Import Charge Canada

[pcgregory21]

Hi everyone,

First off, sorry if this has been covered (first time buyer) or if i'm in the wrong forum. I'm in Canada and made an offer for an item in the US.

My offer officially showed:

Item: $15 US

Shipping: $14.97 US

Import Charge: $11

The seller countered, and it showed:

Item: $20 US

Shipping: $17

Import: $0

Does that mean the seller is going to cover the import charge for me? Or is ebay just not registering my shipping location on the counter offer and i'll end up paying the $11 regardless?

I have a budget to stick to, so any help on this is really appreciated!

[esclyons]

you are looking at buying something through the global shipping program, so you will pay all the fees, item, shipping, and custom fees,.. i would suggest you find a similar item, where there is just a shipping fee, not an item shipped the the gsp..

[marnotom!]

The import charges have likely been added to the shipping charge. A couple (or more) years ago, there was some experimenting on the part of eBay and/or Pitney Bowes (administrators of the Global Shipping Program) with doing that on lower-valued listings.

The seller has no say in the import charges and does not collect them. If you choose to purchase from this seller, your payment will be split between the seller (item and partial shipping charges) and Pitney Bowes (import charges and partial shipping charges).

Just out of curiosity, what are the item, shipping and import charges on the listing page?

[pcgregory21]

Thanks! Sadly it's the only one of its kind and the only other one sold was in February. 

[pcgregory21]

Listing page lists item (31), shipping (14.97), import (11.12 and in brackets 'amount confirmed at checkout'). 

[femmefan1946]

Sellers who use GSP are usually unaware of how much the GSP charge will be.

This is because they don't deal with it at all.

The "import fees" are Canadian duty and Canadian sales taxes paid by the GSP (technically not by you) and a ~$5US service charge.

What puzzles me is the shipping.

Normally neither buyer nor seller can change the shipping charge. (Perhaps the seller can lower it, but she can't raise the fee she advertised).

Both $15 US and $20US are dutiable. The current exchange puts $15 US at $20Cdn which surpasses the Canadian duty-Free allowance.

I wonder if your location makes a difference, now that it is identified. Most of the import fees are actually sales taxes. Here in BC that would be 13% of value, but if you are in AB, it would be 5%.

I'm spitballing here.

[pcgregory21]

Thanks for chiming in! I'm in Ontario, so should be the same as BC. 

Ya i guess I'm just confused why the sellers counter-offer didn't have any import charge. To that point, I'm a bit fearful to hit accept, only to have the $11 pop back up and me be locked into the purchase. 

[femmefan1946]

Rather than accept-ask.

You can use Contact Seller rather than the Best Offer messaging if you are worried.

The seller may not be aware of the GTC information you are seeing.

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

It's possible that information disappears in best offer scenarios not to return until final checkout based on the agreed offer. Might be something to throw at tyler@ebay and see if he can confirm. Information that would be very critical to anyone making an offer.

-Lotz

[tyler@ebay]

Hi @pcgregory21 - sorry for the confusion on this!

For best offers, you should see the cost of import based on the offer amount; when you send a counter-offer, it will then be based on the counter-offer amount. Final costs for GSP items (item price, shipping, and import charges) are viewed when you complete checkout.

If you have counter-offers left on the item it's possible that any import charges aren't being calculated yet until something is accepted. I realize that this is less helpful for you in determining whether or not this is a good purchase for you, and I've gotten that input shared!

[marnotom!]

cc: @femmefan1946 

From my admittedly limited observations, only GST/HST, duties and whatever else Pitney Bowes needs make it into the "import charges".  Provincial sales taxes are not included in the calculation.

So items shipped to BC via the GSP would be have GST and duties paid by Pitney Bowes and have the same import charges as an item shipped to Alberta, rather than Ontario.

[fastman614]

I was about to make a "Best Offer" on something - an offer of a dollar! With a corresponding increase in the cost of shipping. I fully expected to see the duties number disappear as itemso of either under $20 Cdn or $20 Cdn AND UNDER are NOT subject to duties, GST or PST by CBSA. Instead, ebay showed a $2.00 INCREASE in duties and fees from just over $5.00 US to just over $7.00 US. It is my opinion that ebay is charging this money on A LOT of purchases of under $20.00 Cdn AND NOT ever remitting it because the Canadian Government DOES NOT EVER INVOICE THEM for it! I have, on several occasions, requested that they provide me with detailed breakdowns of their fee amounts ad have NEVER received a reply!

Other than that, there have been a number of items that I did buy through their global shipping program that, with exchange rates, shipping costs and all fees in, I got a decent price and just plugged my nose and paid the price without any explanation of said fees and duties or verification that they were actually remitted to the Canadian Government....

Maybe wha

[marnotom!]

Taxes and duties on a GSP-forwarded item are paid on your behalf by Pitney Bowes, who administers the GSP. The "import charges" are the mechanism for repaying Pitney Bowes for taxes, duties, and various customs-related processing fees.

For items priced below the C$20 threshold, those processing fees are normally added to the shipping fee.

@fastman614 "Import charges" on GSP-forwarded items are considered estimates until Checkout. Yes, I know it's a pain for Best Offers, but it is what it is for the moment.

Judging by what other posters have said, once the GSP "bot" gets your offer and recognizes your shipping location, the import charges will likely be sorted out at Checkout.

[splattii]

Make a claim with paypal

[reallynicestamps]

@fastman614 

- an offer of a dollar! With a corresponding increase in the cost of shipping.

The seller would still have to pay the same fees as she does right now. Perhaps more, since the fee on Shipping is always 10% while the fee on the selling price can be lower depending on category and on the seller's status.

Nothing in it for her-- except, frankly, dealing with a seller who likes to get cute with CBSA.

My dad told me,  "If someone is willing to cheat the taxman or the milkman or his boss, he is just as likely to cheat you."

[24681]

I would say no Ebay puts the import charge there not the seller. If it is not there you may not have to pay it. But you could still be stuck with duty coming into Can.