Global Shipping Program... SLOOOOW and EXPENSIVE

[aramatic]

While the GSP may have its uses for shipping to dodgy parts of the world, it simply puts me off as a Canadian buyer. I recently bought a vintage calculator for US$15. The shipping cost was $10.85, which was reasonable. What wasn't reasonable was an extra $5.16 for so-called "import charges". These simply don't exist for such inexpensive items crossing the border. Even worse, the shipping method is incredibly indirect and time-wasting. From San Angelo, Texas the calculator went to the GSP facility in Erlanger, Kentucky. From Kentucky it was re-sent to another sorting facility in Mississauga, Ontario. From Ontario it made its way 3,000 miles across to me in BC, a full week later than the estimated delivery date, which is hardly surprising. Where is the sense in any of this?

[reallynicestamps]

Good idea to put this on dotCOM where sellers using the program may learn more about what their customers are experiencing than adding to the 5000+ post thread on dotCA.

However.

While items like calcultors are zero-rated for duty, any item over $20 Cdn is assessed for duty and sales taxes.

Tax is due even if the item is used and even if there is no duty.

Your $15 USD calculator cost $18 Cdn. So no tax and duty.

However it looks like you were charged a service fee of $5.16(USD?) for PitneyBowes/GSP work in making the assessment and in shipping the calculator from their plant in Erlanger KY to you in Canada.

Most couriers call it 'brokerage' and charge $25 or more for the same service. (Which is still bogus, in my opinion).

If your seller had sent your purchase by USPS directly he would have had Delivery Confirmation by using USPS First Class International Parcel shipping.

But try and find it on the USPS website.

https://postcalc.usps.com/?country=10440

You would have to know to choose Size and Shape and then scroll to the bottom of the list of available services.

For a boxed 6oz item the cost would be $10. It's equally likely your seller would have chosen Priority International Small Box for this at $25.95.

You can avoid GSP by:

• Search on a computer not a mobile device
• Use List View not Gallery
• Look for the warning "Customs services and international tracking provided" which indicates that the seller is using GSP shipping.

[slippinjimmy]

About the ONLY sense of it is to make available internationally items from US sellers who are unwilling (or maybe unable) to ship outside the USA.

Because of the process any shipment to Canada that is over the CA$20 free limit (even 1 cent) gets taxed. As you have experienced, shipment that corss the border through the postal system are rarely taxed unless they are declared at about $100 or more. When they do get taxed you'll get hit with a ridiculous $10 fee from Canada Post on top.

Your best bet is to just consider both charges as a lump sum and remember that if you bought it locally in Canada you would be paying GST/HST no matter how low the value.

[slippinjimmy]

Your $15 USD calculator cost $18 Cdn. So no tax and duty.

Today US$15 is CA$19.85 but just a couple of days ago it would have been over $20.

[aramatic]

Oh, I thought I was on dot.com not dot.ca. I'll re-post. And I certainly do think twice when I see the shipping method as GSP. It usually bumps the price up to ridiculous levels for smaller items, and that's even before the "import charges" that are calculated and added only after you've agreed to purchase!  BTW, for the calculator I mentioned I paid a total of C$20.10 for shipping. I could have sent it as a Canada Post Small Packet to any address in the US for $11.52 or possibly even $8.78 with careful packing.

[castlemagicmemories]

Even if your country does not have import charges, the company handling GSP, Pitney Bowes, has charges for performing this service.  

The Hub for GSP is in KY.  That is how the program works. Then it is sent on to Canada.  How it handled in your country may be something you want to take up with your postal system.

In general, international shipping will take longer than domestic shipping, simply due to greater distances.

[reallynicestamps]

You are on dotCOM , and it is useful for American sellers to see how their non-US buyers percieve the GSP.

If you need advice on handling a problem with a GSP shipped item, the place to go would be dotCA.  We've seen everything.

Items that are around the $20Cdn de minimus are always tricky because the exchange rate changes constantly, particularly when the stock market is nervous as it has been for about two years now.

It's a mug's game to compare shipping costs between two postal systems. For example, Canada Post is a Crown Corporation and is profitable almost every year, while USPS is self-supporting but not profitable. 

Both post offices will be raising rates in January 2019.

[reallyhardtofind]

The Global shipping program is a joke. Buyers hate it and that's part of the reason why they shop elsewhere.

[aramatic]

A joke indeed. For items that aren't huge or expensive USPS is a far better option. Sellers don't profit from the GSP in any way. I've heard some say they don't want to spend time at the post office filling in customs forms. No need to. Making postage labels at home with customs info is a snap with USPS, as it is with Canada Post. All you need to do is drop the package off.

[aramatic]

I think you're missing the point. Why should a postal delivery from San Angelo, TX to Nanaimo, BC not be direct? It is if the package is sent by USPS services. All the extra middlemen and sorting facilities are a waste of time and resources.

[reallynicestamps]

Because all shipping services use hub and spoke systems today.

It is counter -intuitive, but more efficient.

It's still looks a little nutty that if I sent you a postcard from here in Victoria to Nanaimo, it would take the ferry to Richmond for processing and then come back to Victoria and drive up-island to Nanaimo for delivery.

Or if you want to go to Castlegar, you might be routed by way of Calgary.

It's cheaper to put thousands of pieces into one container from all over the country, then ship them to a central point where they get split up again. There may be 30 people headed for Castlegar, but they are all over BC. Gather them together in Calgary and moving them gets simpler than having 30 separate flights into Castlegar.

[berserkerplanet]

>>I think you're missing the point.

No you are missing the point.

Some buyers want any duties and fees prepaid (although for Canada buyers that is apparently not a big issue), but more importantly, some sellers don't want to ship internationally, and GSP solves that problem for some. And it's more than dealing with customs forms.

(I'm one of them. Between PayPal and credit card 180 day buyer protection policies and the rise in them coming into play, rise in entitled and/or scammy foreign buyers, eBay seller metrics, tales of "customs hangers" , and flakiness of foreign postal services and ball dropping when it comes to updating delivery status on tracking, I chose to abstain from any more international sales years ago. Having the GSP option MIGHT make me change my mind on some items.)

It's obvious on listings if GSP is being used. I even wrote a GreaseMonkey script to mask out GSP results in search results a couple of years ago.

Don't like it - don't use it.

If a seller is using it for something you "have to have", ask them if they would be willing to ship direct (they would have to change the listing before purchase for that to work I believe). If they won't , well then I guess it sucks to live in Canada (or anywhere else US sellers don't want to ship to).