I am honestly beyond tired of the extra DHL fees when shipping to Canada
Summary: latimere2023 expressed frustration with unexpected brokerage fees incurred when shipping packages to Canada via DHL, suggesting that taxes and duties should be paid upfront at checkout. john_koenig99 agreed, stating that such fees discourage purchasing from international sellers. flipistics mentioned alternatives like eIS and Shippsy for potentially mitigating these charges. marnotom! explained the differing legal obligations for tax collection across countries, noting that Canadian users often face variable outcomes when dealing with international orders. DHL's brokerage fees were mentioned as being slightly higher than Canada Post's.
Every package I order to Canada that gets shipped through dhl is hit with brokerage fees that I never asked for nor agreed to but I am given no option. THis honestly needs to change and customers should not be on the hook for this. All international orders should have the taxes and duty paid in full at the time of the checkout. At the very least all of those fees that would be charge later should be listed and the customer should have to agree to the purchase before ordering. I have to wonder what Ebay's kickback is for this. Because of this I avoid ordering from the US as much as possible and which sucks for US sellers.
marnotom!
·2 weeks ago · EditedIn many countries, including the United States, eBay is legally bound to charge, collect and remit sales and value-added taxes on international sales the same way it does for domestic sales. Canada is behind the curve on this, so that means that the carrier and customs or a designate for customs has to do this job instead.
As a result, Canadian eBay users see a confusing array of possible outcomes when buying from sellers outside of the country. The items may be subject to tax and duty charges on delivery, they may be pre-paid at Checkout, or, in some circumstances, the buyer will be offered a choice between the two options.
Keep in mind that even if eBay were able to charge and collect HST/GST/PST, etc. on purchases made by Canadian buyers, it may not necessarily be able to collect duty as that's the job of customs, so you'd still be looking at another party handling the duty charges.
What sort of charge is DHL levying for brokerage now, anyway? Canada Post charges ten bucks for collecting taxes and duty on Canada Border Services' behalf, and last I heard, DHL was charging $12.50 for items shipped through its eCommerce/GlobalPost service.
john_koenig99
·2 weeks agoAs you said, it's best to avoid international sellers for this very reason, if they ship the orders via the evil trifecta DFU (DHL, FedEx or UPS). They always charge brokerage, regardless of the value of the item and the duty is zero.
latimere2023
OP2 weeks agoWhich is really sad to be honest. As many said sometimes its the only source for some hard to find things but the frustrations outweighs the benefit often enough. This wouldnt be half the problem if it was all charged up front and everything was shown at face value. Its the surprises that people have the biggest issue with in my opinion, second is definitely the cost.
flipistics
·2 weeks agoeIS is supposed to have the option for that. You could also use a service like Shippsy, which may or may not be great for you depending on where you live.
reallynicestamps
·2 weeks agoBut it's the SELLER not the buyer who chooses what shipping services they will offer.