eBay

cloudkillua · ‎10-26-2019

Hi everyone, I've been searching the board for the exact answer, but haven't really found anything recent enough to be of reference. I'm trying to purchase an Apple Watch from the USA to be shipped to Canada. I notice all of the listings I check are shipping through GSP and show Import Charge as $0 like below:

Shipping:

US $26.21 (approx. C $34.24) International Priority Shipping to Canada | See details

Item location:

San Antonio, Texas, United States

Ships to:

United States and many other countries | See details

Import charges:

US $0.00 (amount confirmed at checkout)

I'm wondering if this means I will in fact not be paying any import charges, or if I would only be seeing the charge AFTER I commit to buying? I tried doing checkout without going all the way, but still don't see any estimates. I'm slightly worried as I've read multiple times of Canadian buyers getting a "second charge" that took them by surprise. I have the choice of buying this item from Canadian buyers, albeit for a higher price, so I'm hoping to figure out where I can get the best value.

Thanks.

esclyons · ‎10-26-2019

i would worry as well, anything over 20$ has duty and taxes applied to it, I would try to find it in Canada, with the difference in the dollar, and the extra shipping fees, i believe you could probably be able to find a better price in Canada.

pjcdn2005 · ‎10-26-2019

You can add an item to your cart and then click on checkout without committing to buy. That should show you the total including any import charges. I just tried it on a similar item (didn't go as far as paying though) and surprisingly didn't see any import charges at all.

When you look at the listing itself it says that import charges will be confirmed at checkout. But when you are the checkout stage the import charges line looks like a final total so they shouldn't add any more.

Note that when you pay, part of the payment will go to the seller and one part to Pitney Bowes. The two payments should total the item, shipping charges and import charges if there are any,.

reallynicestamps · ‎10-26-2019

Import fees are assessed on any import valued over $20Cdn (`$15US).

Fees are made up of appropriate duty, SALES TAXES, and a ~$5US service fee to Pitney Bowes who run the GSP for eBay.

It's my understanding that electronic goods like the Apple Watch are zero -rated for duty (although they are made in China). Correct me if I'm wrong, I see this claim made constantly.

Sales Taxes vary by province, so they can't be calculated until the shipping address is known.

Sales Taxes will be charged even if the item has no duty, if the value is over $20.

And there is the service charge.

cloudkillua · ‎10-26-2019

Thanks for the replies everyone. I tried to go to the checkout page (right before "Confirm and Pay") for one of the listings and still see import charges as $0. This is the part that is suspicious to me as I have seen some Canadian buyers say they got charged extra on top of what they agreed to on this checkout page (in this case extra on top of the US $32), payable to PB, instead of having the US $32 shipping fee split into 2 payments (one for seller, one for PB) <-- this I can accept.

Apple Watch Series 3 38 mm Stainless Steel with White Band MQJV2LL/A Model A1860

US $233.00

Quantity 1

Shipping

Est. delivery: Wed, Nov 6 – Tue, Nov 12

International Priority Shipping

Includes international tracking

US $32.03

Import charges

No additional import charges at delivery

US $0.00

Subtotal (1 item)

US $233.00

ShippingUS $32.03

Order totalUS $265.03

Do you think this means I will in fact be paying just the $32 USD all inclusive? I find it highly unlikely PB will not be charging a fee, could it be that it is built into the $32 USD now?

Thanks.

marnotom! · ‎10-26-2019

This phenomenon has been discussed two or three times previously in the past couple of years. "$0 import charges" seems to be something that eBay and/or PitneyBowes are/is experimenting with to see if it makes the program more palatable to us Canadians.

All a "$0 import charges" means is that PitneyBowes has estimated the tax, duty and processing charges for the item and added it to the shipping charge.

As long as the seller doesn't mess up by shipping the item directly to you instead of to Kentucky, you won't have to pay anything at the door or at a pickup location. Remember, GSP items arrive without customs forms or customs documentation, just like domestic shipments. What you see at Checkout is what you'll pay.