@amcdc79 wrote:
Since I am unfamiliar with how to break up a post to address each point, I will try to do it in the order of the post. Also, most of my post is referring to small lightweight items under 1 pound or 500 g.
Using the desktop version of eBay, I can tap a "quote" button above the reply box which shows the entire quoted post. I then just edit that quoted post down to what I need.
I can't pull this trick with my phone, however.
@amcdc79 wrote:
Expensive is not the word, but scam is probably too harsh, so may I call it a rip-off. Even you have said in the past, that PB shipping and import charges are not transparent. Buyers do not know, because they can't see, a breakdown on how much actual shipping, taxes and fees they are paying. Will the CRA accept our best guess when claiming ITC's?
"Scam" is not only too harsh, but it doesn't fit the definition that you provided. It's not deceptive, it's not fraudulent. I'm not defending the program. I'm defending the truth.
The GSP "import charges" may not be transparent, but one can get a pretty good idea what goes into them by reading the terms and conditions page and the eBay help page attached to it. Given that it costs less than what carriers such as UPS charge for customs processing, brokerage, or whatever else you want to call it, I don't think it's fair to call the "import charges" a scam or rip-off.
Are the shipping charges a rip-off? If you compare them to letter mail (First Class International), sure, but the GSP isn't a letter mail service. If you check out what USPS charges for shipping small items by parcel post (Priority International), then the GSP looks more comparable in terms of cost.
Besides, I think it's unfair to call something a "rip off" without knowing the costs involved. Is the corner store down the street ripping you off when they sell you a 12-pack of Coke for $6.99 when the supermarket a fifteen minute walk away charges $3.99? What if you knew that the supermarket is selling the Coke at a break-even proposition and the corner store is paying considerably more than what the supermarket is paying for the Coke?
Speaking of the terms and conditions, they state "Any GSP Item that you purchase must be for the personal use or consumption of the designated recipient and not for commercial resale purposes." So your point about input tax credits is pretty well moot.
Besides, you're not paying the taxes (and duty) on a GSP shipment. Pitney Bowes is. The "import charges" are your way of repaying the taxes as well as the customs processing costs.
@amcdc79 wrote:
I already posted the "going rate" for first class international, which if I may point out(even with exchange) is cheaper than my cost to ship, to many parts of Canada. I only wish I could ship anywhere in Canada with tracking for less than $13CDN, like US sellers can. If Fedex charges that much, yes I would consider if a rip off, just another reason not to use a courier across a border. Please don't get me started on their "brokerage fees", which is another rip off.
Any professional seller with volume, knows they do not pay the posted rates. You said it yourself, that PB uses freight rates to cross the border, which is cheaper than regular. Once in Canada, their volume gives them the commercial rates from CP, another discount not passed on to the buyer.
When you ship within Canada, you're often paying parcel post rates for items that can ship from other countries to Canada by letter post. Parcel post is subject to stuff like fuel surtaxes and volumetric weight calculations. That accounts for a lot of the difference in price you're seeing.
I do wonder how you're certain that the GSP isn't passing any shipping discounts onto the buyers who choose to use the program. It doesn't seem to account for how I can get a phone forwarded to me via the GSP for less than half the base cost of a FedEx Standard shipment from the USA, which travels by both freight and parcel post.
@amcdc79 wrote:
Regarding the question of lack of information when the item gets to PB, whose fault is it? Obviously the buyer knew what they were purchasing based on the sellers information. The listing when created, had to be put into a category. Since in your words, US sellers get hives when filling out custom forms, why is there not a requirement whereby, any or all information that PB needs to quickly process the item is included.
It's not the lack of information "when" the item gets to Pitney Bowes, but the lack of information on the listing page. There is a requirement that sellers provide information on the item's packaged size, country of origin, etc., in the "item specifics" section of the listing, but for some reason, in its wisdom, PB or eBay have put that requirement in the buyer terms and conditions. I haven't found anything comparable on the .com site for sellers' reference.
If you haven't' scoured the .com site yet for official information on the GSP, I suggest you do so. It's a real exercise in frustration. It's mostly marketing puffery, with little "legalese" attached to it.
@amcdc79 wrote:
I could go on, but your defence of a program most Canadians despise with a passion, just seems strange.
Most people despise the Third Reich with a passion, but they don't regard historians who study it to be neo-Nazis or, in your words, "strange".
I'm not defending the program. I've just tried to find out as much as I can about it and I've managed to use it to my advantage in three--count them, three--instances. Why haven't I used it more? Because it doesn't make sense for most of the other items I purchase online.
But I'm not going to get my Denver Hayes boxer briefs in a twist about it.
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