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Email this6:31 pm
December 2, 2018
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I often order small low value items from eBay. A friend asked me to order a car part for him and I obliged. I personally never order from the USA “if” the item is subject to all inclusive and convenient “import” fees.
The reason why I don’t , is simple.......there are not any fees on a $22.49 US$ item coming into Canada.
So the order was for $22.49 for item, $11.50 for shipping, and $5.81 for import fees.
I received 2 PayPal receipts....one for the item and one from Pitney Bowes for shipping and import fees.
I have no idea who is shipping and they elude to sending of tracking numbers when shipped. USPS, FedEx or UPS??? So at this point not sure if the shipping fee is overcharged. But $5.81 for import fees??? Who gets that, the Canadian government? And a bit of a brokerage fee to Pitney Bowes??
Never the less American sellers to Canada would have more business if they dropped the convenient “all in one” charges.
Although this was not on my dime....I still feel it is a bit of a rip off. $55.97 CDN$ was the total.
Your thoughts?
I will update when I see who the delivery agent is.
It is a worth while effort to turn on ALERTS on your Credit Cards and Bank/Credit Union Accounts.
7:39 pm
October 21, 2013
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I doubt it's a brokerage fee. They charge much more than that in my experience.
7:59 pm
April 6, 2013
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Retep said
I often order small low value items from eBay. A friend asked me to order a car part for him and I obliged. I personally never order from the USA “if” the item is subject to all inclusive and convenient “import” fees.The reason why I don’t , is simple.......there are not any fees on a $22.49 US$ item coming into Canada.
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The exemption for items imported by mail is only C$20. A US$22.49 item is definitely outside the C$20 exemption and can be subject to duties and HST/GST/PST.
Canada Post would charge C$9.95 handling fee to collect the duties and taxes on each package.
8:43 pm
December 2, 2018
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Technically you are correct. But I have had a total of 2 people in a car on numerous day trips and have never paid duty. Amounts of $50 to $375 in USA funds.
Also just bought items from amazon from USA for $150....no duty.
So I guess the agreement with eBay and Pitney Bowes is technically a money maker for both and just taking advantage.
I knew I had a reason not to do buys with this all in one offer. But could never justify it.
It is a worth while effort to turn on ALERTS on your Credit Cards and Bank/Credit Union Accounts.
9:20 pm
April 6, 2013
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Retep said
Technically you are correct. But I have had a total of 2 people in a car on numerous day trips and have never paid duty. Amounts of $50 to $375 in USA funds.Also just bought items from amazon from USA for $150....no duty.
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It depends on how those were accomplished.
If the people declared their items honestly and the CBSA agent decided to waive the duties and taxes, then that's fine. They are allowed can do that for practicality. The cost of the time for the agent to complete the paperwork to collect the 5% GST and 0% duty on a $50 item may be more than the money collected.
Amazon USA won't do it. But, some of their less scrupulous sellers will lie on the custom forms about the value of the item or say the item is a "gift".
Another possibility is that the seller is one of the smart ones who calculate and prepay any duties, GST, HST, and PST to CBSA. Shipment arrives at the border duties and taxes prepaid and sails through Canadian customs.
Those are in contrast to the clueless sellers who ship the item by UPS Ground because it cost less to the shipper. However, the Canadian recipient ends up being dinged something like $75 for brokerage by UPS on top of the duties and HST.
12:21 am
February 27, 2018
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I often order from the states and yes the additional surcharge fees can make the finale purchase price, outlandish. From the inflated exchange rate, duties, handling fees an item can, and often does end up costing twice the original American price AND yes, sometimes even at twice the original American price, it is still cheaper than paying the Canadian shelf price. You must note: Warranties can be void when purchasing this way.
Believe it or not, Trump tried to address this issue during our recent nafta talks. Imagine a foreign leader willing to do more for the citizens of canada than our own leadership. Canada has a huge internal problem with trade disputes between provinces, nevermind importing from other counties. The trade restrictions between Mexico and the USA are less cumbersome, than the trade practices between canada and the states. It's called over governance. Canada is too big and too heavy to carry on the backs of its current population. More citizens live in the state of California than in ALL of canada. 40 million vs 37 million.
Canadian corporations must try to evenly distribute their costs across the board, which makes living in a big city more expensive than it should be. Example being... the cost to supply basic phone service to our northern regions would be 100s if not 1,000s of dollars per month. So we pay more in the big cities, so that they can pay a more affordable price. Air travel is another example of cost distribution. I wonder how Alaska and Hawaii do it?
The answer is simple, sell off 2/3 of our landmass, the only problem with that is. Canada's only commodity of note is, our natural resources and those resources are found in... our northern regions. That dispute over the sovereignty of the northern passage will become heated with Russia because of the oil reserves buried beneath the ocean floor.
Now back to our scheduled programming. I have refused a shipment only once that i can recall, it was when the undisclosed handling fees cost more than the item itself. I believe it was with ups. Their service charge to get through customs was additional to the postage and handling which i had agreed to pay. My response... i refused to accept delivery, and thankfully i received a full return credit.
Wow, these 3am bathroom wakeup calls really make me want to type. I should write a book. Bill would you buy my book?
12:21 am
February 17, 2013
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Retep said
Technically you are correct. But I have had a total of 2 people in a car on numerous day trips and have never paid duty. Amounts of $50 to $375 in USA funds.Also just bought items from amazon from USA for $150....no duty.
So I guess the agreement with eBay and Pitney Bowes is technically a money maker for both and just taking advantage.
I knew I had a reason not to do buys with this all in one offer. But could never justify it.
Driving across is a different animal altogether. They simply aren't able to pullover every car and charge duty.
PayPal is a constant source of irritation. Have to manuallly change the currency conversion EVERY time I make a purchase or they use their ForEx rate instead of my no fee card.
Here is a C&P from ebay:
The Global Shipping Program is only for US-based sellers and is unavailable in Canada. The Global Shipping Program makes it easier for buyers to purchase items from international sellers. Buyers can see the shipping and import charges before purchasing, and can also track their item globally.
When you purchase an item through the Global Shipping Program:
You pay any applicable import charges upfront. There are no additional charges at delivery.
You get international tracking at no additional charge
Your purchase is eligible for coverage through the eBay Money Back Guarantee and PayPal Purchase Protection.
You're paying all taxes and fees up front when you have it shipped across the border. ePay and PayPal probably take a cut as well. A $4.00 item costs me $15.20 USD to ship to Canada from a seller using the GSP. That same item shipped to my US mail drop costs $3.85 USD plus the $2.00 fee for my mailbox.
I'm lucky I live close to the border.
4:29 am
August 1, 2015
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These packages are delivered using a domestic method (usually USPS) to the Pitney Bowes center which then sends groups of packages to Canada in bulk. They are then cleared by PB and delivered using Canadapost.
If you use https://parceltracking.pb.com/ for tracking using the UPAA identifier then it will give you a link to "Track on carrier's website" once it is in the hands of Canadapost which will give you the Canadapost tracking number.
As for charging in general though, it is supposed to be done as others have stated. For packages which don't go via Pitney Bowes but instead USPS->Canadapost then it is the CBSA who do the clearing and processing so there is lots of leeway on whether they will go to the effort to do the paperwork and actually charge you - so in many cases stuff just goes through even when it should be charged. They can't exactly go after themselves for not doing their own job...
Other companies like Fedex, UPS, Pitney Bowes, etc aren't the government. They have to do what is supposed to be done or face the consequences. There is no leeway or packages getting through when the documentation makes it clear they should be charged. It would be interesting to know the consequences... probably fines if stuff was uncovered during an audit.
6:40 pm
September 20, 2016
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My pet peeve is the "as seen on TV" items that are shipped from Canada but you have to pay in US$ from the Canadian site. Yet if you order from the US site in US$, the price is less, and no shipping fees. Look at the Bell + Howell trac camera (trytaccam.ca) $59.95 US ordered in Canada, $39.95 US ordered in USA. By the way - this site takes shipping & credit card info 1st and then continues to upsell you page after page with nowhere to cancel or clear your cart. Even navigating back out triggered a surprise order 6 weeks later that their customer service could not cancel even though only electronic info had been submitted to shipper. Never did receive an order confirmation - just a shipping notice 6 weeks later. Now I have to wait for delivery and do a return. Going to try refuse delivery if Canada Post ever gets it here. If I miss that opportunity will see what my US credit card can do
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