50% UPS Brokerage fee????

kazoobers
Community Member
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.
The money's the same, whether you earn it or scam it.
Bobby Heenan
Message 1 of 950
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50% UPS Brokerage fee????

sheer volume that canada post handles, they have set their rate at the nominal $5/$8 accordingly.... feel free to disagree, but the fact remains that courier companies that have to clear your item into the country ARE going to charge you a brokerage fee for doing so... do you think that all those goods coming in across the border are cleared free of charge? just because yours is only one small parcel does not mean you should get it done free!



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Message 721 of 950
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50% UPS Brokerage fee????

I am close enough to the border to be able to drive there and clear the package myself, free-of-charge. I prefer the post office because there are no surprises. They deliver it to my door (I don't have to go to their depot, which is miles away). I don't buy the volume discount argument in this case.

I was commissioning a 10 string guitar from a luthier in the southern USA - we agreed on FedEx shipping due to available insurance. FedEx confirmed their customs-clearing fee would be $10. UPS confirmed theirs would be $220.

Maybe FedEx has huge volume too, and UPS doesn't? Nah, don't think so 🙂
Message 722 of 950
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50% UPS Brokerage fee????

"How can the post office do it for $5"

National postal carriers, like Canada Post, USPS, Royal Post etc etc, are members of the UPU, universal postal union, and abide by their guidelines
http://www.upu.int
Couriers are, as mentioned, private companies
As such they can, and do, charge whatever they think the market will bear

Does that suck? Only to people that are unknowledgable. People up here have been railing about this for a long time ... if UPS really gave a rats patootie, they would have changed this long ago

In my opinion, UPS can offer great rates to the US, knowing they can make up for small-ish national losses from their International gains(gouging) ... it is no different than making stuff here in NA, sending it to China to be packaged, then sending it all back here for sale ... dumb? yes. Big bucks? yes. It all comes down to positive revenue, and obviously business is good, they are still running, so there must be $$$ in it



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"A dictatorship would be a heck of a lot easier, there's no question about it."


George W. Bush

Message 723 of 950
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50% UPS Brokerage fee????

... and when those items are made in china with raw material from canada, then you imported the finished goods back into canada ... you get into the fun go-round of proving that your product was made with goods that originated in canada ... of course, you first of all pay up front the charges to bring it INTO the country and then you get to play fun with paperwork and apply for a rebate on the amount paid...



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Message 724 of 950
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50% UPS Brokerage fee????

junglejammies
Community Member
.............assuming of course that sensible posts will be both read and ingested. Wishful thinking! Meanwhile, UPS will continue to chortle its way to the bank.

Message 725 of 950
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50% UPS Brokerage fee????

patobot
Community Member
Another EXTREMELY UNSATISFIED ups customer here.

So far I've had all my packages shipped from USA to Canada using USPS/CanadaPost and never had a problem. A couple of days ago a seller sent me a package using UPS; item is worth 30$, 22$ for shipping and ... 44$ of fn brokerage fees! What a RIP-OFF!

Btw you guys should google "ups brokerage c.o.d."
Their official website only appears 4th in the midst of negative links on their service.

This is the first and last time that I'm using UPS.
Message 726 of 950
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50% UPS Brokerage fee????

... it usually only takes one time for people to wise up and only purchase from sellers that use the postal service...



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Message 727 of 950
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50% UPS Brokerage fee????

... you get into the fun go-round of proving that your product was made with goods that originated in canada ...

Have you ever tried to prove that the Brazilian Rosewood on the back of your guitar, or the ivory nut is legal? Major, major hassle 😞
Message 728 of 950
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50% UPS Brokerage fee????

jakeeangel
Community Member
And that Granny is part of what people that broker goods have to do. It's not always simple & easy.

I broker my own commercial stuff over the border. I'm familar with the products I import and look into what's needed before I decide to import a product. If it's too much of a hassle or too high a duty rate I might not do it. It depends on the profit margin.
Message 729 of 950
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50% UPS Brokerage fee????

trooper2100
Community Member
About UPS yeah they are fast but there is a price to pay, now i always ask the seller to sent it via USPS sl;ower but doesn,t charge anyting i bought 2 gps and i had a 52$ COD but nothuing with the postal service
Message 730 of 950
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50% UPS Brokerage fee????

cwcai
Community Member
The Seller charged you $16.00 for UPS standard shipping to Canad,I think the fee is too hight.What do you think of it?:-D
cwcai.png
Message 731 of 950
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50% UPS Brokerage fee????

alawishis
Community Member
*canuckchat*, you are not getting what is happening here with the brokerage fee. UPS is not just passing on their costs to the customer as a reasonable business would do, they are gouging. This is like the guy at the curb, without asking you, wiping your car windshield with a rag then asking for $100.
UPS charges brokerage fees based on their assessed value of the goods shipped but in reality these are fixed costs. It does not take them any more work to broker a $2 item or a $2000 item and it is not more effort for UPS than it is for USPS there are no volume discounts. You have not idea how little work it is to clear customs. Canada Customs essentially does all the work.

For those who do have UPS show up at the door, DO NOT PAY THE BROKERAGE FEE. Once you pay and sign it's too late usually. When you sign for the package part of what you are signing is accepting UPS to act as your broker and their right to charge the fee. That's right they need your permission to act on your behalf to broker your package with customs. After all it's your package not theirs, it was yours the moment you paid the merchant for it.

I'm sure others have reported but it bears repeating: Here is what you can do to avoid paying the crazy fees.
http://www.cbc.ca/consumers/market/files/home/courierfees/steps.html

If you have paid already some have has success calling/writing UPS and complaining.

Good luck.
Message 732 of 950
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50% UPS Brokerage fee????

I have been "getting" it since long before eBay was even a glimmer in pierre omidyar's brain .... having worked in a few companies along the way in life that did many cross border transactions, I was fully aware that items coming IN to Canada via COURIER would be assessed a brokerage charge by the courier company that had to broker them in to the country ...


And yes - when you KNOW how to do the paperwork (and how to read the tariff code books), then it is very simple to fill out the paperwork.

To anybody that has to LEARN their job, once they LEARN it, it usually comes easily to them.

So, yes, the folks that do the paperwork to broker goods into the country most likely have to do very little "work" when they fill out the paperwork to broker the goods in.

Carry on....



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Message 733 of 950
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50% UPS Brokerage fee????

DO NOT PAY THE BROKERAGE FEE.


What happens next? I'm curious why you suggest this and if you know what happens to your package when you don't pay.



Message 734 of 950
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50% UPS Brokerage fee????

And I ask this because the item has already been brokered and now they want their fee..... no?



Message 735 of 950
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50% UPS Brokerage fee????

I believe that others have stated the sender gets hit with a return postage fee but beyond that I do not know... perhaps someone that has had the experience can enlighten us?



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Message 736 of 950
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50% UPS Brokerage fee????

oops... make that a UPS parcel return fee, not postage....



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Message 737 of 950
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50% UPS Brokerage fee????

So what you're say CanuckChat, is if you don't know what you're talking about it's best to not give bad advice?

Because essentially what you're saying is, the buyer (who refused to pay the brokerage) would then be out his item AND his money?



Message 738 of 950
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50% UPS Brokerage fee????

junglejammies
Community Member
Love your eBay icon Loki! Neat!

I recently received a shipment by UPS who were bent on making their usual collection, but not for the poor. I don't keep a handgun in the house and as the UPS guy bristled with the joys of the season, I paid the brokerage fee to avoid any hassle. However, I had given explicit instructions for the item to be sent by USPS and also provided an explanation as to why I wished to avoid using UPS. They did confirm that it went by USPS. Well.........while I am willing to accept that some of our American friends are not too bright, I also felt that they should be willing to pay for the oversight which would (hopefully) avoid another mistake. So........

I called them and very nicely set out that I was out of pocket $28 because they shipped by UPS instead of USPS. Overcome with perceptual stimuli, they agreed to either credit my card or deduct the cost from my next order. So... I agreed that they could deduct it from my next order. They deserve a second chance. After all, they sell great pet products at a fraction of the price here in Canada and ship free with purchases over $35. Not too many do that eh?

Happy New Year All!
Message 739 of 950
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50% UPS Brokerage fee????

Actually - yes - I have had a seller in the past acknowledge that their warehouse staff were instructed to ship USPS - and then the staff shipped UPS - so I paid for the incoming item and the company reimbursed me the difference between what I would have paid via postal shipment incoming and via courier shipment incoming ... yes there ARE good companies out there!



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Message 740 of 950
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