50% UPS Brokerage fee????

[kazoobers]

I bought an item that was $99.95 US. The Seller charged me $16.00 for UPS standard shipping to Canada.

The package arrived and here is a Brokerage C.O.D. due to UPS for $54.17. What a rip! The seller said nothing about additional fees due IN ADDITION to the $16.00 I paid him for the shipping. By looking under Help in eBay, I see there is nothing I can do about it.

[tomtshopping]

Well its not UPS mandating charging this fee.  Brokerage fees have to be paid to SOMEONE regardless; and the Canadian Buyer/Recipient has the option to choose whether they want to give the "Power Of Attorney" to UPS or to another Third-Party of their choice to clear their goods through Customs -- in the end someone has to clear the goods through Customs -- that is what the Brokerage Fee is apparently.  If you can find a cheaper Broker on your own than you can simply choose them as opposed to UPS to clear your goods through Customs.

None of us is happy about this "Canadian System" of doing things.  You are Canadian... why don't you research this so we can all be better informed.  I don't mean to be off-putting but it doesn't seem like you did much research before responding to me.

Here is some more information.

http://www.ups.com/content/us/en/resources/ship/imp_exp/customs/terms.html

This link is from UPS Canada I think:

http://www.ups.com/content/ca/en/resources/ship/customs/index.html?srch_pos=1&srch_phr=brokerage

[femmefan1946]

The equivalent minnimum fee from Canada Post was recently raised to $8.50.

The courier companies have to pay their expenses, as does Canada Post. But it is interesting that the non-union private companies consistently have higher brokerage charges than the unionized publicly-owned company.

[tomtshopping]

I have found some more information on how to use Alternative Means to Clear Your Goods through Customs, as opposed to using a Broker.

http://trueler.com/2010/09/13/ups-brokerage-fees-total-scam-fraud-cheating-avoid-it/

http://www.thegatesofdawn.ca/wordpress/posts/2009/01/26/avoiding-upsfedex-brokerage-fees/

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?3825627#post48113097

http://doesitblog.wordpress.com/2010/01/12/international-shipping-into-canada/

Please read these links properly.  With this you would have to call UPS after you get the tracking number and then tell them that you would like to exercise your legal right to "Self-Clear" the shipment yourself at your local CBSA office. You will then do this in person at the CBSA office and then send/give UPS the Form B15, Casual Goods Accounting Document that is issued to you by the CBSA.

I had to research all of this for a Canadian Buyer because I am a good person and he has good feedback.  So I thought I would share this here.  Although this may be my last time shipping to Canada considering the confusion involved north of the border.

This should be a Sticky for this Thread.

[pierrelebel]

How much is your time worth?

The brokerage fee charged by UPS, Fed-Ex, DHL, etc... are all about the same and generally costs less than $20 for an item with a declared value under $100 (Canada Post charges $8.50)

http://www.ups.com/content/ca/en/shipping/cost/zones/customs_clearance.html 

Yes, you can drive to the Customs Office if there is one near you (not everyone lives in a city large enough to justify a Customs office), do the paper work, arrange for payment of taxes and go home.  How long do you think that will take?  What will it cost you to get there?  Park there?

How much is your time worth?

[kazoobers]

How much is your time worth?

The brokerage fee charged by UPS, Fed-Ex, DHL, etc... are all about the same and generally costs less than $20 for an item with a declared value under $100

What?? Where did you get that number from? Read my original post from 2006. I bought an item that was just under $100 and the UPS brokerage fee was $54.17. That is a hell of a lot more than 20 bucks and I bet their fees have gone up even higher since 2006, so don't make it sound that it is no big deal because it is.

[pocomocomputing]

What?? Where did you get that number from? Read my original post from 2006. I bought an item that was just under $100 and the UPS brokerage fee was $54.17. That is a hell of a lot more than 20 bucks and I bet their fees have gone up even higher since 2006, so don't make it sound that it is no big deal because it is.

You were charged $54.17 by UPS. Look at the detailed breakdown of this bill. It will show the brokerage fee, duties and taxes.

If you had received the item by Canada Post, you would have been charged a brokerage fee ($8.50) plus the same duties and taxes.

The 54.17 was not just a brokerage fee by UPS.

[pocomocomputing]

Time warp to 2006!

Since you referred to the original post in 2006, there is no way to know now what the UPS brokerage rates were and what duties were applicable back then. Sales tax would have been GST + PST or HST back then.

The reference to $8.50 brokerage fee by Canada Post is also incorrect as it was $5.00 back then.

[pierrelebel]

"Where did you get that number from?"

I provided a link in my post to the fee table by UPS.  Did you look at it?  It is pretty clear.

The original post states an COD amount of $54.  That would include taxes (GST/PST/HST) and duty if applicable in addition to the brokerage fee.

[kazoobers]

"I provided a link in my post to the fee table by UPS.  Did you look at it?  It is pretty clear."

Yeah I did go look at it. It says "standard service" for an item $40 to $100 is $19.45. However if you look below there are several other charges they can tack on such as Duty and Tax Amendment ($50), Import Permits (each) ($23), Low-Value Shipment Amendment ($15), Collect On Delivery (C.O.D.) Fee ($4.25) etc. etc. so they can easily tack on as many fees as they need to which gets their fee up to 50% of the item as what I was charged.

[kazoobers]

The 54.17 was not just a brokerage fee by UPS.

I know that. See my reply above to pierrelebel which shows only a few of the extra fees UPS can add on.

[pierrelebel]

"Duty and Tax Amendment ($50), Import Permits (each) ($23), Low-Value Shipment Amendment ($15"

NONE of these things applied to you.

[pjcdn2005]

OP are you saying that you paid $54 PLUS tax and duty OR did you pay a total of $54?

Using today's fees-

brokerage fees $19.45

COD fee $4.50

tax and duty approx 20% - $20

Total - $43.95

Perhaps I estimated the tax and duty too low.

The only other fee that could possibly have been added on would be the $5.85 bond fee. I'm a bit confused about that fee as both it and the COD charge seem to be for the same service?? Pierre, can you explain the difference?

But regardless of that, it's likely that a good portion of that $54 was for tax and duty. Technically, you should always pay that regardless of the delivery method. But realistically, packages received though Canada Post often have tax added on but rarely duty. But you still can't consider tax and duty as part of a courier brokerage fee

[pjcdn2005]

None of us is happy about this "Canadian System" of doing things.  You are Canadian... why don't you research this so we can all be better informed.  I don't mean to be off-putting but it doesn't seem like you did much research before responding to me.

I'm quite familiar with how customs and the fees work in Canada. I think that you might be missing the point of this thread. As I said in my other post the courier company decides on how much their brokerage fee will be. It is often quite high. For example on your $300 sale, UPS could charge the receiver taxes and duty plus about $50 in fees (brokerage & c.o.d) depending on which UPS service used. As mentioned, the Canada Post brokerage fee would be $8.50. The difference in those fees is what bothers people. Also, because CP doesn't always collect duty, people often think that the duty is an extra brokerage charge which of course isn't true.

You're correct that we can clear our own packages but as Pierre pointed out, that isn't always a reasonable solution. In my case, that would involve a minimum of 3.5 hours (1.5 hr driving each way, minimum 30 minutes in customs office) plus money for gas. Like many others, I don't have the time to do that.

The best solution for me is to (almost always) deal with suppliers that ship with the postal service. I've learned from experience that is what works for me. Unfortunately, many Canadians don't find out about the extra fees until they have to pay them.

[agsusin]

You are perfectly correct. The Cdn way of making the imported responsible is all wrong, we should adopt the USCBP way of making the shipper responsible. But back to original discussion. UPS's brokerage fees are generally higher than fedex

[pierrelebel]

"UPS's brokerage fees are generally higher than fedex"

They are?

Could you please provide a link to both fee schedules?

[pierrelebel]

"The Cdn way of making the imported responsible is all wrong"

The "Cdn way" ?

Every country in the world makes the importer responsible for Customs clearance and payment of duties and taxes. 

While a few mail order businesses will incorporate the service in their prices as a marketing tool, it does not change the responsibility.

USCBP - US Customs and Border Protection works on the same principles: the importer is responsible to clear goods through Customs and pay applicable duties and taxes.  While procedures may vary depending where and how the goods enter the USA, the overall principals remain the same: the importer is responsible.

[darwould97]

Well I got caught again. I avoid UPS but this time the seller was unclear. They used ups!!!. Here's the breakdown for me:

Item = $76.48

Shipping = $32.69

Brokerage = $58.90 (includes tax on $109 - yes ups added the shipping chages to the item price = more tax!)

So value of goods = $76.48

Tax and shipping = $91.59

If this were you or me we would be charged with fraud. There are instructions to self clear your package (google) but they will lie to you and make this difficult as well.

Please spread the word and avoid UPS at all costs !!!!

No matter how you slice this... this is wrong.

[it*s-not-me]

If this were you or me we would be charged with fraud. ...............

No matter how you slice this... this is wrong.

It's not fraud but it is wrong.

(t's complicated by the fact that the PO also charges handling fees, and shippers are not informed of those fees either.

Since the PO only charges about $8 it's not an issue.  It does however set the standard.)

I'm always left wondering:

There are protections in place for consumers, and a consumer has to get informed of all costs associated with a purchase prior to completing the transaction.

With courier services charging high brokerage fees the shipper is usually not aware of this.

No attempt is made to inform the buyer of all fees associated with the service, and the reason they get away with it is because the fees are split between the shipper and the receiver.

If the shipper were provided with all the information and/or  required to pay all fees up front........... with nothing hidden......... no one would buy the service.

The bottom line is that UPS can only sell the service because they do not inform shippers of the added fees.

That's the problem.

If it is in fact legal.........it's right on the edge........... and it shouldn't be an accepted way of doing business.

[femmefan1946]

Further, since UPS does not inform their customer (the eBay seller) that UPS will be charging the eBay buyer these fees on the doorstep, many of our American colleagues have been hit with angry feedback for gouging, when they thought they were doing their buyer a favour.

(UPS service appears to be cheaper than Delivery Confirmed USPS shipping, because the importation costs are not clearly stated.)

I suppose Canadian sellers should be happy or indifferent to their pain, but the buyer's unhappiness reflects on all eBay sellers.

[tobyshitzu]

DHL would only charge $7 for the same thing (less then canada post!).  Its quite a racket UPs has going.    the solution  is, stop buying things from outside canada that you arent 100% certain how they will be mailed.