Just looked up a plastic tender on e-bay, $6.00 and $35.00 to ship. Are my hands up high enough??? What’s going on, I just last week had a loco sent to me from the U.S. for $5.86. I’m in Canadaland.
Is the model worth $41 to you?
Mark
This has been discussed many times on this forum before. How is the seller shipping? Is he using UPS or FedEx, which charge a brokerage fee to clear Canadian customs? Or is he confused about which US Postal Service methods are allowable, and might be a good deal for both buyer and seller? Did you try to enlighten the seller on how to ship to Canada at a much lower cost?
If he is charging everybody exorbitant amounts for shipping, and not just our friends outside the borders, did you notify him you wouldn’t bid, and why?
To correct injustice usually takes a little action on the oppressed’s part. Inadvertent overcharging will usually be corrected, because it’s in the sellers interest to enlarge his market. Deliberate overcharging - at least after contacting the seller, you know where you stand. Then as Mark says, is the tender worth $41 to you?
my thoughts, your choices
Fred W
Ask the vendor how he is shipping - US POSTAL Service is far cheaper than UPS!! My [2c]
You need to contact the seller to confirm this cost. Many use the automatic software for pricing shipping and don’t actually charge that amount. Most of the ones I deal with charge actual shipping plus, perhaps, a small premium, regardless of what shows on the listing.
david
Maybe it’s being shipped in an old Lionel box??[:-^]
Here is some advice for Canadian Ebayers.
Always, always ask for a reciept for the shipping costs. If the cost is too high compared to the actual shipping (or he refuses to send the reciept with it), then you have the power of negitive feedback. 99% of the time, it makes the sellers honest.
David B
ROTFLMAO!!!
Tatans,
As a fellow Canuck, I too have problems with shipping from the States to the Great White North. I always request a shipping quote BEFORE bidding on an item. I inform the American seller that 1st Class Mail International to Canada is the least expensive shipping price fom the USPS. This service is available up to 4 lb. Besides that, there is flat rate shipping, where the size of the box (supplied free by USPS) determines the cost. Priority Mail International, although more expensive, is the fall back plan.
NEVER send a parcel accross the border via one of the Courier companies. They’ll rip you off ($35 to $60) in collecting Federal & Provincial sales taxes. Canada Post only charges $5.00, if they charge anything at all!
Blaine
Note: the extra fees charged by UPS and FedEx do not show on e-bay, or any other on-line vendor for that matter.
These are extra charges collected from the receiver in Canada. Many of the vendors were unaware of the extra fees.
Some vendors who I contacted about excessivly high USPS fees said that the problem lay with the software used to determine postal fees. In those cases I did receive notification of much lower fees should I purchase the items.
WASN’T NAFTA SUPPOSED TO FIX THESE PROBLEMS?[:P][swg]
This shipping was by USPS, as I said I had a loco sent for much less, Also the USPS has a site that you can calculate the exact postal fee, I assume some of these rippers don’t know this available to us peasants out here. Yes watch the rates on ups and other carriers on the fee they charge ($35 and up) I’m still trying to get around the “is it worth $40.00 to you”.—something that is selling for $5.00 worth $40.00? of course not!
Speaking as someone who gets into all the courier companies processing facilities on a regular basis. By shear volume alone at the Canada customs unit at the Vancouver mail processing plant makes even the large courier companies look like ma and pop operations. For this reason alone you are likely to be missed over for charges as they just can’t get them all.
It would appear that import tariffs are now called shipping charges and customs fees. I guess that’s one way to get around a trade agreement.[:-^]
Generally, if it is a small package, or worth less than $50, they really can’t be bothered.
If it does come to their attention, the post office charges $5 to deal with the package, and they collect the GST (or for the unlucky ones, the HST…). Seems that collecting anything else is beneath the CRA’s dignity. (And you, as an honest citizen will submit any taxes owed to the province, as is your legal requirement, right?)
The couriers have made a sweet business out of “brokerage services”. Charging you a fee (much higher than the post office charges) plus collecting any taxes owed. The post office, for all it’s bureaucracy and legal requirements, can do this for $5 and still make a profit. Let’s not forget that the taxman lets them keep a percentage as well, as “payment” for doing the collections.
Of course, there is a way to get even. You get the appropriate paperwork, fill it in, bring it to the pickup counter and exchange said documents for your package. They can protest all they want, it is legal to do your own brokerage.
Lookig at the USPS site now …I see that a hypothetical 2 lb. package to Canada via international Prioity mail is $18.40 for packages tendered to the Post Office.
If the person drive the package to the post office hypothetically 10 miles from his house, it will cost him (perhaps) $8.00 for driving at 40 cents per mile for the 20 mile round trip.
Ebay and paypal fees will be about 15% of the total of purchase price and s&h charges.
Regardless, international buyers should always contact seller before placing a bid to agree on shipping and handling.
Dallas Model Works is offering 1/2 price shipping to Canada all weekend long. Maybe that’s in response to some of the threads Graig has seen here.
That’s crazy. I sold a MRC Tech 4 power pack to a gentleman in Quebec last week. Those things weigh in around 2-3 lbs. The cost was $12.16 for first class mail and $17.something for priority. That was my cost and that’s exactly what I passed on to the buyer. I hate seeing people get screwed for over-inflated shipping charges on Ebay. Unfortunately, this seems to be the norm.
I;ve heard the opposite. It’s cheaper to ship to Canada than from. Though honestly, most tnders are around 35-40 dollars, so the overall cost isn’t so bad.
Why do you think your getting that item for a measly $6 ???
Got to make your profit somewhere, so why not charge double for shipping and pocket the difference?
This happens on Ebay all the time, not just cross border shipping.