eBay

suressing0 · ‎06-30-2020

Hello,

So I recently bought and item (06/12/2020) and in the listing, it said no import charges. I went back today just to look over the add, and it now has import charges. Am I in the clear since duties gets charged at checkout and since I already paid when it said 0?

Thank you in advance.

reallynicestamps · ‎06-30-2020

Import fees are made up of duty (if any) sales taxes and the carrier's service charge.

If your purchase was under $20Cdn, there will be no duty or sales tax.

If your purchase was over $20 and was not a dutiable product, there still would be sales tax.

If your purchase was over $20 and was dutiable*, there would be duty and sales tax.

And the GSP has a ~$5 service charge.

But if you paid the eBay invoice for a GSP shipped product, you will face no further charges when the purchase is delivered.

The import fees were included in the shipping charge.

*If it was manufactured in a country we have a Free Trade Agreement with there would be no duty. That include NAFTA, the EU, and most of the Pacific Rim. But that's MADE not purchased.

ypdc_dennis · ‎06-30-2020

You have already bought, so any after sale listing changes do not apply to you.

marnotom! · ‎06-30-2020

@suressing0 wrote:

So I recently bought and item (06/12/2020) and in the listing, it said no import charges. I went back today just to look over the add, and it now has import charges. Am I in the clear since duties gets charged at checkout and since I already paid when it said 0?

Thank you in advance.

If your item is being forwarded through the Global Shipping Program, your "import charges" were likely added to the shipping charge. Is the shipping charge different on the listing compared to what you paid?

darak10 · ‎07-01-2020

isn't it $40 now? I thought Trudeau agreed to up the exemption a couple years ago based on Trumps' ragging on it during the NAFTA renegotiations.

darak10 · ‎07-01-2020

custom duties are NEVER charged upfront except thru an import program like the GSP , and many times other brokers like DHL will COD this amount and charge it back to you at point of pickup. Every other time, you are always, always, ALWAYS responsible to pay any import duty upon pickup, whether the seller tells you are off the hook or not - its not their place to be telling you whether or not you will be charged duties, thats Canada Customs job.

Never assume you will or will not pay import duties. If you buy it from outside of Canada and its over $40 (* - or is it $20 - others who know for sure please comment*) its fair game. That being said, 15 years ago Canada customs cracked everything open and charged you for every cent over the minimum plus the $5 fee but the last ten years my consistent experience has been that unless you are really over and this amount is marked very conspicuously on the package, they dont care and dont bother.

marnotom! · ‎07-01-2020

This is veering even further away from the OP’s concerns, but this is the latest news on the official tax and duty-free limits for imports handled by mail and courier under the new North American free trade agreement. (Teaser: The limit will now be $20 or $40 and $150, depending on the shipping method 🤪)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/new-nafta-raises-duty-free-limits-for-private-couriers-not-canada-post-1...

femmefan1946 · ‎07-01-2020

At this moment it's $20 for purchases and $60 for gifts, but the purchased imports rise sometime this month to $140 as part of the new NAFTA, which was only signed by the GG a month or so ago.

To confuse things further, there is still a slightly higher "gift" allowance and even more confusing, sales taxes will be charged on imports over -- darn, can't find the new number, but I did rather like this press release.
https://www.pcb.ca/post/shipping-gifts-into-canada-a-tale-of-how-a-tablet-is-not-a-turnip-7298

And whether the item is dutiable or not, the importer still pays sales taxes.

But.

The Global Shipping Program is a freight forwarder, and the reason the duty SEEMS to be paid up front is that, well, that it isn't.

The importer is not paying duty or sales taxes.

She is paying the GSP to pay duty and sales taxes for her.

And the GSP is paying those fees when the item is actually imported, which is why we see that note about "passing customs" on tracking, even though from the buyer/importer's point of view, those were paid before the shipment was even sent by the seller.

Freight forwarders are commonly used by overseas buyers who shop in the USA, but we don't see them often here in Canada.

ypdc_dennis · ‎07-01-2020

@darak10 wrote:
isn't it $40 now? I thought Trudeau agreed to up the exemption a couple years ago based on Trumps' ragging on it during the NAFTA renegotiations.

The old limit was $20 by mail/courier, with a higher exemption if you were hauling it across the border by yourself.

The new NAFTA 2.0 / CUSMA / USMCA regulations start today, July 1, 2020.

Took a long time for all 3 countries to pass the necessary laws and agree on a start date.

Duty free rises to $150.

Sales tax applies purchases over $40

https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/the-new-nafta-comes-into-effect-july-1-what-it-means-for-canada-1.50...

marnotom! · ‎07-01-2020

The CTV piece neglects to mention the fact that nothing has officially changed for postal imports.

https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/services/cusma-aceum/overview-survol-eng.html#_s4

ypdc_dennis · ‎07-01-2020

Good point.

However in practice, the post office is already ignoring most shipments valued less than $40.

So it will look the same to buyers who are importing...

suressing0 · ‎07-01-2020

Hello,

So I recently bought a 10oz silver bar (06/12/2020) and in the listing, it said no import charges. I went back today just to look over the add, and it now has import charges. Am I in the clear since duties gets charged at checkout and since I already paid when it said no import charges?

Thank you in advance.

Sorry I posted this question a couple days prior and I’m not sure how to edit as it is only my second post. I just added some more detail and stated what the purchase was

marnotom! · ‎07-01-2020

@ypdc_dennis wrote:

Good point.

However in practice, the post office is already ignoring most shipments valued less than $40.
So it will look the same to buyers who are importing...

That's why I said "officially". 😁

marnotom! · ‎07-01-2020

You only have five minutes or so to edit your post after posting it, anyway.

Given that you have a few other questions on your original thread, I'd go back to it to follow up.

For the benefit of others:

https://community.ebay.ca/t5/Buyer-Central/Worried-about-import-charges/m-p/441816

suressing0 · ‎07-01-2020

Just as an update/clarification, I purchased a 10oz silver bar.

marnotom! · ‎07-02-2020

Hey, @suressing0, are you able to answer the question I posted in message 4? Thanks.

suressing0 · ‎07-02-2020

Yeah, it’s about half of what I paid. But the estimated import charges says about $51 now

luv4orphans · ‎07-02-2020

It wasn't 15 years ago. Its when ebay decided to enroll with the Global Shipping Program that's when tax and duty on anything over $20 CDN got charged automatically. Was meant for overseas buyers for a cheaper shipping method with tracking. Not for Canada when all is said and done its costing us more than if the seller shipped the item here themselves. But no matter what was said ebay never removed it.
Before that it was quite random and quite rare to pay duty and taxes on anything coming from the US. Between that and the currency exchange the way it is, most time its cheaper to shop at home.

clemowbooks · ‎07-02-2020

Yes and no.

There is archived somewhere a 5000+ thread complaining about UPS and FedEx, who, like any courier must charge duty and sales taxes.

Their "customs brokerage" charges started at $25 and went up as a percentage of value.

So if someone ordered a $19US domahinkey from an American seller who used UPS to deliver, the Canadian buyer got hit with duty (because $19US was over the $20Cdn duty free allowance) sales taxes and that $25Cdn charge.

Rage fury and screams abounded.

But UPS et al, including PitneyBowes/GSP, had to follow the law.

its costing us more than if the seller shipped the item here themselves.

Not always.

First Class International Parcel might be cheaper and offers Confirmation of Delivery, but many sellers just went to the top of the USPS list of services and used Priority International.

Letterpost is cheaper, but Americans love that tracking.

marnotom! · ‎07-03-2020

“Yeah, it’s about half of what I paid. But the estimated import charges says about $51 now”

I don’t think you should have anything to worry about unless the seller didn’t actually have the item forwarded through the GSP.

The thing is, the “import charges” you pay to Pitney Bowes/the GSP are actually a repayment of the taxes and duty Pitney Bowes is on record of having paid (or having promised to pay) to CBSA on your behalf plus various processing fees. Sometimes the GSP bot does a pretty good job of estimating those charges, sometimes it doesn’t. But from what I can figure out, there really is no mechanism for Pitney Bowes to chase you down (or refund you, for that matter) if that estimate is way off.

Sorry this thread got way off topic on you, by the way.