eBay

cj2tj · ‎07-05-2013

What is with some of the seller charging pre paid fees and duties for products shipped to Canada .....I live in a remote community in Canada and this is why I have done shopping with eBay ...But recently I have seen a lot of us sellers adding on pre paid duties ......

In the past 9 out of 10 items purchased through us sellers came to my mailbox with out duties

if I wanted to pay duties every time I would buy right from a retail stores catalog ...nowing fair well that customs would catch this as a paid purchase .......Now I will not purchase from sellers who automatically charge pre paid duties

and yes some will get caught buy customs ...But at lest the money ends up in Canada not in some us sellers bank account ...

pierrelebel · ‎07-05-2013

The taxes (GST/HST/PST) collected by Pitney Bowes through the Global Shipping Program for some (not all) purchases made from US sellers are remitted directly to the Canadian government, not to the sellers.

Seldom do these amount include "duty". Generally, only consumption taxes (GST/HST/PST) are collected just as they would if you were to buy locally.

cj2tj · ‎07-13-2013

I have no issue paying taxes when I purchase local ......but when i buy from ebay and mt package goes through customs and get taxed i pay gst only at 7 % no pst ...and i know this goes to my government .........but all of the one that offer the pre paid taxes are way over the 13% mark i would pay if i had stores to purchase it local .....whats with that ......example a $219 talor made golf driver with a $49.03 import duty ...thats 28$ more than it needs to be .......if thats not a rip off what is ,,,and there are alot moe out there than that

ebay #310704053199

I will not purchase from dealers who offer this service .....and if you make them all go to pre paid duties I will no longer shop Ebay

pierrelebel · ‎07-13-2013

"i pay gst only at 7 % no pst ..."

???

Which province do you live in? What product(s) were you importing that resulted in no PST being charged?

Except for products specifically exempt from GST/HST or PST, taxes being charged on postal importations in excess of $20 are inclusive of HST (13% to 15%) for HST provinces, and GST (5%) and PST (rate varies) for GST provinces except Alberta where no PST exists at this time.

"$49.03 import duty .."

That should read "import charges" - including duty if applicable, GST, PST and/or HST and service fee.

US$219 is approximately Cdn$ 230. If coming by mail, assuming the item is duty free, the taxes would be approximately $35/$40 depending on your province plus $9.95 Canada Post service charge (brokerage fee). The "import charge" from Pitney Bowes is more or less in line.

marnotom! · ‎07-13-2013

@pierrelebel wrote:

Which province do you live in? What product(s) were you importing that resulted in no PST being charged?

Except for products specifically exempt from GST/HST or PST, taxes being charged on postal importations in excess of $20 are inclusive of HST (13% to 15%) for HST provinces, and GST (5%) and PST (rate varies) for GST provinces except Alberta where no PST exists at this time.

Hey, Pierre. Remember that Cj2tj said "I live in a remote community"? The three Canadian territories don't have the equivalent of provincial sales tax.

Assuming that GST is the usual 5% up there, a US$219 item would see US$10.95 in GST being charged. I'm not sure where that addtional 2% in tax that Cj2tj refers to comes from.

pierrelebel · ‎07-13-2013

""I live in a remote community"

???

Sorry I must have missed something. There are "remote communities" all over Canada. Where did it state the buyer resided in one of the Territories?

The amount shown suggest approximately 12% for GST/PST. Pitney Bowes does know about the PST situation in the Territories.

pierrelebel · ‎07-13-2013

The item offered in the listing in question is a golf driver, available from the company in Canada (they have offices in St-Laurent, QC).

It may be cheaper and more convenient to buy within Canada then import the item from the USA.

marnotom! · ‎07-13-2013

@pierrelebel wrote:
""I live in a remote community"

???

Sorry I must have missed something. There are "remote communities" all over Canada. Where did it state the buyer resided in one of the Territories?

The amount shown suggest approximately 12% for GST/PST. Pitney Bowes does know about the PST situation in the Territories.

What did you miss? You missed the part where the buyer claimed that they don't pay PST, for whatever reason. I have no idea why you're not taking the buyer at his word on this, although I will grant that he does seem to be misinformed in other parts of his rants.

Checking the listing myself, I see US$32.14 in import fees to an Alberta postal code. Knock off US$11 for the GST and that leaves US$21.14 for Pitney Bowes to play with. More than what Canada Post wants but not an exorbitant amount for a commercial carrier shipment, in my books.

Change the postal code to a British Columbia one and the import fees go up to US$49.03. GST and PST in British Columbia total 12%, or US$26.40. That leaves Pitney Bowes' share of the import fees at US$22.63.

pjcdn2005 · ‎07-13-2013

@cj2tj wrote:
I have no issue paying taxes when I purchase local ......but when i buy from ebay and mt package goes through customs and get taxed i pay gst only at 7 % no pst ...and i know this goes to my government .........but all of the one that offer the pre paid taxes are way over the 13% mark i would pay if i had stores to purchase it local .....whats with that ......example a $219 talor made golf driver with a $49.03 import duty ...thats 28$ more than it needs to be .......if thats not a rip off what is ,,,and there are alot moe out there than that
ebay #310704053199

I will not purchase from dealers who offer this service .....and if you make them all go to pre paid duties I will no longer shop Ebay

I know that in AB that if there a customs charge on a package delivered by I will pay 5% gst plus $9.95 to CP. But, that is not guaranteed as many items can be charged duty although that doesn't seem to happen often. I'm surprised though that you wouldn't pay pst as well in that situation, that doesn't really make sense to me. (gst is 5%, not 7% )

But when an item is delivered from the U.S. by courier, being charged duty is more the norm than the exception. If there was pst here I would have to pay that well. If I buy from a company like Neiman Marcus in the U.S., I usually have to pay duty upfront too so PB is not doing anything unusual when they charge duty on dutiable items. Actually, anytime I have to pay customs fees upfront, duty is usually charged regardless of who is delivering the item.

In AB the item number you quoted shows $32.14 import charges. That would include about $11 in gst, perhaps another $17 in duty, estimating 8%) and $3 service charge for PB. If pst/hst in your province is 13% that adds an extra $17.60 to your bill which explains why your total is $49.

Another factor to consider. If you do a search for similar golf clubs, most sellers who do not use the gsp are charging $35+ for shipping to AB. The gsp listing referred to earlier is charging $16.

Total import & shipping fees to AB with gsp seller Total $48

Total import & shipping fees to AB with most non gsp sellers (assuming club is still $220) - $11 gst, $9.95 CP fees, $35 shipping --Total $56

pjcdn2005 · ‎07-13-2013

Didn't mean to almost duplicate your post Marn..I was typing away and didn't realize you had posted that last post.

pierrelebel · ‎07-13-2013

" I have no idea why you're not taking the buyer at his word on this"

Because the numbers (import charges) clearly show the buyer is not in AB nor the Territories.

marnotom! · ‎07-14-2013

@pierrelebel wrote:
" I have no idea why you're not taking the buyer at his word on this"

Because the numbers (import charges) clearly show the buyer is not in AB nor the Territories.

Duh moi!

bentlyssportswear · ‎12-15-2013

So Pitney Bowes collects the money thru PayPal and gives it to the Canadian Gov.......how much do they keep for themselves as "administration costs". Is this just another of eBay's long arms putting money into another of their companies? How do they know what is going to get put thru and what is going to get charged. I have ordered tons of stuff from the US and paid by PayPal and it has been shipped, dropped at my door and never a cent paid to anyone for duty and/or taxes. Why not leave it the way it was and if we as Canadians want to order something from the US then we have to be prepared to pay whatever the Government decides to ask for or in some cases, not ask for. They don't bother on things under $10-$20 but PayPal collects it anyway? Give us a break, if the government dings us, we have no option but to pay, we are not being given that option now!

pierrelebel · ‎12-15-2013

"how much do they keep for themselves as "administration costs"."

In most instances, about $4 to $5 compared to $9.95 for Canada Post.

reallynicestamps · ‎12-16-2013

.......how much do they keep for themselves as "administration costs"

Keep in mind that those fees over the duty and tax portion cover the cost of trans-shipping into Canada.

The buyer paid the seller the cost of shipping from his US location to PitneyBowes in Kentucky. And this is often the only shipping cost the US seller is aware of.

Then PB processes the parcel for duty and tax, and like every Canadian retailer, gets a small rebate for doing so.

And now, PB has to get the parcel to the Canadian buyer. Somehow I doubt this final step is cost free.