I recently purchased a couple pieces of used stereo equipment thru eBay, from a seller in Canada. Worked out to ~$200 USD, plus shipping. It was shipped via the Postal Service. I received a USPS tracking number, almost immediately.
The only other times I have purchased anything from Canada, it was large pieces (a decklid spoiler, and a set of wheels/tires) so a commercial carrier was used. (DHL, I think?) A few days after those shipments arrived, I received a not-so-insignificant bill for "brokerage fees".
It was my understanding that brokerage fees are not charged if the Postal Service handled the shipping. Is that true? If it's not true, how much should I expect to pay for a $200 USD purchase? Or... what happens if I just ignore the bill? (Hey... I'm not in Canada. )
It was my understanding that brokerage fees are not charged if the Postal Service handled the shipping. Is that true?
No sir! I recently got burned by an eBay purchase from the States, when the vendor did not choose the option for eBay to collect the taxes and duty along with the shipping fees. (Yes, eBay's International Shipping program was used by the vendor, but without choosing the correct options.) In my case, Canada Post would not release the package to me until I paid the taxes, duty, and "collection" fee. Pissed me off. The vendor actually gave me a nice partial refund due to his mistake, so all was forgiven.
quote
Originally posted by Raydar:
Or... what happens if I just ignore the bill? (Hey... I'm not in Canada. )
Your outstanding bill is to the USPS !
[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 03-18-2024).]
And never take them lightly. Delivering the mail is simply a front for this 1/2 million person uniformed, mobile army of a sleeper cell just waiting to be called into action. Think about it. They know where you live, they know what hours and which days you're home and when you are away. The know if you are married and know how many children you have. In 95% of cases, they know what kind and what color vehicles you own and drive. They know who your creditors and lenders are. They know if you have video security or canine protection. A highly trained and capable, all weather, all terrain, urban, suburban and rural day and night potential fighting force able to endure heat, traffic, freezing temperatures, rain, snow high winds and, they know every highway and back road in their area of operations. Don't pizz 'em off! He who controls the mail controls the.........
[This message has been edited by maryjane (edited 03-18-2024).]
And never take them lightly. Delivering the mail is simply a front for this 1/2 million person uniformed, mobile army of a sleeper cell just waiting to be called into action. Think about it. They know where you live, they know what hours and which days you're home and when you are away. The know if you are married and know how many children you have. In 95% of cases, they know what kind and what color vehicles you own and drive. They know who your creditors and lenders are. They know if you have video security or canine protection. A highly trained and capable, all weather, all terrain, urban, suburban and rural day and night potential fighting force able to endure heat, traffic, freezing temperatures, rain, snow high winds and, they know every highway and back road in their area of operations. Don't pizz 'em off! He who controls the mail controls the.........
Meh... Based upon my most recent experience, they'll never find me. Or at least not quickly. They'll bounce around between Palmetto and Atlanta for a couple of weeks. Maybe camp in a trailer for a few days. Maybe they'll make their way here, eventually. I'll just tell them that my payment is in the mail. That being the case, they won't expect it for another couple of weeks. Or hell... maybe the bill itself will get lost in the mail.
This is all based upon a package that was mailed from Indiana, something like 12 days ago. It finally found its way here, today. They can't find their own butts with both hands.
But yeah... if it's the USPS, I'll just go ahead and pay them. We're actually friends with our mail carrier. Now if it were DHL...
[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 03-18-2024).]
And never take them lightly. Delivering the mail is simply a front for this 1/2 million person uniformed, mobile army of a sleeper cell just waiting to be called into action. Think about it. They know where you live, they know what hours and which days you're home and when you are away. The know if you are married and know how many children you have. In 95% of cases, they know what kind and what color vehicles you own and drive. They know who your creditors and lenders are. They know if you have video security or canine protection. A highly trained and capable, all weather, all terrain, urban, suburban and rural day and night potential fighting force able to endure heat, traffic, freezing temperatures, rain, snow high winds and, they know every highway and back road in their area of operations. Don't pizz 'em off! He who controls the mail controls the.........
Now I know here in Canada a person can self clear customs and forgo these usually unreasonable brokerage fees. Basically the process here is:
- get the paper work from the carrier (here in Canada you have to right to self clear ad they need to supply it if requested). - visit local customs office and submit the paper work to them. - pay any taxes required and they give you a sheet in return that you send back to the courier company.
There are no forms you need to fill out (at least here in Canada).
Easy peezey. Beats paying a $60+ "brokerage fee" for just submitting some paper work. You will always have to pay the taxes, but no need to pay all the extra fees.
My only complaint is that our local customs office has moved out to our airport vs being downtown before, so a bit further drive (but parking is easier and free now).
Easy peezey. Beats paying a $60+ "brokerage fee" for just submitting some paper work. You will always have to pay the taxes, but no need to pay all the extra fees.
What has your experience been in regards to Canada Post collecting duty, as well as the taxes? I was a bit surprised when Canada Post collected duty on a $103(CDN) purchase (converted from US funds) on an eBay item shipped from the States. When driving across the border with a cross-border purchase, anything under $200(CDN) is just waived through... no taxes, no duty. Now granted, we're not talking big bucks here, but I had to pay Canada Post an extra $32 for a $103 purchase. It just seemed petty to have to pay that much more for such low dollar item. (None of these figures include the additional cost of the actual shipping fees.)
Customs Duty is usually an import tariff. It is there to supposedly protect a country's economy by financially restricting the inflow of goods from another country.
I bought lots of stuff when I was overseas and brought a lot or shipped it back to the US. I had to 'declare it' but was exempt from duty tariff because of my active duty military status.
[This message has been edited by maryjane (edited 03-20-2024).]
What has your experience been in regards to Canada Post collecting duty, as well as the taxes? I was a bit surprised when Canada Post collected duty on a $103(CDN) purchase (converted from US funds) on an eBay item shipped from the States. When driving across the border with a cross-border purchase, anything under $200(CDN) is just waived through... no taxes, no duty. Now granted, we're not talking big bucks here, but I had to pay Canada Post an extra $32 for a $103 purchase. It just seemed petty to have to pay that much more for such low dollar item. (None of these figures include the additional cost of the actual shipping fees.)
I have never had to pay duty on anything on got in the mail or other.
You also don't have to pay duty/taxes on anything that you bring back to Canada when you cross the border up to $800/person (assuming 48 hours from when you left).
$200 is 24 hours.
[This message has been edited by Mickey_Moose (edited 03-20-2024).]
I have never had to pay duty on anything on got in the mail or other.
I never had to in the past either. Maybe that's now changed.
quote
Originally posted by Mickey_Moose:
$200 is 24 hours.
Yes, that's the regulation... but the reference I made earlier about being "waived" through the border with up to $200 worth of merchandise was in regards to being in the States for less than 24 hours. Pre-pandemic, I was crossing the border three or four times a year, just to collect stuff I had ordered through eBay from American vendors (held at a drop-ship location). When asked by Canadian border agents on my return trip how long I had been in the US, my standard response would be... "About 45 minutes". Sometimes they would ask to see invoices for the items (which I'd print out before I went down), and then they'd (usually) just say "Have a good day".
This is kinda (ok, a lot) off topic Patrick but Canadian singer Corb Lund made a song about crossing the border. Had nothing to do with items they bought tho but it's pretty funny ... Bible on the Dash..
Well, it's been several weeks and I still haven't gotten a bill from the post office.
I talked with a French-Canadian friend of mine (didn't think about that, earlier) who lives close by, in the states. He said that, in his experience, packages mailed from US to Canada will result in the recipient being charged "duty" or "brokerage" or whatever. But he said the reverse does NOT incur a charge, in the states.
If that's true, it works for me. I suppose that time will tell. Or not...
[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 03-21-2024).]
This is kinda (ok, a lot) off topic Patrick but Canadian singer Corb Lund made a song about crossing the border. Had nothing to do with items they bought tho but it's pretty funny ... Bible on the Dash...
It never ceases to amaze me how Canadian country singers (as well as the "Mountie" in this video) have southern US accents.
Duty not = to Broker Fees No time to explain but isn't.
Ship via UPS & some others have Brokers of their own & any Broker fee is in the price. Ship via USPS & some other gov mail systems many times will charge you extra fees/taxes including broker fee.
Caution: China vendors & some others Often put Bogus Info that can get You in Trouble w/ Customs, State/Fed for Taxes, etc. depending just what they see during inspecting. Same can happen if you fill out 1 to many forms wrong depending just what you shipped.
Example: Many Chinese Shipments to UK got blocked or big time delayed because Bogus data on shipping label did not match product to avoid UK VAT etc or products are Banned outright.
If USPS etc have billed you, ignoring will cost you more as late fees & if ignored long enough you have to deal w/ Postal Inspector, Customs & other law enforcement &/or getting Sued.
Note that VAT & some other taxes depends on just what is shipped. So VAT rate for a X things often isn't same Y thing neither is same as Z thing.
And that's ignoring many things are heavily regulated or banned to ship many things to several countries requiring Gov License or Block leaving US & can fine or arrest the sender.
------------------ Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should. (Jurassic Park)
)
