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I've been screwed by UPS a few times. Now I won't buy if they only ship UPS. I make sure they Ship USPS. From m experience their brokerage fee works out to the value of your package. I've bought tons of parts from the US, a $75 part = $75 Brokerage fee. You can disagree, but I've been down this road several times.
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UPS is way too expensive to ship from the US with alway use USPS and even if you get hit with charges it is only the taxes. Much cheaper even in the worst case, but most packages come through with no extra charges. I use UPS for my business but have a special rate that includes brokerage otherwise I would never use them.
It is possible, but doesn't make sense. I did this about five years ago for a $500 amp that was shipped through ups. First thing you have to do is call UPS and tell them that you want to broker it yourself so they'll hold it at the border crossing which is Windsor. Then drive to Windsor, go to the UPS warehouse, pick up the customs paperwork, take the paperwork to commercial customs, pay the full taxes and duty, take your receipt and paperwork back to UPS, pick up your package, drive back to Toronto or wherever. Cost me about the same in gas as the brokerage fees would have cost, but I won some money at the casino so it worked out
USPS is definitely the preferred method, probably two out of three times they skip on the duty/taxes
Originally Posted by 005
Thats BS all packages that are shipped due to a sale have brokerage charges, tax and duty if it applys, weather you ship UPS or USPS, Fedex, etc. With some exceptions like overnight shipping with UPS they waive the brokerage fee.
The difference is USPS/Canada post have a flat rate brokerage fee of $5 for small packages and $10 for larger packages...Where as UPS likes to base their brokerage fee on the value of the contents of the package. Higher value = higher brokerage fee... Ive payed $200+ brokerage with UPS on high value packages, the same package cleared through Canadapost would only be a $10 brokerage fee...That is the difference! And why UPS is always so expensive.....
This has nothing to do with duty and tax, its UPS gouging on brokerage fees
Last edited by JohnnyP636; 05-12-2010 at 10:04 AM.
Tax's with USPS / Canada Post is another mystery to me... I know that many people almost never got to pay it even on the high $$$ value items. In my case, I get charged 9 of 10 times for everything higher than $20 in value. Why? Bad luck?
+1 on CBI. I've used them several times in the past and they're excellent. Keep it cool at the border and you won't pay any shipping/taxes/duties
derekz
2000 VStar 650 Classic
That has to do with how the shipper does the paper work, if its a SALE then you have to pay tax and duty. If you dont pay any tax its because they have listed it as a gift or sample.
Some companies will put a lower then actual value on the documents, or even list is as a gift or sample...You are scamming the Gov out of tax money by doing this so some people will just not do that for you..
CBI has no storage fee, you can leave your stuff there as long as you want until its convienent for you to go down and pick it up.for usaddressinc, you email them, tell them you want an "account" or something...put a distinctive name in order to identify your packages properly so that "john do" cant claim your packages. Once you've done that, you're free to send packages to their address marked with your name. They'll leave it lying in their warehouse until you go pick the package up.
You can use their service on a per package basisackages cost 5 dollars USD once they arrive, $2 every week thereafter for storage. So if you decided to pick your package up on the third week, it should cost $9.
YOu can also use their service on a flat rate basis where you get as many packages you want for a monthly rate or something....never used this service before so i can't really comment on it. www.usaddressinc.com.
Theyre also seconds away from the border, extremely convenient.
Call or email Dave at CBI, these guys are really freindly and helpful and love canadians.
I buy stuff all year round ordering from all over the USA ( usually whoever has the best price), it gets shipped free to CBI.
I make 2-3 trips down to CBI every year, its only 5 minutes from Peace Bridge in Niagara falls New York.
They have an area inside CBI where you can unpack your stuff and throw the boxes away.
Are you 100% sure about this? Does Canada Post/USPS charge this to whoever is sending the package, or receiving it? Because ive received tons of stuff from the US and ive only had to pay taxes three times (once on some shoes, once on some small parts and once on some albums). Ive also sent a lot of stuff to the US but if the brokerage fee is built into the mailing fee i wouldnt have noticed it because i never look at the receipts, i just pay what they tell me.
I dislike UPS though for international shipping. I bought a guitar online once and they only shipped UPS. I think i paid 95 dollars for the guitar, when it showed up, 210 dollars in brokerage fees. I was kinda ******.
You are absolutely right, but the truth is, some of my friends never (or very rarely) pay tax's on any packages (commercial or not) delivered by Canada Post. Once, we ordered (not on purpose!) the same item from the same store. Same invoice, exactly the same customs declaration. I was charged tax's, he wasn't!
BTW, I even had to pay tax's on gifts! Apparently, tax's still apply on gifts with customs value higher than $60 Canadian. More than that, they now check who the sender is! Even if a package is declared as GIFT, but the sender is a store (business name, not person), they charge tax's. Happened to me just a week ago. So, don't count on gifts!
Look at the customs receipt on your package, its all there for you to see. The reason for import, the duty, the tax, and the brokerage fee...And yes I am 100% that if they do the paperwork legit, then you have to pax tax on any item imported into Canada because of a sale...If you not paying tax, the shipper isnt doing the paper work legit...They are helping you out by sending it as a gift or sample.....This is normally charged to the receiver, but can also be charged to the shipper if they fill it out that way....
If your package doesnt have a Canada customs receipt on it, then it was not declared as a sale...
Too many people lump brokerage, tax, and duty together and complain that its all brokerage...Its not! Tax is tax that is collected for the GOV, duty is duty and also get collected for the GOV.... And brokerage is a fee for clearing your stuff through customs for you, that goes to the broker not the GOV. I highly doubt that UPS charged you $210 brokerage on a $95 guitar, its more likley you paid $80-120 or so for brokerage, and the rest was duty/tax on the value of the guitar...
You have to always remember that this all comes down to the listed value of the package that the shipper fills out....If you only paid $95 for the guitar but the shipper thought it was worth more, you get screwed! Ive had this happen, bought something for a really good deal, say $100 for an item that is worth $500...And the shipper puts $500 as the value, you pay tax/duty on the $500 declared value not the $100 you actually paid for it...Alot of times the shipper also includes the shipping cost into the declared value.
Last edited by JohnnyP636; 05-12-2010 at 11:57 AM.
Some people get it!!!
I want one of those signs for my shop that reads..."we dont charge tax, we collect it for the GOV"
Re: UPS Brokerage fees
FYI on NAFTA and duty-free goods:
How goods qualify under NAFTA
Your goods qualify for the U.S. duty-free rate under NAFTA if the following applies:
- the goods are for your personal use; and
- they are marked as made in the United States or Canada or not marked or labeled to indicate they were made anywhere other than in the United States or Canada.
Nope now i know youre wrong cus i got a package sitting beside my desk that i ordered from a guy on ebay out of the US, its listed as Motorcycle parts, $5 dollar value, i didnt pay tax or brokerage, it was put in my mailbox. I also have the box from a jacket i got, also from ebay, this one from Europe and its listed as jacket, value $30, i also didnt have to pay tax or brokerage when i picked it up from the post office.
Neither one is marked as "gift" in the appropriate checkbox. I get stuff all the time from ebay, and i hardly ever pay tax. I know youre supposed to, but if its sent USPS customs actually has to nab the package and check it out before theyll charge you tax when you receive it (and youll have to go to the post office to pick it up, mailman wont deliver it). The only times ive actually been charged for receiving a package it had very obviously been opened by customs beforehand.
If the declared value is below a certain number, they don't bother processing it and charging tax, etc. I don't recall what that magic number is but i think its in the $30 to $40 dollar range. I got a package from Kurveygirl.com a few weeks ago, it was $30, and i didn't have to pay anything.
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The official magic number is $20 Canadian.
Did you really pay $5 for the motorcycle part, and $30 for the jacket? Or did they "hook you up" by using a lower then actual sale value like I was saying?
I dont know the magic number either but if your package is under a certain low value they dont charge you anything, like people have said. If you are being charged brokerage, then you must also pay tax, and duty if it applies.
Yup and I just got a package from her about 2 weeks ago, that was $170 and I had to pay.
I have like 10 packages on the way, its like gambling waiting for them...Sometimes you pay and sometimes you dont, all depends on what is declared. I never ask but Id say about 50% of the sellers "hook you up"...More so with Ebay..There are even ways around UPS's crazy brokerage fees, its all in the paper work
This basically brakes it down perfectly. Also depending on how the shipper declares it and or where the part/jacket is made it will slide under NAFTA and you wont have to pay DUTY. Taxes and Brokerage would still apply.
NOMFuP, Not My ****ing Problem. - Malcom Tucker
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