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Surprisingly, "scam" is not defined in my trusted Collins English Dictionary.
Looking at online definition for "scam" none of them seem to apply to the service for a fee provided by Pitney Bowes
Basically, a "scam" is a dishonest scheme; a fraud.
Banks charge $40.00 or so when someone writes a cheque without funds in the account (NSF). Would that be a scam?
When I bought items which included shipping by the GSP, no one had a gun to my had forcing me to push the button.
However, if I wanted the items.............. and I did............ then the only way to acquire them was by also purchasing something that I knew was very bad for me.
Calling the GSP a service is a misnomer.
It's a con: A scam............... An unnecessary and unwanted processing of parcels prior to delivery disguised as a service.
It's fooling some of you too. 
There must be something about eBay buyers, perhaps they only buy on eBay and never anywhere else.
Try asking the Canadian customers of LL Bean, New Egg, Cabala's and numerous other major etailers who ship to Canada under the exact same terms as the eBay GSP system (ie: all duties and taxes paid up front).
I'd guess that many of them see it as a great convenience, no more going to the Post Office to pick-up packages, no more having someone knock on the door demanding payment, no more wondering what you will have to pay etc.
Of course these companies actually know what they are doing and I doubt any of them use Pitney-Bowes thus their buyers also get extremely fast delivery times.
When I search for your item on eBay.uk, I find:
Both the shipping charge and the "import charge" are shown in the listing. "import fee" include VAT which is payable at time of Customs clearance.
If you did not agree with the fees, why did you bid?
What is the problem?
While on eBay.uk, I checked "global shipping" and the system brings me back to .com:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/shipping-globally.html
During checkout, the buyer sees the final charges, including:
The item price
The shipping charges
The import charges
The shipping charges include any US shipping charges that you specify, as well as applicable international shipping, handling, and other fees.
The import charges include applicable customs duties, taxes, brokerage, and other fees.
In addition to the final charges, the buyer sees the amount paid to the seller and the amount paid to the global shipping provider. You receive the item price and the domestic shipping and handling amount that you specified directly from your buyer.
Quite frankly I fail to understand why Her Majesty Revenue & Customs (HMRC) would object to having VAT collected. I suspect someone there was ill informed and Her Majesty wants the money!
I think recped was very clear in his message: a lot of the whining by some Canadian buyers is the result of lack of experience and knowledge in purchasing cross border other than on eBay.
Canadians who have purchased from LL Bean and other US retailers shipping to Canada on a tax prepaid basis do so for the quality of the products and service and convenience not to have to pay taxes/fees at time of delivery
For example, from LL Bean:
"By ordering goods from L.L.Bean, Inc., you authorize our Customs Broker to act as your agent to transact business with Canadian Border Service Agency (CBSA) to clear merchandise, pay duties and taxes, and to handle any merchandise returns and refund claims on your behalf. You further waive and transfer your right to receive the actual amount of refund of duties and taxes to our Customs Broker. All duty and tax paid will, in turn, be refunded to you directly by L.L.Bean, Inc. If any portion of your order is being shipped to an address outside of Canada, Canadian duties and taxes will not apply to that portion."
And that is basically whet Pitney Bowes does on behalf of American sellers using GSP
To suggest "most likely because the items they are selling are also subject to duty, and not only tax" proves recped was correct. There is a lot of ignorance out there and assumptions made that have nothing to do with facts.
It does not change the fact that GSP is not suitable for most small transactions by most Canadian buyers. However, it would be nice if posters would get their facts straight instead of assuming... assuming and assuming.
@i*m-still-here wrote:
@recped wrote:
Try asking the Canadian customers of LL Bean, New Egg, Cabala's and numerous other major etailers who ship to Canada under the exact same terms as the eBay GSP system (ie: all duties and taxes paid up front).
I'd guess that many of them see it as a great convenience,
recped, I was curious to see if this was true as you've posted the same thing several times, and so I processed an item at one of the stores you suggested.
The reason they are doing things this way is most likely because the items they are selling are also subject to duty, and not only tax.
Also note that they have free shipping, no brokerage fees, handling fees, or anything else.
In other words, the added cost to land an item is a fraction of the GSP.
The only added costs are tax and duty. Nothing more, and so they are well aware that their customers would hit the road were they to start gouging them with GSP-type shipping costs.
It has nothing to do with Duty being applicable, of you imnport anything into Canada over the free limit it's subject to duty (unless exempt under NAFTA), who the shipper is makes no difference.
The brokerage fees and shipping are INCLUDED in the selling prices, you pay them just not as a seperate line item.
These companies operate in this manner vecause buyers like it, they like to know exactly what their complete total will be when they hit the submit button in checkout.
It also makes the whole return process much easierm these etailers all have local Canadian addresses for customer returns, buyers don;'t have to worry about recovering taxes they paid or Canada Post fees (incidently higher than what PB charges through GSP).
Most import of course, no involvement of Pitney-Bowes!
My main point is that GSP type system can and does work well and results in a high level of customer satisfaction if done properly.
"recped has brought up the fact that some American companies charge taxes upon purchase by way of justifying the way the GSP pre-clears items,"
????
That is not the way I read the posts by recped. That is not what he wrote and I do not think it is what he meant. He is not "justigying" GSp in any way.
Rereading his posts leaves a pretty clear message. I do not see why or how it is being misunderstood.
