This website will answer all your questions in unrelenting detail.
http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/import/postal-postale/menu-eng.html
My question is if I have a shipment from a single seller with multiple items totaling to over 20$, will I be subject to these fees? Or is it just if a single item is worth over $20?
It's the shipment of multiple items from a single seller.
Just think-- if The Bay bought 10 000 vases in China, at ten cents each for sale at $50 each, should they be assessed for duty? That's a shipment with a value of $1000. Of course they will pay duty.
If I have 10 items with each item being processed by different sellers, but the total cost equating to over 20$ - will I be subject to these fees?
Each shipment would be assessed and processed separately. If each is valued at $2, there would be no duty applicable.
(Being processed separately I would assume not, but..?)
Somehow I can't imagine CBSA holding all your shipments somewhere in the hope that they will total $20 in value eventually. No, they just shove them through as quickly as possible.
If I have two items worth over 20$ each but are delivered on separate days - will I be seeing the Canada Post charges x2?
To complicate matters, CBSA takes the intelligent stance that it makes no sense to assess duty (and sales tax) on imports when the cost of the assessment will be lower than the duty (and sales tax) collected.
So the 'real' duty free level is somewhere around $100.
But sometimes, especially if the parcel is very bulky or heavy, or if the officer gets suspicious of the value marked or if the sniffer dog is agitated, they will double check even parcels marked with a $5 value.
Always expect to pay duty (and sales tax).
And don't forget the $9.95 Canada Post service charge.
Finally to sum up -
Umm. I thought I was confused before.
But.
If you get a whole bunch of stuff in one shipment and the TOTAL value is over $20CDN, expect to pay duty (and sales tax). The value of any given item in the shipment is irrelevant.
Oh, and brokerage vs duties .. they're essentially the same thing, right?
No.
Duty is a tax (as is sales tax).
Brokerage is an action. You can broker your own items through customs if you have a few hours, transportation to the CBSA plant in the middle of nowhere, and infinite patience.
Your time is worth 17 cents a minute at the lowest minimum wage in Canada. Keep that in mind too.
Customs brokering and service fees are the same thing, but that money goes to a shipper (UPS, Canada Post, Pitney Bowes) who wrangles your purchases through the CBSA process of assessing duty (and sales tax).
And.
Most Chinese sellers use US dollars.
Your $15 USD purchase is about $20CDN and may be dutiable.
PLUS
It is more likely that the import fees you pay will be mostly your province's sales tax (GST/PST/HST), not duty. Plus a service fee from the carrier for brokerage which can range from $0 (DHL often used by Chinese sellers) to $10 (Canada Post) to $25+ (UPS? FedEx).
