If you're Canadian, and buying an eBay item from a US seller, be prepared to pay $25-$100 duties
Summary: nyb_shop and several other Canadian buyers discuss their experiences with unexpected import taxes and high courier fees when buying items from the U.S. on eBay. nyb_shop mentions past trouble-free experiences that have now changed, leading to decisions to buy solely from Canadian sellers or use alternatives like Amazon. mrdutch1001, flipistics, and marnotom! share insights on changes in shipping practices and offer strategies such as using USPS for more affordable customs handling or services like Shippsy to save on import costs. The conversation highlights growing frustration with high costs from couriers like DHL and FedEx and notes the impact of international trade policies on e-commerce. There is a general consensus among participants to avoid U.S. sellers due to these additional financial burdens.
I live in Toronto, used to shop on eBay A LOT in the 2000s, stopped for 5-7 years. Never had to pay import duties, or brokerage charges back then. Recenty, I came back on eBay because I was interested in buying Sports Cards. Purchased two from a US seller (not his fault). DHL charged me $25 dollars and $33 dollars for "import/duty/brokerage" charges. I'm going to try to avoid buying from US sellers now unless the item is a super deal, as the import taxes are enormous, considering I already paid a huge shipping charge to the seller. What happened to free trade between Canada and USA? It's okay, lesson learned, buy from Canadian sellers ONLY....or JUST STAY ON AMAZON!
reallynicestamps
·1 year agoFedEx have a sneaky practice of delivering without collecting any import fees, or even their own "customs brokerage " fees.
Then they bill you later.
If the importer/buyer does not pay, they go to the seller/exporter (whose financials they have on file) and get the money from them.
Which is a rude impolite and nasty way of telling the seller not to use FedEx in future.
I have opinions about Fed Ex.
uniquegarage
·1 year agoCan I ask, was it a bill you received from dHL after you got the item delivered? The reason I ask is because I ordered a few things from the states to Vancouver as long as 8 years ago, came through FedEx, and on a $800 microphone, which was delivered, no fees, I got a letter from FedEx a week later for $180. Since then it's happened everytime since. The thing is, even back then, from Ebay, as long as the seller just sent it USPS to Canada Post, I've never had to pay duties. I'm sure it might depend what it is, but last year was my last purchase from Ebay in the states. $100 Microphone, USPS to Canada Post, but not (GSP), and no fees or extra charges at all. I'm sure it could be different, and no idea how these tariffs, or Trump is affecting things, but since like 10 years ago I've always expected brokerage fees or duties unless it's been USPS to Canada Post. I think I'll do a small order soon just to see if that's the case still, but like I say, could depend on price and what it is, like I've heard duties can sometimes be random to, but anything courier, or GSP has always been extra fees for the most part, so I've always made sure to avoid GSP, or message the seller to ask if they can use USPS, because some people might just plan to use a courier, but when you ask them if they can just use USPS, they are usually pretty willing, especially if they want to sell thier listing. Just some food for thought.
john_koenig99
·1 year agoI'm in the GTA as well, and it's true that the treshold for paying duties/brokerage has lowered from what it used to be (right now, for what I can tell from my orders, is about USD$60). But...It usually depends on the carrier. Carriers like DHL or FedEx, always want their pound of flesh, even if the duties are zero. Others like UniUni, Asendia or CP don't charge anything if the duties are nil. Otherwise, they do (albeit considerably less than DHL or FedEx).
fh991586
·1 year agoCan you provide an example where a private carrier asked for a fee when there was no perception of taxes or duty? This is not suppose to happen, so I seriously doubt it.
uniquegarage
·1 year agoWell that's always been my experience with couriers, but don't ask me what they call it, whether it's duties, or service fees, but anytime in the last 10 years I've gotten anything from the US to Canada, and it's a courier, I actually have managed to always get the item delivered, or even pick it up at the courier, no charge, and then I get a letter a week later with a fee. Like I said in the comment I just posted, it's been stuff like around $150-200 on an $800 microphone, and that's used, second hand off ebay, also had a few others very similar. Also, Ebay aside, I ordered a new pair of speakers from a music store in the states, delivered by courier, and they had me pay $60 upon delivery. Also bought shoes off Goat, got a call to pat duties at the border on $100 pair of new shoes, sold second hand through the site. As far as anytime ive ordered from Ebay, and the US seller sent via USPS, I've never paid a thing, but haven't bought anything since last year, but yeah, never really had a courier deliver something I didn't get a bill / fee for after.
john_koenig99
·1 year agoWell, lucky you. I had a couple of recent orders (March) from a seller in the US. The sent directly via USPS/CP. I got dinged with duty and taxes in both. Both orders were about $130 USD.
john_koenig99
·1 year agoLate reply, but I can give you a recent one. The order was sent from Florida directly (not through ISP) via Fedex. Declared value was $30 US. There was no duty on it, but they charged "brokerage " , and taxes on such brokerage, for a total of almost $24 CAD. Absolute BS.
marnotom!
·1 year agoHate to break it to you, but US$30 converts to about CDN$42 at current exchange rates, so that would be just over the tax-free limit for a personal import shipped by courier.
john_koenig99
·1 year agoSo how do you explain another order, sent through ISP (Asendia/USPS/Uni-Uni), declared at $53USD, and I paid no fees/taxes?
And in the one I mentioned via FedEx, it reads in the invoice: Duty/Taxes: 0.00 Brokerage : 21.72 Taxes: 2.82.
marnotom!
·1 year agoCheck your invoice. My observation of eIS shipments handled by Asendia is that taxes are charged and paid at Checkout.
$2.82 sounds right for a 5% GST charge on an item that would be worth a converted amount of around C$42, which is what US$30 would convert to at current midmarket rates.
crabkake
·1 year agoI agree with you. I'm not going to spend a penny on USA Ebay now that this **bleep** administration is in power !
All the tarrifs that's going to be applied on Canada exports to usa... I say we Canadians should stop all the buying until this lunatic retracts his idiotic ideas about trying to make money of other countries !
marnotom!
·1 year agoAnd now Doug Ford is suggesting a snap election in Ontario will strengthen Canada’s voice against this nonsense.
Are our politicians this stupid or are they hoping we’re stupid?
marwo507547
·1 year agoI got hit with custom fees as well when I bought a few items from the US - both items under 150 cad - one item was even under 100cad and I was still hit with custom duties for both items - paid 24 for each - which made both items more expensive than buying it in Canada. I guess customs decides what it wants to charge depending on the item rather than the price - since I bought a book from the States and it had no custom fees attached to it when it was delivered.
mrdutch1001
·1 year agoPerhaps you need to acquaint self with the "actual" and "factual" importation information:
https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/import/postal-postale/dtytx-drttx-eng.html
marwo507547
·1 year agoI asked the Canadian Postal agent that was working and she said it was Customs charge.
mrdutch1001
·1 year agoYes, but do you know from where and how your purchased items from that USA seller arrived in the USA came to be in the USA(did the seller have the proper documentation and/or go through proper channels to acquire said goods)?
And yes "customs decides what it wants to charge depending on the item rather than the price"
as per the import information that indicates thus:
"If the goods were not produced in the United States or Mexico, they must have entered into the commerce of either the United States or Mexico prior to being imported into Canada in order to benefit from the CUSMA de minimis relief. For greater certainty, goods that are shipped from a non-CUSMA country and transit or are trans-shipped through the United States or Mexico, without having entered the commerce of the CUSMA partners, would not be entitled to the CAD$40.00 or CAD$150.00 de minimis thresholds."
paledrome
·2 years agomarnotom!
·2 years agoNot all US sellers use the eBay International Shipping (eIS) system, @paledrome. Some still ship directly to Canada using the postal system. Low-cost items shipped that way tend to get a pass from CBSA when it comes to assessing and charging taxes, and if they are charged, the importer is charged only an additional ten bucks by Canada Post for collecting the taxes from you.
Keep in mind that eIS is a work in progress. For listings where this forwarding system is used, eBay is phasing in offering buyers the choice between paying the taxes and duties owed at checkout or deferring this payment until delivery. If buyers opt for the first option, it so far only seems to add a couple of bucks to the shipping charge, making the buying process pretty close to what buyers experience when buying from Canadian sellers on the site.
joel.canada
·2 years agoI just had this happen, buying from the US makes ZERO sense for cards.
got a solid deal on card, I knew shipping would work out to like 28$ with exchange but was still priced into my budget (but barely)
then suprise! when recieved dhad to pay 30$ in duty (I thought this was supposedly built into shipping)
so on purchase price paid 60$ CAD which is just crazy. so with exhange on everything as well, I just dont see how buying cards from US on ebay just makes no sense at this point.
Really stinks becasue there isnt much inventory within canada itself.
marnotom!
·2 years agoRead through this thread again, @joel.canada. You were probably charged for taxes and brokerage (customs processing), not duty, and shipped by a shipping method that doesn’t add customs-related charges to the shipping charge. There are ways around these charges if you're willing to do some work. Again, read through the thread.
femmefan1946
·2 years agoDHL charged me $25 dollars and $33 dollars for "import/duty/brokerage" charges
First problem, the seller used a courier and couriers are notorious for charging exhorbinant customs brokerage fees.
That's the $33, as you saw on delivery.
So it is his "fault", although he was not likely to know that.
It would be polite to let him know through Messages, about the cost of shipping by courier rather than by USPS/Canada Post, because Canada Post only charges a $9.95 service fee.
Second problem, you don't mention the value of the cards you bought.
We pay duty on imports from the US over $150 and sales taxes on imports valued over $40.
Usually the taxes are higher than the duty. At 15% for example, even if there were NO duty, your cards would be valued at $166Cdn /~$125USD.
What happened to free trade between Canada and USA?
It's currently called CUSMA, and it raised the duty and tax free allowances from $20 to the abovementioned $150/$40 in 2020.
nyb_shop
OP2 years agoMy card values were $55 and $120, then I had to pay about $20 for shipping and handling to the sellers. I was okay with that. Then, DHL asked for $25 and $33 for import/duties. The acquistion cost of that cards literally went up 25-30%. I don't intend to sell, but I don't like overpaying for stuff like this. Anyway I'm going to drop it, big lesson learned that I wanted to share with others.
marnotom!
·2 years agohttps://community.ebay.ca/t5/Buyer-Central/50-UPS-Brokerage-fee/td-p/60899
femmefan1946
·2 years agoSo a $175 UDS/ $218.75Cdn purchase.
You were charged duty and taxes because your import was over the $150Cdn/$112.50DUSD duty free allowance, and $40/$30USD tax free allowance.
$20 for shipping would be about right, since USPS shipping (which is generally lower than courier) starts about there for tracked international shipping.
https://postcalc.usps.com/?country=10440
I agree that DHL's customs brokerage fees are very high, since Canada Post only charges $9.95 for the same service.
marnotom!
·2 years agoI doubt that duty made up any of what you were charged by UPS. What you were likely charged for was taxes. Canada hasn't joined nations/regions such as the United States, Great Britain, and the EU which now mandate digital marketplaces such as eBay to charge and collect sales taxes on imported items purchased through the site. Right now, only sales to buyers located in Canada from sellers located in Canada are subject to taxes charged at the point of purchase. The Canada Border Services Agency is ultimately responsible for collecting taxes due on casual imports.
It sounds as though you've been fortunate enough to have your past eBay purchases sent by mail. Canada Border Services is supposed to assess and collect taxes and duty on mailed items with declared values of over C$20, but just like the cops don't catch every single speeder, CBSA doesn't usually bother with really low-priced purchases. When my wife and I started out as buyers and sellers on eBay in the late 90s, I'd say about half of our purchases were caught in the CBSA tax net. In fact, one purchase--an antique watch that my wife got me as a gift--was reassessed by CBSA because they didn't believe the declared value on it, so they made up their own declared value based on market conditions and based their assessment of taxes on that instead! True story.
As the '00s passed, fewer of our purchases from the US were assessed and charged taxes and duties, and by the time the Harper era rolled around, I'd say our purchase were very, very rarely stopped and hit with charges for taxes and Canada Post's C$9.95 processing fee. We did have one item sent by FedEx once where we were billed a couple of weeks after delivery, but we'd been keeping up with these discussion boards and knew it was coming, so no surprises there.
The advice to buy Canadian is pretty sound, but just remember that you're just going to escape those pesky brokerage charges. You're still going to be charged tax as per legislation brought forth a couple of years ago. If there's something from the US that you absolutely must have, make sure it is or can be sent by mail (USPS). At the very worse, CBSA will spot it and hit you with the taxes owing on it, but Canada Post's fee for collecting the taxes from you is way better than the $33 you were charged by DHL.
Or you could just have the item sent to a friend in the US and you or someone could pick it up and declare it at the border where it will likely get waved through unless you've got a bunch of other stuff in your trunk as well.
flipistics
·2 years ago@nyb_shop If you make the odd trip to the USA, you can have the items sent to a company at the border who will hold it for you for a small fee (Pak N Ship for example).
If you don't go across, there's also services like Shippsy that will transport it to one of their Toronto locations where you can pick it up. You'll have to pay tax on the item plus their fee, but I would expect it to be a lot cheaper than what the other couriers would charge. Their website has a calculator where you can check what you'll pay. Also note that if you have an import number (if you're purchasing as a business), the taxes / duty will likely be considerably cheaper.
mrdutch1001
·2 years agoWell, for starters, this is 2024 and things do change and that does include the cost of shipping!
Most buyers do not come to the forums...UNLESS they have a problem/issue and as of late most of the buyer rants have been about the high cost of shipping from the USA.
...and YES many of us have made that choice to avoid purchasing from USA sellers and to only purchase from sellers/businesses within Canada ...
(I made that choice many years ago already!)
nyb_shop
OP2 years agoTotally agree with your comment man, I'm buying 100% from Canadian sellers moving forward.
a_sharper_image
·1 year agoWe will miss you. Maanwhile, elbows up!