eBay

timoffit_0 · ‎12-13-2016

why are sellers being allowed to charge 2X to 10X over the actual cost to ship ?

i.am.vivian · ‎12-13-2016

@timoffit_0 wrote:
why are sellers being allowed to charge 2X to 10X over the actual cost to ship ?

There is a policy that prohibits excessive shipping charges although I have never seen anyone charge 10x the actual cost for anything. The cost usually depends on the service used.

If you are looking at GSP listings those are really expensive and some say overpriced, like $18 to mail a postcard, but that is because of the company used and has nothing to do with the seller, who may or may not know that GSP is even on the listings.

Sellers ARE allowed to add the costs of packaging, like if you buy a large crystal punch bowl you will want it to come really well packaged and that much wrapping will not come cheap.

Also so many sellers are completely convinced that if they do not send the item TRACKED then the buyer is absolutely going to steal it. So they only use the tracked parcel services on items like Pokemon cards and that can cost $12-$15. Many items can be mailed with just postage stamps but those tracked services are really costly and it is the sellers choice to use them.

Other than GSP listings, I haven't seen charges that are that far out of line. For cheap items most sellers just "self insure" and add a bit extra to every order so that when they have to refund a thief they do so out of their personal "insurance". Just find a seller who is shipping the item for a more reasonable fee.

femmefan1946 · ‎12-13-2016

Do you know the actual cost to ship?

Here is the Canada Post website.

https://www.canadapost.ca/cpotools/apps/far/business/findARate?execution=e1s1

And here is the USPS one:

https://ircalc.usps.com/

To add to the confusion many US sellers do not realize that there is a different, slightly cheaper , rate card for Canada than for International shipping.

And the Global Shipping Program, which. long story short, combines shipping cost with applicable duty and SALES TAXES (mostly sales taxes, thus the emphasis) on any purchase over $20CDN (about $16 USD).

However, you do get to think about the total cost of your item, including shipping and import fees, before you click that Pay Now button.

rosscd57 · ‎12-13-2016

Simply put - if you don't like the shipping fees - don't purchase the item.

__________________________________________________________

Old enough to know better. Young enough to do it again. Crazy enough to try

musicyouneed · ‎12-14-2016

Can you be more specific? You don't need to be exact but if you can give us an idea of what you consider excessive. Is it coming from the US, what type of shipping are they using, what are they charging to ship to the US vs Canada, are they using GSP are they using priority or a courier service?

Also I have noticed that listings that are using GSP are not showing the duties that you will have to pay until you go to checkout.

Depending on the item, I sometimes include the shipping amount in the price of the item. For instance I will offer free shipping but it is not really free shipping, it is just in the cost of the item. Or I split it, increase the price of the item by a few dollars and show the shipping as lower than it really is.

Also people who do not do any shipping have no idea of the costs. I often laugh at people trying to send a parcel to some place and the person at the postal counter gives them the price, they almost freak out at how high it is. Shipping is expensive, sometimes more than the actual article. Size and weight matter, for instance I can ship a CD across Canada for $3.10 but if it is a larger jewel case then the cost goes up over $11.

You have to look at total price. If you pay $1.00 for the item and $9.00 for shipping Total $10. Or you pay $10 free shipping. Or you pay $8.00 for the item and $2.00 to ship. It's all one and the same.

This is a good reason to buy Canadian.

femmefan1946 · ‎12-14-2016

Last week I sent a calendar as a Christmas present to Scotland.

Too big for Letter Post or Light Packet, it cost $19.30 to ship.

No tracking or anything special.

But the counter clerk was very nice when I explained our friend was a philatelist and not only used her round stamp on my postage but also insisted on using the $5.00 Flag stamp which I'm sure rarely gets commercial use* as part of the extra stamps needed to meet the cost.

*It's about 10cmx7cm and made of fabric. The $8 Grizzly Bear is still my favourite.

i.am.vivian · ‎12-14-2016

In the spring when I ordered a book I wanted it came with postage stamps and one of them was the biggest stamp I had ever seen. I forget the denomination and didn't save it (not being a philatelist) but it looked like it could've wrapped a grapefruit. I asked the seller if she had to get a moose to lick it for her and she said No, she got the Labrador to do it. 🙂

femmefan1946 · ‎12-14-2016

Since the $8 Grizzly came out, Canada has been making those big high value stamps. There is a $5 Moose and a $10 Whale as well, but the $5 Flag is a commemorative for the 50th anniversary of the Flag.

i.am.vivian · ‎12-14-2016

@femmefan1946 wrote:
Since the $8 Grizzly came out, Canada has been making those big high value stamps. There is a $5 Moose and a $10 Whale as well, but the $5 Flag is a commemorative for the 50th anniversary of the Flag.

Those are nice. The one I got was an older one I think. I wish I'd saved it now. It wasn't really dinner plate sized or anything, about 3x4" thereabouts, but was just wrapping paper to me. I tried to google-find it but no luck. Obviously not something rare or special. This grizzly story came up though. A lot more goes into one of those than I'd thought.

https://www.rpsc.org/Library/grizzly/grizzly.html

jt-libra · ‎12-14-2016

Just a general comment about purchasing from the U.S. It doesn't matter that we think we've done our due diligence, we can still make a mistake from time to time .... at least, I can.

I purchased a pair of hard-to-find boots from a U.S. seller. The price was fine and I was satisfied with the shipping cost ($17.00 economy shipping). It wasn't being shipped through the GSP so -- I don't know what I thought, or I guess I didn't think -- I expected that it would be shipped through the USPS. When it arrived, there was a $20 customs and import charge. It was the dreaded DHL shipping. They charge a flat fee of $10.00 plus the related taxes. It was totally my fault for not asking. I stay away from FedEx or UPS but this stated "economy shipping".

I've bought a few things shipped through the GSP and, fortunately, have not had a problem. The price plus shipping was acceptable; the parcels arrived fairly quickly and none of them had been opened and re-packed.

doc_scribe · ‎12-16-2016

@femmefan1946 wrote:

But the counter clerk was very nice when I explained our friend was a philatelist and not only used her round stamp on my postage but also insisted on using the $5.00 Flag stamp which I'm sure rarely gets commercial use* as part of the extra stamps needed to meet the cost.

*It's about 10cmx7cm and made of fabric. The $8 Grizzly Bear is still my favourite.

Of course, you know your stamps, so I'm not about to tell you something shocking here. But I've been a loyal user of that $5.00 Canadian Flag stamp since its introduction. Overseas customers in particular love it...especially folks from Europe, the U.K., or Commonwealth countries...who routinely send positive thank you messages citing its classy 'shimmering' linen production values. Whenever possible, I even include its 50th Anniversary commemorative frame as well, figuring that serious collectors might appreciate that little background detail.

Honestly, I cannot recall any other large denomination stamp that's been so universally well received around the globe*, and expect to continue using it as long as our substation can still order them.

* except for those lenticular 50th Anniversary Star Trek stamps which American's in particular went bonkers over.

reallynicestamps · ‎12-16-2016

BTW-- sellers are charged a 10% fee on their shipping charges by eBay.

In some cases, this is a higher fee than is charged on the actual sale.

It's complicated.

Which is cheapest?

A $5 item with $10 shipping?

A$10 item with $5 shipping?

A $15 item with Free Shipping?

mcrlmn · ‎12-19-2016

I've been wondering the same for years.

I avoid them.

mdf_jersey · ‎12-19-2016

Reallynice stamps wrote;BTW-- sellers are charged a 10% fee on their shipping charges by eBay

And that is the reason why sellers can charge what they want for shipping. Ebay is OK with it. At the end of the day its additional revenue for Ebay at the expense of all sellers. Merry Christmas

i.am.vivian · ‎12-19-2016

@mdf_jersey wrote:
Reallynice stamps wrote;BTW-- sellers are charged a 10% fee on their shipping charges by eBay

And that is the reason why sellers can charge what they want for shipping. Ebay is OK with it. At the end of the day its additional revenue for Ebay at the expense of all sellers. Merry Christmas

The reason sellers are charged a fee on shipping costs is to keep it fair. Too many people would otherwise put ALL their costs into their shipping fee. List a $1 item but a $50 shipping charge and basically pay eBay nothing to list and sell here.

Seller's can't really "charge what they want" because if the charges are excessive they can be reported, but more important is that no one will buy. That is the problem GSP items have. No one is willing to pay $18 to ship an ordinary postcard.

All sellers add their eBay and PayPal fees into the cost of their items, whether they use "free shipping" or split it up separately. Everyone does it and so its not as if any one seller is pulling a fast one. There are those who put too much profit into their shipping fee because they think buyers are stupid and can be easily tricked, but they usually end up with the low DSRs and negatives they deserve. That will no longer hurt them but it still shows.

EBay has to charge SOMEthing. A site like this is expensive to run. Where else is the money going to come from? Donations? 🙂

shiac2006 · ‎07-14-2017

I have stopped using ebay and rarely will buy from US sellers. Their shipping fees are totally thievery.

Shopped many years on ebay but not I very rarely shop there.

They also charge customs and duty.

I have never, never in many years ever been charged customs and taxes when I shipped USPS. I have purchased hundred of items over the years for company and personal. If a shipper charges ridiculous shipping fees and taxes, I pass. I will only buy if they ship USPS.

This is plain thievery no matter what you want to call it. I have brought my business elsewhere where they are reasonable in their shipping prices.

Don't get me wrong I love Ebay, just hate being taken advantage of by gready sellers.

Those that are positive about this practice are the gready sellers.

Robert

reallynicestamps · ‎07-14-2017

Any import valued over $20 Cdn may be assessed for duty and Sales Taxes.

The shipper is also allowed to charge a service fee.

Canada Post charges $9.95.

Even if no duty is applicable (for example on used goods) Sales Taxes of from 5% to 15% of value are still applied.

CBSA and Canada Post have made the common sense (but technically illegal) decision to ignore low value small shipments on the basis that it would cost more to assess the import fees than could possibly be collected. (Customs agents earn between $40K and $80K annually).

If you think $20 Cdn (about $16USD) is too low and should be raised, write your MP

Your Member, MP

House of Commons

OTTAWA ON K1A 0A6

You don't even have to stamp the envelope. How's that for a deal?

rose-dee · ‎07-14-2017

Or ... when you search for an item, click on "Canada only" under Location on the left panel.

Understand though that if you're buying from a seller who is a registered business, they will have to charge you the HST/GST applicable to your own province. Look on your cart breakdown when you choose an item to see if tax will be added. However, there are many Canadian sellers whose annual income is small enough not to have to register to collect tax.

At least when buying from Canadian sellers on eBay, there are no middleman costs such as Canada Post (or Pitney Bowes if it's the GSP programme on eBay) charges to collect the HST/GST on a parcel coming from outside Canada.

By the way, don't blame eBay for the GSP -- the purpose of the programme was mainly to help U.S. sellers navigate the difficulties of selling outside the U.S. by collecting what the government of Canada says they must collect in taxes. That is, anything coming into Canada worth more than $20.00.

The fact is that if you're buying anything from a U.S. eBay seller worth more than around $125.00, you'll be paying about the same in HST/GST and fees as you would if Canada Border Services assessed your parcel and Canada Post charged you their $9.95 fee on top of the HST/GST they collect from you when delivering the parcel.

Most Canadians have no idea they've actually been getting away with murder for decades by not paying tax (HST/GST) on purchases coming over the border that are less than about $125.00. Which is why so many have complained about the fact that the GSP programme actually collects it. Whoops.