EBay Gobal Shipping, US to CAN.

[rbtsask]

Canadian buyers beware ! Ebays Global Shipping program now uses DHL International courier for delivery in Canada, Be advised that they are charging brokerage fees that can be very exorbitant. In years of buying, usually smaller items from the US I have never had to pay such fees. You wont know what the fees are that DHL is going to charge till the item reaches the Global Shipping hub.Be ready for a big hit !! 

[lady.stark]

That's strange... because any taxes/duty owed is always paid upfront when the purchase is made. You probably can fight it if you prove you already paid those fees.

[rbtsask]

QUOTE"because any taxes/duty owed is always paid upfront when the purchase is made."

Seems not to be the case anymore.

I purchased a $35US item, $15US shipping and got hit with inexcess of $15 brokerage fees.

[lady.stark]

I just checked a listing with the eBay International Shipping, and that phrase is in the shipping section:

Import fees:

Import fees may apply on delivery

So this is very different from what the Global Shipping program was before eIS. Good to know!

[rbtsask]

Yes. I should clarify, this was shipped via "eBay International Shipping" program.

Sure glad it wasn't a 150US item !!

[marnotom!]

Is that $15 US or $15 Canadian in brokerage-related charges? Either way, I’d say it’s a bargain compared to what you’d be paying if the item had been sent by UPS or FedEx.

[rbtsask]

US $. Its not really a lot of money. but it is 43% added to the cost of the item. Sure was not the deal I thought it was !

[marnotom!]

International purchasing is becoming quite pricey in general. I recently bought (not on eBay) a new CD by one of my favourite US bands. They recently parted ways with their big multinational record label, so they’re handling physical releases independently now. I was charged C$26 in shipping (more than the price of the CD) and I have no idea if I’ll have to pay taxes and some sort of processing or brokerage charges upon receipt.

Was your item sent by DHL GlobalPost? If so, I think that US$15 charge is a flat fee that doesn’t vary according to the item’s value, like Canada Post’s C$10 charge, but unlike the charges UPS and FedEx levy.

[femmefan1946]

In addition to the purchase price you will pay.

Shipping 

Duty

Sales taxes

Customs brokerage fees/service fees. 

Are these broken out on your invoice, or are you conflating them? 

And the value of the item also makes a difference. 

With CUSMA (formerly NAFTA) we pay import fees on imports valued over $150 and sales taxes on imports valued over $40. 

With eIS * those import fees are charged upfront, before the seller even gets the shipping address. 

Canada Post and CBSA has an agreement to ignore small, lowvalue imports when our duty -free allowance (de minimus) was only $20.  Couriers legally never could. There is an archived thread over 5000 posts long complaining about this. 

If your earlier sellers were using the postal system, you are quite likely never to have been charged.  

It is very important to remember that eIS/GSP is a Seller Protection Program and was not set up to benefit buyer in any way. 

*GSP was dropped a few years ago.The new service has slightly different rules, charges and services. 

[marnotom!]

Good catch, @femmefan1946. I didn’t notice that the OP hadn’t included the GST/HST/PST etc. that was due. That might be part of the “brokerage charges” that they’re quoting.

[ypdc_dennis]

eBay's International Shipping program uses DHL and Ascendia to bring stuff across the border.

My last 4 purchases using eIS from USA, 2 gave me a choice of paying in advance or at the door (I selected in advance), 1 only allowed paying in advance and the other one only allowed paying on delivery.   Not sure how that was decided, the items were all similar.

The pay in advance only had GST added at checkout, were taken across the border by Ascendia and then delivered by last mile couriers.  The at the door shipment, was handled by DHL (with an option to pay online) had GST and a processing fee of just under $20.

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