I still don't have any idea why you think punishing all eBay sellers who are doing things properly is going to encourage other sellers--or even eBay--to drop the GSP."  

All the statements you raised in your reply to me were commented on.  Meanwhile the question posed to you goes unanswered.

"Why should the "innocent" get caught in the crossfire?"

And at one time most of us were just "innocent" buyers.

[chimera148]

Repent !  🙂

[marnotom!]

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@mwc1942 wrote:

All the statements you raised in your reply to me were commented on.  Meanwhile the question posed to you goes unanswered.

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Yes, you commented on my statements, but you didn't answer my question about why you feel it's a useful exercise to punish sellers who aren't using the GSP.

I thought it was pretty self-evident that if you don't like the GSP, either don't buy from sellers who use it, negotiate a different shipping method with the seller, or find your own US-based forwarder who will ship the item from the US to Canada for you.

If sellers get the message that their international buyers are bypassing the GSP, they'll likely drop it from their listings or else do more homework in order to find out the situations where it works somewhat better.

I suspect right now eBay is measuring its "success" of the GSP in terms of the number of listings offering it.  I doubt that any sort of revenue loss from a boycott would be attributed to the GSP given that international sales don't make up the bulk of most US sellers' sales.  Those who do depend on international sales generally find a way to make it work for their buyers as well as themselves and would be most hurt by an eBay boycott.

[ciny2k]

From what I've noticed as a Canadian buyer, many US sellers don't understand the GSP either - one seller even thought that it was ME that opted for GSP in their listing, lol. No way! Wouldn't it be better for all of us if we just request USPS instead, when we want to buy from them? How else will they know that we don't like it? 

[3uthyphro]

Two packages I've ordered show they're shipped with USPS but ebay and paypal only allow me to use this horse manure "Global Tracking Number" which I don't want.

The USPS tracking which in turn will hand it off to Canada Post will allow me to see in greater detail and more up-to-date tracking of the package. Likewise it will allow me to be email notified when the post office receives my package. What is more, if the Canada Post delivery man doesn't leave a slip on the door (happens all the time) then I have nothing to show Canada Post because they're not going to accept this silly Pitney Bowes tracking number.

Honestly, every time I use ebay I'm reminded why I stopped using it. I wish Pitney Bowes never came to ebay, that would easily solve 50%+ of user frustrations.

[dmil8030]

 << I wish Pitney Bowes never came to ebay,>>

You and everybody else in this puny little insignificant country. 

The reason you are getting the Global Tracking Number is because you were the one who

bought items where the seller uses the Global Shipping Program.

Knowing how loathsome that GSP is, I strongly urge you to join the silent protest with the rest

of us and never buy from a GSP seller no matter how desperately you want the item.

That is, not if you have already very sweetly asked if the seller will take it out of the GSP  for

you and just list & send with plain old USPS First Class International to Canada.

When shopping, set your Search View to List, not Gallery.  That way you will see the GSP

listings which have the grey words,

Customs services and international tracking provided

If you make the mistake of clicking on one of those listings, you'll know it because under the

big bid/buy box (heh) is the huge loud phrase shouting out,

No additional import charges at delivery!

As if they were offering you a secret deal you wouldn't get any other way.  Phah!

If the shipper hands the item over to Canada Post for delivery, the tracking number will work

here once it enters the country:

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

If you want to read a whole lot of posts about the Global Shipping Program, go get a sandwhich

and settle in:

http://community.ebay.ca/t5/Buyer-Central/bd-p/23003

Your items will arrive soon enough, but alas, with that GSP they may take an astonishingy

winding circuitous route.

Not all American sellers use GSP.  Show your support for those who don't by buying from them. 

Good luck.

[marnotom!]

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@3uthyphro wrote:

Honestly, every time I use ebay I'm reminded why I stopped using it. I wish Pitney Bowes never came to ebay, that would easily solve 50%+ of user frustrations.

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Just a FYI: Pitney Bowes was involved with eBay long before the GSP was unleashed, but it was (and still is) in their capacity as sellers of postage.

[nrsljt]

I have purchased many items from US and elsewhere to be shipped into Canada. I will only buy if the seller will ship directly through postal service. The charges displayed by eBay are rather high. Packages sent directly via mail from seller to buyer may be subject to duties and taxes, but I have only had to pay this once, as it is a random thing by customs. Now with eBay's shipping program it would appear that these charges would be on every thing purchased and then I would get hit with a customs brokerage charge later on. Does anyone know about this, is this correct, and does anyone know how to limit a search for items that aren't being shipped via eBay's shipping program?

[nrsljt]

How do I exclude shippers using GPS from searches?

[mwc1942]

"Yes, you commented on my statements, but you didn't answer my question about why you feel it's a useful exercise to punish sellers who aren't using the GSP."

Should you decide be to make this a sellers issue that's up to you but I would sooner make it an eBay issue.  To that end, my choice is to try and effect eBay's bottom line but as your informal poll suggests it's doubtful my absences or my dollar will be missed by eBay.  

"I thought it was pretty self-evident that if you don't like the GSP, either don't buy from sellers who use it, negotiate a different shipping method with the seller, or find your own US-based forwarder who will ship the item from the US to Canada for you."

This amounts to the same old dialogue found over many pages of this post and others and really does nada for eBay to rid itself of the GSP, to me, it sounds more like a concession in favor of the program.

[pjcdn2005]

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@3uthyphro wrote:

Two packages I've ordered show they're shipped with USPS but ebay and paypal only allow me to use this horse manure "Global Tracking Number" which I don't want.

The USPS tracking which in turn will hand it off to Canada Post will allow me to see in greater detail and more up-to-date tracking of the package. Likewise it will allow me to be email notified when the post office receives my package. What is more, if the Canada Post delivery man doesn't leave a slip on the door (happens all the time) then I have nothing to show Canada Post because they're not going to accept this silly Pitney Bowes tracking number.

Honestly, every time I use ebay I'm reminded why I stopped using it. I wish Pitney Bowes never came to ebay, that would easily solve 50%+ of user frustrations.

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The packages would be shipped by USPS from the seller's location to the global shipping main center in Kentucky. USPS would not be used from Kentucky to the center in Canada so a USPS number wouldn't do you any good.

I think that with gsp there would probably be 3 tracking numbers if they were to give you one for each transport company.

1 from the seller to Kentucky

1 from Kentucky to Canada

1 from the center in Canada to the buyer's location

[gschentag]

The GPS program has reduced my eBay purchases significantly!

Now that Alibaba is in the game. We will have better options.

Having GPS shoved at me has left me bitter.

[reallynicestamps]

The USPS tracking which in turn will hand it off to Canada Post will allow me to see in greater detail and more up-to-date tracking of the package.

So what? Tracking is only useful if the seller wants to prove that the package was delivered thus keeping your money in an Item Not Received dispute.

Buyers may want a tracking number, but it offers them less protection not more.

Likewise it will allow me to be email notified when the post office receives my package.

Okay, that could be useful. But Canada Post has never sent me an email about delivery. Only the delivery slips.

What is more, if the Canada Post delivery man doesn't leave a slip on the door (happens all the time) then I have nothing to show Canada Post because they're not going to accept this silly Pitney Bowes tracking number.

Canada Post is not the only service used by GSP/PB. In fact, they seem to use CanPar more often.

In any case, if your parcel is not received in a timely manner, you file an Item Not Recieved dispute. If PB can't prove delivery (not shipment, delivery) then they will refund you. If the item shows up later, it's up to you what to do with it.

If you are expecting a parcel and it is late, you can drop into the local PO and ask if anything is there for you. They are more interested that you have ID than the slip, which anyone can pick up.