eBay

kelsy-gemstone · ‎01-27-2023

The Global Shipping Program run by Pitney Bowes for the USA based eBay sellers shipping merchandise to Canada has been patheticly slow. However, the new eBay International Standard Delivery manages to be even worse (and more expensive), which is quite an accomplishment in itself. In addition to being as slow, if not slower, their shipment tracking is either missing key milestones such as "delivered", or it is erratic. The eBay shipping from the States to Canada has become so much of an irritant, that we've now stopped buying anything from the USA based eBay sellers.

mrdutch1001 · ‎01-27-2023

Not all USA sellers use that shipping program and although many do, buyers can opt to purchase from USA sellers who do not and/or can ask a seller if can ship directly to the buyer(not all sellers will oblige a buyer on that request, but there are some USA sellers that will work with a buyer on that)...other options include finding the item/product from within Canada...which is something I immediately opt for...I would rather pay more for an item purchasd from within Canada, than purchase from a seller who uses that inconvenient shipping program...

marnotom! · ‎01-27-2023

I just looked at a listing for a Smartphone that's being forwarded through the Global Shipping Program and it has a delivery time estimate of a little over three weeks. Prior to the GSP being unleashed on us, I'd allow for a directly mailed shipment from most points in the US to reach me in my semi-remote location on Vancouver Island in two to three weeks, so I don't see anything really out of the ordinary.

I don't think it so much that the Global Shipping Program is slow as it is that a lot of eCommerce merchants have access to faster methods of shipping now. Buyer expectations have changed and express shipping has become the new normal.

Also keep in mind that the GSP is freight forwarding service and eBay International Standard Delivery is a mail consolidation service. Any sort of shipping service where your shipment is part of a larger shipment of items going elsewhere is going to be a bit slower as the shipment has to be fairly large to go out in order to cut down the cost of shipping on a per-item basis.

For what it's worth, the Global Shipping Program and eBay International Standard Delivery are being phased out in favour the oh-so-imaginatively named eBay International Shipping (EIS) system. Jury's still out on how its speed and pricing for Canada fare.

kelsy-gemstone · ‎01-27-2023

Sure thing, local purchases in Canada are always the preferred way. However, that is often impossible because our market is obviously much smaller. I have found most US eBay sellers are reluctant to ship abroad directly using USPS, Fedex or what have you, because they dislike having to fill out customs declarations as well as worry about sles taxes and import duties in the buyer's country etc.

mrdutch1001 · ‎01-27-2023

I can understand some concern from USA sellers shipping Internationally but between USA & Canada the risks are not so great, nor that complicated. USA Sellers are not responsible for the taxes and/or import duties & fees > that is on the buyer and it is the buyer's responsibility to understand the importation process. We Canadian sellers fill out customs forms all the time, so does that mean USA sellers are just too lazy to do so? and/or ?? IMHO, That simply tells me USA sellers do not care.(but then I knew that anyway) LOL!

marnotom! · ‎01-27-2023

@mrdutch1001 wrote:
We Canadian sellers fill out customs forms all the time, so does that mean USA sellers are just too lazy to do so? and/or ?? IMHO, That simply tells me USA sellers do not care.(but then I knew that anyway) LOL!

I don't think it's so much that US sellers don't care; it's just that the US is such a huge domestic market and many Americans don't appreciate how their country fits into the grand international scheme of things and how much interest there is in the US from outside. California has about a million more people than all of Canada. New York state has about half of Canada's population, but about four million more people than Ontario. Add the other fourty-eight states in there and most US eBay sellers can make a pretty comfortable living strictly shipping domestically. Who has time to look up tariff codes and fill out those pesky customs forms when you're making dozens of domestic sales a day as it is?

When all is said and done, non-US sales generally make up a smaller proportion of US eBay sellers' sales than non-Canadian sales for Canadian sellers. They're seen as the exception in the US, not the rule as they are here.

femmefan1946 · ‎01-28-2023

Having sold by mail order for over thirty-five years, I agree that delivery within three weeks is the norm not the exception.

Most buyers don't do much international shipping, to or fro, so they have high expectations.

The GSP charges import fees upfront, before the seller even ships, while the new ISD seems cheaper but import fees are paid by the buyer on delivery.

The fees are the same. Canadians have a duty-free allowance for US imports of $150 and a tax-free allowance of $40.

The main difference in cost is that GSP charged ~$5 US as a service fee while Canada Post charges $9.95Cdn (~$7.50 US). Couriers charge more and we cannot control who is the last mile carrier.