The New IMPORT CHARGE TO CANADA???

[patrick_the_loner]

I just had a trying experience with 2 E bay  sellers, it is not their fault but this new darn Import Charge to Canadians is a farce..If the Americans need money badly just put a gun to my face and take it not bleed the main source of the E Bay sellers income. As I am a member since  Jan-7-08 I have bought a lot of different items and I may be forced to go elsewhere to buy. And from what I have read in the discussion board a lot more Canadians are doing the same...DON'T  E BAY  CARE ABOUT IT'S MEMBERS???????..The US postal service is to darn high to send items here to Canada??? What happened to that FREE TRADE WE HAD ( OR DID WE ??????? )  Yeah Right

You buy an item from E.Bay for $25.00 US and the shipping charges are sometimes double the price and now this so called     IMPORT CHARGE  NOW AH  YOU THINK THAT CANADIANS ARE STUPID WERE NOT WE KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THE US ECONOMY...........WE HERE IT EVERY DAY,,,WHY SHOULD WE CANADIANS AND LOYAL E BAY MEMBERS PAY FOR YOUR DEBT YOU DID IT NOT US,

GO BACK TO THE WAY THINGS WERE WE ALL WERE HAPPY THEN AND E.BAY SELLERS DID VERY WELL...  Thank You   A LOYAL E.BAY BUYER

[marnotom!]

Trouble is the GSP seems to be being promoted to sellers as the "easy peasy in your face" way to ship internationally, whereas it would save a lot of problems if it was promoted as an alternative to FedEx or UPS. Maybe the GSP uses FedEx or UPS to handle some of their packages.

Given that eBay's had a relationship with one or both of those carriers at some point or another, they may not want to bite the hands that feed.

I don't know how many GSP threads you've been following and how closely, Chimera, but there was one by Larry posted recently who noted that his Canadian buyer saved $20 using it compared to USPS, but interestingly enough, whatever carrier handled the item in the U.S. handed it off to Canada Post once it crossed the border.

Having said that, there are lots of posts on that board trying to hammer home the point that if an item can be sent by First Class International (the USPS equivalent of Canada Post's "Small Packet" service), it's probably not a good candidate for the GSP.

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[marnotom!]

if they want you to pay hst on an item canada postwill hold the item and send you a notice at no charge. then you go in and pay the hst and receive the item. to bring a company to do the paper work is ridiculous and costly.

as long as you fill in the paperwork yourself and declare a value is all you need to do.

to buy a 30 dollar sportscard from the u.s. is as follows

shipping  11.00

import fee  8.00

for the ebay pencil pushers reading this the total is 19.00

ebay takes 1.90

 so a 30 dollar item now cost 49.00

i do feel sorry the sellers in the u.s. some items that sell well in canada will now go at a lower price from less bidders. and most of you will have a sales drop of 15-20 %.

and to the bigwigs at ebay whothought of this program please give me a call but i know you guys never talk to the people who pay your wages

And if that $30 item is sent through the postal system and it gets dinged for 12% HST (or PST and GST or QST, depending on its destination), that's another $3.60.  Then Canada Post will add a C$9.95 processing fee.  Assuming an exchange rate of par, that US$30 item will cost $43.55.  Add seven bucks for shipping and...oops, now we're looking at $50.55 for a $30 item.

Something to think about.

[bm13821382]

I have never had to do that most of the time it just goes through. and Canada post does not charge a fee. I have received many items with declared value of 30 dollars or more and never payed a cent

[marnotom!]

I have never had to do that most of the time it just goes through. and Canada post does not charge a fee. I have received many items with declared value of 30 dollars or more and never payed a cent

I can't remember the last time I had to pay taxes on a postal import from the States, either.  However, one shouldn't assume that it's a given that the taxman (or, more accurately, the Canadian Border Services Agency) will ignore it.

In the somewhat distant past, we've even received items where CBSA has disputed the declared value on the item and made up its own, basing its tax assessment on their own higher valuation.

[chimera148]

I would have liked to have purchased an item  from a fairly new GSP seller, but he couldn't figure out how to get out of the GSP so the listing closed unsold.

Shown here is a pair of shorts from the same seller that sold for 7.50. It appears with the associated GSP costs, the final value became around 35.00.

Without the GSP it likely would have been 14-17.00 final cost with USPS and tracking.

This shouldn't be a taxable item coming into Canada.

[chimera148]

Attachment

[pierrelebel]

"This shouldn't be a taxable item coming into Canada"

If the item sells for less than Cdn$ 20.00 no tax will be levied, whether you use GSP or not.

As mentioned before the "import charge" by Pitney Bowes is NOT the same as duty and taxes.   It reflect the handling fees charged by Pitney Bowes and the cost of re-shipping and taxes (if applicable).

It would be preferable if the folks at Pitney Bowes would change their terminology so buyers clearly see what they pay:

1) fees

2) re-shipping

3) duty and taxes (if applicable)

4) brokerage fee (if applicable)

[relauzon]

all I can say is, so much for purchasing across the border, this new charge is way to expensive on small items to make the purchase of any product, even used items, logical.  someone was chalenged and the quick answer was to get in bed with pitney bowes.  thats it for me, no more us dealings, today was my last purchase under these new rules, who knows it may increase availability of items sold in canada,  a very sad day for the ebay comunity...............

[marnotom!]

all I can say is, so much for purchasing across the border, this new charge is way to expensive on small items to make the purchase of any product, even used items, logical.  someone was chalenged and the quick answer was to get in bed with pitney bowes.  thats it for me, no more us dealings, today was my last purchase under these new rules, who knows it may increase availability of items sold in canada,  a very sad day for the ebay comunity...............

It's not "rules," it's a program.  Some sellers are participating in it, some are not.  It's just a matter of looking at the listings and figuring out which sellers are on the program.  It's not that difficult to figure out a listing where the GSP is being used.

I've been following a few threads on this subject for a few days now, and I've checked on a few buyers who made claims they'll never use eBay again as a result of this program.  All of them have feedback as a buyer for this month.

[pjcdn2005]

As mentioned before the "import charge" by Pitney Bowes is NOT the same as duty and taxes.   It reflect the handling fees charged by Pitney Bowes and the cost of re-shipping and taxes (if applicable).

Actually, the shipping amount that the buyer sees is the amount that the seller is charging to Kentucky PLUS the shipping fees that PB is charging to the location in Canada.

So in this case $10 import charges seems quite outrageous to me.

http://pages.ebay.ca/help/buy/shipping-globally.html

During checkout, you'll see the final charges, which include the item price, the shipping charges (both domestic and international), and any import charges. The shipping charges include any US domestic shipping fees charged by the seller, as well as program fees, international shipping charges, fuel surcharges, and processing and handling fees.

Since the shipping fee supposedly includes program and processing fees, I wouldn't think that there should be any import charges on a $7.50 item.

I can't see this program every being totally accepted unless they start providing a breakdown of charges for each transaction.

From the same ebay page...

Import charges include certain fees, such as export classification, importation risk premium, and variance fees, which are assessed by the global shipping provider as part of the services provided by the Global Shipping Program. These fees are in addition to independent of the customs duties and taxes regulations imposed by country tax and customs officials of any country.

Is it just me or does export classification, importation risk premium and variance fees sound like gooblygoock?

[marnotom!]

As mentioned before the "import charge" by Pitney Bowes is NOT the same as duty and taxes.   It reflect the handling fees charged by Pitney Bowes and the cost of re-shipping and taxes (if applicable).

Actually, the shipping amount that the buyer sees is the amount that the seller is charging to Kentucky PLUS the shipping fees that PB is charging to the location in Canada.

So in this case $10 import charges seems quite outrageous to me.

http://pages.ebay.ca/help/buy/shipping-globally.html

During checkout, you'll see the final charges, which include the item price, the shipping charges (both domestic and international), and any import charges. The shipping charges include any US domestic shipping fees charged by the seller, as well as program fees, international shipping charges, fuel surcharges, and processing and handling fees.

Since the shipping fee supposedly includes program and processing fees, I wouldn't think that there should be any import charges on a $7.50 item.

I can't see this program every being totally accepted unless they start providing a breakdown of charges for each transaction.

From the same ebay page...

Import charges include certain fees, such as export classification, importation risk premium, and variance fees, which are assessed by the global shipping provider as part of the services provided by the Global Shipping Program. These fees are in addition to independent of the customs duties and taxes regulations imposed by country tax and customs officials of any country.

Is it just me or does export classification, importation risk premium and variance fees sound like gooblygoock?

The best page for information is the buyer's Terms and Conditions page, something that all Canadian buyers should be reading before they contemplating purchasing an item through the GSP.  😉

http://pages.ebay.ca/shipping/globalshipping/buyer-tnc.html

Section 3 defines "import charges" in some detail.

The way I interpret it, for inexpensive items you're paying for a bit of a "pad" that Pitney Bowes creates for itself to go towards a slush fund used when they mess up in calculating import charges elsewhere.  Not really much different than eBay sellers adding a small amount to their handling charge to help cover refunds or whatnot in other sales.

All U.S. exporters are responsible for reporting their exports to the U.S. Census Bureau.  Take a look at the customs form of your last or next package from the U.S. and you'll see a section for an exemption code on the customs form.

[marnotom!]

Having said all that above, I do agree that the ten dollar import charge for the shorts that Chimera found seems a bit out of line.  Until I saw this listing (or at least a partial screenshot for that listing), the import charges for items not subject to taxes upon entry to Canada were $3.34.  I wonder if the import charges were calculated based on the BIN price of $20.00 rather than the selling price of $7.50?

[pierrelebel]

"I wonder if the import charges were calculated based on the BIN price of $20.00 rather than the selling price of $7.50?"

That is quite possible.

I wish Pitney Bowes could open a discussion board (on .com or .ca or both) for answering questions about their service instead of eBay users speculating on every fee they charge.

[mypickle33]

If your in Canada trying to buy, a big percentage DOENT SHIP TO CANADA now, nice

[davidmovieking1]

It's really a shame, people say buy canadian, i would like to but, i'm a fan of rare and oop dvd and bluray, and even with a shipping of 13,50$ + GSP of 9,60+ 15$ item, it's less expensive at this price vs. a canadian who sell me the same items with just 3$ of shipping, someone is missing the boat here, canadian are really hungry, the best i think, is rent a PO box to the border, the item is free shipping in the state, so if you understand what i mean with this item is that: this U.S. item ship in canada=37,90$, if i buy it from a canadian seller=45$+ for the same item, and if i buy it in USA but ship it in a PO box, it's only 15$, my god there are really someone is missing the boat.

[lgparkes1]

But if Pitney-Bowes is acting on behalf of the Canadian government then why is it collecting duty on cameras and lenses which, last time I checked, are duty -free? This GSP is a joke and I was stung by it only once...since then I avoid any seller who uses it. Sadly, most of these sellers aren't even aware that such huge fees are being tacked onto their selling price since it doesn't show up on their end!

I don't know why eBay supports this scam! Shame!!!

[pierrelebel]

"cameras and lenses which, last time I checked, are duty -free?"

Taxes (HST/GST/PST) have to be collected

[marnotom!]

But if Pitney-Bowes is acting on behalf of the Canadian government then why is it collecting duty on cameras and lenses which, last time I checked, are duty -free?

Are you sure it's duty that's being collected and not HST/GST/PST/QST (name your sales tax), for which all personal imports valued at above C$20 can be potentially charged?

Remember, free trade is about eliminating duty, not taxes.  Otherwise, a lot of the U.S. or Mexican-manufactured items we buy from the store wouldn't be charged tax.

[disisus]

I haven't bought any items for a while and today I'm browsing on ebay.ca and run into this auction:

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Shirley-Temple-Composition-Doll-27-Inches-1930s-Vintage-Rare-Dress-/251286920539?pt=US_Dolls_Bears_Toys&hash=item3a81de1d5b

The auction says this is the first time using the eBay Global shipping service and it has a shipping price of U.S. $40.36 International priority and $75.91 import charges, which is estimated and based on the current bid.

So does this mean, that at the current bid, the total shipping, etc. to me is now over $115.00 and that keeps going up as the bids do? How can the seller have an both an "International " shipping price quoted to me and then another price?. What am I paying if I were to bid?

Les

[tobyshitzu]

The $40 is the total shipping for the seller to send to the the fulfillment center and them to send it to you,  The $76 is a very inflated amount for the HST that will go up with the bid which looks to be including roughly a $35 markup for Pitney bowes.  Unlike AMZN they won't refund that after