Zonos App/ duties and tariffs

[schoondeals]

Hello everyone
So I'm finally learning this Zonos app to ship to the US again. My store is mostly physical media. CDs, DVDs and blu ray all use the same HS Code of 8523.49.
So Far I haven't been charged duties or tariffs on my tests. I have tried cds, dvds and blu rays made in China and other countries. They all come to the same conclusion : no tariffs or duties owed.
Am I missing something here?
This seems to good to be true for me and my business as it seems I can send these items to the USA duty/tariff free.
Thanks

[mrdutch1001]

It is my understanding that IF there are tariffs, processing fees, etc due, an invoice will be sent to the seller OR, depending on how payment was set up, there is also an automatic billing process...Someone, please correct me if I am wrong on this...

[ecgt · Accepted solution]

Certain items are duty and tariff free for American customers as they are  considered “informational materials” under IEEPA. Zonos still charges $1.99 for each customs declaration regardless of whether or not said items are duty and tariff free.

The law is 50 USC 1702(b), which exempts from duty the following items:

information or informational materials, including but not limited to, publications, films, posters, phonograph records, photographs, microfilms, microfiche, tapes, compact disks, CD ROMs, artworks, and news wire feeds.

[schoondeals]

Thankyou so much!
Best regards

[ricarmic]

@schoondeals  Just a note, I've been using the ZONOS prepay app, stamps are non dutiable, ie zero cost each time and I am not charged anything fees wise as long as the duty is zero.

[regs43]

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@ecgt wrote:

Certain items are duty and tariff free for American customers as they are  considered “informational materials” under IEEPA. Zonos still charges $1.99 for each customs declaration regardless of whether or not said items are duty and tariff free.

The law is 50 USC 1702(b), which exempts from duty the following items:

information or informational materials, including but not limited to, publications, films, posters, phonograph records, photographs, microfilms, microfiche, tapes, compact disks, CD ROMs, artworks, and news wire feeds.

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If you do it manually one at a time on the zonos app its 0.00

If you set up automatic billing with Canada Post and Zonos I assume thats where the $1.99 processing fee is occuring. If your volume is low enough do the manual one at a time process with the app. I get maybe 2-3 orders a day at most even before tariffs and $2 savings adds up. Takes about 2 mins to run through the app, but I do that as I am packing the item after I snap the picturefor the app. 

Good luck either way, at least you can account for $2 more in the shipping charged to the buyer as thats a known flat cost if you choose to do automatic billing 🙂

[schoondeals]

I think I will start with doing one at a time for now to see how it goes.
I have a US buyer that wants a CD lot of 2 from me. It's a decent size order of $179.99. I got the 2 CD's for $1 each so I have a lot of wiggle room incase things don't go as planned. I just don't want the buyer to pay any additional fees or duties.
I'm gonna give it a go and see how it works out. It's gonna be awesome to start selling CDs dvds and blu rays to Americans again.

[regs43]

I have mailed a lot of Hockey cards and photographs to USA and havent been charged anything after the fact 🙂 When it said $0.00 and let me complete the order on Zonos to ge tthe code, thats all. 

I also sent a couple orders that were in the $150-$250 and no issues

[ecgt]

Are you sure that the app has no fees? On the Canada Post website it says that the Zonos prepay app incurs a $3.99 fee. It's stated under the "What costs and fees can I expect to pay using the app?" section at the following link:

https://www.canadapost-postescanada.ca/cpc/en/support/kb/sending/sending-faq/how-to-use-zonos-prepay...

Are you sure you just haven't been charged yet?

We don't get charged the $1.99 fee right away using Zonos automatic billing  via Canada Post Snap Ship. So far we have been filled once a month for our shipments.

[ricarmic]

This is a difference between the prepay and the other app. The prepay doesn't know who I am besides my name and email address, ie there is no payment mechanism attached to my account. A friend who uses prepay too and does from time to time have to pay tarrifs says that when they do have tarrifs/duties, they pay them one at a time via their credit card to get "the number" one needs.

PS I'm a stamps on the box kinda guy, so they don't have a CP account or anything hooked to it either.....

[flipistics]

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@ricarmic wrote:

This is a difference between the prepay and the other app. The prepay doesn't know who I am besides my name and email address, ie there is no payment mechanism attached to my account. A friend who uses prepay too and does from time to time have to pay tarrifs says that when they do have tarrifs/duties, they pay them one at a time via their credit card to get "the number" one needs.

PS I'm a stamps on the box kinda guy, so they don't have a CP account or anything hooked to it either.....

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Wouldn't having the CP account save you a little even if you're using stamps to send out parcels? I think it should reduce the rate a little as long as you show your card to the person at the counter. Maybe I'm wrong?

[ecgt]

So, are you send these items to the USA as letters? That doesn't work for CDs, DVD,s Blu-rays or other physical media. Said items have to be sent as parcels, otherwise they will be rejected and returned to sender.

Also, if you are sending items to the USA as letters, it is our understanding that you don't require a customs delaration via Zonos.

We are under the impression that you cannot send a parcel from Canada to the USA using stamps, only letters. Are we wrong?

[mrdutch1001]

You cannot send goods/merchandise "disguised as letters", to destinations outside of Canada..

[ricarmic]

@flipistics yes you are correct, I forgot that my SSB account is attached to the orders (manually by the PM), so I am getting as much a discount as one can get over the counter. If I were to be charged I guess it would be through that, but everything shows zero cost and zero balance so I don't think there's a problem.

My point was that I'm not using labels so my account isn't attached the same way it is for folks who do.

[ecgt]

Exactly. We're also not sure how someone can send a parcel outside of Canada using stamps. We don't think that's possible.

[ricarmic]

@ecgt No these are tracked packets same as everyone else sends, incase it is confusing, one can (or is supposed to be able to) use stamps for everything, tracked, expedited, expresspost, registered etc. That has always been the case. (aside from some misinformed POs/Outlets that believe otherwise).

[ricarmic]

@ecgt I mentioned this in my other response but stamps can be used for everything including parcels of any kind to anywhere. A PO or outlet that says no, is misinformed (or doesn't want to miss out the income they get for producing the labels).

[ecgt]

So, are you using stamps to pay for the cost of Tracked Packet at the post office counter and then they are affixing a Tracket Packet label to the parcel?

[dinomitesales]

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@ecgt wrote:

So, are you using stamps to pay for the cost of Tracked Packet at the post office counter and then they are affixing a Tracket Packet label to the parcel?

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Yeah, that's exactly how it works. Stamps are basically just currency to Canada Post. You can use them to pay for (or reduce the cost) of any shipping service offered through Canada Post. The total value of the stamps is just deducted from the cost of the shipping label.

The downside is that you HAVE to process your package at the post office counter in person as there's no way to deduct the cost of the stamps when buying a label online. This means you will lose any discounts offered by the various online shipping platforms (eBay, NetParcel, etc.) but for many people it's still worth it as they paid less than face value for the stamps.

[dinomitesales]

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@ecgt wrote:

Zonos still charges $1.99 for each customs declaration regardless of whether or not said items are duty and tariff free.

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As others have stated, this isn't true in my experience. When using the Zonos Prepay app, and there is no duty owing, there is also no processing fee. So you pay nothing.

You're saying that if you use Automatic Billing with Zonos/Canada Post that you're being billed $1.99 on duty-free shipments? That's huge news if true. Can you confirm first-hand experience of this happening?