Order to Canada. Customs w FedEx or UPS?

[thepackratspalace]

I have a customer in Canada who just made a $40 purchase. The package is 5lb in a 10 x 10 x 10 box. She selected the post office but the US post office is not accepting Canadian packages for a few weeks due to the strike which just ended and the backlog. Yikes!! 

I asked the customer if she wants to wait for me to ship the item when the US post office accepts Canadian packages again. Or I can ship UPS or FedEx to her now for the same price. 

I read posts a long time ago about FedEx and UPS charging high customs fees to Canadians who receive packages from the US. I heard the fees are higher than the post office and people should have a broker. Anybody know anything about this? 

[mr_lincoln]

Hi @thepackratspalace 

I think you are at risk regardless of what carrier you use ... if Canada Post is really slow then many other people (NOT just eBay Sellers) are using other carriers ... which means THEY will get bogged down too.

You might want to consider opting in to eBay Internationa Shipping for the future if you want to sell internationally, read about it here and their protections for you as the Seller: eBay International Shipping | eBay

[slippinjimmy]

If you ship a US$40 package to Canada via FedEx or UPS there WILL be customs fees and brokerage fees applied.

For UPS they will collect these fees on delivery, if the buyer doesn't pay then the package will be returned and you will get charged for shipping both ways.

If you use FedEx, they will just deliver the package and then send the recipient a bill for the customs/brokerage fees. If the recipient does not pay this bill then FedEx will reverse the charges and collect from you instead.

If you ship via either using their Express services the brokerage fees are included but the recipient is still on the hook for any Tax or Duty (again with FedEx the bill comes later and if not paid you will get the bill).

I do not recommend using FedEx or UPS for any type of international shipping except for high value urgent items shipped using one of their (very expensive) express services.

[mr_lincoln]

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@slippinjimmy wrote:

If you ship a US$40 package to Canada via FedEx or UPS there WILL be customs fees and brokerage fees applied.

For UPS they will collect these fees on delivery, if the buyer doesn't pay then the package will be returned and you will get charged for shipping both ways.

If you use FedEx, they will just deliver the package and then send the recipient a bill for the customs/brokerage fees. If the recipient does not pay this bill then FedEx will reverse the charges and collect from you instead.

If you ship via either using their Express services the brokerage fees are included but the recipient is still on the hook for any Tax or Duty (again with FedEx the bill comes later and if not paid you will get the bill).

I do not recommend using FedEx or UPS for any type of international shipping except for high value urgent items shipped using one of their (very expensive) express services.

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@slippinjimmy 

Wow ... that doesn't paint a very pretty picture of shipping internationally.  Seems like lots of entities want a piece of the pie ... and as big of a piece as they can get. 

[slippinjimmy]

I have no issues with direct International shipping.......of course I take my own advice and never use FedEx or UPS for cross-border shipping (I do use UPS for many domestic orders).

[tobaccocardyahoo]

It has been years since I gave up shipping via UPS Ground to Canada. The Customs Clearance Fee was a killer, much like the UPS address correction or excess shipping charges.

I gave up on Canadian shipments for many years given the unpredictability of Canada Post deliveries until Ebay Global Shipping and now Ebay International Shipping gave me a reliable alternative and the buyer the option to prepay taxes and duties. Not thrilled with paying the FVF on foreign taxes but I am not thrilled with any expenses tied to taxes.

[mr_lincoln]

@slippinjimmy 

I stopped Selling internationally a couple years ago due to issues with a few transactions.  Then around the time they were starting to roll out EIS I had a Canadian ask me if I would ship to Canada ... the item was only around $ 20 so I set up the listing for USPS First Class International Package AND I was Opted OUT of EIS.  

The customer purchased and when I went to print the USPS First Clas International Package label Like I done int he past it was over ridden and printed out eBay's EIS ... it went to the Illinois hub ... I could not find any way to track it once it arrived at the hub ... weeks later it was delivered but zi felt so removed from the process it was not pleasant ... never heard from the Customer.  

I had a Canadian last week ask me about shipping USPS to them in Canada ... I politely let them know I don't ship there but if they friends or family here they can use their address to allow them to purchase and take delivery in the States ... I also pointed out that the strike had just ended but USPS had not restored service to their country.  They said they were confident that would happen on or before the 28th ... errnt, not taking any chances that's for sure.  

[sin-n-dex · Accepted solution]

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@thepackratspalace wrote:

I have a customer in Canada who just made a $40 purchase. The package is 5lb in a 10 x 10 x 10 box. She selected the post office but the US post office is not accepting Canadian packages for a few weeks due to the strike which just ended and the backlog. Yikes!! 

I asked the customer if she wants to wait for me to ship the item when the US post office accepts Canadian packages again. Or I can ship UPS or FedEx to her now for the same price. 

I read posts a long time ago about FedEx and UPS charging high customs fees to Canadians who receive packages from the US. I heard the fees are higher than the post office and people should have a broker. Anybody know anything about this? 

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I'm in Canada, your customer will not like you if they get nailed with customs fees on a FedEx or UPS box. These companies can charge as much as $50 for brokerage fees to clear the item to come into Canada, and that fee is non-refundable even if the customer successfully appeals to have the taxes/duty refunded.

I ordered a $30 skirt from India and paid $24 to FedEx to import (I didn't even know about it until later, they just delivered it and billed my account because it's associated with my delivery address).

If Canada Post charges customs it will be 9.95 CAD plus sales tax (that depends what province they're in, 5 to 15%). There's an exemption but I don't know what it is for commercial imports. They've changed it a while back and I haven't kept up.

There's no guarantee your customer will pay customs fees on $40, but it will not end well if they do.

C.

[thepackratspalace]

What about marking the item as a “gift?” If not, what are the customs fees on a $40 item? 

Keep in mind the customer and I want to use the post office but due to the strike backlog we can’t use the post office. Not sure if I can do eBay shipping after customer paid. What a mess. 

[sin-n-dex]

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@thepackratspalace wrote:

What about marking the item as a “gift?” If not, what are the customs fees on a $40 item? 

Keep in mind the customer and I want to use the post office but due to the strike backlog we can’t use the post office. Not sure if I can do eBay shipping after customer paid. What a mess. 

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Customs doesn't believe most stuff shipped are gifts. I don't know how they can tell, but I've gotten things marked gift that still had customs (or under declared values and customs wasn't buying it). As the buyer I've had to provide invoices to prove value or they were going to refuse it coming in.

Just wait for the post office to be back up and running, it will only be another week or two. Tell your customer you can ship FedEx/UPS but it might have steep duties and if they want to avoid this they should wait for you to ship when USPS accepts parcels, then just keep up on the news to find out when that is.

As I've said, I'm in Canada. I want to buy something from a US seller and I really need it, but don't want to put the seller in a position to either cancel or get a defect for late shipping. Not everyone in Canada who knows the strike is over knows USPS is still not accepting packages bound for Canada.

C.

[reallynicestamps]

Private couriers must charge duty and sales taxes to the recipient on any import valued over $20Cdn /$14USD.

Canada Post generally ignores any shipment valued under ~$100 on the basis that it costs the taxpayer more to process the import fees than could be collected.

In addition, while Canada Post charges $9.95 (Cdn) for customs brokerage if they do process the shipment for import fees, most couriers charge $25 (Cdn) or more for the same service.

Give your customer that choice as well as the offer.

Basically she can have it fast and expensive or slow(er) and cheap.

Also the postal strike is now over and the mail, including the backlog, is moving.

Meanwhile, private couriers were also getting backlogged because shippers who normally used the cheaper postal service were switching to the more expensive couriers, which again meant a backlog.

[reallynicestamps]

but I've gotten things marked gift that still had customs

We still pay import fees on gifts, although the  allowance rises to $60Cdn/~$42USD.

But watch out for the "~". A small change in the currency exchange rate can make a huge difference.

[janet9988]

For future listings.....You need to remove USPS shipping to Canada and just leave EIS in place.

[sin-n-dex]

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@reallynicestamps wrote:

but I've gotten things marked gift that still had customs

We still pay import fees on gifts, although the  allowance rises to $60Cdn/~$42USD.

But watch out for the "~". A small change in the currency exchange rate can make a huge difference.

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I think I've received stuff for as little as $20 USD marked gift that had customs. Basically customs doesn't buy that people get all these gifts all the time. I never tell anyone how to mark my packages when they ship them, but back when I was trading coins for hobby and not profit, my trader friends (who were real friends, not people who sold to me) would mark packages as gift. I still had to pay customs sometimes, even with a low value.

C.