eBay

mpit7628 · ‎08-21-2013

Hello everyone. I recently purchased a western saddle from a seller in California. I won the bid and paid $611.00 for the saddle and even though I thought the shipping charges were high I paid the $164.00 that the seller was asking. I just about died when UPS delivered the saddle and wanted another $148.00 for import fee's. The shipping was more than half of what I paid for the saddle. Would you consider this a very high amount to pay for shipping? Thanks for time.

femmefan1946 · ‎08-21-2013

Here’s the problem with buying from the USA.

Much of that doorstep charge was the duty (if any) and sales tax(variable by province) that Canada charges on any import valued over $20*. The rest is UPS’ customs brokerage charge. None of that money is going to your sellers and none of it is his responsibility,

It is very likely that he did not even realize that you would be charged anything on delivery. UPS is not forthcoming about it. American sellers often use UPS (and other couriers) because they pickup, insure and track packages for a very reasonable price, quite comparable to,and often lower than, USPS for domestic delivery.

It is the BUYER’s responsibility to know about importation costs to his own country.

Okay, lecture over. Keep in mind that the cost of shipping bears almost no relationship to the value of the item being shipped. The shipping is based on dimensions. (Except for that brokerage, that is based on value.)

So no, the shipping was not out of line. The seller if he was aware of the doorstep costs, might have chosen a different shipping service. Express UPS shipping includes the brokerage charge but not the tax and duty, Shipping by post might have meant that you escaped any charges, since Canada Post is very lax about this. Or you may have paid less because CPs service charge starts at $10 rather than $25.

The new and much despised Global Shipping Program might have been the best service since they show you how much your purchase will actually cost, including duty, tax and service charge (which starts at $4.95 apparently). Then you could back out more or less gracefully before completing the sale.

The GPS is new enough that full details on how it works are still nebulous.

*Including used items. And Gifts, w hich should not include anything here, since we are dealing in purchases, are levied over $60.

pjcdn2005 · ‎08-22-2013

I see that seller does not specify that they ship Canada. Perhaps you asked the seller if they would ship here before you bid but I just wanted to mention that it is important that you ask that before bidding and at that time, ask the method and cost of shipping. If the seller is using a courier, the costs are higher than if they had used the post office. In this case, the saddle might have been too big to be shipped any other way than by courier.

mpit7628 · ‎08-22-2013

Hello again. Just a quick comment. Most of my purchases are from sellers on ebay.com and I always make sure I ask permission to bid on items that do not specify that they ship to Canada. Nine times out of ten the sellers are very gracious and agree to ship here. This was the situation with the saddle. I did know they were shipping with ups but it's still a shocker to get those import fees at the door.