Will I be receiving unreasonable charges?

[ph0en1xf1re]

Hey

So this is my first time buying anything on ebay, and I ordered a 30$CA Tetris Lamp from Hong Kong (so its not going to be that large or heavy). It apparently includes free shipping, Economy Int'l Shipping, but of course there's the fine print underneath that states "International items may be subject to customs processing and additional charges". Now, I'm a 15 year old guy who can't afford unreasonably high fees, so what kinda of "additional charges" should I be expecting? (I live in Alberta, as I could see that kind of information potentially being necessary)

Your help is greatly appreciated. 

[reallynicestamps]

Actually, I am surprised that you were able to order. At a guess you were using a PP account that belongs to a parent.

You will pay duty on the lamp since it is from a country that we don't have free trade with.

http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/trade-commerce/tariff-tarif/

You'll have to search for the right category yourself.

Then you will have the 5% GST on both price and duty.

Then there will be a service fee from the shipping company. If this is CanadaPost that will be $10. If it is a courier it could be $20 or more.

Note that duty is based on where the item is MADE not where it is purchased. So if you bought the same lamp in the USA you would still be paying duty.

More important.

The seller has only 45 days to get the item to you securely. If your lamp has not been delivered by Day 30 after purchase, Contact the seller and ask for shipping date, service used, and Delivery Confirmation number. It's unlikely that he will have the last, but ask anyway.

If the seller asks for a few days, wait until Day 40 and open an Item Not Received Dispute. If the seller cannot show that the item has been delivered you will be refunded by Paypal who will then go after the seller for their money.

If the seller offers to send another lamp, refuse. Not only is this a common delaying tactic, but this takes you past the time when you can start a claim.

[ph0en1xf1re]

Ok, so based on that link I'll be paying a maximum of about $10 all together for the duty and GST, if duty on a lamp is 19% (assuming i interpreted that correctly). Does that sound about right, or am i missing something?
Also, how can I find out what shipping company it's being sent through?

And yes, I gave my parents the equivalent amount of cash and used their PP, I'd like to be allowed to do that again in the future so I'd rather not have a surprise $50 charge show up on their account haha

[theafkgamer]

Techincally, anything valued over $20 CDN is eligible to have charges added by customs. So technically, you will be charged customs charges + brokerage fees.

If shipped by Canada Post and NOT a courier, normally things valued at a higher price slide through. In my opinion, you won't be charged anything for this. Technically, you should be, but you probably won't. Economy Int'l Shipping (coming from Asia) normally means registered parcel. So if you're not home when the delivery guy comes to your door, you'll probably have to go to your local post office to sign for the parcel.

I work at  Post Office in Ontario, and in my experience, parcels coming from Asia rarely get customs charges. It does happen, but not often. I buy tons of things from Asia, and in again, in my experience, they don't even declare the correct amount on the CN22 form. So when it goes through customs, they see the item is declared as $5 and not the actual value of $30. Of course, that's against the rules and the Asian sellers shouldn't be doing that, but they do.

If you do get charged, you'll be charged taxes (not sure exact percentage) + and $9.95 Canada Post handling fee. If shipped by a courier (for a $30 item I doubt it'll be shipped by a courier), you'll pay those same taxes + a much, much higher handling fee by the courier company. At least double.

Hope that helps.