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.

[jakeeangel]

ooooooooooh 300 snipe! :^O

---

[canuckchat]

nice

[gsr63]

jakeeangel - Yes, what I want to know - from people who have experience with cross border and UPS fees, etc., is -

h) I guess the question is - what should the UPS brokerage fee be? If you're getting a better service (sometimes) - then should it be a percentage of the value of the shipment? i.e. 10% So, you buy a $300.00 item, you pay $30.00 brokerage? You buy a $99.00 item, you pay $9.90 brokerage? Or, what should the percentage be?

i) Or, should it be a flat rate like $20.00 or something - regardless of value?


So, yes, absolutely, I am looking for people's input.

[charmmykitten]

Hello! I was wondering about brkerage fees for EMS mail...

I recently had a (rather expensive) package get lost in the mail, so I changed the shipping method for an order for something I have on pre-order to EMS mail, because of the insurance. They let me change shipping methods free of cost. 😃

What are the brokerage fees on EMS mail like? Are they as bad as UPS? The item was around 100$ & was around 40$ (yes, I know, expensive)to ship via EMS.

I still have a couple days to switch back to global priority mail if the brokerage fees are way too much.

[ferret-mom]

Who cares what people think it *should* be. It's not up to us to determine that.

You would be surprised.

There are companies that make a living polling prospective customers and doing marketing studies on behalf of corporations that are looking for a competitive edge.

If UPS was not concerned about negative reactions to their brokerage fees, or worried about turning away customers, then why would they not be more forthcoming when dealing with cross-border shippers? Why are there no large signs or indications at UPS locations listing exactly what charges the recipient will be expected to pay?

[mikeogilvie89]

UPS is taking advantage of customers--why does canada post not charge a brokerage fee? .. they will charge duty and taxes but have NEVER been charged a "BROKERAGE" fee from them. They say it is to get the item into canada, well when they signed on to deliver the item the knew it was going to canada and charge extra for it to the shipper, then charge the receiver because they ACTUALLY had to bring it into canada.

[canuckchat]

Canada Post charges a nominal $5 fee for their service to "broker" the parcel into Canada.

[mikeogilvie89]

have purchased many large items and never been charged "brokerage" fees from canada post---guess I got lucky

[sysfixr]

... never been charged ? If you had to go to the PO, and pay for it, you sure did pay brokerage and taxes!



... There are 10 types of people in the world, those that understand binary, and those that do not ...

[sir*edward*ross]

... never been charged ? If you had to go to the PO, and pay for it, you sure did pay brokerage and taxes!

Sometimes you pay, and sometimes you don't. Luck of the draw.

Always factor in the GST/PST & $5.00 brokerage fee into your total purchase cost, and then you'll be happy when you don't have to pay.

Lowest cost item that I've had to pay tax on? $20.19

Highest cost item I've not had to pay tax on? $143.23 ]:)

[69signetv8]

Just an important NOTE
If you have noticed my buying numbers are nil..thats because I just re-opened a new account! Anyways, getting burnt by possible UPS hiddin fees are one thing, but be aware of this!!! Awhile back I had bought about ten small items worth around 150.00 US I guess a few of the parts were backloged by two days. The sender himself not fully understanding brokerage fees etc ended up sending me two different packages (1 of 2) on one day and the other (2 of 2) a day later rather then just waiting for the backloged items to be sent in one package deal....Well, You know it, I had to pay "brokerage" S&H & COD fees twice to UPS. Now that regular US price ended up around 330.00+ CDN.

[canuckchat]

The fees that UPS charges for brokerage are not hidden...

[canuckchat]

... just because YOU personally (and others) may not KNOW in advance that a courier will broker your item into this country and charge you for doing this service FOR YOU.. does not mean it is HIDDEN

[shadowraine]

I have read through most of this thread, which I was drawn to after searching for an explaination as to why UPS stuck a notice on my door saying that a Christmas present from family in CT was going to cost me just under $127 COD to receive. To the obviously "patriotic" minority that are suggesting that if consumers don't want to pay brokerage fees, that they should simply shop domestically, and the people that defend UPS as being a business free to set their own prices for services rendered, I have a few comments. First and foremost, to the "patriots," thank you. Thank you for defending our country's strong economy by suggesting we all shop domestically. Thank you for putting your two very Canadian cents in, and making sure we don't send our loonies and toonies south of the border. Thank you for indirectly supporting retailers who refuse to make prices more competitive in light of a strong dollar. All of us who have ever bought items from the US that are readily available in Canada should be ashamed of ourselves. Lord knows that trying to save a few bucks by getting a good deal online is just not right, is it?

And for the defenders of UPS, thank you as well. Gosh, with support like that, it's no wonder that couriers get away with charging the fees they do. The "The price went up? Oh well, what can you do?" attitude of consumers such as yourselves is what promotes price gouging by companies. The issue of whether or not it is legal for UPS to charge these fees I don't think has ever been in debate in this thread (short of the whole gifts thing mentioned on page 3 or 4). I think the question is whether or not it is fair to the consumer in Canada to have to pay a 50% brokerage - or if you like, HANDLING - fee on items that they have already paid often excessive shipping charge for. Morally justify it! Save the capitalist banter about businesses being justified in charging whatever they want to for your next argument with a commie and tell me how it is FAIR that buyers in Canada should be expected to know every exception they are going to face when dealing with UPS for the first time? I have received goods via FedEx, Purolator, USPS, and NEVER have I seen such an outrageous charge! What about those who can't afford these fees and were not aware they would face them, having never used UPS before, and who are, for example, dealing with a less reasonable seller who refuses to refund them, mirroring the attitude of our defenders of UPS here that "it is the buyers responsibility to know"? Not my problem you were uneducated, despite having previous experience with other shipping companies and never having had encounted a fee like that before. You don't wanna pay? Too bad. Nice, guys. Now someone in a lower-income family that wanted to get a Christmas gift for his/her significant other is out the money they paid to the seller, but doesn't have the present because they can't afford an extra $100 to fork out to UPS, and don't have any more money to buy something else. Mr. Scrooge, eat your heart out.

The gift I was supposed to be getting was a blackberry 8320, a phone NOT OFFERED IN CANADA through retail stores. So pardon me for not waltzing down to Rogers and picking it up, thereby bolstering our economy. There are, however, people selling them IN Canada on this site and classifieds, albeit for about $200 more than what they are going for in the United States. Pardon me for not paying $200 extra because someone wants to gouge me for buying domestically.

Seriously folks, the fees UPS are charging can't be reasonable to you, can they? Again, we're not talking about legality here, nor are we trying to compare apples and oranges like postal vs courier. We're asking a question of fairness. I think it's safe to say that the majority of the people who have posted in this thread are in agreement that UPS is NOT being fair, or in anyway reasonable about their fees. I am in full agreement with those who suggest using postal service as a viable, far more economical alternative. Perhaps if you feel otherwise, you can start a "Yay!! UPS Charged me a 50% Brokerage Fee!!!" thread instead of treating those of us who didn't know we'd suffer it like uneducated fools.

[canuckchat]

- UPS is a business, whether you like it or not

- FEDEX does indeed charge brokerage, as I have personally received items (twice) via this courier and received an invoice in the mail after receiving the goods

- some Canadian businesses are trying to lower the playing field regarding the currency being on/near par (one local shop is taking $1 off the cost of each and every greeting card purchased between now and Christmas; oher businesses are doing similar things)

[canuckchat]

Perhaps I need to clarify: I have worked over the course of my career, at a variety of companies that either had counterparts in the USA or imported a lot of goods from the USA.

Therefore, I have always been aware of courier companies charging brokerage.

Try importing steel and see what kind of brokerage you get charged. On top of which, every time Canadian steel companies got their knickers in a knot, they would set up an 'inquiry' with the Canadian government and we would have to backtrack through 5-7 years worth of imports to PROVE we had paid our due diligence on all imported steel!

[mikeogilvie89]

sorry but what the government is concerned about is called "duty" not brokerage fees!!!... if you ask UPS what the brokerage fees are for they will tell you that is for all the "paperwork" they have to do to get the item through customs!!!

[canuckchat]

Both duty and brokerage are applied to incoming commercial shipments.

And - if applicable - both duty and brokerage are applied to incoming shipments to individuals.

You think that it is easier to do the paperwork on your incoming Ipod than on an incoming shipment of Pots & Pans for Sears? Maybe it is ... but, nonetheless, they are STILL going to DO the paperwork and they are STILL going to charge brokerage.

Got it yet?

[deev_hutch]

canuckchat said: "I have worked over the course of my career, at a variety of companies that either had counterparts in the USA or imported a lot of goods from the USA. Therefore, I have always been aware of courier companies charging brokerage."


Well here is the problem then - not every buyer on ebay has experience working with companies importing goods. In fact, I would bet that very few people have this experience. Please bear in mind that not everyone is like you.
The UPS brokerage fees may not be "hidden" but they are not well explained to the shippers in the USA, and they are certainly not made clear to a typical ebay buyer. A question canuckchat -do you think that UPS brokerage charges are clearly explained to the typical ebay buyer? And if they don't "get it", they're just stupid?

In addition, the "sliding scale" of charges that UPS has for brokerage is illogical, and in my opinion, a blatent cash grab from deliberately uninformed consumers.

[canuckchat]

- no, the brokerage fees are NOT explained to sellers

- no, the brokerage fees are NOT explained to buyers

- BUT - YES - there are COUNTLESS threads on these forums that alert buyers to this

- therefore - YES - many buyers do NOT GET IT because they keep insisting that UPS is some kind of devil company!