This rant is going to be looong........
I hadn't bought anything for a couple of months so I don't know how long this procedure has been in effect since it doesn't appear to apply across the board for all items/catagories. ebay has now started collecting an 'import charge' which is remitted to Pitney Bowes.
I think I have only ever paid duty on receipt for one item in the years I have been buying. It was on a larger ticket item and I paid at our post office. I realize Canada Post has always been slack when it came to collecting duty, but if they don't care ...... why the hell does ebay and Pitney Bowes??
I was wanting another cell phone, started following the one I wanted and this is how it went.....
Starting bid $9.99, shipping $17+, import charge $0 (to be based on current bid)
Two bidders bumped it up to $11, shipping went down to $10+, import to $6+
I had placed a max bid, so my bid followed by another or both of the other bidders brought it up with no change to shipping/import. It stayed this way till the end of the auction when someone tried to snipe me with 20 seconds left to go. In the last 5 min. I increased my max bid from $34 to $43 just to have that extra edge. My final bid came in at $26 in the last seconds to counter the sniper. As soon as it showed me winning the shipping changed to $13+, the import charge to $7+. I wish I had taken a screen shot of the payment page before I went forward.
Here is the final breakdown I located on my Paypal account.
To the seller $29.09 (bid $26.00, shipping $3.09)
To Pitney Bowes $17.79 (shipping $10.15, import charge $7.69)
Total of $46.88......when converted to CD and add in those extra cents/dollars that always seem to slide over to Paypal without explanation $50.08 CD.
Why two shipping charges? $3+ is not enough for shipping to Canada, $10+ more like it.....but why is the seller not collecting. And who the hell is getting that import charge? Does Pitney Bowes remit that to Canada Customs? And why?........if they've never bothered collecting it themselves.
To top it off the seller was in contact with me and it turns out the address he received was for Kentucky!! I'm thinking he was sent the info on the last second sniper and the shipping estimated for that distance. I supplied him with my correct shipping address and he apologized saying he would need another $5-6 to cover international shipping. I'm glad we were in touch, cause god knows where the phone would have gone. I sent him that via Paypal with a few questions in mind, but am thinking ebay/PB are also screwing over some sellers as well. With converting back to US funds and god knows what Paypal charges him to receive the extra bit for shipping I sent $8 CD just in case. Now up to $58.08.
When did Pitney Bowes get into bed with ebay, what was the purpose of this and has anyone been able to make out the tangled garbage of an explanation posted on the site??
http://pages.ebay.ca/shipping/globalshipping/buyer-tnc.html#programfees (and this is only PART of the 'Terms' !!)
Payment to your Seller: PayPal will transmit to your Seller's PayPal account that portion of your payment consisting of the GSP Item price and the amount (if any) charged by your Seller to ship the GSP Item to the U.S. Shipping Center. Since when did a seller ship to a 'shipping center'? Mine thinks he's shipping to ME!
Remittance of Program Fees to Third Parties. Upon receipt of your payment of the Program Fees, Pitney Bowes shall be responsible for paying its service providers for fees owed to its service providers and for remitting Commodity taxes to governmental authorities, as applicable.
So who is P/B's 'service provider' and which 'government' are they remitting the so called Commodity taxes to??
And the best one...............
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.SERIOUSLY?
You just charged me an import fee, on top of your shipping fee, on top of what you alloted as his shipping fee and I still may have to pay duty!!!!!!
Don't get me wrong......provided the phone works, I still got a good deal..........but as far as I'm concerned if I'm paying the $$ then it's the seller who should benefit (minus shipping/ebay fees of course). I don't want to pay padded shipping fees, plus an import fee if the seller is shipping directly to me and I am still liable for duty on arrival.
Rant over........time for more pepsi and a cig or two.
