I would like to draw attention to the new Global Shipping option that is now available to US vendors.
This Global Shipping option is a delivery system run by a private company, I thought it was Pitney Bowes but I could be wrong.
This new shipping option is now used by a lot of E-bay vendors as well as small business.
They collect from the Purchaser in Canada in addition to the postage, any taxes and any other fees that may be collected by Canada Customs. They also charge a very hefty brokerage fee for their services.
As these fees are based on the dollar amounts of the items being sold the more expensive the item the higher the brokerage fee.
The vendor does not see any more for their item but the shipper does very well. In most cases the Purchaser fee will pay more than double any typical fee.
In short, pretty much the same amount the Courier Companies like UPS and FedEx charge.
Let’s put it clearly: the ‘import’ charges that Pitney Bowes are collecting are a plain simple rip-off. Canada Customs does not charge duties on items under $100 in value, and for items over that, the rate is 13%. Pitney Bowes in many cases is trying to collect 33% PLUS shipping fees.
The result for me is that I tend to ignore those auctions that use Global Shipping unless the item(s) are still a good value after the rip-off shipping fees are charged, which is just about never.
Perhaps if those of us who are north of the border were to inform the sellers that their chosen shipping method is turning away potential customers, then some of them might change. However, I won’t hold my breath. Any sellers who I have contacted about the issue couldn’t seem to care less. Business must be good if they can afford to write off 10% of their customer base.
Dave, I have informed some vendors of what exactly the effect is of using the Global Shipping option. In a few cases the vendors have changed the shipping option. However, if there are any bids on the items then the shipping option can not be changed.
I agree, if the total with the Global fees is an acceptable amount I have purchased a few items.
I would also assume that there is some sort of a discount for bulk rates with the mailing fees as well.
Another problem that I’ve now heard happening is the misdirection of packages. When the Global Shipping option is used, all packages are labelled and shipped to Pitney Bowes in Kentucky with a generated tracking number. Pitney Bowes then relabels the package with the customs clearance forms and sends it to the buyer. I know of two cases where they were relabelled incorrectly and sent to the wrong address !
As a seller in the US, they do not see the additional charges that the Canadian buyer faces. If you are in Canada, those charges are displayed right in the ad. I’ve seen a few cases where the total shipping for a ten dollar item was nearly twenty three dollars through this Global Shipping farse !
As for the cut off value for tax / duty free packages into Canada, it’s $20, not $100 ($60 if it’s marked as a gift)
The postal system is still your best bet for shipping. Many times, the package will just show up at your door as not all packages are processed through customs - and if they are, there is a $9.00 processing fee plus provincial tax. This Global Shipping option - like all the courier companies - have dedicated customs employees that check EVERY package. Not only is the provincial tax calculated in, but also their outrageous brokerage fees which are a flat rate plus a percentage of the value based on the selling price.
Here is but one example - for you folks in the US who don’t see this, this is what we Canadians see for this Global Shipping (NOT my ad and I deleted the seller’s info., just using this as an example) - this is a screen shot for all you folks in the US …
Note the price of the car is $22.99. The shipping is $18.19 and the import charges are $10.51 for a total of $28.70 for shipping ! … that’s more than the car itself.
AND - as the price of the car goes up, so does the import fees !
This car could easily be sent First Class Air Mail for about $8.00 and would stand a real good chance of just showing up in your mail box with no additional fees.
There’s some big money being made with this Global Shipping, and it ain’t being made by the seller …
I always use International First Class for shipments to Canada, unless the buyer wants to pays extra for faster delivery. Just take it to the PO and mail, simple really. No way would I insist that a buyer use the Global option, which as has been noted is as much an opportunity for something to go wrong in shipping as anything else it may offer.
Curious, can/does this not work the other way around as well for items leaving Canada bound for the U.S? My Son models in N Scale, Canadian Pacific modern day. He has been wanting an SD40-2 in CP livery for a longtime now. I saw a few on EvilBay where the seller was in Canada (one for sure was located in the Province of Quebec) and the shipping to the U.S. was $24+ dollars! In another case, there was a Kato CP ES44AC for a great price, but again the shipping was ridiculous (Alberta was where it was hailing from I believe). In essence, by the time I factor in shipping costs, I simply cannot get a deal buying North of the border. I agree, seeing deals but getting robbed for shipping is frustrating regardless of which side of the border you hail from. Someone needs to start a bootlegging business for model railroading items like back in the days of prohibition…[(-D]!
A product such as a toy boxcar entering Canada or the U.S. from China has an import duty attached to it. Now I am probably be wrong in my figures so please treat this as an inaccurateexample only, but it may be close. I have been retired for a few years.
The Boxcar entering Canada has a 12% duty on it. The same Boxcar entering the U.S. has a 2.5% duty on it. As a result things end up being cheaper in the U.S. This is why we Canadians like to shop South of the border. If a person buys that Boxcar online or in person at a train store in the U.S. to import into Canada they have to pay the difference in the import duty. The brokerage fee is charged for collecting that difference in import tax.
Now if you are importing that made in China boxcar to the U.S. from Canada you still only have to pay 2.5% import tax. The trouble is if you are a small time operator in Canada, either a private seller or retailer you are unlikely to have all the mechanisms in place to automatically deal with tariffs and trade.
Anyone importing that Boxcar from Canada can get the difference in tax back, however it would cost way more in time and trouble to get your $2.00 than it is worth.
Buying from larger retailers in Canada should not be an issue as all this tax stuff is taken care of. My local dealer sells so much they even have a second warehouse 3 miles away on the U.S. side of the border. They do so much business to the U.S. and the rest of the world it is easily warranted.
Now before some go off on a rampage saying “so much for free trade”. Free trade applies to products and services produced in the U.S. or Canada. Sneaking a Boxcar into Canada through the U.S. is not free trade. No matter how you look at it, the Boxcar was still made in China.
That may be the Canadian version of Global – or the seller is just wanting to pocket the high fees that Global gets for themselves. It used to be that someone charging excess S&H fees was a bad example. Now ebay seems to be turning it into a business model with Global. Strange, ebay recently introduced the practice of charging their auction fees based on the final cost of the item, shipping included. Coincidence? I think not.
I can’t possibly see what this does for most buyers and sellers. It’s definitely a big disincentive to buyers, which in the long run can’t do anything but drive them away. I’ll still be using it so long as I am allowed to manage my own alternatives, but if they ever force me to use their shipping services and pay beyond what I currently am, fegeddaboutit.
As a guy who spent his life dealing in logistics. I smell a whole lot of collusion going on here. We do have the option of not patronizing these venders.
There may be an industry standard as to what rates shipping and brokerage companies charge, however a vender would do well to shop around as rates vary a lot even within the same company. Industry standards are rarely followed in the heat off the competition battle.
Even postal rates are negotiable with Canada Post. They have a huge sales team that have the power to offer some very good rates.
My wife is a veterinarian. She does a lot of Repro work and as a result imports animal semen from all over the world. Recently she got a quote from Fedex of $5000.00 to import some dog semen from Spain. I directed her to another company that ended up doing it for $1800.00.
Venders that get a better rate from shippers and/or brokers will do more business. That is just reality. They would do well to shop around.
It’s not just to Canada, I got stung on an E-bay deal with Global Shipping (Pitney Bowes) to the UK when I picked up a Concor Burlington Zephyr. If it wasn’t such a good deal £ to $ I would have told em to stick it as a rip off.
I will be watching for it comming up again and telling the seller to think again as I’d prefer to pay import duty and taxes on arrival.
You are so right, it is not the taxes and duty that upset me, it is the hidden brokers fee.
What really riles me, is that most vendor are not aware of the extra costs to be paid by the purchaser, When I have contacted some vendors that were unaware of the hidden costs.
Thanks for clarifying the duty threshold being $20.00. I was guessing at the $100 (I should have admitted that). However, my actual experience suggests that very few items under $100 actually get charged duty. and I have bought lots of items between $20 and $100. In fact I can only remember being charged duty twice in the last 10 years, and both items were over $100.
Check out the “hidden” brokerage fees on this completed auction …
Shipping is $42.92 which I think is rather high in and of itself … but now tack on an additional $181.48 for the import charges !!! That’s highway robbery at its finest …
I quit buying on ebay about a year ago, mailing fees were a new source of revenue for sellers, like 150 time as much as the product, I used to ship the seller a USPS rate list for shipping, usually @ $2 to $8.00, the seller would reply with some of the most unbelievable excuses to increase their fee, al the time I bought from ebay (before the insanity) I was never charged once by Canada Customs for fees, I still refuse to buy anything on ebay, someone mentioned there is new system much like ebay that is far superior and much cheaper on shipping charges, lets hope they show up soon.
Oh I agree! At least Jesse James used a gun!![C):-)]
Which can also be said for .99 cent auctions on small items that can fit in a small flat rate box with a $12.00 shipping charge. Do they think ebay buyers are not also sellers who know the postal rates??[:^)]
It has only been a few days since I initallly posted this notice about the added brokers fee to be paid by the purchaser using Global Shipping.
I collect die cast cars as an additional hobby to my model railroading. I first noticed this optional shipping method on a few items but the number of items with this option is increasing rapidly. The majority of the die cast cars now indicate this option.
I think E-Bay must like this option as it increases the shipping costs, hence more money to be collected based on the new total, hence even the seller pays more.
On the good side, I have contacted a few sellers who changed the shipping option so that the item would not be shipped by the Global group. However, one a person has bid on an item with the Global shopping option the shipping method can not be changed.
E-Bay must have set up the ads so the sellers will most likely opt for the Global Shipping option if they will sell their items outside of the US.
