UPS brokerage fee

[Messerschmitt]

Hey there.

I am planning to buy a laptop and the delivery is done through UPS. The site is american, so they have their UPS, USPS and then:
Canada UPS Ground, normal custom clearence - 57$
Canada UPS Express, normal custom clearence - No UPS brokerage fee. 129$.

I remember seeing on a local vancouver forum how they charge this brokerage fee, and how this was actually to clear customs. Then some were just going to clear customs by themselfs and did not had to pay the brokerage fee.

How exactly can I deal with this? Anyone has experience with this?

[Nook]

Well first of all, you're going to pay the Customs fee on it, which is not regulated by UPS. Then UPS is going to charge you on top of that for filling the forms and such, which is called the Brokerage fee. You can simply call them in advance and ask to do the paper work yourself.

You mentioned USPS. That's the States' postal service and once it crosses the border, it goes into the hands of Canada Post. From my experience, you are far less likely to get charged a Customs fee on USPS deliveries and they only charge like $5-8. But I've never actually even gotten hit with their fees.

I don't know if you can safely transport a laptop through postal service but if so, I'd go with USPS over UPS any day of the year.

Just my $.02.

[macnut]

Well first of all, you're going to pay the Customs fee on it, which is not regulated by UPS.

There is no customs duty at all on computers.

You will be most likely be paying GST and PST however, whether it's Canada Post or UPS collecting that on behalf of the Federal and Prov. Govts.

Canada Post will add on their $5 fee for acting on your behalf in paying your taxes ($8 if it came USPS Priority Mail International).

If it is coming by UPS, call your local UPS office right away and tell them you are going to clear it yourself.

[Nook]

There is no customs duty at all on computers.

You will be most likely be paying GST and PST however, whether it's Canada Post or UPS collecting that on behalf of the Federal and Prov. Govts.

Canada Post will add on their $5 fee for acting on your behalf in paying your taxes ($8 if it came USPS Priority Mail International).

If it is coming by UPS, call your local UPS office right away and tell them you are going to clear it yourself.

Really? When I ordered my case and graphics card from Newegg.ca (ships from the US), they charged me customs. Maybe your suggestion only applies to whole computers.

[nosnoop]

Really? When I ordered my case and graphics card from Newegg.ca (ships from the US), they charged me customs. Maybe your suggestion only applies to whole computers.

Are you sure? Newegg.ca charges you a "handling fee", which actually is the GST and PST, upfront, and no, you should not get any extra fee other than the shipping cost. Tigerdirect does the same.

I'd go with USPS over UPS any day of the year.

I actually prefer UPS Express. UPS Ground is the one you need to avoid. Otherwise, you don't need to pay for brokerage at all. UPS has a much better tracking system. Whereas USPS's tracking is not very useful.

[Hairball]

I actually prefer UPS Express. UPS Ground is the one you need to avoid. Otherwise, you don't need to pay for brokerage at all. UPS has a much better tracking system. Whereas USPS's tracking is not very useful.

I totally agree, UPS Express service is fabulous, and they come fast. The only good thing if it comes by USPS/Canada Post is that there is a chance you might not have to pay anything at all. Whereas UPS will always charge you the taxes if it's over $20 in value.

[Riffer]

Hey there.

I am planning to buy a laptop and the delivery is done through UPS. The site is american, so they have their UPS, USPS and then:
Canada UPS Ground, normal custom clearence - 57$
Canada UPS Express, normal custom clearence - No UPS brokerage fee. 129$.

I remember seeing on a local vancouver forum how they charge this brokerage fee, and how this was actually to clear customs. Then some were just going to clear customs by themselfs and did not had to pay the brokerage fee.

How exactly can I deal with this? Anyone has experience with this?

You have to know the value of the laptop in order to estimate the brokerage fee on USP Ground.

[richardvoyageur]

I do not ship across the border with UPS anymore. USPS is by far the best I've seen, UPS is by far the worst.

They charged me $42 for a $100 golf club once...42% of the price, I was pissed.

[Hairball]

I do not ship across the border with UPS anymore. USPS is by far the best I've seen, UPS is by far the worst.

They charged me $42 for a $100 golf club once...42% of the price, I was pissed.

If UPS Express (as in NOT UPS ground) was used, then there is no brokerage, so only the taxes, which will probably be $13 or so. As long as the brokerage fee is not charged extra, UPS isn't that bad, at least the tracking is better and the item comes faster.

[Messerschmitt]

Ok, the difference between ground and Express is 72$ so screw them.

As Nook said, I guess my only option is to call them and explicitly tell them I will do custom clearence on my own, that's what I remember reading on another forum so they won't get surcharged with their moronic brokerage fee.

Unfortunately there is no other delivery option to Canada but UPS.

Now, how do I go and clear customs myself? Do I do it before the laptop arrives? How much do you pay for customs? Is it only GST or PST also? Any other fees? Do I go to a CSBA office for this?

I remember when I bought INK to refill my cartrige there was no customs fee on the invoice. I paid 61$ CAD on that. How did that work? They somehow shipped with Canada Post too.

EDIT: I was just reading this from the INK website where I ordered.
Canada customs will sometimes collect local taxes and a $5 CAN handling fee through Canada Post. In our experience, this is exercised by Canada Post only on a few orders, and is usually also related to the shipping carrier. For orders shipped via UPS for example, almost all orders are assessed the taxes, whereas when the US Postal Service is used, the incidence of this occurring is minimal. We ship all parcels via the US Postal Service (through Priority Mail, an expedited shipping method) and the packages are transferred by the US Postal Service to Canada Post for the final drop off to our customers. We can not predict when / whether Canada Post will assess the local tax collection.

So when you can use USPS there are chances you won't even pay customs. But you always do with UPS. Bastards. Wonder how USPS/Canada Post by-pass customs.

[Whitedart]

Ok, the difference between ground and Express is 72$ so screw them.

As Nook said, I guess my only option is to call them and explicitly tell them I will do custom clearence on my own, that's what I remember reading on another forum so they won't get surcharged with their moronic brokerage fee.

Unfortunately there is no other delivery option to Canada but UPS.

Now, how do I go and clear customs myself? Do I do it before the laptop arrives? How much do you pay for customs? Is it only GST or PST also? Any other fees? Do I go to a CSBA office for this?

I remember when I bought INK to refill my cartrige there was no customs fee on the invoice. I paid 61$ CAD on that. How did that work? They somehow shipped with Canada Post too.

EDIT: I was just reading this from the INK website where I ordered.


So when you can use USPS there are chances you won't even pay customs. But you always do with UPS. Bastards. Wonder how USPS/Canada Post by-pass customs.

Something tells me you are going to return in a couple of weeks, frustrated & without your new computer, because you didn't want to pay for faster shipping, and UPS customs clearance, as others have suggested.

It is easy for someone on a forum to claim they cleared their own item, but another thing to actually do it without a lot of running around.

You will need to pick up documents from UPS at the point of entry (which may not be BC), take those forms to Customs, find the proper tariff code, know the country of manufacture, pay any duties owed (depending on CofM), pay the appropriate taxes, return the approved documents back to UPS. Make an error on the forms with the tariff code and they will likely be handed back to you to go find the proper code.

[bubble.tea]

lol..there's a duplicate thread titled just beside yours.

UPS Brokerage sucks. Pay extra for the super saver, or whatever service they have and it's 'taken care of'.

[TakumiDC5]

So when you can use USPS there are chances you won't even pay customs. But you always do with UPS. Bastards. Wonder how USPS/Canada Post by-pass customs.

By-pass customs wtf are you talking about?

The difference with USPS/Canada Post vs UPS is that you pay a flat fee of $5 for the brokerage. You still pay duties and taxes on top of that $5, although for items such as electronics, it is only taxes (GST & PST).

The only time you won't pay anything extra with USPS/Canada post is if the declared value is less than $60 and it is declared as a gift.

If you didn't pay anything on your $61 purchase, then you probably got lucky. Nothing "bypasses customs" everything goes through customs, but whether you pay any duties and taxes depends on the examining officer and your declaration papers.

[freeonboard]

By-pass customs wtf are you talking about?

The difference with USPS/Canada Post vs UPS is that you pay a flat fee of $5 for the brokerage. You still pay duties and taxes on top of that $5, although for items such as electronics, it is only taxes (GST & PST).

The only time you won't pay anything extra with USPS/Canada post is if the declared value is less than $60 and it is declared as a gift.

If you didn't pay anything on your $61 purchase, then you probably got lucky. Nothing "bypasses customs" everything goes through customs, but whether you pay any duties and taxes depends on the examining officer and your declaration papers.

this is not true. if you ship via usps, they often dont charge gst or pst under 200 while ups will always charge gst and pst and brokerage.

[freeonboard]

http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/showthread.php?t=585209&highlight=border+tutorial

[TakumiDC5]

this is not true. if you ship via usps, they often dont charge gst or pst under 200 while ups will always charge gst and pst and brokerage.

No you are incorrect, I was charged taxes for a $65 item. $5 fee + gst. I was also charged for a $150 item.

The link you provided even confirms what I've said. The rule is $60 for gifts. Where did you get this 'under $200' number from? If you haven't been charged for a $200 item, you were just lucky. I have been lucky a few times, but mostly not.

Like I said, whether you get charged duties & taxes depends on the examining officer and if he feels like being nice to you, and ofcourse the paperwork filled out by the sender. But if an item is declared with a value greater than $60, be prepared to pay.

[zod]

No you are incorrect, I was charged taxes for a $65 item. $5 fee + gst. I was also charged for a $150 item.

The link you provided even confirms what I've said. The rule is $60 for gifts. Where did you get this 'under $200' number from? If you haven't been charged for a $200 item, you were just lucky. I have been lucky a few times, but mostly not.

Like I said, whether you get charged duties & taxes depends on the examining officer and if he feels like being nice to you, and ofcourse the paperwork filled out by the sender. But if an item is declared with a value greater than $60, be prepared to pay.

I've never heard of an under $200 rule. I've had packages way less get dinged, but I've had a whole lot of other packages come through unscathed. I have no idea how Canada Post decides which parcels to charge tax on, and which not to, is it random? They chose truck #1, 4 and 7? I think more than half of my parcels come through without taxation, when they should be taxed.

its another benefit to dealing with Canada Post, they don't seem to have the staff to check all the packages. So not only is brokerage cheaper, you have always have the chance of it never being charged. UPS on the other hand makes alot of money on brokerage, so they never miss a package.

[Messerschmitt]

I talked with the laptop company and it seems there might be an option for USPS Priority. Yay!

[stellar11]

By the way, I thought the UPS brokerage fee (ie, cashgrab) was $45, but I recently ordered about $1000 worth of glass tiles and UPS charged me $79 for their "fee" in addition to the GST. I don't know if the fee went up, or if they have different fees for different items/values.

[macnut]

By the way, I thought the UPS brokerage fee (ie, cashgrab) was $45, but I recently ordered about $1000 worth of glass tiles and UPS charged me $79 for their "fee" in addition to the GST. I don't know if the fee went up, or if they have different fees for different items/values.

This should be common knowledge by now.

The UPS fees are quite clearly laid out on their website:

http://www.ups.com/content/ca/en/shipping/cost/zones/customs_clearance.html

There was even a link to that in the redflagdeals "tutorial" link earlier.

Of course their fee depends on the value, and don't forget it is not just one fee but several added together with GST applied at appropriate stages.

[steers]

I just recently ordered a water cooling component from a store in the states, and not thinking much of it, had it shipped here via UPS Standard. I've never had any problems with shipping UPS in the past, so I figured all was well. Tracking the package, I noticed mention of processing by brokerage once it passed into Windsor, and I started to get worried.

As much as I don't want to end up paying the (possibly) exorbitant brokerage fees, I think I might have to. I'm a student without any reliable means of long-distance transportation, so if I end up having to travel all the way to Windsor in order to clear the package myself, I'll probably just cut my losses and pay the fees. :(