International shipping program

[lovebomb]

Yesterday I was charged a "brokerage fee" by Canada Post. It's what they renamed the "handling fee" when questioning why they applied it. 

They described it as being a fee put in place to apply any due taxes or tariffs when eBay or any online venue does not apply them. This added a significant and "straw that broke the camel's back" fee to my order, that will greatly dissuade me from making international purchases through eBay in the future. I was not charged PST or GST, but no tariffs were due. It was the taxes not being charged that was the problem. Unless eBay makes changes that prevent this type of "brokerage fee" from being applied at the post office, I won't be purchasing internationally very often, maybe never, if I can avoid it. 

To be ultra-clear, it is the handling fee, not the taxes I am angry about. 

Will there be change in the future? Will eBay collect taxes on international orders? Canada Post/Canada Border Services are clearly attempting to force eBay to collect taxes; hence, my question. 

My apologies for asking this question here and on the general forum, but the title of this section implies that eBay administration may see it and respond. Thus I posted it here after the fact. 

[marnotom!]

What was the value of the shipment and what were you charged?

Canada Border Services doesn’t start hitting mailed items with tax and brokerage charges unless the item exceeds C$20 in declared value. The tax-free limit is C$40 for items sent by courier.

I’m also wondering if Canada Post may have collected this charge on behalf of another carrier that handed the package off to them once it reached a Canadian shipping hub.