@grif-5704 wrote:
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.
I'm not sure how you were able to tack all these posts onto a two year-old thread that was supposedly closed to further posts, but kudos to you for accomplishing this, @grif-5704. Keep in mind that what was mostly being discussed was eBay's Global Shipping Program, the predecessor to the eBay International Shipping service we see now. eBay International Shipping is still kind of new and I consider it a work in progress with a lot of fine-tuning needed.
I don't think you quite understand how eIS works. Sellers ship items under their own steam by the shipping method of their choice to a forwarding hub in Illinois. More often than not, those sellers will use USPS. And that's the "domestic" use of USPS that I think you're on about. After the item reaches Illinois, it's handled by freight or mail consolidators and logistics companies to Canada.
Sellers on Amazon often have Amazon warehouse their inventory, so that eliminates one step in the item's transit. Also, if you're ordering from Amazon you're likely seeing the item being shipped from one of their Canadian warehouses, so there's no need for the item to go through customs. Those "other US companies" that you deal with also have their items in a warehouse ready to ship.
Interestingly enough, many Canadian buyers prefer having their items shipped directly from the US via the postal system because they're less likely to be assessed and charged taxes and a processing fee by CBSA and Canada Post.
If you don't like how eBay handles your items sourced from the US, you do have the option of setting up an account with a forwarding service of your own choice. The seller would ship to your forwarding service instead of the Illinois hub, and the forwarding service would use the shipping service of your choice (if they offer a choice) to get it to your door. Keep in mind, though, that the use of forwarding services other than eIS would make your purchase largely ineligible for eBay's Money Back Guarantee program.
