The only action eBay ever took was over the $0.01 items with $200 shipping, which was basically sellers trying to avoid seller fees. This has since been rectified with fees on both the shipping and the main selling price.
Other then that I don't believe there is a policy. Examples given in some of these posts are either a broken eBay shipping calculator, arbitrary values the seller threw in, or a glitch in the bulk listing program they're using. E.g. 272528024461a $10 XLR to RCA cable from a seller that someone pointed out, using 90210 as a US postal code:
- Economy Free
- Expedited $8.48
- Overnight $75.98
- Canada $237.40
- Guam $12.98
- Tonga $252.45
- Australia $254.10
Inspecting their store some prices are correct to Canada, while others are broken. With 9000 feedback, I'd assume it's not "price gouging" and hundreds of examples of this do exist. They're a high enough volume seller that they probably don't care to fix their international shipping issues on specific items. You're not likely to run into this issue on more unique items and if you do you can always request a shipping quote from the seller.
The GSP, to be clear, is the Global Shipping Program, run by Pitney Bowes. All they do is pre-calculate any import fees and duties and charge it up front. They then funnel all the packages to their main facility clear them and forward them for distribution to Canada. Their packages are shipped to them in the US typically by USPS and to destinations in Canada by Canada Post.
eBay has recently started charging sales tax in certain states that I've exported to (WA), not sure if they do it only when a Canadian seller sells to the states and if the GSP does it when a US seller exports to Canada, or if they now do the regional sales tax ABOVE the GSP fees.
Personally I avoid buying items that ship via GSP if I can, since I'd rather roll the dice with regular post and not get hit for any duties then pay 100% every time. When I was buying a lot I maybe got hit with the yellow CBSA duties sticker 1/20 (This was over 10 years ago things might have changed). Though I have been charged $1.50 duties on a $10 item PLUS a $10 CBSA handling fee.
Fedex and UPS are a whole different ballgame. $60 brokerage fees plus duties on a $100 item. Not sure if that is still the going rate but I haven't really touched them for years either.
Now on the opposite end of the spectrum, shipping rates ranging from $150-$250 are a thing, so eBay would have no way to police it. I've paid $215.55 to ship a package to South Korea, $196.87 to Australia, $102.51 to the USA, $151.17 to Russia, and $249.30 to Lithuania as a few examples. Typically these are because to certain destinations, if you want tracking, you MUST ship XpressPost, and most of these items had $1000 insurance on them. The built in eBay calculator will never include insurance which can be up to an extra $30-$40. Moving up to XpressPost for tracking to Lithuania doubled my listings shipping price, which I just ate for the sake of moving on. Obviously weights and sizes come into effect from these examples but it gives you an idea.
Insurance is mandatory from me for high value items as the seller is responsible for dealing with lost items in post. Canada Post lost an XpressPost shipment from Ottawa to Toronto but will only reimburse you for the insured value plus shipping cost. Value of sale was $140 plus shipping, reimbursement was $100 plus shipping. I waited for Canada Post to confirm the claim and then refunded the buyer. Your issue there would be if the package is found and delivered after you refund the buyer, you would no longer be able to claim the insurance, hence out the $140.
Kind of went off topic, but hope that helps explain.
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