Why is shipping via ebay so much slower than by Amazon ?

[mentor_ron]

When I purchase items through Amazon.ca they seem to arrive within days, often "free".

When I purchase an item through ebay.ca (from the USA) where seller has used International Priority Shipping, I am charged much more and the package seems to be shipped all over the place before coming to Canada.

I know the estimated delivery time in the order shows much longer than seems reasonable, but now I know part of the reason why. Here is the current status of my purchase. It is being shipped EASTward from Colorado when I am in the Pacific NORTHWEST.  Have to watch and see how many miles this package has to travel when the highway distance between seller and buyer cities is 1533 miles. I assume it is headed for Erlanger, Kentucky and maybe through Winnipeg ???

[reallynicestamps]

International Priority Shipping is not a thing.

It's a name used by eBay to cover any shipping service the seller may use, including USPS /UPS/FedEX/ GSP-Pitney Bowes.

And all of those shippers use Spoke and Hub shipping.

Which just means that the few shipments from Henderson CO (population under 10,000) go to the nearest "hub" (a USPS postal terminal ?) apparently in Kansas City (pop 1,168,000) where those occasional shipments are amalgamated with hundreds, perhaps thousands of others heading to Canada*.

Those thousands in one big truck go to, possibly Winnipeg, or Mississauga, but probably to Richmond BC, those being Canada Post's three major terminals.

Then the truck is opened and Canada Post sorts them back from those "hubs" down the spokes to your town.

* If your item was purchased under the Global Shipping Program, it does as you say, first go to Erlanger KY but the principal remains the same.

The seller ships to Erlanger. There her responsibility under the Money Back Guarantee basically ends and the GSP takes all further responsibility for shipping.

The GSP is a SELLER PROTECTION program.

[reallynicestamps]

With eBay you are buying from a guy in Henderson CO. He is sending your purchase as directly to you as he can.

With Amazon you are buying from Jeff Bezos and he has dozens of warehouses all over North America (the one in Ottawa has been closed down for two weeks by the OC Health Department because of an outbreak of COVID19. The workers can't afford to take time off if they are sick and they work in tight quarters.)

So your AZ purchase may be shelved in a warehouse in Seattle or Los Angeles.

BTW.

There is no such thing as Free Shipping.

When I sell a book here, I offer "free shipping" but that just means my shipping costs are included in the price I ask for  the book.

When I sell on AZ (because AZ does have a lot of private sellers) I am required to charge a shipping cost of $6.49.  At least eBay doesn't compete with and undercut its sellers.

Your AZ purchase includes all of AZ's costs, including their cost of shipping. It's not a line item, but it's there.

[teenytrinkets]

Shipping from Amazon is faster than EVERY retailer - not just Ebay. Unless it's 3rd party (which I avoid).

Shipping from US sellers on eBay are likely sent via the Global Shipping Program. There's lots on these boards about it to help understand it better. It can take FOREVER! Patience is key! 🙂

[marnotom! · Accepted solution]

I'm probably going to say much of the stuff that's already been said, but differently.

You're looking at two different business models.  Amazon sells and warehouses most of its own merchandise in locations throughout North America.  In addition, there are sellers on Amazon that may choose to have Amazon warehouse their merchandise for them rather than ship the merchandise from where they're located.  These sellers will not qualify for Amazon's "Prime" service and you not see shipping times of a handful of days from them, unlike the merchandise that is in an Amazon warehouse awaiting purchase.

eBay does not sell or warehouse merchandise.  Sellers ship merchandise either from their own location or have it "drop-shipped" from their suppliers to buyers.  (Some Amazon sellers may drop-ship as well.)  Some US and UK sellers may choose to have a service called the Global Shipping Program forward their items rather than ship directly to the buyer.  In the case of the US Global Shipping Program, sellers ship the item to Erlanger, Kentucky and from there the item is sent to one of about 100 countries that are covered by the program.  Items may seem to take a roundabout way to reach Canadian buyers, but that's the nature of a forwarding service, and while it's a bit awkward for us Canadians, it's not such a big deal for buyers in the other 99 or so countries served by that program.

It's not so much that eBay shipping is "slow" than it is that Amazon shipping is mind-bogglingly quick in comparison.  Amazon's warehouse model allows them more control over the shipping process than eBay does.  Using express shipping helps, too, of course, while the Global Shipping Program and most eBay sellers shipping directly will use standard shipping.  "International Priority Shipping" is just a catch-all term used by Pitney Bowes (admininstrators of the GSP) to describe a network of freight forwarders, logistics companies, and local/regional carriers.  The actual transit time of a GSP-forwarded item can be significantly affected by the seller's distance from the Global Shipping Center in Kentucky and the speed at which the item reaches the Center, amongst other factors, of course.

[marnotom!]

Just spotted an editing gaff in the first paragraph. To clarify, Amazon sellers who have their goods warehoused by Amazon (i.e. who participate in the “Fulfilled by Amazon” program) will see their listings qualify for Amazon Prime shipping.

Don’t forget, Prime is a subscription service that buyers have to pay extra upfront to get, sort of like a Costco membership. That free, fast shipping is underwritten by buyers. eBay doesn’t and can’t do something similar.

[teenytrinkets]

Your explanation is great! The OP's question is, in my opinion, indicative of the problems we face these days as sellers - and why Ebay keeps giving sellers the shaft. Buyers are expecting the "Amazon Experience", right down to the 1-2 day shipping, free cancelations, free shipping and free returns. It's mind boggling that logic can't produce any other insight as to why their experience may be different with sellers on Ebay.

Now while the GSP may not be super logical, the necessity for it has become apparent. I can see American buyers being oblivious to long shipping delays and strange routes, but I would think Canadians should be used to this by now!

It's frustrating as a seller that buyers are constantly looking through the Amazon Goggles. They don't realize it's mom & pop selling from their garage, buying packing materials from the dollar store and driving down to the local post office in their small town and paying and arm and a leg to ship. This is like night and day from how Amazon operates! Amazon is the WORLD'S largest retailer for cryin out loud!

Anyway, seller rant over! From a buyer's perspective Ebay is awesome! If you can't find it on Amazon Prime, Ebay is a close second with a 30-day money back guarantee and free returns. Regardless of how long shipping takes, this is one of the best online retail deals out there. It can just be a waiting game sometimes...

[marnotom!]

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@teenytrinkets wrote:

It's frustrating as a seller that buyers are constantly looking through the Amazon Goggles. They don't realize it's mom & pop selling from their garage, buying packing materials from the dollar store and driving down to the local post office in their small town and paying and arm and a leg to ship. This is like night and day from how Amazon operates! Amazon is the WORLD'S largest retailer for cryin out loud!

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Thanks for the kudos on my post and thanks for your great post, too.  I completely agree with your "Amazon Goggles" assessment.  I really don't know how buyers come to the conclusion that eBay and Amazon work the same way or ought to work the same way.  The two sites have a completely different feel to me.

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@teenytrinkets wrote:

From a buyer's perspective Ebay is awesome! If you can't find it on Amazon Prime, Ebay is a close second with a 30-day money back guarantee and free returns. Regardless of how long shipping takes, this is one of the best online retail deals out there. It can just be a waiting game sometimes...

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Amazon is great if you're looking for brand-new items that aren't too far removed from the mainstream and you're looking for them to be competitive on price.  eBay is better for one-of-a-kind or more unusual items, both in terms of selection and price.  Amazon's warehouse model costs sellers money, and I've found similar items much less expensive on eBay than on Amazon and I've attributed that to the fees Amazon charges its sellers for the privilege of sharing shelf space in a stadium-sized storage facility.  Most of the time, I'm not in a big hurry for my purchases and I can handle a bit of a wait.  If I'm really in a hurry, I'll do my darndest to buy it locally and support a local business.  In fact, even if I'm not in a hurry, I'll try to buy locally first.

[mentor_ron]

Thanks to all who have replied with lots of welcome information.

I agree with all that has been said, with one caveat: some small items have been sent very quickly to me from the USA through ebay, but maybe those sellers just used the post office. I had no need to question how THEY shipped 😉 Possibly they were larger store merchants who could operate in a different manner ?

As I have said before, the only concern I have about this round-about way of shipping is the chance that a one-of-a-kind item might be damaged or lost and just recovering the original price minus shipping costs would be extremely disappointing. 

I can get items shipped from China just as fast in some instances, such as the item in attached photo !!

[marnotom!]

Keep in mind that Canada is the States' largest export market.  There's a lot, I mean a LOT of US stuff that goes through various channels in Windsor, Mississauga, and other points "down there".  While we may make a big deal about "everything being made in China" now, China is still pretty dwarfed by the United States when it comes to direct sources of goods.  If you buy stuff from the UK or western Europe, you'll also likely find it reaches you pretty quickly compared to the United States.

[cleaninghouseinc]

Global Shipping Program is a farce, not reliable and slow. 

[eatmya_4760]

bro im ordering things in canada and its taking 2 weeks for them to get it to me. im going back to amazon

[kh-phdan]

Hello Everyone,

Due to the age of the thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue discussing this topic.

Thanks for your understanding!

[grif-5704]

It’s ridiculous. The fact they use USPS is just crazy, slowest domestic mail carrier for international delivery. Just looking at the tracking shows your how feeble USPS is. It ends up going all over the US for two weeks before it comes to Canada. I will stick to Amazon. I’m done with eBay overpriced shipping that takes 3-4 weeks to get to Canada. Unacceptable..

[grif-5704]

None of that matters, there are faster options, and eBay refuses to take them and insists on overcharging for USPS incompetence.

[grif-5704]

Or just don’t use eBay. A lot of the eBay sellers use Amazon anyway, so cross reference, see if it’s on Amazon, get it three weeks earlier and $20 cheaper. Simple.

[grif-5704]

Prime is a nominal charge that eBay takes with just one shipment. In regards to shipping eBay is pathetic, Amazon is brilliant.

[grif-5704]

From the buyers perspective eBay sucks unless you’re OK with waiting four weeks to get a record LP from Michigan to Ontario.

[grif-5704]

Here’s the thing, Sellers that use FedEx or UPS on eBay manage to get their products to buyers in one week. USPS is the problem… they are a crazy slow, domestic United States, mail carrier. They have no business being an international shipper. A good seller on eBay will use anything but USPS to get their goods to their buyers. I ask Sellers now if they use eBay Global shipping, if they say yes, I go to a different seller.

So to all the people saying that eBay shipping is normal, and Amazon is the one that’s not normal… that’s just not true. I order lots of products from directly from US companies not using eBay or Amazon and it’s almost always brilliantly fast. Why? because they have the common sense not to use a domestic US carrier that is notoriously slow.

[grif-5704]

You certainly don’t speak for everyone. I don’t look at it that way at all. USPS is the problem, eBay insists on using a domestic mail carrier for international shipping. I order directly from US companies all the time, and none of them are as slow as eBay, because they all have the common sense not to use USPS for international shipments. That’s all Amazon does differently. It’s not rocket science.