Thank you for starting this thread, was thinking about doing the same but never got around to it.
I live in Canada and have had very positive experiences from all over the world. Most deliveries take place within 2 weeks. Italy is about a month right now (yesterday received an item I won on eBay Nov 8), and Russia seems to take longer than a month, but everything arrives eventually. I've purchased thousands of items on eBay from all over the world and can count on one hand the number that were lost in the mail or arrived damaged.
As a seller, I've shipped all over the world and have not received any negative feedback about extra-long shipping times coming from Canada.
Now in terms of shipping costs ... there doesn't seem to be a need to send things to Canada via registered mail. I know many sellers in the UK charge extra for registered mail (and more and more seem to be going that route), but know that non-registered arrives in about the same time and is just as safe. Though keep in mind I live in Toronto and I benefit from living close to a large international airport, so I receive packages faster than people living in other parts of Canada.
Some sellers in South America seem to be forced to use DHL for shipments to Canada. This is more costly and adds an extra layer of challenge. Sometimes the seller is told they need to provide the email address and/or phone number of the receiver and the phone numbers on file at eBay aren't always correct and/or it's against ebay policy to ask a buyer for their email/phone number. Side note: I find it fascinating the info that sellers need to provide the post office or DHL office in their home country just to ship an item ... in documentation received I've seen passport scans and even photocopies of the seller's fingerprints!
Global Shipping Program: Sellers, please please please do not use this if you can avoid it. As stated by others, it adds exponential costs and mostly makes it prohibitive to bid on items sold through GSP. Not only are the shipping costs overly inflated, if an item sells for over $40 there are additional import charges added. In the past 2 years I have not had to pay duty/import charges on anything shipped other than through GSP or Fed Ex (though this might be a result of covid/more lax policies at customs), so I am paying substantially more via GSP and like others
I actively avoid listings that are shipped through GSP.
Finally for US based sellers that don't ship to Canada ... WHY?? I've never had any issues receiving items and have never heard of anyone else in Canada having issues either. But I sometimes hear from US sellers that they have problems with mail to Canada getting lost. Weird. Maybe there a few bad apples in Canada claiming lost packages when they aren't really lost and that's left a bad taste in the mouths of US sellers?
Overall my experiences both as a seller and buyer have been exceptional from pretty much every country and I want to thank the whole community for making this international hobby work. Otherwise there would be pretty slim pickings in Canada for football/soccer cards.
