Canadian Chat → Re: Shipping With UPS From The States - BEWARE!

I was going to ship something to Canada and use UPS, but after seeing this thread I guess maybe I should use something else. This stuff is all a big surprise to me. What exactly is a brokerage fee, anyway? Is GST/PST your sales tax? I want to ship a small box weighing about 2-3 kilos to a private party from a private party (me). I don't want the recipient to get nailed for some fees that are not necessary. The contents is not really valuable, if I have to put some kind of valuation on it for customs purposes, I'm sure 30 or 40 dollars would be plenty. By the same token, I would like to have some insurance on it, just in case it got lost.... Any suggestions for choice of shipper and how to handle the details?

Fedex automatically takes care of brokerage and builds it into their price. GST/PST are the responsibility of the buyer always, and is either handled upon delivery or via a letter afterwards.

Your best bet is to use FedEX IE International Economy. Its the lowest FedEX rate!

said by Suchaknight:

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I was going to ship something to Canada and use UPS, but after seeing this thread I guess maybe I should use something else. This stuff is all a big surprise to me. What exactly is a brokerage fee, anyway? Is GST/PST your sales tax?

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Brokerage fee is something that UPS charges to cover any duty. UPS acts as a "broker" on your behalf to pay the duty. The recipient of the package will not see an invoice from Canada Customs. The beef against UPS is that the brokerage fee is much, much more than duty would actually be, so essentially they're overcharging/gouging/ripping you off etc.

GST stands for Goods and Services Tax. It is a federal sales tax of 7%.

PST stands for Provincial Sales Tax. It is a provincial (think state) sales tax that varies from province to province. Alberta has no PST, while other province combine the GST and PST into one tax called the HST (Harmonized Sales Tax). The recipient of the package is legally responsible for paying the sales tax on any item imported from outside the country.

I've sold a few items on ebay and here in the Buy and Sell forum, and I insist that the buyer use FedEx for cross border shipping. FedEx does not charge exorbitant brokerage fees, and their online site makes it easy for me to fill out all the paperwork. Sending stuff via the US Postal Service is also a better method, as there are no brokerage charges there, either.

It is important for US Sellers to understand that brokerage fees will essentially kill a deal and leave a bad taste in the buyers mouth.

It seems few US companies offer an alternative to UPS.

said by MacGyver:

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The beef against UPS is that the brokerage fee is much, much more than duty would actually be, so essentially they're overcharging/gouging/ripping you off etc.

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Judging by the remarks in this thread, its no secret that UPS is screwing everybody with this bogus charge. How can they be so blatant and expect to remain in business?

UPS is geared towards businesses, not individuals. So they market their customs brokerage as a value-added-service. I guess for some it could save money, but for individuals the case is almost always no.

actually, that charge will not incur if the customs don't change anything which is based on your original declaration customs paper that you fill when you send something to Canada. If the item is a gift, max non taxable value is $60 Canadian, $20 for a non-gift, anything above those #s will be taxed. If item isn't valuable, and doesnt look valuable, then, just ship UPS, but make sure, that your declared value(usually in US) does not turn out to be more than $60 Canadian, assuming you mark it as a gift. $40 is more than enough, but if the actual value is even less than that, by all means, declare it.

I do order a few antique car parts from the USA and most are shipped via UPS...I do not pay any brokerage or custom fees on these auto parts BUT I've had to pay these fees on software, books, computer parts, etc....