Global Shipping Program; why are GSP being allowed to extort and rip off customers???

[b4zoomlens]

To ship items to Australia these days requires an additional 10% GST to be added to all orders, if these items are NOT being sent via the dreaded GSP from sellers (yes you can opt out)!
So if I purchase an item listed for $100 plus $25 for shipping, the total would be $125US plus the 10% GST = $137.50 right??

When an item for the same price and shipping purchased via the dreaded GSP, they want to add a lot more than 10%and call it 'import charges'.

So, for the above example, instead of me paying the $12.50 GST, the 'import charges' can be as much as $25-$40!! This is on top of shipping!!

I want to know how is this figure broken down and what exactly does it represent as it appears to be nothing but unjustified extortionate profiteering!!

[myangelandmyprincess]

Sellers can opt out and you can also chose to not buy from sellers who are opted in.   I wouldn’t ship internationally without the gsp I had too many issues with it.    

[7606dennis]

Unless I'm mistaken, the "import charges" on GSP orders are suppose to cover any taxes or duties owed on the shipment plus the fee P-B gets for handling the international leg of the shipping.  You really don't think P-B does it for free, do you?

The GSP scheme was developed partially to entice sellers that were unwilling it sell internationally to do so.  Thus if it weren't for the GSP program you may not be able to buy from some sellers.

[castlemagicmemories]

You can research this question, but Pitney Bowes handles the GSP program for eBay, and they don't do this out of the goodness of their heart.  They do charge a fee for performing this service, and that is included in the charges the buyer sees.  They also collect whatever customs fees would be due.

If you don't want to pay that extra charge, just don't buy using GSP.  Look for sellers who ship on their own.  GSP is used by sellers who don't want to ship internationally on their own, so you have more opportunities to buy things that otherwise would not be available to you for purchase.