This may have been on eBay for a while, but I just notice this as I am scouring the web to find irresistible Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals. Probably Indonesia was just recently added as one of the countries eligible for its Global Shipping Program, so it is now shown whenever I am looking at a product page from a US based seller. What is eBay Global Shipping Program? It is eBay’s answer to AmazonGlobal, an added service to allow International customers to order from a US seller and have applicable customs duties, taxes, brokerage and other fees calculated upfront.
Estimated import charges are displayed on the product page.
I have had good experience ordering through AmazonGlobal program, but have not tried it from eBay. I am pretty sure there will be too good of a deal that I cannot afford to miss in the future though. When that happen, I will be sure to share my impressions.
Any of you has tried it? Would appreciate it if you can share your experience.
I see. In your country it is more convenient to pay these charges. Unfortunately in mine it isn’t. It would be nice if EBay could exclude certain countries from the GSP when there is no perceived value to the service while letting other countries/buyers opt in should they so choose.
From my perspective the benefits of the GSP are far outweighed by the negatives (increased chance of damage to a package, increased cost, zero liability when things go wrong, environmentally unfriendly shipping methods and increased transit times).
Yupe, I completely agree. eBay should probably consider to only push GSP to some countries instead of every other countries of the seller. Why fix something that ain’t broken right?
It will be interesting to see if they will hear the customers/sellers voice and eventually change the policies of GSP at some point.
The GSP has it’s uses, when shipping large bulky freight packages – but that’s mostly what EBay isn’t. I don’t see a use for the GSP in 90% of transactions that occur within EBay’s marketplace ( except to cause more headache for buyers and sellers).
I do indeed reside in Canada. However, I don’t believe the GSP is any less of a frustration for other countries. I’ve heard the anti-GSP sentiment expressed strongly from Italians, Mexicans, Germans, Australians, Brits and countless others ordering from U.S sellers.
I’d be interested to know how the GSP has given you a better sense of security and less hassles at the doorstep?
The hassles of ordering from International seller, in my country for example, are the uncertainties when the package arrives at the local customs. If the recipient requires to pay for customs, generally anything valued above USD50, then post office would leave a piece of note with the amount to pay in order to release the goods. The problem is, sometimes you need to go to post office HQ downtown to pay and pick it up.
If by any chance you did not receive the note, then you will have no idea that you need to take actions to get the package. There is always a possibility that the post office somehow failed to complete the paperwork and goods will just get stuck for eternity.
Having a third party taking care all of these things really makes your life easier. You do not need to waste precious hours of your life tracking down the position of your goods. Of course you still probably need to check with the merchant or its partner if your order has not arrived at estimated time. In my experience in Amazon, my order missed by a few weeks and they were happy to completely refund the shipping cost. Not sure GSP offers the same policy though.
Alright, couldn’t resist one last parting jab at PB and the GSP scam…….
My country is exempt from any such fees under NAFTA, which makes any such application of said fees patently illegal. PB, while collecting said fees does not remit them to applicable PST/GST/HST owed (even though this is allegedly part of why it’s being collected).
You have made very solid points here and your dislike of GSP and PB becomes understandable. For marketplaces model like eBay, it is true that both buyers and sellers should be involved more in evaluating the quality and success of new program.
As for your last point, since you mentioned about NAFTA I would assume you reside in Canada? That makes a whole lot of sense to get exceptionally frustrated. If delivery or customs was never an issue, then GSP is only increasing the total charges to buy/sell through eBay.
In the light of this post, customers in other countries such as mine may get more benefits from the program because you will get better sense of security and less hassles to receive the order delivered at your doorstep.
For the sake those researching the GSP who may come across this page I’ll illustrate two other major problems with the GSP;
Currently, as far as I am aware there is no way to combine multiple items under the GSP. For example, you buy two items which cost $20 each, shipping is $18 – $22. Your cost used to be $20 for the item and $18 – $22 for shipping + an additional $2 for the extra item ($40 – $44 total cost) Now the cost is $20 for the item, $18-$22 for shipping, $2 for the extra item + $14- $16 (you pay the import charges twice) making the item $54 – $60. Mind you that’s on a $20 item – the GSP is even worse as your item’s value increases.
Secondly, there is no guarantee you won’t be charged this excessive fee by Pitney Bowes and then be required to pay the same fee again on delivery of your item.
As per EBay’s TOS:
i. Exclusions: You alone are responsible for any customs duties, taxes, surcharges, fines, penalties, or other charges which may be imposed on you by customs or tax officials after a GSP Item has successfully cleared customs and been delivered to (or made available for pickup at) the delivery address specified by you.
You’re welcome!
As someone who has been involved in EBay for almost 8 years, and having seen it all go to shit within the last 3 years it has made me increasingly bitter towards EBay. I find the whole situation extremely frustrating, not only for the reasons listed above (as well as many others) but also because with the automatic opt-in (more so from a buyers perspective) I am forced to waste my time clicking and back clicking on a sellers item page because EBay won’t distinguish between GSP and non-GSP sellers in the search page.
While I have not personally had any negative experiences with the GSP (primarily because I refuse to use it as a seller and as a buyer I avoid patronizing those sellers who do) I have known several people who have had unpleasant experiences with Pitney Bowes, including one occasion where it is alleged they refused to ship an item once it reached their warehouse, refunding the item cost to both buyer and seller (pocketing the rest) then selling the item for a higher price on another auction site.
I apologize if my bitterness towards EBay came off too strongly, but I don’t like being taken advantage of, being asked to bend over by a big corporation that has forgotten it’s roots. WE (buyers and sellers) made EBay what it is and now they have discarded us as they get more greedy every year.
I don’t use Amazon so I’ll have to take your word on that. Although I would never willingly choose to pre-pay a third party shipper anything – I’ll pay what I owe to my own country, once the item I have ordered arrives undamaged, otherwise said third party may decide to pocket excessive fees and then tell me I’m out of luck when something goes wrong……..
I was being overly charitable when I called it a scam, I have heard other buyers and sellers alike refer to the GSP as “rape”
Thanks for sharing more details regarding your opinion about GSP. You have made some valid points there. It seems Pitney Bowes who is eBay’s partner of this program is similar like FedEx or UPS when it comes to the brokerage fee. Seeing that way, I can now understand your frustration and why you feel it is more for a disadvantage to the customers.
With Amazon Global, I have had good experience and found the additional charges calculated to be more reasonable transparent. The best thing about it is because Amazon would actually refund the excess amount if it turns out the customs fee was actually less from their estimation during checkout.
The word “Scam” is quite accurate when used to describe this slick snake oil program.
First,
It increases costs to buyers from other countries exponentially – when added to shipping costs it can, quite easily add up to double the items value.
Second,
The import charges are supposed to be 12-13% of the items value (we all know Pitney Bowes charges much more than this, the word scam is increasingly appealing when describing this little venture).
Third,
Pitney Bowes not only pockets a sizeable chunk from this new scam, I mean “fee” but they also pocket extra money when they open the sellers neatly, well packed item (under the guise of inspecting it of course) remove all the extra weight and re-package it in the most flimsy packaging available. This usually results in the buyer receiving a damaged or destroyed item.
Fourth,
A buyer who receives such a damaged package through the global shipping scam must then embark on a herculean task of obtaining a refund as each party blames the other while refusing to take responsibility. Should such a refund be given Pitney Bowes will not refund their fee (lets say you paid 80$ in import charges, that money is now gone). On top of that you still have to pay to send the damaged product (which is entirely the fault of PB) back on your own dime.
Fifth,
Using Pitney Bowes increases the transit time for a package to almost double what it would usually be (as it gets shipped back and forth across the country until it lands on a full skid of packages going in the right direction).
Sixth,
Many of the items that are being charged this ridiculous fee would either be exempt anyways or would likely fall into a category where they would pass through without being checked. Ergo no fee.
Although, perhaps you are right and “scam” was too harsh a judgement………
Rip-off, loansharking, racket, fleecing, gouging con job are all more appropriate, don’t you think?
By the way, that was a rhetorical question, no need to answer it.
I totally agree, it is exactly the same buying through the UK website as well. Is there a way a buyer can opt out even if they have listed an item and it is LIVE??
Sorry mean’t Seller!!
The Global Shipping Scam, I mean Global Scamming Program is just another way for the bloodsucking parasites at EBay to siphon off more of your hard earned money into their trough. Under this scheme we would now pay more (in most cases more than the item is actually worth) to have it delivered cross border.
Seems like you are not very excited with the program. Did you have a bad experience using it? I do not think this is eBay’s way to get more money out of its customers. When you are using a word as harsh as “scam”, then it is only valid if you have paid but not getting the promised product/service. The way I see it, this is an added service to ensure the order gets delivered to your door step without needing to bail the customs yourself.