B&H "Pay Now" customs

[mehguy]

Hi,

When ordering from Canada, B&H has 2 options, to Pay the customs now or to Pay Later. Considering it's a guessing game when you get import charges on ANY item you get from the US, do you actually get import charges at the door every time if you were to choose the Pay Later?

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

The only time I ever had problems was when the item was shipped by UPS. They demanded payment at the door otherwise no item... even though the item was manufactured in the US and should have been exempt from duties, according to our free trade agreement.

 

[skorpiius]

The only time I ever had problems was when the item was shipped by UPS. They demanded payment at the door otherwise no item... even though the item was manufactured in the US and should have been exempt from duties, according to our free trade agreement.

My understanding is the brokerage fee is just charging you for them filling out the import form, often an outrageous amount.

 

[MattKing]

The benefit of this is certainty. You know ahead of time what your exact cost is. And B&H charge a very small brokerage charge.
B&H (and others) often insist on using UPS or FedEx, and for most of their services customs brokerage services are charged extra - at high rates! So those charges get added on, plus GST and PST and any duty, if you don't use the service.
I'm lucky enough to live close enough to the border to have things shipped to Washington state, and then import stuff myself.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

I always pay "customs", it is delivered very fast and securely by Purolator and I don't have to pay for anything else.

 

[Kevin Harding]

I've wondered this, too, but I think that if we choose to pay it ourselves, we're limited to UPS (which charges at least $25 processing plus any assessed taxes) or, potentially, Fedex from US to Canada Post - in which case, Fedex may charge the same overpriced brokerage fee.

I don't believe B&H offers a direct USPS shipping option.

 

[graham8520]

I purchased a small item at a cost too small to attract import duty or VAT tax here in the UK. B&H were still offering the customs paid option at an outrageous price. Best advice, don't use it on any item, much cheaper to DIY. It's not that inconvenient to sort the import out yourself.

 

[Jeff L]

I always check the box to let B&H handle import and shipping to Canada. Fast and inexpensive.

 

[gone]

I suspect they are out of their minds. Don't let them add any hidden charges to your bill, just pay the customs on your end when it arrives. I don't understand why anyone buys from this company and raves about them. Bad ju ju in my book.

 

[MattKing]

I suspect they are out of their minds. Don't let them add any hidden charges to your bill, just pay the customs on your end when it arrives. I don't understand why anyone buys from this company and raves about them. Bad ju ju in my book.

The problem is that B&H isn't the problem - UPS and FedEx and all the other couriers that handle cross border shipments are the problem.
When it is B&H handling it, they charge a quite reasonable brokerage and handling charge, plus they or their agents calculate and remit the correct amount of duties and taxes that arise when one imports items into Canada.
In comparison, when UPS and FedEx are doing it, they calculate the duties and taxes the same, pay them for you and then charge you an unreasonable fee for the process. They either hold your package hostage until you pay or, even worse, send you a whopping bill later. If you don't pay that bill, you exclude yourself from future service
Some retailers will send items using USPS, but that means poor if any tracking (due to the hand off to Canada Post. As to whether we end up paying anything extra, you can never predict. Sometimes it just arrives in the mail, other times it arrives with a bill for duties, taxes and a reasonable if somewhat arbitrary Canada Post charge for the calculation and remittance of those taxes and duties.
Other times you get a notice in your mail that the parcel may be picked up upon payment of the aforementioned duties, taxes and Canada Post charge.
The UPS and FedEx charges are usually much higher than the Canada Post charges.
I expect that UPS and FedEx provide much better service to B&H than the USPS does, and that the nature of the USPS/Canada Post tracking resources for parcels to Canada is unsatisfactory - thus the refusal to use the USPS.