eBay

theclassof1984 · ‎11-03-2016

I purchased an old military shirt from China that cost $35 and $22 in shipping. Steep, but I wanted it. The seller emails me telling me that the package hasn't had any tracking updates because he was told that their was a Canada Post strike. There was no strike and I told him that. He then sent another item through courier service that took three days, which sounded great. I got a text fro DHL today claiming they wanted $40 in duties and brokerage fees. WHAT? How on earth can that be possible, but better question, why should I pay that when this wasn't part of the original agreement with the seller, who was to send it regular mail, which very likely would not have incurred a cent. I realise these fees are the responsibility of the buyer, but things changed and not upon my request.

Can I cancel this nonsense or am I screwed?

ypdc_dennis · ‎11-03-2016

@theclassof1984 wrote:
I purchased an old military shirt from China that cost $35 and $22 in shipping. Steep, but I wanted it. The seller emails me telling me that the package hasn't had any tracking updates because he was told that their was a Canada Post strike. There was no strike and I told him that. He then sent another item through courier service that took three days, which sounded great. I got a text fro DHL today claiming they wanted $40 in duties and brokerage fees. WHAT? How on earth can that be possible, but better question, why should I pay that when this wasn't part of the original agreement with the seller, who was to send it regular mail, which very likely would not have incurred a cent. I realise these fees are the responsibility of the buyer, but things changed and not upon my request.
Can I cancel this nonsense or am I screwed?

Duty on most clothing imported from China is in the 17-18% range.

Taxes - GST/HST applies to mail imports over $20cdn.

With regular mail you could still have been charged tax plus duty and $9.95 for Canada Post's collection.

DHL brokerage fees are more expensive (as are most other couriers) than Canada Post's $9.95 fee.

According to: http://international.dhl.ca/en/express/customs_support/brokerage_infomation.html

the DHL base fee is $10.50 + $4.25 // the fee is more expensive on faster service levels.

You should ask DHL for a breakdown of what their $40 charge is in fees, taxes and duty.

-..-

You could refuse to pay and it gets sent back to seller, but you are unlikely to win an Item-Not-Received case since it was tracked and you refused.

-..-

theclassof1984 · ‎11-03-2016

Thanks for the reply. Yes, that was what I was worried about - refusing and not being able to win a claim.

Yes, with regular mail I still risk the duty fees, however, I would rather roll the dice with them rather than a sure thing with DHL. I get dinged with customs probably 1 out of 100 times, so the odds are good.

DHL did give a breakdown, which was pretty much as you detailed. It makes sense when broken down, however, i still cannot get my head around a fee equal to the total cost of the item. I guess I have to bite the bullet, but this is the last time I buy from China unfortunately; I've had nothing but trouble 80% of the time.