Using the GSP program to send item to my P.O Box in town.

[ace_4420]

Okay, here I go!! There is a brooch I would like to buy but the USA seller will only use the GSP method to ship. I have asked many sellers who use the GSP on there listings if they would  ship via the USPS priority international and they have no problem. I live on a farm west a town and get my mail and packages in Devon. I also pay my duties there. The GSP do not deliver to Box numbers. If I buy this brooch using the GSP on his site, will FedX deliver to my Post office in town?

[pjcdn2005]

In the past the gsp used Canada Post so the gsp did ship to PO Boxes in Canada.  I’m not sure who they are using now, but I don’t think that it is FedEx.  Perhaps someone who has used it recently will know.  

The seller might be using FedEx to ship to the gsp Center in Kentucky but the gsp generally uses a different carrier from there.

[femmefan1946]

The Global Shipping Program uses various sub-contractors to ship once in Canada.

The usual* sub-contractor is Canada Post.

Canada Post delivers to mailboxes, including those in POs and community mailboxes.

Not only are the private shippers like UPS more expensive, but they do not ship to smaller destinations. In fact, they usually sub-contract themselves-> to Canada Post, which ships everywhere.

I sometimes get bored and use Google Street View to see where my sales are going.

You would be amazed at how often what appears to be an apartment number is a post office or a mail box supplier.

For example, Box 123 may be posted as Unit 123 with the street address of the mailbox station.

I also pay my duties there.

With GSP all your import charges are paid before your seller even ships, and GSP pays them for you.

*The other one that has been mentioned in complaints here is CanPar, and occasionally we hear of a FedEx delivery.

[marnotom!]

I don’t get the sense that the GSP is wedded to one particular carrier. Somebody who handles the item in Kentucky probably makes a judgement call on the most appropriate carrier and things go from there. My wife purchases a fair bit from a large eCommerce site and her things have been shipped from their warehouse by Canada Post, FedEx and UPS. There doesn’t appear to be any rhyme or reason for the selection of carrier.

Canada Post still appears to be the GSP’s carrier of choice for the Canadian leg of shipments, but if you’re concerned about things going awry, why not add your house address (if you have one) or the post office’s street address to your address information if you think a commercial carrier is going to handle it?

Another possibility would be to add the address of a trusted friend to your shipping addresses on file with eBay and have the brooch sent there, with your friend sending it on to you instead of the GSP. Given that someone posted here a little while ago with concerns about her jewellery purchases forwarded through the GSP disappearing into the ether after supposedly reaching the Canada Post Gateway in Mississauga, this may be the better way to go. Maybe.

[marnotom!]

Clarification: The address of that trusted friend would have to be in the United States in order for this plan to work, as its intention is to bypass the GSP entirely.

[dasher390_0]

I am currently waiting for a purchase that was made using the global shipping program, delivery to Alberta.   I'm not sure if there are delays caused by the corona virus but it took 11 days, via FedEx to get to the global shipping center which is less than 4 hours away from the sellers address.  Now the Ebay tracking says it has cleared customs and a Canada Post tracking # has been added.  Canada Post tracking says 'label has been created' for 2 days now.  I am trying to be positive and hope it is sitting at the global shipping center in Kentucky, possibly because they are running with minimal staff during the health crisis we're all facing at the moment.  

Have you ever looked into using 'Flex Delivery' with Canada Post.  I have a RR address and I am wondering if using a Flex Delivery address would speed shipping

[femmefan1946]

The Global Shipping Program doesn't take charge of the parcel until it actually reaches the Erlanger KY plant.

Some paperwork (collecting import fees basically) happens before the seller is told to ship.

So the 11 day delay is the responsibility of FedEx (and the seller for choosing FedEx, though how was he to know?) and nothing to do with the GSP.

I haven't seen any news of commercial traffic being held up at the border, so if it got on a truck, it's probably in Canada, and the CPO number indicates that.

Canada Post has a robust "sick day" program for its workers, so we can be fairly confident that no one is working through an illness, but there may be some manpower shortages.

[pjcdn2005]

Flex delivery would mean that you could have it directed to your closest post office. I wouldn't think that would make much of a difference time wise assuming that once a packages reaches your area, it goes to your RR box the following day. That's just my opinion though, I haven't used Flex Delivery.