Canadian seller using USPS

[ledisme]

I'm confused. I always avoid buying anything from the USA or overseas over $100 Canadian to avoid taxes and Duties. I bought an item from a seller in Quebec, Canada, their location is set to a city in Quebec. I live in B.C. I purchased the item... They shipped by USPS? So that means I'll get nailed with duty and taxes. I get the feeling they aren't located in Canada and are located in the USA. Says the estimated time for arrival is March 29. ( They don't respond to messages) but tracking shows it was dropped off to USPS and heading to Illinois. Are sellers allowed to use fake address locations, then ship from a different country??

[msau4301]

Though it wasn't a USA/USPS case I've had something similar happen when I bought an item showing seller was in Canada (B.C) but tracking showed it being shipped from Australia! I had messaged the seller since I was confused and thought this would also add to the timeline (it was a gift) and seller reassured me they had a warehouse in BC and that the item was travelling from one of their other locations to their Canadian warehouse, it would be faster than estimated time showing, and I would not be charged any extra duty.

When the package did arrive (and faster than I would have thought), the shipping label read Canada Post so I guess that is what they did. As far as the taxes go you would have already been charged taxes by eBay directly as that is what is mandated now for them to do.

[fh991586]

There is typically no duty for most of what you would buy from a US seller, so don't worry about this.
Sale taxes are also already charged by eBay within Canada, so no difference from paying them as an imported item (you need to pay taxes anyway).

You could only ding the seller in comments if you had to pay a handling fee for brokerage, or if it takes more time for delivery than what you could expect from a national delivery [we don't kow what's the estimated delivery time in your case, and if it's comparable].

[marnotom!]

@fh991586, @ledisme stated that the estimated delivery date for the item is March 29 and that it was headed to Illinois, so it's looking like an eIS shipment to me.

@ledisme, you say that the seller is located in Quebec City, but I'm not clear on where the listing stated the item was located.  Is that Quebec as well?

Also, did you pay BC PST and GST at checkout as you normally would with an item from a Canadian eBay seller?

[reallynicestamps]

They shipped by USPS? So that means I'll get nailed with duty and taxes.

Under the new version of NAFTA, imports from the USA are only charged if the value is over $150Cdn and taxes if over $40 Cdn.

I get the feeling they aren't located in Canada

It's possible.

It's also possible they are personally located in Canada but are dropshipping from the USA.

It's also possible they are using a forwarder like chitchat express, to take advantage of lower USPS shipping rates.

Says the estimated time for arrival is March 29.

They are either being very very cautious or dropshipping from overseas.

Arrival dates are odd- I had two parcels shipped to the same person on the same day using different services (long story) and one showed  arrival would be the next week the other, like yours, a March date.

Those arrived a day apart.

but tracking shows it was dropped off to USPS and heading to Illinois.

Glendale Heights IL?

They are shipping from the USA using eBay's eIS forwarding service.

Usually the import fees are prepaid on those.

NEVER WATCH TRACKING.

[ledisme]

Yes, item was also in Quebec. Also says ships from Canada in the listing. Yes, I was charged gst and pst. There is no tracking, but it lists the shipping method as USPS letter mail. Since there's no tracking, I have no idea where it is or given a date for delivery. eBay is saying if it's not here by the 29, to contact them again. I'm just confused why they shipped it by USPS if they are in Canada and the page says ships from Canada. I shouldn't have been charged tax if it was shipped in the USA.

[ledisme]

Ya, I've noticed tracking on items I buy is highly unreliable. I currently have an item that was shipped from Washington State (right beneath my BC province) and the item went to Illinois and it says delivered on Feb 9, and that's it. Tracking stopped. 11 days now, nothing. So I try not to pay much attention to tracking, since it's useless at times. It's possible it's in route and tracking just glitched. At least that's what I want to believe so I don't stress over it.

[marnotom!]

---

@ledisme wrote:

Yes, item was also in Quebec. Also says ships from Canada in the listing. Yes, I was charged gst and pst. There is no tracking, but it lists the shipping method as USPS letter mail. Since there's no tracking, I have no idea where it is or given a date for delivery. eBay is saying if it's not here by the 29, to contact them again. I'm just confused why they shipped it by USPS if they are in Canada and the page says ships from Canada. I shouldn't have been charged tax if it was shipped in the USA.

---

I'm pretty confused now.  In your first post, you said the item's tracking stated that it was being sent to Illinois.  Now you're saying it's sent by USPS letter mail without tracking.  What does the listing page state for a shipping method?  Was the item listed on the .com site in US dollars?

It would really help to clear a few things up if we could see the original listing page, but I understand if you don't wish to share that.  

Given the very lengthy delivery time estimate, I'm wondering if this item is being handled through the older eBay International Standard Delivery program or something similar that's not run by eBay rather than through the newer eBay International Shipping.  Is the item something that can ship as a letter domestically, such as a trading card?

[pjcdn2005]

The seller may not know how to set up .com listings with a generic shipping method so they specified usps. but that doesn't mean they actually used usps.    They likely used Canada Post lettermail which doesn't have tracking either.  If the item doesn't arrive by the estimated delivery date shown in the listing when you made the purchase, you can open an item not received claim on the following day.

(I'm assuming that this is not the item that got sent to Illinois)

[ledisme]

Ya, your correct... I'm getting my shipments mixed up in my reply before. This item does not have tracking. It just says shipping by USPS. I'm really hoping to get it, so I'll wait it out a bit. They have all positive feedback, so I'm hoping this is just a glitch in Shipment method and Canada post is just slow. I get stuff mailed without tracking sometimes and I usually always get it at some point.

The Illinois thing .. that's a purchase I made from someone in Washington State. This item is tracked, and shows it went to Illinois and it says delivered to depot. Then tracking just stopped. 12 days now no further movement in tracking. So this one is frustrating me too and eBay doesn't know what to do cause it's with the ISP and at a depot.

I'm probably just panicking and over thinking all this... I'm sure it work out in the end. Both items are graded cards, so I'm hoping to get them.

[ledisme]

I'm sorry for the confusion. I'm dealing with two different shipping issues with eBay. This one I'm taking about above does not have tracking. Item was listed in Canada as the seller is and yes, it was listed in $US. Says item is shipped by USPS letter mail. No tracking was entered. Yes, it was a graded sports card.

The other item I'm mixing up is an item shipped from Washington State and it went to the Illinois Depot and the tracking just stops at the depot. 12 days and counting. eBay doesn't know how to deal with the ISP item being stuck in a depot... So I've been told just wait till the delivery date, then file a request for refund.. but the seller has already messaged me and said he will just refund me if I don't get it by the delivery date. This seller has excellent communication.

Sorry for mixing up the Illinois thing.

[marnotom!]

---

@ledisme wrote:

The other item I'm mixing up is an item shipped from Washington State and it went to the Illinois Depot and the tracking just stops at the depot. 12 days and counting. eBay doesn't know how to deal with the ISP item being stuck in a depot... So I've been told just wait till the delivery date, then file a request for refund.. but the seller has already messaged me and said he will just refund me if I don't get it by the delivery date.

---

NO!  Do not let the seller refund you, @ledisme.  Go through eBay's Money Back Guarantee process.  Trust me on this.

Once the item has been accepted at the eIS forwarding hub, eIS takes over responsibility for the item's safe passage.  The seller has no need to involve themselves in any shipping concerns the buyer may experience.  They will get to keep the proceeds from the sale if eIS has indeed dropped the ball on this and failed to deliver the card to you.

The big reason why buyers shouldn't allow sellers to give them refunds on eIS-forwarded shipments, though, is that the seller can't give you a full refund.  eIS can.  The seller can only refund what they received for the shipment, which is the price of the item plus whatever they charged for shipping the item to the eIS hub.  They can't refund what eIS charged you for shipping the card from Illinois to you because they never received that money.

If, however, the seller sent the card through eBay International Standard Delivery and not eBay International Shipping, that's a completely different ball of wax and the seller would be on the hook for a refund of an undelivered item.  Just thought I'd better put that out there just in case.

[reallynicestamps]

The item that says it was shipped Lettermail should have been shipped from Canada to Canada, since it is actually illegal to ship "goods" internationally by Lettermail.

No problem with domestic shipping though.

That doesn't mean it wasn't shipped by Lettermail from the USA to Canada, just that the seller was taking a chance.

Lettermail is not tracked ->except-> if the seller also Registered it (Canada Post charges $9.75 for that) which is about the same price as domestic parcel post.

Shipping is complicated.

Bear with me.

EBay charges sales taxes from the Buyer's location whatever country the seller is in. My US customers pay state sales taxes. My European customers pay EU VAT.

If you buy online from now on, expect to pay your provincial sales tax plus GST. Anywhere. Canada/Australia/China/ Mauritius/ USA /Tuvalu.

And on any site.

Governments look on this as protecting the home retail market. It won't change.

For the item that was shipped with tracking to Illinois, that would have gone to the eBay International Shipping plants.

There are two , both half an hour from O'Hare airport and five hours from Windsor  by truck.

Now those 12 days are not "business days".

Look at the calendar. How many of those days are weekends or holidays?

If they arrived on Friday the 9th, there are four  weekend days in there, plus Family Day on the 19th.

And/or the US has Presidents Day then too, if it is still in the US.

However.

The tracking shows the last place it was recorded not where it is.

So.

Mark the last estimated date for arrival on your calendar and try to relax.

If that last estimated date passes, you can open a Claim and be refunded.

But it takes longer than most people think for stuff to arrive from the USA.

Shipping is complicated.

[ledisme]

Yes, correct... I am counting every day including weekends. Guess I should stop that, LoL. It's the one thing I don't like about buying from the USA, things ship so slowly.

[2knee]

             Many  sellers in Canada , who are located within an hours drive of the US / Canada border , pay a private courier , who goes to the US daily , with 100's of items . The items are deliverred to  USPS / UPS , etc . and then shipped to the receiver in the US .  By doing this , saves the US purchaser  50 - 80% on what the shipping would be from Canada . To ship a  4x4x4 inch , 4 lb box , from Fort Erie to Buffalo NY (5 miles) , will cost $30 Cdn or  ($20 US) .  Yet if you have a 70 lb box shipped from Buffalo to Hawaii , USPS  only charges  $20  ( the same amount )  .  These same  sellers , when purchasing online from the US , have a private receiver at a border crossing in the US , receive their item , then go to the US reciver they use , pay small fee , take their item and return to Canada .  They tell Canada Customs , what they pad for the item and in most cases , all that is said is " Have a nice day " .