Why do some U.S. items have B.C. taxes added in the cart and some not, even when they're a business?

Summary: dayseyemeadow shares a frustration as a buyer in British Columbia, Canada, regarding inconsistent tax applications on items purchased from the US on eBay. They chose a US item over a local one due to no initial tax, but later received an email from the courier DHL requesting extra charges, which they suspect might be a scam. marnotom! explains that eBay's International Shipping (eIS) may involve additional fees upon delivery, often involving DHL or other non-postal carriers, leading to taxes and duty assessments on mailed parcels. The discussion highlights confusion over tax applications on eBay and the need to pay attention to potential custom fees when buying internationally.

So I'm a buyer in Canada, British Columbia to be specific. When shopping, I put stuff I'm interested in "in the cart" to see if there are going to be gst and pst or not. I recently made a purchace based on this total, and chose an item from the USA that will take 3 weeks to arrive, over a local one in Alberta which would get here in 3 days, because there was no tax, which made it cheaper. Then I got hit up for extra cash from the american courier DHL, by email, for delivery the item. I refuse and don't reply to the email which is possiby a scam. They're sending it anyway, now I don't know if I'm going to be taxed by the post office when it arrives, and am understandably frustrated.

It used to be, a few months ago, or so it seemed, that US items didn't have tax, and Canadian located items always did. But now there seems to be no rhyme nor reason. Some US items do have BC tax, some don't, and it's not because they're a business or not. Can anybody explain? I contacted Ebay Customer Support and they were clueless and wasted a bunch of my time asking me for further details, switching agents, and asking me everything three times but providing no answer.

dayseyemeadow

68 View listings

Posted 2 years ago · Edited 2 years ago·Last reply 2 years ago

3 comments

marnotom!

·2 years ago

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I think you're the third person who's posted about DHL invoicing for taxes, duties (if applicable) and customs processing fees for buyers of items from the US.

It sounds as though your item was shipped through eBay International Shipping (eIS), a glorified forwarding service that may or may not use the postal service to get the item from the forwarding hub to you depending on the nature of your item and its final destination. There's a bit more information on it on this help page, but it's not completely accurate as eIS currently only sometimes gives buyers a choice between having taxes, etc. charged either at checkout or as part of the delivery process:

https://www.ebay.ca/help/buying/postage-delivery/changing-delivery-address-method/international-purchases-postage?id=4057

Was there no note in the "shipping" section of the listing page for your item to the effect that "authorities may apply duties, fees, and taxes upon delivery"? "Casual imports" with declared values of over C$20 such as ones from eBay sellers outside of Canada have been subject to taxes since the site began in the late 1990s. It's just that Canada Border Services doesn't stop and hit every single mailed parcel they deal with with a tax and duty assessment. Items sent by non-postal carriers are, unfortunately, a different kettle of fish.

dayseyemeadow

OP2 years ago

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Thank you. I didn't notice if it had the "authorities may apply duties, fees, and taxes upon delivery" note on the listing page, as it has not happened before, and I've bought over 50 individual dolls from the U.S., so I have been disregarding that little footnote, but not any more! It must be DHL then. SO that would be a good question to ask sellers before buying, if thy use DHL, 'cuz I don't want that.

marnotom!

·2 years ago

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Unfortunately, it's not that simple, @dayseyemeadow. If a seller is using the services of the eBay International Shipping system, they have no control over what shipping service or services will be used to get the item to Canada. As mentioned earlier, "eBay International Shipping" is a glorified forwarding service. The seller ships the item to a hub in Illinois the same way they'd ship the item if they had sold it to a US buyer. Once at the hub, the item is prepared for customs and shipped out again by whatever means has been deemed appropriate based on the nature of the item and its final destination. The seller has no say in that choice of shipping method.

I could go into more details, but I think I'd just end up obscuring the point of my post, so I'll leave it at that for now. I will, however, link you to this thread from a looooong time ago that you may find of some interest:

https://community.ebay.ca/t5/Buyer-Central/50-UPS-Brokerage-fee/m-p/60899