First time buyer. Item is from US, shipping to Canada.

[vinph8938]

Hi this is the first time I am buying an item on ebay.  I am located in Canada and purchasing a computer from a seller in the US.  When I go to checkout it says that I am responsible to pay shipping and GST/HST, but no Duties fee.  What I want to know is whether is this is the final price $112.60 (or using ebay conversion $160 CAD)?  Or do I have to pay anything like additional taxes somehow at customs?  The listing says it uses "Ebay international shipping" if that matters.

[marnotom! · Accepted solution]

Shipments handled by eBay International Shipping sometimes have duties and taxes handled at checkout, sometimes they don’t, and sometimes you’re given a choice.

Once you pay the taxes at checkout, you shouldn’t (knock on wood) face being charged for them on delivery. If your purchase were subject to duty, you would be charged for that at checkout as well. What you see should be the final price, but the Canadian dollar amount may be a smidge different depending on how your payment method handles the currency exchange.

[vinph8938]

Hi,

So just to confirm since this listing shows as ebay international shipping $32.30, taxes $12.90 USD H/GST, and $0.00 Duties, I am not paying anything more than that right?  Because I do see a disclaimer on the sales page saying additional import charges may apply?

And yes I see the conversion rate actually shows $160 CAD, which I think is more expensive than using my bank VISA.

[marnotom!]

I’m going to hazard a guess that that’s there to cover eBay’s butt in case the buyer changes their shipping address before finalizing their purchase, but I wouldn’t mind seeing that page if you’re still able to screenshot it.

[vinph8938]

Okay so I was looking at the wrong listing (had too many tabs open) and it does seem like the item I am buying says "Duties and taxes paid at checkout.  There’ll be no extra processing time at the customs and no additional import charges upon delivery."  The checkout page also shows Duties as 0 and only the standard provincial/federal taxes on goods.  I am going to assume this is accurate and pay.  If something goes wrong and I do get charged more fees, I will refund or charge back. 

Thank you for your help.

[marnotom!]

There’s actually a lot of stuff out there that’s not subject to duty when purchased from outside of Canada, @vinph8938, even if the purchase or item doesn’t originate from a country that Canada has a free trade agreement with. There are lots of duty and tax estimation calculators out there online that you can play with to help you get a sense of this. Your purchase is likely fine.

Keep in mind, though, that eBay generally doesn’t facilitate refunds for items refused on delivery for customs fees owing although they may be more flexible when it comes to items handled by eIS where customs fees were pre-paid and you were promised no further charges. I’m also not sure how or if a credit card chargeback would work in this scenario as neither eBay nor the seller would have charged the duty, either.

[reallynicestamps]

Imports from the USA have a duty free allowance of $150Cdn /~$112.50US and a tax free allowance of $40Cdn/~$30USD.

There may be a service fee for customs brokerage in there. The older GSP program, which was replaced by eIS, had a service fee of ~$5USD.