Anyone here have any experience selling an item on eBay and then shipping to Canada?
How expensive would it be? Is it worth it or just too much hassle?
Rich
I recently had a Canadian buyer for a locomotive I was selling. I used eBayās international shipping program, which means the item went via USPS to a facility in Illinois. Iād offered free shipping, so I paid about $6 to ship it there. Once it arrived in Illinois, it wasnāt my problem any more and DHL took it across the border. Didnāt have to worry about anything with customs. I think eBay carves off another 2% in transaction fee to cover the international end of it. I didnāt have to pay for the Illinois to Ontario leg of the trip directly but if thatās what the 2% covers that makes sense I guess.
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Thanks for that reply. So, it sounds like a pretty straightforward transaction and not all that costly. I very much appreciate your response.
Rich
I believe the buyer foots the additional shipping costs. Iāve sold stuff from the US to the UK, Germany, and Australia. My shipping costs were just to the eBay global shipping depot.
I know what it costs to ship overseas and to Canada directly as Iāve done that, so the buyer certainly is tapped for some additional charges.
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Thanks, that is helpful.
Rich
As a Canadian getting stuff from the US, itās extremely difficult watching your pennies.
What I donāt like about eBay is, I donāt have control over which company gets my package delivered to me
They can choose some pretty expensive that have duties and extra fees
So now Iāve kind of choose not to use eBay unless I have to
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Likewise. I have stopped using EBAY because of their charging etcā¦
David
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Yeah, that seems to be the problem with shipping to Canada. It appears that it is not all that expensive for the seller, but it may be a deal breaker for the buyer.
Rich
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Yes, you think that the buyer should have the option of how he she wants to have the item shipped to us instead itās up to eBay and of course theyāre taking the cheapest way possible.
Not to mention dealing with eBay when the shipping doesnāt go as planned is always an hassle
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Iād like to know more specifics about what hurdles exist just to get the package over the border, not the issues with the potential intermediate shippers. Is it worse going North or coming South?
I once ordered some laser-cut brass stirrups from a guy who makes them in Ontario. They were flat, of course, and could easily be dropped in even a business envelope, if one wanted to take the chance with bad handling. Nope. Getting it through customs (or some such) more than doubled the price. It was such a hassle that the vendor, who was under apparent Canadian business restrictions, no longer did direct business with American customers. I got them through a Canadian modeller who acted as an intermediary. He bought them, I paid him, and he sent them as personal mail. Of course, that was coming this way, not going north.
What prevails in terms of shipping costs and hoops to jump through when buying direct from Rapido or Pacific Western Rail Systems, etc.? Or, letās say I was in Toronto on business and wandered by Rapido in Markham. What would happen at the airport (here or there) if Iād purchased four of their locos and stuffed them in a carry-on to bring back?
Makes me wonder if thereās an organized āunderground railroadā (ha)?
John
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Having traveled to quite a few countries by air, I would say thereās almost no chance anyone would check your carry-on or checked bag. They are X-rayed, but nothing has ever been questioned.
That said, going to Israel was an exception.
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The problem lands at the feet of the receiver in Canada if the package comes by courier. My wife gets a lot of things brought in from the U.S. and if the sender will not use the Post Office she will make other arrangements. Courier companies charge outrages amounts for processing the parcel through Canada customs at point of entry whereas Canada Post charges little or nothing even if there are duties and/or taxes to be collected on the product.
We have had charges by UPS and several other courier companies of $80.00 on a $30.00 item when they show up at the door, we refuse the item because we specifically told the sender to use the mail ONLY.
90% of all items delivered by Canada Post never have any charge attached to them and of the few that did the processing fee charged by the Post Office was around $5.00, not $80.00 that UPS and others charge.
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PWRS has a warehouse in the U.S. 4km from their warehouse in Canada. They ship from whatever warehouse makes the most sense to ship from or to, and that is not just to the U.S. but to countries all over the world. Shipping to or from Neverland to the U.S. or Canada can have vastly different results at the landed country. Upcoming tariffs will drive that fact home as it did the last time Trump imposed them, we had a flood of people coming North to buy everything made in a tariffed country.
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Brent, how does a seller in the U.S. do that, use the Canada Post Office?
Rich
Just mail it in the U.S. using the Post Office and they turn it over to Canada Post or to the Post Office of whatever the destination country is.
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Thanks, Brent
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Iāve shipped directly to Germany, the UK, Australia, and Canada. In all cases, just filling out the simple customās form using Pirate Ship was all I needed. All the packages got there safely, though one took almost a month to Australia. Turns out shipping UPS may be a ton quicker for not much more money than USPS International Shipping. I shipped a couple of things to Australia using UPS recently, they only took a few days to arrive.
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Thanks for that post. Wow, a month to get to Australia.
Rich
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I agree . . since I live close to the border, I sometimes go across for āgrocery shoppingā and mail it there . . especially if it is a smaller size item.
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Welcome to the forum, spcascade!