About US Tarriffs

[sylviebee]

I sold some items to the US and the total was around US $1,400.    Because of the value I wanted to ship via signature required.  EBay shipping didn't offer methods which incude signature confirmation (or if they do I couldn't find them) so I went to Shippo.   When you indicate that you need a signature when buying a label on Shippo they only show you the methods which include signature confirmation.  They didn't offer any CPO methods with signature confirmation, and that seemed odd because I've shipped to the states via the PO which included signature confirmation.  They offered UPS at a really good price.  I am aware of the way couriers gouge for brokerage fees but since taxes are now prepaid I thought I'd be OK.

My buyer messaged me this afternoon and told me that she had to pay US $600.00 in tarriffs.  The items I shipped were antiques and as far as I know there still isn't any duty for antiques.  

I'm wondering if anyone knows anything about this change.  I don't know if it's due to Trump's tarriffs or if it's a mistake.  Either way $600 (C $825.00) is excessive.  

My buyer contacted me because she was having a hard time getting her item because of signature requirement and doesn't  seem nearly as concerned about the added fee as I am, but I'd really like to understand what's going on.

[john_koenig99]

@sylviebee wrote:

and as far as I know there still isn't any duty for antiques.  

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If the antiques you sold are made in China, that would explain the hefty tariff. 

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

For your order to go through duty free, it has to be below $800 USD. This is called the de minimis. The issue may have been that your order was above the de minimis. 

It has nothing to do with the carrier you use. The only difference with the carrier would be what they charge as a "brokerage" fee. Which is a service fee for clearing items that qualify for duties or taxes. 

This was the case before the recent changes. Anything above $800 the buyer gets charged. If you have a large order of multiple different items that total more than $800, you can technically split it up across multiple packages, or you can encourage the buyers to make multiple separate orders with multiple shipping fees, because even paying for shipping twice will be cheaper than import fees.

It is possible that if you did not include the proper invoice and paper work showing that eBay collected US Sales taxes, the buyer may have also been charged sales tax. I am not sure though. You would have to look at their invoice from the carrier. If that is what happend, they might be able to get a refund on the double taxes.

Ultimately, buyers are resposible for import fees. The only situation where I personally would view you as responsible is one where you misinformed a buyer ahead of the transaction and told them there would be no duties or fees, and they were charged duties or fees based on your misinformation. eBay still wouldn't consider you responsible though since their policy dictates that buyers are responsible for brokerage fees. 

The buyer can either pay them, dispute them, etc. But if they refuse the package their buyer protection is voided.

[jtg204]

Canada Post Expresspost USA is not listed on either?  That is the service you would use for an included signature required when shipping with Canada Post to USA.

[sylviebee]

The $800 de minimus refers to taxes and duty when the items are subject to duty.  Taxes were prepaid and in my expreience the shipping companies are made aware of what's been paid ahead of time.  Since there is no duty on antiques there should have been no added charges.  

And certianly not almost half of the value of the items.

[sylviebee]

As far as I could tell eBay shipping doesn't have the option of signature confirmation and for some reason Shippo didn't either for any of the PO shipping methods offered.

[jtg204]

Signature is included as part of the service, therefore the ebay page does not show the signature required as an option.  I sent my first xpresspost last week, and buyer had to pick it up when no one was able to sign for it.

( https://www.canadapost-postescanada.ca/cpc/en/small-business/ship-internationally/compare-services/... ) 

CP Xpresspost USA is in the hidden 'compare all services' section though, has to be expanded on ebay.  Is it greyed out if you try to create another label to test?

What is the package size?

"Minimum 21 x 14 x 0.1cm. Maximum weight 30kg, length 152cm and length + girth 274cm. To work out the girth, add the two shorter sides together and multiply the result by 2."

[reallynicestamps]

The items I shipped were antiques and as far as I know there still isn't any duty for antiques.

There is usually no DUTY on antiques.

But Tariffs are not technically Duty since they apply as much to place of origin as to product.

And Trump seems to have decided the "de minimus"/ duty free allowance is now $0.00.

Yes.

It's Trump's Tariff.

You might want to add to your current Descriptions this boilerplate eBay gave us some years ago about Buyer responsibility for their own country's import fees.

Import duties, taxes and charges are not included in the item price or shipping charges. These charges are the buyer's responsibility. Please check with your country's customs office to determine what these additional costs will be prior to bidding/buying.

Where were your products made originally?

And what were they made of?
I had to pay Canadian tariff on some stainless spoons recently because of our retaliatory tariff on US steel.

she was having a hard time getting her item because of signature requirement

She has to turn up at the UPS office during business hours with picture ID.

Still that is her problem not yours.

If she doesn't it will eventually be returned to you.

And for the record, that makes it Undeliverable and eBay will not require you to refund anything. Not a penny.

doesn't seem nearly as concerned about the added fee as I am

For Ghu's sake, don't mention it. SCHTUM!!

[sapphyres-designer-jewellery]

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@sylviebee wrote:

I sold some items to the US and the total was around US $1,400.    Because of the value I wanted to ship via signature required.  EBay shipping didn't offer methods which incude signature confirmation (or if they do I couldn't find them) so I went to Shippo.   When you indicate that you need a signature when buying a label on Shippo they only show you the methods which include signature confirmation.  They didn't offer any CPO methods with signature confirmation, and that seemed odd because I've shipped to the states via the PO which included signature confirmation.  They offered UPS at a really good price.  I am aware of the way couriers gouge for brokerage fees but since taxes are now prepaid I thought I'd be OK.

My buyer messaged me this afternoon and told me that she had to pay US $600.00 in tarriffs.  The items I shipped were antiques and as far as I know there still isn't any duty for antiques.  

I'm wondering if anyone knows anything about this change.  I don't know if it's due to Trump's tarriffs or if it's a mistake.  Either way $600 (C $825.00) is excessive.  

My buyer contacted me because she was having a hard time getting her item because of signature requirement and doesn't  seem nearly as concerned about the added fee as I am, but I'd really like to understand what's going on.

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I haven't read the replies yet to see if this was covered... but...

Over $800 is subject to duty/tariffs. It's only de minimis without tariffs under $800.

If you haven't specified Country of Origin (and customs accepts what it says) they treat it as a China shipment to charge the highest amount of tariffs (not sure if that applies to you).

And antiques need to be declared with an Antiques tariff code, plus have an accompanied certificate which can't be forged and comes from a reputable company stating they're antiques. I sell lots and lots of antiques... I have zero certificates, so I can't declare my items as antiques.

C.

[itolduandso]

Ebay does require signature for items over 500 dollars for seller protection, so isn't the signature included with the shipping options shown they show on the checkout? 

[itolduandso]

>> And for the record, that makes it Undeliverable and eBay will not require you to refund anything. Not a penny.

That's a novum.  Haven't had recent issue like this but this wasn't the case in the past. I got buyers claiming item not received when the item returned back to me. 

[vintage_america]

I’m pretty sure de minimus is gone for China goods.

[sapphyres-designer-jewellery]

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@vintage_america wrote:
I’m pretty sure de minimus is gone for China goods.

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You mean gone for good? It would seem so, I figured it would be a few days before they reinstated it if collecting tariffs wasn't working, seems they didn't do that.

For the OP, the value is too high for de minimis anyway, regardless of where it was made.

C.

[sylviebee]

My buyer isn't concerned about it but I am.  

These purses were not made in China.  I just marked them as from Canada.  

I'm going to call US customs and try to get an understanding of this.

It's either a mistake or has something to do with 'Trump's tarriffs.  I've shipped thousands of purses to the US and to the best of my knowledge no one has ever been required to pays extra taxes or duty when they arrived and plenty were higher priced than this package was.

[reallynicestamps]

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/ebay-money-back-guarantee-policy/ebay-money-back-guarantee-policy...

https://www.ebay.ca/help/policies/ebay-money-back-guarantee-policy/ebay-money-back-guarantee-policy?...

[reallynicestamps]

You might have been better to have marked them as made in USA if you weren't sure.

Unless there is a remaining tag saying different. (France? Britain? Germany? where were evening purses made in the early 20th century)

[cottagewoman]

Here's the rub: if ANY ITEM does not have an original tag or indelible marking with it's country of origin, no matter if made yesterday or 500 years ago, CBP can't determine country of origin. Therefore they don't know if the item was made in China, and assume it was and treat is as such. We all know as sellers all the ins and outs of our items. A CBP officer literally knows nothing other than the rules they apply. They can't tell if a glass beaded flapper purse that is silk lined with sterling frame was made yesterday or 100 years ago. It's not marked. Could have been made anywhere, possibly China to them, so for the sake of following guidance they say it is. Tariffs apply. And there is NOTHING you can argue or say that changes this decision.

[marnotom!]

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@sylviebee wrote:

These purses were not made in China.  I just marked them as from Canada.  

I'm going to call US customs and try to get an understanding of this.

It's either a mistake or has something to do with 'Trump's tarriffs. 

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If that’s the case, then a 25% tariff was likely assessed on the purse.  CUSMA or not, Canadian-produced goods are still seeing US tariffs being applied.  As @reallynicestamps suggests, tariffs are technically a little different than duty.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/article/new-us-ambassador-says-canada-could-get-lowest-tariffs-of-an...

[cottagewoman]

Given the dollar amount of 600, this sounds like CN based tariffs: 30% + 25% for textile based products (sec 301 products list) plus brokerage fees. I could be wrong and brokerage/handling fees were really off the map.  Not like couriers are going to try and make bank off the current situation, is it? 😉

BTW - putting a printed out label with 'Made in XXX' on a product isn't going to make it fly through customs without duties, etc.  It can help with items that are marked on the product but the exterior retail packaging isn't marked, etc.

[sylviebee]

I've been sending vintage and antique purses to the States for a long time and this it the first time my buyer has had to pay extra upon arrival that I've heard of.

I'll never ship via UPS again, as I'm pretty sure that's at the bottom of this and I'm pretty sure it's a mistake.  There's no way I've found to contest this and my buyer just doesn't seem to really care but I do.  If all of my shipments get gouged like that I'll have a problem.