eBay

canuckchat · ‎11-23-2006

If you reside in Canada - and purchase an item from the USA - you need to educate yourself as to the fact that you WILL be paying applicable taxes and possibly duties on the item when it crosses the border into Canada.

Yes, if the item is shipped by postal service, your "brokerage handling fee" will be a nominal $5 or $8 - plus the applicable taxes for your province (and possibly duties, but seldom are they charged.)

And yes, MANY times the items shipped by postal service are NOT charged taxes or duties incoming - so sometimes you will escape paying the taxes that are due to the Canadian and provincial governments.

However, you should ALWAYS - and I stress ALWAYS! - calculate the cost of the taxes and possibly duties into the decision to make a purchase internationally.

Additionally, if your item is sent by the USA seller (or other international seller) through a courier service (for example, UPS, FEDEX, DHL, etc.) then your applicable brokerage fee will be upwards of $25, on a sliding scale dependent upon the value of the incoming item.

Yes, these fees (brokerage, tax, duty) are ALL part of the cost of buying an item internationally and having it shipped to you in Canada.

It is NOT up to the seller to pay these for you - YOU are the importer of record - YOU are the one who will be billed for these charges - YOU are the one who will NOT get your parcel until you pay these charges.

So - before hitting the "BID NOW" button, do a bit of calculating and make an informed decision to see if it is really worth getting that imported widget!

Happy Bidding, Folks!
:-D

captgec · ‎03-10-2011

Almost correct. If you are not familiar with UPS they charge $58 as a fee for crossing the border. Even when taxes and duties are not demanded. That is why I never ever use UPS. Only use federal mail services not the corporate thieves who are UPS or FEDEx

captgec · ‎03-10-2011

Use USPS as opposed to couriers. It is cheaper and the counter parts at Canada Post are not concerned with corporate profits.

lokijeep · ‎03-10-2011

Use USPS as opposed to couriers. It is cheaper and the counter parts at Canada Post are not concerned with corporate profits.

LOL

pierrelebel · ‎03-10-2011

"UPS they charge $58 as a fee for crossing the border. Even when taxes and duties are not demanded. "

That information is incorrect. I use UPS regularly and approve of the quality of their service. On the other hand, UPS is not for everyone, and many buyers do not require the efficiency they provide.

For factual information about their Customs clearance fees, please check their fee schedule at this http://www.ups.com/content/ca/en/shipping/cost/zones/customs_clearance.html

Please note UPS Worldwide Express Plus, UPS Worldwide Express, UPS Worldwide Express Saver, and UPS Worldwide Expedited Services have NO brokerage fees. Those only apply to the economical standard (ground) service.

valentin1 · ‎03-15-2011

thanks for the information... very helpful... appreciate it...

grannio204 · ‎03-24-2011

Something else to consider (if it hasn't been mentioned already) is that Canadian Customs will hold your package in their warehouse for 5 to 20 working days to do their 'review' (tax grab). Be careful with items that can be damaged by sitting in a warehouse, like musical instruments. The Customs people simply don't care.

disknotcher · ‎04-12-2011

It's not just UPS .. it applies to ANY courier

As much as that may seem logical, I find UPS to be the worst ($$$) when it comes to cross-border shipping.

pacificoceangirl1 · ‎04-29-2011

d2r2 - this is why I select US sellers offering USPS service, although customs fees are inevitable "brokerage fees" (read we need to take more of your money to do what would have been done anyways without us) are never a part of USPS service.

I have been charged upwards of 25% of the value of my purchase in "brokerage fees" (this is above and separate of customs duties/taxes) by Fedex, UPS and DHL one too many times..their loss.

terri*the*terrible · ‎05-09-2011

🙂 Bumping for the newbies

intrepix · ‎05-10-2011

I always ask the Seller if they will ship it USPS International or United States Postal Service International. I asked one Seller, they replied they only ship UPS or United Parcel Service. I made NO offer.

Note : If a Seller is getting incentives for shipping UPS, you may want to reconsider who you do business with because it is you who will pay the ridiculous brokerage fees, COD fees and handling fees that UPS adds on to the parcel when it reaches Canada Customs.

The last time I got a parcel delivered via UPS, I simply refused the parcel, it was shipped back to the Seller who I informed as to the charges and reason for refusing it.

Sellers .... wake up, Canadians are not going to buy if they pay the shipping charges and you refuse to ship it via USPS International.

terri*the*terrible · ‎05-13-2011

Bumping for Canuckchat 🙂

starship42 · ‎05-17-2011

... okay, but can they justify these charges? Or are they not obligated to? What is the rationale for their calculation of these fees? Or do they have one?

Why should anyone have to pay duties/brokerage fees at all - for anything, in any quantity for that matter?

I pay enough taxes tyvm. I'll bloody well spend my money where I wish without some middle man gouging me "after" my transaction.

pierrelebel · ‎05-17-2011

"I pay enough taxes..."

That is the point. When shopping within Canada, retailers - employing millions of Canadians - must charge consumers GST/HST/PST (typically 12%-15% except for AB) on most products.

If Canadians were able to buy from the USA (or overseas) at lower prices without paying Canadian consumption taxes (GST/HST/PST), many retailers would have to close their doors. Charging taxes at time of Customs entry levels the playing field for Canadian retailers.

carrie.brayall · ‎05-19-2011

So, here's my problem. I ordered a motorcycle part from a seller who claims to ship USPS. However, UPS tried to deliver it to me and wanted $95 in broker fees! I refused the shipment. The seller won't reply to my request to either re-ship via USPS, or refund my money.

PayPal denied my claim because they don't deal with shipping issues. I now have a claim in with my credit card company to get the money back.

Can e-bay do anything about this? Anybody have any other suggestions other than giving this seller a horrible feedback???

pjcdn2005 · ‎05-20-2011

carrie, hopefully you have better luck with your credit card company. I have heard that in some cases paypal will refund if you file for an item not received since the package wasn't accepted but obviously there is no guarantee that they will do that.

Would you mind giving the listing number of the item that you purchased. I'm not sure what ebay could do or what you want them to do do but depending on the listing, you might be able to file a seller non performance complaint.

I would be surprised if the whole $95 was for brokers fees. More than likely a portion of it is for gst/hst and for duty, both of which you are responsible to pay regardless of how an item is sent. It is rare that an item sent by post will be assessed duty but there is always the possibility that it will be.

carrie.brayall · ‎05-24-2011

Thanks PJ, I have a claim in the works with VISA, and maybe I will try to open another claim with Paypal for item not received.

I'm out $250 and dont' have my item, so something has to give here!

My item number was 260653166876, purchased from AAMotorsports of Kansas City.

pjcdn2005 · ‎05-24-2011

I was a little unclear as I didn't mean that you should open another claim with Paypal. I was just saying that in incidents like this they sometimes do find the claim in favor of the buyer but in your case they didn't.

I believe that you can appeal a claim with Paypal (although I don't know that first hand) but you can't open a new claim for the same item. BUT because you are now dealing with your cc company, Paypal won't deal with it at all as there would be a conflict of interest.

downsizing2018 · ‎06-22-2011

When buying anything from the USA I always request shipping via USPS. If they can not comply, I don't buy the item.

That being said. I got caught some years back with a large costume jewelry order, sent by UPS, I don't remember the numbers, but it was ugly! The nice lady that called me to say that the parcel had arrived in Canada, asked me if I wanted them to be my broker, after hearing the price, I said "NO", I would find my own. I went to Canada Post, found a very nice clerk who helped me with the paper work - which I filed locally to the office where the parcel had landed in Eastern Canada, and in about 4-5 days I had my parcel for he usual Canada post rates, excise, duty, customs, etc. etc.