eBay

shaunegermain · ‎10-12-2020

Hello!
I just paid the invoice for winning an auction of 4 floor mats and 1 trunk/cargo mat from the US (also made in USA) . The PayPal invoice was split into 2 fees, one for seller, the other for pitney bowes /Global Shipping Program. They both added up to the shown shipping fee in the ad plus an additional $8, and that fee was labeled s shipping & import charge. I am a little surprised there fee as only showing $36 considering when I checked the government’s website it said $22 tax and no duty but obviously to expect more for PB brokerage fees, etc. My question is this: can I still expect another bill either in the mail or COD?

femmefan1946 · ‎10-13-2020

The cost of shipping under the GSP should be the total of the seller's shipping charge to KY, GSP's service charge ~$5USD, duty (under NAFTA nothing) and Canadian sales taxes (based on your provincial rate including GSP).

Things that might make for a variation would be currency exchange (I noticed today that my $9.99USD listings were being converted to $13.12 although that has varied over time) and sales tax, which is based on your provincial rate. (In AB only 5%, but here in BC 5% GST+ 7%PST. And in ON with a harmonized tax it's 13%).

Until you actually buy, the tax rate is not confirmed, although the program has a good guess based on where your ID shows you live.

So the ~$5USD service charge may explain $6.50 of the $8.00, but only if the service charge is indeed $5.

View solution in original post

marnotom! · ‎10-13-2020

@shaunegermain wrote:

My question is this: can I still expect another bill either in the mail or COD?

I've never known this to happen.

femmefan1946 · ‎10-13-2020

The cost of shipping under the GSP should be the total of the seller's shipping charge to KY, GSP's service charge ~$5USD, duty (under NAFTA nothing) and Canadian sales taxes (based on your provincial rate including GSP).

Things that might make for a variation would be currency exchange (I noticed today that my $9.99USD listings were being converted to $13.12 although that has varied over time) and sales tax, which is based on your provincial rate. (In AB only 5%, but here in BC 5% GST+ 7%PST. And in ON with a harmonized tax it's 13%).

Until you actually buy, the tax rate is not confirmed, although the program has a good guess based on where your ID shows you live.

So the ~$5USD service charge may explain $6.50 of the $8.00, but only if the service charge is indeed $5.

shaunegermain · ‎10-13-2020

Thank you for this, marnotom, I hope that's the case.

marnotom! · ‎10-13-2020

@shaunegermain wrote:

Thank you for this, marnotom, I hope that's the case.

If you're comfortable giving us a few more details, such as the amount the item sold for, the shipping charge and the import charges stated in the listing, we might be able to break down the charges a bit more than that for you.

shaunegermain · ‎10-13-2020

Thank you for taking the time to explain that, femmefan1946. I just assumed I'd be looking at another fee from FedEx when they drop it off as $36 seemed low for brokerage fees and shipping from border to me. Maybe it's because I've read too many things regarding just that, but to be honest they were on low value items and this is $160 CAD. It seems my only worry then is them opening up the boxes and slicing my product with the box cutter.

shaunegermain · ‎10-13-2020

I was the only bidder on the auction. All costs I am citing are in CAD.

EBAY:
I bid $1.31
shipping 158.45
Import charges free

PAYPAL:
Auction 1.31
130.40 paid to seller
36.01 import charges

marnotom! · ‎10-14-2020

The $36.01 you see in your PayPal that went to Pitney Bowes is going to consist of Pitney Bowes' (the GSP) share of the shipping charge plus an amount (usually around US$5-6) for various processing charges.

An item with a declared value of $1.31 is normally not going to see any taxes or duties assessed or charged on it. Well, there are a few exceptions to this, but even then the amount would be incredibly small. I have no idea where this $22 figure you researched came from.

Unlike, say, the EU, items imported by mail or courier do not have the shipping charge taxed by customs in Canada.

shaunegermain · ‎10-14-2020

Sorry. The $22 was something I researched on my own outside of the GSP prior to bidding on the item - I wanted to get an idea of whether not it would be worth buying it from the US so I checked what border fees might be from the cbsa site calculator (was based on 150.00 value of item)

reallynicestamps · ‎10-14-2020

I'm glad you are feeling more comfortable with the transaction, but could I comment?

Some years ago, it was not uncommon for sketchy sellers to use a low price for their products but inflate shipping.

Like a one cent item with $99 shipping.

They did this because at that time, eBay charged fees on selling prices but not on shipping costs.

They were cheating eBay out of fees for advertising here, and when eBay caught on, they put the same fee on both selling and shipping prices.

Sellers are still annoyed about this.

That your seller set up a "penny auction" and has such a high shipping charge is an indication of a seller who may not understand how eBay fees work, who may have copied some out of date and bad advice without realizing things have changed, and who may be shocked when he learns how much his fees will be.

Unless your purchase is very bulky and heavy, the shipping sounds unusually high, with or without GSP fees-- which are mostly duty (none on US made goods and none on imports valued under $150.00Cdn) and sales taxes (none on imports valued under $40Cdn).

I hope this all goes smoothly, but please let us know if it does not.