What is free shipping when I still have to pay?

[lemurianmetatron1]

I just bought my items with free shipping. I just look at tracking for UPS that they used, and it says receiver needs to pay import charge. Does not free shipping cover all the way? Or at least I know ahead of time before I buy the extra cost? This is the first time that this happened i have been buy so many times and this never happened.

[motomike_canada]

Import charge is Tax and/or duties based on the value of the goods you ordered and the tariff treatment for said goods. 

UPS will also charge a fee for submitting the payment to CBSA on your behalf.

It is not postage. 

[pjcdn2005]

When an item is sent from another country through the mail system such as with USPS, Canada customs may or may not charge you duty and taxes if the purchase is over a certain amount.  But when an item is sent using a courier like UPS or Fedex they are required to charge you tax and/or duty as well as a brokerage fee.   I usually avoid international sellers that use couriers for that reason,

If an eBay seller is using the global shipping program you will pay for shipping and any import fees when you make the purchase but any other time Canada customs charges import fees, it’s up to you to pay them on delivery. 

I think that it’s safe to say that free shipping will never include any import fees.

[reallynicestamps]

If your item was made in a country we have a Free Trade agreement with, you will not be charged duty.

If you are charged duty, it will be applied at a variable rate, based on the type of item, on items valued over $150Cdn (~$112.50 US).

If your item is valued over $40Cdn (~$30US) you will pay sales taxes as charged by your province.

The UPS "customs brokerage" fee starts around $25, five times higher than GSP.

You can tell  UPS that you will do your own brokerage and save that fee, but it will mean going to the CBSA offices (usually near the airport) and spending an hour or so filling out paperwork.

[brettjet38]

A - There is NO SUCH THING as FREE ANYTHING!

B - The shipping may have been "Free" but any import duties, taxes, or other fees are the Buyers responsibility...

...and in every listing on eBay worldwide it says

"International shipment of items may be subject to customs processing and additional charges. "

And if you click on the little? it say's

International Shipping - items may be subject to customs processing depending on the item's customs value.

Sellers declare the item's customs value and must comply with customs declaration laws.

 As the buyer, you should be aware of possible:

- delays from customs inspection.

- import duties and taxes which buyers must pay.

- brokerage fees payable at the point of delivery.

Your country's customs office can offer more details, or visit eBay's page on international trade.

So you see eBay does give/provide ALL the information, but as is often the case in situations like this the BDNR...

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

Some sellers (in certain sectors) may be able to offer free shipping because they can buy in bulk and pass on the savings.  Alternately, because of selling in high volume they have access to much better rates than any casual low volume shipper will ever have.  With many retail and commercial businesses free shipping can be offered if you meet their minimum order. 

It's too bad it wasn't looked at the same way by eBay when it comes to all sellers being lumped together when it applied to these State tax fees but not when it comes to negotiating postage discounts for all of their "sellers". Ummmm...Bargaining Power!!! A company I worked for at one time had offices across Canada. Rates could be negotiated either by head office or locally. Whichever worked best.

-Lotz

[femmefan1946]

"Free " shipping is never free.

The buyer is always covering the cost of shipping, but not always as a line item on the invoice.

Which is cheaper: A $10 item with $5 shipping?  A $5 item with $10 shipping? Or a $15 item with Free Shipping?

In all cases the buyer is giving the seller $15. The seller is just writing different numbers on the invoice.

Now the seller may may pay less than $5 for his shipping. Or he may pay more.  That might or might not be reflected in the amount the buyer is charged.

To come at it from a different point of view, Canada Post charges the sender of a parcel a fuel fee and GST, but those amounts are not reflected in the postage amount printed on the label, something that caused a lot of angst a couple of decades ago.

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

I have a seller I buy from occasionally in Montreal.  Free shipping if I purchase over 49.99. 7.95 if it's under that amount. Promos on shipping all the time for new buyers to get them in the door. They ship high volume so much better negotiating power.

-Lotz

[marnotom!]

Others have pretty much posted it all.  Shipping is shipping.  Import fees are import fees.  Two different animals.

If you buy on websites that offer "free shipping" on orders totalling more than, say, $39, you still have to pay the taxes owing on the item, and they're listed on your receipt as taxes, not shipping fees.  

What you're going to end up paying to UPS is the sales taxes and (normally hidden) duties that you'd be paying on the same item if you bought it domestically, plus what may be a rather stiff fee to UPS to have the item cleared through customs, unless you take up the suggestion made earlier to do the paperwork yourself.

There are shipping services that do give shippers the option of paying taxes, duties, and the various clearance (or "brokerage") charges at the time of shipment or having those charges folded into the shipping charge, but in the case of an online sale, there's no way the seller is going to know beforehand where the item is going and they won't be able to add those charges into the item cost the way they did for the shipping cost for your purchase.

And as suggested earlier, items sent by mail are often given a free pass by CBSA when it comes to the assessment and charging of taxes and duty owing.

It sounds as though you've been extremely lucky in the past.

[femmefan1946]

items sent by mail are often given a free pass by CBSA when it comes to the assessment and charging of taxes and duty owing.

We may see an end to that practice now that the duty -free allowance is $150 rather than $20.

It only applied effectively to personal purchases, since businesses are more likely to be buying wholesale where even the $150 duty-free is surpassed.

[cumos55]

If a listing says free shipping....  the cost of shipping  usually has been included in the cost of the item.... 

and ....sometimes as already indicated,   the seller does offer true free  shipping where the seller pays 100 % of the cost of shipping..... This is .... true ...  free shipping.

Free shipping does not include ... taxes ...  customs fee... shipper fees...

[reallynicestamps]

I disagree.

There is never any such thing as 'free' shipping.

All the money a vendor has comes from the customer.

Whether shipping is charged separately or as part of the cost of the item, the customer is still paying for it.

And the "Buy $10 and shipping is $5 but buy $50 and shipping is free" deal just means that the seller has massaged his prices to allow him to ship multiple items because part of the cost of shipping is already hidden in the $10 per item price.

The arithmetic is beyond me, but the concept is pretty obvious.

Some one is paying for shipping, and it isn't the seller.