Canadian Tariff Plus UPS Shipping Brokerage Fee

Question

I recently bought a pair of toddler overalls for $36.15. I should have paid closer attention to the fact they were being shipped from Canada. I received a tracking notice from UPS stating they were en route and that upon delivery I would owe UPS a total of $32.87. I couldn't believe that high price was correct since the tariff imposed is supposedly 25%. Digging deeper, I found that UPS is adding their own $24.00 brokerage fee in addition to the $8.87 tariff, so buyers beware! I tacked a notice on my front door refusing delivery and directing UPS to return to sender.

ryry-jj · Accepted Answer

UPS does that. Most likely you will not receive a refund on the purchase price or any shipping that you paid as a refused delivery voids ebay's MBG policy.

If the buyer doesn't pay these fees, often the sellers will be charged the fees as UPS has already paid the tariff and incurred the processing fee. So I would expect, any refund a seller would give you upon return would be minus the costs paid of $32.87 + shipping.

Did the original listing say the shipping method was UPS?

tobaccocardyahoo · Answer

If you refuse to pay, don't claim INR with Ebay, Just open a chargeback dispute with your credit card issuer. You will have to anyway if you want a refund.

fm2000 · Answer

The UPS "brokerage fee" has been a problem for a very long time, long before and completely separate from recent tariffs.

The person in Canada who sold you the overalls probably used to ship via Canada Post, and had to ship UPS because CP were on strike (possibly because not shipping them at all would damage their metrics), and they might not have known about the UPS buyer "brokerage fee". There is no "brokerage fee" going though the mail either way across the border (just the tariff/duty itself), or if sent using eBay International Shipping. UPS "brokerage fees" are bonkers expensive, some have reported being charged over $40.

EIS is now available in Canada, so most sellers should be using that, if regular mail is not an option (it is also a great option for sellers over regular mail, since it has significant liability protections for sellers).

ryry-jj · Answer

These are tough situations because the fees were paid, someone will be paying UPS back. USP doesn't care if it is you or the seller, but they want their fees paid and to be reimbursed for the tariffs paid.

I know buyers may be unaware of how this all plays out...frankly the entire tariff situation is a real mess...but ultimately the consumer is the one responsible regardless of what they understood

kensgiftshop · Answer

@syrscat wrote: I tacked a notice on my front door refusing delivery and directing UPS to return to sender. Refusing the package voids your MBG and the seller doesn't have to refund.

12345jamesstamps · Answer

There was an article about UPS the other day.

Not good news.

If seller doesn't pay for shipping for it to be returned back seller(a new tariff thing by UPS) and you don't take it...it might just get disposed of by the UPS.

That kinda means possibly no refund by seller.

Just going by what I read the other day of UPS and tariffs