Import fees?

[sokioku]

I had recently bought a steelbook for the 2012 movie and to my surprise when paying there was a $12 import fee. Not only was it not in the description of the item listing but the seller was unaware of any import fees. The seller had checked their invoice and it wasn't there, however when I was paying it was.

Is this some sort of new eBay policy when buying from the USA? I'm very unhappy with eBay for this. This discourages me from buying from the USA since I'm unable to tell what auctions have import fees and which ones do not.

[sajibraj]

If its is clearly stated in listing/ policy in ebay that a seller is not responsible for any Import charges that should have been resolve issues with negative feedback.
Any item below $50 should not have any duty in canada but sellers in US are charging that.
Ebay's policy is discouraging me not to buy anything from US and over all boycott ebay overall.

[tomgauthier13]

This is 100% a money grab & makes no sense whatsoever!  If you have to pay a duty tax you pay that when you get the item, it's as simple as that!  If the seller or ebay is getting paid because they need a broker that's there problem and like they say "the cost of doing business".  As a long time buyer from ebay I will not be purchasing items off ebay anymore that I can get else where, doesn't make sense to.  It's bad enough there's hidden charges with paypal & now ebay is directly screwing you.  I see Amazon stock rising in the future!

[77z28black]

I just got burned by the hidden import fee.. shame on you eBay... but my bad I will pay extra attention next time !
The only good GSP is George St- Pierre !!

[marnotom!]

Free trade is about eliminating duties, not taxes.

If free trade were about eliminating taxes, you wouldn't be paying sales tax on that leaf blower made in Mexico that you bought from Canadian Tire.

The GSP is not a "money grab" for eBay. You need to familiarize yourself with how the Global Shipping Program works for buyers. It basically adds GST/PST/HST to any purchase that should be subject to those taxes. Items sent by mail get off the hook a lot of the time, but not always. When they don't, Canada Post adds a C$9.95 charge to the tax bill.

Info on the GSP:
http://pages.ebay.ca/shipping/globalshipping/buyer-tnc.html

Info from the Canada Border Services Agency:

http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/import/postal-postale/menu-eng.html

[marnotom!]

Once you stop viewing it as a "money grab" (Money grab for whom, by the way?) perhaps it will start making sense. There are a lot of well written explanations on how and why personal imports are taxed in earlier posts and comments on this thread.

Actually, collecting taxes upon receipt of the item is actually an unusual way of doing things. It's the postal service and Canada Border Services that's being oddball about this, not the carriers that Pitney Bowes is using.

[marnotom!]

Incidentally, Amazon folds any taxes owing on an imported item into the price of the item. I've compared the same item from the same seller on both Amazon.com and Amazon.ca and the price of the .ca item was a lot more expensive than the same item on .com. (This was an item that was "fulfilled by Amazon".)  GST and PST weren't added as separate line items when I saw the invoice.

[femmefan1946]

bid on a set of action figures that cost $207 CAD

NAFTA is an agreement that covers manufacturing. Most of the action figures I have seen are manufactured in China. Canada does not have a Free Trade Agreement with China.

Doesn't matter that you bought in the USA. It's place of manufacture that matters.

At 15% sales tax, you would owe $31.05 on your imported figures.

If your seller shipped by USPS/Canada Post there would also be a $10 service charge.

If your seller shipped by UPS /courier there would be a $25 or more customs brokerage charge.

The Global Shipping Program seems to charge $4.95 as a service charge. The big difference is that the commercial shippers will ALWAYS charge the duty, tax and their own fee. Canada Post is very lax about this. And it costs the taxpayer, I suppose.

It is not mandatory for a seller to use any one of these shipping services. But the duty and tax are mandatory on any imports valued over $20 CDN.

[boyinto]

I've made many successful purchases from the US on ebay and this is the first time I've seen an import fee. Is it applicable on all shipping methods?
Its a real deterrent when your item price doubles after you buy it. I expect shipping costs but this is getting crazy. Not worth shopping here really anymore.

[msampson05]

These charges are going to lose eBay business in the long run, I was looking at a tie for 20$ and the import fees were another 20$. It's like they pull them out of their a$$...

[jhssparky]

Something like 98-99% of the sellers that were asked about the Global shipping fees had no idea what it was or why.

It never shows on the sellers side of the transaction, only a "small print" warning on the buyers side.

Also, most (90-95%) of items passing through customs never actually get nailed with customs fees.

If a practice/policy is hidden/omitted from either the buyer or seller is it really legit?

[coe1acanth]

Sorry marnotom!, you're wrong, at least in some cases. Why should I pay money on this bogus GSP program to purchase vintage, used car parts--that were originally manufactured in USA?? I called Canada Customs and confirmed this fact, there is ZERO duty charges on such items. If they were manufactured anywhere in North America and purchased by a Canadian, there should be NO "import charges". In this case, it's definitely a Pitney-Bowes cash-grab.

[coe1acanth]

Btw there is plenty of discussion on the matter here, since you like quoting URL's:

http://community.ebay.ca/t5/Buyer-Central/New-compulsory-Import-Fees-from-USA-to-Canada/td-p/71379

You might want to see what's *actually* going on behind-the-scenes, not just look at eBay's own info page on the GSP or Canada's government website.

[tonerama]

Hmmph - Import charges my bottom.  Line our corporate pockets - more like. A $35 import charge on top of a $25 shipping fee for a pair of well priced running shoes, essentially makes the total price the same as I can buy the item for in Canada. The whole point of eBay is to take a little risk on actually getting the item described, waiting a few weeks, and gettting a 20-40% discount on the price. The ludicrous shipping charges will make ebay as useful as Amazon dot effing com to Canadian buyers. eBay might as well just announce they do not ship to Canada, as impose these unsulting fees. Talk about not being in tune with your customers? Holy feck!

[lucia344]

I agree. This import fee is ridiculous and a total money grab. Completely turned me off of buying or selling on ebay. I've been a loyal ebayer for years but this is a new low for Ebay. Very discouraging to any consumer.

[taramialee]

The Global Shipping program IS a rip off. We are charged huge additional fees that we normally would not be paying with regular mail. I stay clear of any seller using this program since my one horrible, expensive experience with it. (On items like purchases of used clothing; the additional charges are particularly ridiculous.)

[taramialee]

Yes; but the seller may lose customers for neglecting to understand the shipping program they are selecting: this program is the seller's choice: that means the seller better know what fees their customers are having sprung on them: otherwise the seller will receive neg feedback.
If you look: the 'fees' are only estimated, and final fees are added AT CHECKOUT. No, it's not upfront.
BAD program for Canadians. STAY AWAY from anyone using it.

[originalguy11]

Agreed. I guess I'm done buying on ebay now. Total disappointment. What a rip off! Shame on you for ruining your site, ebay.

[tunesrus2012]

Agree to the fullest..May as well for get EBAY and buy retail, much cheaper

[wildbil32]

This is done for one simple reason, it makes EBay and PayPal more profits which is a crime!!!

There is the subject of free trade between Canada and the States, but EBay seems to think it's above the law!!!!

Let's say someone from the States who lives right across the Border from me sells me something, with this Global shipping **bleep** I have to pay the same price as it would to ship[ the goods all over Canada

The Sellers love it (the crooked ones) because they are profiting from shipping. The honest sellers will give you a true cost by the measurements as it has always been. If you have a seller who will only ship globally, tell him to drop dead and find someone else!! Most people will ship the old way as it's only fair to the buyer.

Finally, do you know why EBay started this Global Shipping Fiasco ???? A seller lists an item and from that point on EBay makes money. For the listing, for any changes and for the sale if it does sell. What a lot of people don't know is that from the time of listing ,to the time of shipping EBay gets a cut of the total cost...including shipping!!!!! So if you add $20.00 to the equation to shipping, who comes out on top!!!

Now don't get me going on the illegal items sold on EBay (do a search of human skeletons and bones and watch what happens ) Good for some , not good for honest people!!!!!!!

[ghaghnos]

I think I have to find an alternative way to purchase item on line