is anybody else in ontario getting taxed every time they buy from ebay now?

[finl-ca2014]

is anybody else in ontario getting taxed every time they buy from ebay now? I don't want to buy from here any more ... I don't know how much taxes I'm gonna pay til it shows up at my door.. what happened to free trade .. 

[momcqueen]

Free Trade only applies to items manufactured in North America.

Are your orders being delivered by courier? They are obligated to collect import taxes on any item sent into Canada that is valued at more than $20 CAD. That is the de minimus. With the Canada Post Corporation (who most sellers have avoided all summer due to the labour strife) they are supposed to collect it too but sometimes do not as they are directed to do so by CCRA or not. Couriers do it different.

This is not the fault of ebay. If you are buying form outside of Canada, look closely at your shipping options if you want to avoid couriers.

Or buy Canadian. 

[aubreyclay56]

if you order from the usa and they use ups you will get nailed to the cross for taxes,handling fees ect,do not but from anyone using global shipping they have add ons as well,only buy from sellers using usps which is united postal sevice no surprizes that way

[momcqueen]

Correct, I could have explained that better.

If you make a purchase from an American seller, for example, who uses USPS which is the United States Postal Service that order will be handed over to custom and then CPC the Canada Post Corporation.

With couriers like UPS or Fed Ex, it will stay with them throughout which is often faster but more costly due to their having to always collect import fees. 

[momcqueen]

Regardless, any import valued at more than $20 CAD may have import fees applied to it. That is the law. You should expect to pay and consider yourself pleasantly surprised if you do not. Not the other way around.

Or buy from your fellow Canadian sellers. 

[femmefan1946]

Two further points:

$20CDN is only ~$16USD. This seems to surprise many people.

And if a Canadian seller has a physical presence in Ontario (even if his shipping is from Nunavut) and is registered to collect sales taxes (GST or HST), he is required to remit those sales taxes to the appropriate level of government.

In some cases, seller who are registered include the taxes in their asking prices, just as some sellers include shipping costs in their asking prices.

The taxes get paid, but the buyer is not aware of the fact.