Will the GSP CIRCUTIOUS ROUTING Negatively Impact eBay's Sales/Profits ?

[hopewell1988]

"Shipping:

US $15.58 (approx. C $20.27) International Priority Shipping to Canada .

This amount includes seller specified US shipping charges as well as applicable international shipping, handling, and other fees. This amount is subject to change until you make payment. .......

Item location:

Hickory, North Carolina, United States......"

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Spoiler

ATTENTION: eBay

Ordered for a Special Event and a specific date.

Like item from the same Seller and Origin of  Hickory, North Carolina;

prior to GSP, via USPS, delivery took half the time at a cost of approx. 50% less.

With backgrounds in Business, Costing, Marketing, Transportation, IT et al;

along with my years on eBay, this is the most inefficiency I have encountered in a lifetime.

But alas, no more, any eBay Seller who cannot accommodate my request to ship Non-GSP,

will necessitate my future purchases elsewhere.

<>

The foregoing is a common refrain from several eBayers, known to me personally.

Are there any plans afoot to correct this regressive process which seemingly is imbibing

the antipathy being emitted? 

International Buyers are even being hit more severely vis-à-vis:

assessed duty where there is none, circuitous mileage costs, increased carbon footprints etc.

Would appreciate some early response, surrounding this joint common concern.

To aid in your deliberations, please refer to the self explanatory/defeating routing below. 

{{ Here's hoping this shipment arrives ahead of the 'pony express'!  }}

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Time and date                                                                                   Place                                                     Message

Thursday, Oct 25, 2018 3:37 AM                                                      Erlanger , Kentucky                             Customs Documentation and Labeling

Thursday, Oct 25, 2018 3:35 AM                                                      Erlanger , Kentucky                             Processing at Global Shipping Center

Tuesday, Oct 23, 2018 2:30 PM                                                       ERLANGER , KY                                   Arrived at Global Shipping Center

Tuesday, Oct 23, 2018 2:57 AM                                                       Cincinnati , OH                                    In Transit - Destination Scan

Tuesday, Oct 23, 2018 2:57 AM                                                       Cincinnati , OH                                    Destination Scan

Monday, Oct 22, 2018 11:26 PM                                                      Cincinnati , OH                                    In Transit - Arrival Scan

Monday, Oct 22, 2018 11:26 PM                                                      Cincinnati , OH                                    Arrival Scan

Monday, Oct 22, 2018 9:52 PM                                                        Lexington , KY                                      In Transit - Departure Scan

Monday, Oct 22, 2018 9:52 PM                                                        Lexington , KY                                      Departure Scan

Monday, Oct 22, 2018 4:53 PM                                                        Lexington , KY                                      In Transit - Arrival Scan

Monday, Oct 22, 2018 4:53 PM                                                        Lexington , KY                                      Arrival Scan

Monday, Oct 22, 2018 4:44 PM                                                        Lexington , KY                                      In Transit - Departure Scan

Monday, Oct 22, 2018 4:44 PM                                                        Lexington , KY                                      Departure Scan

Monday, Oct 22, 2018 1:27 AM                                                        Lexington , KY                                      In Transit - Arrival Scan

Monday, Oct 22, 2018 1:27 AM                                                        Lexington , KY                                      Arrival Scan

Sunday, Oct 21, 2018 10:15 PM                                                       Columbus , OH                                     In Transit - Departure Scan

Sunday, Oct 21, 2018 10:15 PM                                                       Columbus , OH                                     Departure Scan

Saturday, Oct 20, 2018 2:20 PM                                                       Columbus , OH                                     In Transit - Arrival Scan

Saturday, Oct 20, 2018 2:20 PM                                                       Columbus , OH                                     Arrival Scan

Saturday, Oct 20, 2018 12:23 AM                                                     Saddle Brook , NJ                                In Transit - Departure Scan

Saturday, Oct 20, 2018 12:23 AM                                                     Saddle Brook , NJ                                Departure Scan

Friday, Oct 19, 2018 6:38 PM                                                           Saddle Brook , NJ                                In Transit - Origin Scan

Friday, Oct 19, 2018 6:38 PM                                                           Saddle Brook , NJ                                Origin Scan

Thursday, Oct 18, 2018 11:49 AM                                                    N/A                                                         In Transit - Order Processed: Ready for UPS

[momcqueen]

1. The Global Shipping Program is generally applied to listings that would not otherwise be offered to buyers outside the USA.

2. The de minimus on most items imported by mail is $20 CAD. That’s the law.

3. It’s easy to avoid if you know what to look for on a listing. Or by shopping from sellers located within Canada.

4. As far as paying duty and/or sales tax is concerned, the handling charge is lower that the one assessed by Canada Post by about half, and exponentially much lower than the brokerage fee charged by couriers. Remember, that de minimus is law.

I can’t stress number three enough.

I’m not a GSP apologist by any stretch of the imagination but it’s important to be informed before making a purchase using this program. It’s a mail-forwarding program applied to listings from sellers that would not otherwise be made available to buyers in places like Canada.

(It would appear the seller misrepresented item location as being North Carolina if tracking originates in New Jersey.)

[lady.stark]

What was the item? Because $15.50 is what it costs now to ship a small item via First Class Mail International from the US to Canada. So I would say this listing is pretty "spot on".

[lady.stark]

By the way, it's only been one week since shipment. The average delivery time from the USA to Canada is 2 weeks. So I'm pretty sure it will arrive on time.

[ypdc_dennis]

Not sure what you are going on about, since the GSP only starts when they get the package in Erlanger, Kentucky. Anything before that is the Seller's responsibility.

As for your title question: GSP is still running on eBay.COM after 5 years -- so the Sales/Profits must look good to eBay.

[pjcdn2005]

Until an item reaches the Erlanger center, it isn't handled by the gsp. It looks as if it was the UPS that has really goofed in getting your item to Erlanger, so that in itself doesn't have anything to do with the gsp.  The sellers choice to use UPS for the pre gsp part of the journey obviously didn't work out well.

An item up to 8 oz costs around $10US to send directly from the US to Canada using USPS first class international. If your package was more than that but less than 2 lbs, the cost would be around $16US. It is often more expensive to send a package using the gsp if the item is less than 8 oz. For heavier packages, the gsp can sometimes be comparable or cost even less.  

I'm not a huge fan of the gsp either but I do think that many buyers don't realize what it actually does cost for postage from the US.  It was definitely cheap at one time but USPS international prices went up about 4 or 5 years ago and tend to go higher every year.

[reallynicestamps]

Did you actually read the transit notes?

Your purchase was accepted by UPS on Oct 20.

It then took until Oct 23 to arrive in Erlanger KY and the GSP plant.

Travelling by UPS- not USPS or GSP, which is run by Pitney Bowes (yes, the postage meter people).

By way of NJ, OH, KY and OH again for some reason, and finally Erlanger KY.

Then GSP processed it for customs. which was completed on Oct 25.

Which was YESTERDAY.

It should now be on a truck headed for the Canadian border and the Mississauga Gateway Plant where it will probably be handed over to Canada Post-- depending on where the rotating strikes are being held .

UPS and Canada Post both**** use hub and spoke delivery. I'm surprised you haven't run into this as it is very common and counter-intuitively  very efficient.

While CBSA has very sensibly decided that while  items over $20 CDN (~$16US)  but under ~$100 are not going to be assessed for duty and SALES TAXES when presented by Canada Post, those fees are still legally due and any courier (including UPS which charges $25 or more for customs brokerage  and Pitney Bowes/GSP which charges ~$5USD for the same service) must by law cover these*.

Since you don't say what you ordered, we can't tell if it was manufactured in the USA (or Mexico) and thus duty free under NAFTA**

I've been selling by mail order since around 1975, and based on my experience I allow about 20 days for a shipment from the US to arrive. Usually it's faster.

But not usually less than the six days that have passed so far.

*Obviously, they are charging the recipient for duty, SALES TAX  and their fees.

** It's still NAFTA***, the renamed version has not yet been accepted by Parliament or by Congress.

*** or any of the other dozens of free trade pacts Canada is signatory to- including TPP and CETA.

**** So does USPS. And FedEx-- remember Castaway?

[retroman_studios]

Won't affect profits.

Let's be honest here: eBay does what is profitable. If the people don't like it, they won't use it.

Plus, most users don't bother reading the terms and conditions that are presented when buying GSP items.

[marnotom!]

---

@hopewell1988 wrote:

Ordered for a Special Event and a specific date.

Like item from the same Seller and Origin of  Hickory, North Carolina;

prior to GSP, via USPS, delivery took half the time at a cost of approx. 50% less.

With backgrounds in Business, Costing, Marketing, Transportation, IT et al;

along with my years on eBay, this is the most inefficiency I have encountered in a lifetime.

But alas, no more, any eBay Seller who cannot accommodate my request to ship Non-GSP,

will necessitate my future purchases elsewhere.

<>

The foregoing is a common refrain from several eBayers, known to me personally.

Are there any plans afoot to correct this regressive process which seemingly is imbibing

the antipathy being emitted? 

International Buyers are even being hit more severely vis-à-vis:

assessed duty where there is none, circuitous mileage costs, increased carbon footprints etc.

Would appreciate some early response, surrounding this joint common concern.

To aid in your deliberations, please refer to the self explanatory/defeating routing below. 

{{ Here's hoping this shipment arrives ahead of the 'pony express'!  }}

---

eBay listings have delivery date estimates on the listing page.  You should also receive that information in your emails from eBay at the end of sale.  If you didn't like the delivery date estimate on the listing page, why did you purchase the item with the hope it would get to you sooner?

The GSP may not be as efficient in terms of time as an air mail shipment from the United States, but it's no worse for the environment.  People who are critical of what they perceive of the GSP's carbon footprint overlook the fact that shipped items are not on the equivalent of a cross-continent road trip in a Subaru Outback, but, rather, on a bus ride.  The bus ride may take longer, but it carries more passengers than an Outback, and runs on a set schedule and route, picking up other passengers in locations that the Outback may miss.

Also consider that the GSP serves about 100 countries and everything that goes through the GSP gets routed through the one processing warehouse in Kentucky.  That strikes me as being pretty efficient and better for the environment than several warehouses scattered throughout the continent that use water, electricity, probably other fuels, and, most importantly, land and construction materials that could likely be put to better use.

If you really wish to avoid the GSP and there's a "must have" item from a US (or UK) seller who won't sell you the item without it, consider getting a US address to have your item shipped to.  Then you can have a human being forward it to you rather than a corporation, or else go on a road trip in your Outback to collect it at your earliest convenience.

[cadbuyer2015]

Without getting into a political debate, I can confirm that the travel time for shipments has substantially increased with the GSP. I'm not sure about cost though, but for the price we pay, I would prefer it be mailed directly to me, rather than using GSP. 

Amazon has clearly figured this out, why hasn't eBay?

[reallynicestamps]

ZOMBIE  THREAD FROM 2018

The problem withzombie threads is that the information in them is out of date and sometimes no longer correct.

If you have a specific problem it is best to start your own thread.

As mentioned in the old thread, the OP was complaining that GPS was slow when the slow and erratic shipping was actually handled by UPS.

It is interesting that the "high fees" complaints have almost completely disappeared since CBSA is now applying duty to items valued over $150Cdn and tax over $40. Previously the import fees started at $20 value for both.

AZ generally ships from within Canada.

Anyone using GSP shipping is by definition exporting to Canada from the USA or UK.

[marnotom!]

---

@cadbuyer2015 wrote:

Without getting into a political debate, I can confirm that the travel time for shipments has substantially increased with the GSP. I'm not sure about cost though, but for the price we pay, I would prefer it be mailed directly to me, rather than using GSP. 

Amazon has clearly figured this out, why hasn't eBay?

---

Amazon has a completely different business model.  Many Amazon sellers pay to have their items warehoused at (or "fulfilled by") an Amazon warehouse.  This can affect turnaround time considerably.   eBay sellers don't have an eBay warehouse from which to ship.

Something else to consider is that while GSP shipments have slowed due to the impact of COVID on online buying, so have shipments with other carriers, most notably the US Postal Service.

Also consider that while Amazon Prime shipping may be speedy once it happens, sometimes buyers have to wait several days before their items are actually shipped out.  "Next day" shipping seems to be largely a thing of pre-COVID days.

I'm surprised more buyers haven't figured this out.

[kh-leslie]

Hi everyone,

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

Thank you for understanding.