Best way to ship to canada?

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D

desura

Diamond Member
Mar 22, 2013
4,627
129
101
I sell a few things on ebay.

I want to mail to canada.

I usually just use ebay global shipping to take care of it for me.

But, circumstances have arrived so that I need to send a package myself.

The big hassle in shipping to canada was always the customs form, which meant that I had to visit the post office in person instead of having the mailman pick up the mail for me.

And I have no idea how long it would take. Probably significantly longer than to the US since there is customs.

So, what's the best way? USPS, FedEX, UPS? Is there a quick way so that I can just quickly drop off at like a drop box without having the hassle of waiting in person with a clerk?
 
lxskllr

lxskllr

No Lifer
Nov 30, 2004
59,144
9,584
126
I use USPS for everything aside from heavy weights, which I haven't dealt with yet.
 
Imp

Imp

Lifer
Feb 8, 2000
18,828
184
106
I tried ordering something using UPS from the US of A once... Decided to do some buyer's remorse research. Something something $50 "brokerage" fee to get it through customs. Made a long distance call to cancel that order ASAP.

Maybe there's a way to lower the charge?
 
sdifox

sdifox

No Lifer
Sep 30, 2005
98,980
17,393
126
Imp said:
I tried ordering something using UPS from the US of A once... Decided to do some buyer's remorse research. Something something $50 "brokerage" fee to get it through customs. Made a long distance call to cancel that order ASAP.

Maybe there's a way to lower the charge?
Click to expand...

no, there isn't, not if you ship UPS. with USPS you just go to the post office pay like 5 dollar fee for brokerage + the HST. Fedex brockerage clearance is included in the shipping price for most services I think.
 
Imp

Imp

Lifer
Feb 8, 2000
18,828
184
106
sdifox

sdifox

No Lifer
Sep 30, 2005
98,980
17,393
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Imp said:
I chose "Standard Service":

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

My orders from the US usually come through without any spectacular unexpected fees. That was a one time thing from a relatively small store.
Click to expand...

Standard Service does charge what I consider expensive brokerage fee. The clearance is not the only fee you get charged, there is the bond fee too, which is them fronting the cash to pay customs.

"Bond Fees
Customers are responsible for payment of duties and taxes. When funds are not provided in advance by the customer, and UPS must post a bond to allow UPS shipments to be released in advance of payment to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), a fee of 2.7 percent (minimum $6.00 on Worldwide Standard®; minimum $10 on UPS Worldwide Express Plus®, UPS Worldwide Express®, UPS Worldwide Express Freight™, UPS Worldwide Express Saver® and UPS Worldwide Expedited®) of the amount advanced by UPS will be charged. To avoid bond fees, call 1-800-PICK-UPS and ask about our Prepayment or Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) plans."
 
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Imp

Imp

Lifer
Feb 8, 2000
18,828
184
106
sdifox said:
Standard Service does charge what I consider expensive brokerage fee. The clearance is not the only fee you get charged, there is the bond fee too, which is them fronting the cash to pay customs.
Click to expand...

It depends on the store.

I think JCrew uses UPS and I ordered a ton of stuff from their US online store, only got dinged customs plus a little shipping -- before they opened stores in Canada -- so nothing I would call excessive.

The one time I'm talking about is when I ordered a $200 jacket from the US. It was a small store, which probably didn't have brokerage agreements or whatever services set up with bigger stores.

That was going to be $200 + $25 (?) for shipping, then the brokerage, bond, and finally, duty + tax. No way... I chose Standard because the Worldwide or expedited choices were something like $50 up front -- would have been cheaper in the long run. Whatever, order cancelled, dodged that bullet.
 
Eug

Eug

Lifer
Mar 11, 2000
24,002
1,621
126
Fedex and UPS are roughly equivalent in practice. USPS is different.

Fedex Ground is bad. The receiver will likely have to pay brokerage fees. The more the item is worth, the higher the brokerage fee.
UPS Standard is bad. The receiver will likely have to pay brokerage fees. The more the itme is worth, the higher the brokerage fee.
USPS is the simplest. For items over I think $20, the receiver will likely have to pay a handling fee, but it's a flat fee, single-digit $.

However, both UPS and Fedex have alternative shipping methods (including most of the air shipping methods I believe) which include the brokerage charges. The shipping cost will likely be higher up front, but since the brokerage is included, the end result is that the overall shipping fee is often MUCH less. The brokerage charges are basically a scam to wring money out of us poor end users, and both Fedex and UPS are guilty of doing this, by duping unsuspecting small mom & pop shops into offering these shipping scams to consumers.

The larger shops and smaller shops which have been burned in the past (ie. those getting irate customers screaming about the punitive brokerage fees) will only offer shipping methods to Canada that do not include brokerage charges. For example, B&H Photo now refuses to ship via any method that does not include brokerage fees AFAIK.

Note however, brokerage fees are not the same thing as duty or taxes. Generally there is no duty for shipments from the US, but you will get dinged taxes, particularly if it's a higher cost item. Taxes are federal AND provincial.

USPS is usually cheaper than the brokerage-included Fedex or UPS methods (but not always). However, as I said, USPS often means an extra $8 handling fee, so depending on the time, it may even out. The main problem with USPS though is lack of proper tracking. OTOH, for small and light items, often times USPS is a LOT cheaper, and if it's not worth that much, Canada Post will often just deliver it and not bother with charging anything extra, including the handling fee or taxes.
 
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sdifox

sdifox

No Lifer
Sep 30, 2005
98,980
17,393
126
Eug said:
Fedex and UPS are roughly equivalent in practice. USPS is different.

Fedex Ground is bad. The receiver will likely have to pay brokerage fees. The more the item is worth, the higher the brokerage fee.
UPS Standard is bad. The receiver will likely have to pay brokerage fees. The more the itme is worth, the higher the brokerage fee.
USPS is the simplest. For items over I think $20, the receiver will likely have to pay a handling fee, but it's a flat fee, single-digit $.

However, both UPS and Fedex have alternative shipping methods (including most of the air shipping methods I believe) which include the brokerage charges. The shipping cost will likely be higher up front, but since the brokerage is included, the end result is that the overall shipping fee is often MUCH less. The brokerage charges are basically a scam to wring money out of us poor end users, and both Fedex and UPS are guilty of doing this, by duping unsuspecting small mom & pop shops into offering these shipping scams to consumers.

The larger shops and smaller shops which have been burned in the past (ie. those getting irate customers screaming about the punitive brokerage fees) will only offer shipping methods that do not include brokerage charges. For example. B&H Photo AFAIK now refuses to ship via any method that does not include brokerage fees.

Note however, brokerage fees are not the same thing as duty or taxes. Generally there is no duty for shipments from the US, but you will get dinged taxes, particularly if it's a higher cost item. Taxes are federal AND provincial.
Click to expand...

Taxes are buyer's problems, but choosing a shipping method without nasty scam brokerage and service fees is very important.
 
Eug

Eug

Lifer
Mar 11, 2000
24,002
1,621
126
sdifox said:
Taxes are buyer's problems, but choosing a shipping method without nasty scam brokerage and service fees is very important.
Click to expand...
I find with UPS and Fedex, they're pretty consistent in collecting those taxes. Not so much with Canada Post (via USPS). For higher priced items (which means potentially anything over $20, but in practice items that are worth somewhat more than that), they will charge the $8 handling fee and taxes. For the lower priced items, they won't charge either, and will just deliver it to your door (or keep it at the post office for you).

The other annoyance with UPS and Fedex is they may actually deliver the item to you, and then about 3 weeks later send you a bill with the taxes (and brokerage fees if you chose the wrong shipping method). Canada Post will charge you everything up front.

And finally, with UPS and Fedex, pickup is a big annoyance at times, although UPS has mitigated that somewhat by directing pickups to local UPS stores these days instead of the main depots, which could be really far away.

USPS/Canada Post's pickup spots are the local post offices, which are often just little counters inside convenience stores, etc. 4 blocks from your house.
 
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Iron Woode

Iron Woode

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Oct 10, 1999
31,188
12,714
136
last month I ordered a laptop motherboard from Illinois. It was shipped UPS to our border and then handed off to CanPar. It ended up at my door in one week from ordering.

It cost $7.00CDN in fees all paid at the time of sale.
 
M

mikeford

Diamond Member
Jan 27, 2001
5,671
160
106
Shipping to Canada is so fubar I usually let the buyer "choose and be destroyed".

USPS seems safest most of the time. Buying from Canada is boned as well, doesn't seem like any sort of cheap shipping exists even for small packages.
 
Eug

Eug

Lifer
Mar 11, 2000
24,002
1,621
126
Iron Woode said:
last month I ordered a laptop motherboard from Illinois. It was shipped UPS to our border and then handed off to CanPar. It ended up at my door in one week from ordering.

It cost $7.00CDN in fees all paid at the time of sale.
Click to expand...
Like I suggested, just saying "It was shipped UPS" doesn't really clarify much. It would helpful if you indicated what type of UPS shipping you had.

Furthermore, if you chose one of the crappier methods, you may not get your brokerage and tax bill until a month later. That is, if it's a new product. If it's just an old used thing, or an eBay thing with an underreported value, then it may be different.
 
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Iron Woode

Iron Woode

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Oct 10, 1999
31,188
12,714
136
Eug said:
Like I suggested, just saying "It was shipped UPS" doesn't really clarify much. It would helpful if you indicated what type of UPS shipping you had.

Furthermore, if you chose one of the crappier methods, you may not get your brokerage and tax bill until a month later. That is, if it's a new product. If it's just an old used thing, or an eBay thing with an underreported value, then it may be different.
Click to expand...
It was used and bought off ebay.

shipping was International Priority Shipping to Canada.
 
S

Squeetard

Senior member
Nov 13, 2004
815
7
76
Do NOT use UPS. They will hijack your package at the border and try and hose you on brokerage.
 
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