Fair enough

I think i was angry when i wrote that haha. In Canada, we do get hit really hard when buying stuff from the US through ebay. Its mainly because of the poor dollar conversion, and the rediculous pitney and bowes global shipping program. Sellers using that program transforms a $50US item (15-20 in shipping then 10 in import fees) into an item that can go up to $80US which is about $100cad. I understand the cad dollar is like 70-75% to the us dollar but from a Canadian's perspective its deceiving when you see an item and ur thinking oh its only $50... when its all said and done its almost double that after all the nonsense! Thats just for a flat rate small box as well. Nothing crazy.

I used to only buy stuff if a US seller used USPS for their shipping provider because I could buy things without being dinged up to about $250 and shipping would typically be between $8-15. (side note:The Canadian dollar was also about 90-95% to the US dollar at that time so it wasn't so bad). Now it doesn't make a difference. Biting the bullet has never hurt harder than now.. I'm sure it works the same way for an American buying something from Canada thats if the Canadian priced their items accordingly to
US rates.

As for the taxes... Like i said I think I was angry after I bought something and was a bit clouded hahah To correct myself, I think we only get hit by taxes from stuff in Canada outside our own province. I haven't noticed any tax charges from the US which makes sense since I'm in Canada. Regardless, buying stuff from the US right now is a nightmare as I described above. Although I still do it from time to time cause there is too much good shit there that i know i'll most likely never come across.


 

I really don’t understand all you Canada people talking about seeing USA prices and feeling duped by it. If I go on ebay.ca it explicitly shows prices in CAD not USD, regardless of item location. What’s going on here?

USA items


CAN items

Also, interestingly enough, I noticed that tax is only charged on the item's price, excluding shipping. So if you have a $90 item with $10 shipping you'd pay less in tax than a $100 free shipping item. Not a big deal, but I've noticed the tax has been applying that way on my purchases.

Why would that come as a surprise?


 

Because with ebay they include shipping as part of their fee structure, so I also figured they would charge tax on shipping.

This may entice people to go back to listing that $100 item as $5 with $95 shipping.   

 

Exactly.  Ebay has been applying Final Value Fees to shipping for years, which pissed off a lot of people.  I'd expect them to put sales tax on shipping too, so I am surprised they did not. 

But this only impacts buyer not seller.  Seller has no incentive to do $5 / $95 as you mention because they still net the same (per eBay fees applied to shipping).  Only difference is buyer would pay less in taxes.

eBay isn't in the position to decide what is and isn't taxed.

They can charge fees on whatever they want as long as they clearly state it in their user agreement.

But sales taxes are dictated by states.

Edit: looking up a map on the issue there are way more states that potentially tax shipping than I would have expected.

Seller's incentive is that someone in the know would buy his identical $100 item over the other guy since they'll be saving $5+ on taxes.   Granted, that's not much incentive, but that'll set you apart from the crowd.
 

Some states require sales tax on shipping as well. Welcome to CT. They'd tax air here if they could.

Yeah, and I guess in Jonebones case being in Maryland, he'd expect the same kind of excessive taxation.

If ebay is reporting taxes to each state, they should be taxing shipping on states that require it. Whether they do or not idk.

Move to New Hampshire!   That's like a 5 minute drive for you.

Except with their property taxes, the cost of living is similar so I wouldn’t really benefit  . 
 

I see the search results in CAD and when you click on the listings they show both with exception to the import fee for whatever reason. Here is a comparison as to what we see in Canada compared to what you'd see living in the States. I personally don't care what's displayed but you can see how quickly the fees and shipping add up with the poor exchange. $234 USD buying from the US compared to $281 USD with the exchange making it $380 CAD buying from Canada. $80 for shipping and import fees on a $250 item is more than I'd be willing to pay and why I never buy from through the GSP. 

I also love the "No additional import charges at delivery!" like they're doing you a massive favour  

Personally speaking, I used this as a good excuse to shut down my eBay account. Long story short... The combination of how bad people inflate their asking prices with this makes the way I currently buy things a smarter option for me. Then again, I also import most of the things I want. So that should show had bad I feel this is in comparison.