Re: eBay customs charges to Canada
I know it can definitely be a problem for both the shipper and the buyer!
I do a lot of buying from the US. and most of the time it goes pretty good, but on some things they go beserk on the extra charges.
When an item, lets say a $200 US. beat up and used up model aircraft engine that was originally made in Germany gets shipped from the US, you pay the item cost with shipping price inclusive or the shipping cost is prepaid depending on the arrangement.
On top of that comes the exchange for us Canucks and then it gets shipped. So far so good!
It gets to the border and the carrier (in my case UPS, who by the way is also the importing broker for the carrier division,) adds "broker fees" for clearing the item and sends it on. When Canadian Customs gets a hold of it, they scratch their heads and ask; Should be "classed" as a used toy, a gas motivated engine or an antique originated outside the US? (you get the drift.)
They throw the dart and it hits "other".
They add the appliccable taxes and inappropriate fees for coming to that conclusion and call that "customs fees" and send it back to UPS, who re-adjusts their fee and apply Federal and Provincial applicable taxes for their service, and in turn ship it off to the customer via the Canadian version of UPS, who drops it off at a regional distributor, who either delivers it or calls to have it picked up.
You get there and ask for the package, upon which demand they find the "invoice" for your particular P.I.T.A. (you guessed it!) and ask how you would like to pay.
Now get this!......., The original cost of this little engine was $235 US when new, I bought it for $180 US (they are popular,) and the total came to $183.87 for additional "fees" (Customs and importing,) as per attached invoice.
We had a little dance and cursing ceremony, I apologised, paid and went on home.
If I didn't already had lots of dealings with Customs as a transport operator and this would have been my first import, I could have been critically and ballistically upset at that, and would probably first have blamed the seller/shipper, then the carrier and so on.
I backtracked the item and got stopped at the Customs office, where I was held off while they regrouped.
Dead end right there! End of story! Go home!.
I checked the procedure at UPS, got some advice and info and ate the hat.
It happens and you're stuck with it, but on the other hand good things happen too, where you get a deal that seems unbelievable.
For the US shipper it can be a headache with buyers complaining or worse. The shipper doesn't always know all the things that need to be done for a particular shipment, and the info available in the post offices or other places, is sometimes incomplete or inaccurate at best.
The buyer that just doesn't pay (can't see how that's possible) or abandons the package, is the guy who makes friendly dealings between two countries harder and harder, and eventually might cause a breakdown in personal international exchanges, no doubt!
Time for some fresh air
PH.
