I'm Choked! OverPaying for Duty + taxes + broker fees on Lens Shipped From Japan

[MurrayMinchin]

I just noticed that after Canada post strike, they start charging Duty, GST, PST and Handling fees for items that before strike would be delivered without any charges.
EMS from Japan used to be super fast and with out any extra fees. UPS, FedEx and DHL always used to charge me as much as possible.

Canada Post does not charge duty.

A parcel gets diverted into the hands of Canada Customs (which is who makes the duty decisions) then it gets put back into the mail stream and Postal workers get to hear all the grumblings about duty when they have to collect it on behalf of Canada Customs.

I got a metre long parcel of rolled paper from Japan to Kitimat on BC's north coast using Japanese and Canadian postal services in 5 days via Expresss mail for $39.00 in shipping.

According to the tracking number, it left the mail stream in Vancouver for a quick 1 hour romp through Canada Customs, had zero duty applied, got a $9.95 handling fee, then Provincial and federal taxes got applied for a total of $20.45 needing to be paid on top of the original $39.00 shipping fee.

Not bad in my books!

 

[gorbas]

Canada Post does not charge duty.

A parcel gets diverted into the hands of Canada Customs (which is who makes the duty decisions) then it gets put back into the mail stream and Postal workers get to hear all the grumblings about duty when they have to collect it on behalf of Canada Customs.

I got a metre long parcel of rolled paper from Japan to Kitimat on BC's north coast using Japanese and Canadian postal services in 5 days via Expresss mail for $39.00 in shipping.

According to the tracking number, it left the mail stream in Vancouver for a quick 1 hour romp through Canada Customs, had zero duty applied, got a $9.95 handling fee, then Provincial and federal taxes got applied for a total of $20.45 needing to be paid on top of the original $39.00 shipping fee.

Not bad in my books!

It doesn't matter where duty value was determined, now they collect $ that they did not usually collect before postal strike.

 

[MurrayMinchin]

It doesn't matter where duty value was determined, now they collect $ that they did not usually collect before postal strike.

It does matter when you are a Postal worker who gets barked at for something Canada customs does!

 

[ant!]

It doesn't matter where duty value was determined, now they collect $ that they did not usually collect before postal strike.

Nothing has changed. I got import tax charges from Canada Post since 10 years or longer when buying abroad. Not on every package, and never in obvious private packages I got from family in Europe, but still.

 

[GregY]

Nothing has changed. I got import tax charges from Canada Post since 10 years or longer when buying abroad. Not on every package, and never in obvious private packages I got from family in Europe, but still.

Exactly. It depends on whether the package gets flagged or not. I've received used lenses from Japan as well as a brand new Chamonix 4x5 camera to my door without charges for import duty or GST.

 

[gorbas]

It does matter when you are a Postal worker who gets barked at for something Canada customs does!

Why anybody should "bark" on Postal or any other worker?? Insane! What is wrong with people? Just rhetorical question.

 

[braxus]

Well my shipment is on hold until early next week. They kept bugging me to pay the duty, until it was on hold. My seller contacted them to correct the declaration price for it, as the paperwork was filled out incorrectly. I have to wait till they make the correction this coming week, before I can pay the duty and it will be on its way here. Its already in Canada on hold. Im expecting $30-40 for the duty charge.

 

[MurrayMinchin]

Well my shipment is on hold until early next week. They kept bugging me to pay the duty, until it was on hold. My seller contacted them to correct the declaration price for it, as the paperwork was filled out incorrectly. I have to wait till they make the correction this coming week, before I can pay the duty and it will be on its way here. Its already in Canada on hold. Im expecting $30-40 for the duty charge.

Good to hear things are on their way to working out for you.

Maybe try Postal service next time? No broker's fee, just the $9.95 Customs handling fee.

 

[MattKing]

Well my shipment is on hold until early next week. They kept bugging me to pay the duty, until it was on hold. My seller contacted them to correct the declaration price for it, as the paperwork was filled out incorrectly. I have to wait till they make the correction this coming week, before I can pay the duty and it will be on its way here. Its already in Canada on hold. Im expecting $30-40 for the duty charge.

Not duty though - or at least not much.
Most of the tax payable would be regular, everyday GST and PST which are payable on retail purchases.

 

[braxus]

Most shipments from Japan use Couriers. Rarely do they use mail service.

My seller is being a bit of a pain. Trying to get more info off of him to see if he actually took care of the correction on the customs info, and he dodged the question. I wouldnt be surprised if this gets sent back to him at this point, because he failed to send DHL the information. That said Ebay will be getting a call from me if that happens. He has 100 percent feedback. He is risking that with this transaction.

 

[Hassasin]

Most shipments from Japan use Couriers. Rarely do they use mail service.

My seller is being a bit of a pain. Trying to get more info off of him to see if he actually took care of the correction on the customs info, and he dodged the question. I wouldnt be surprised if this gets sent back to him at this point, because he failed to send DHL the information. That said Ebay will be getting a call from me if that happens. He has 100 percent feedback. He is risking that with this transaction.

Most Japanese sellers have EMS/Japan Post stated in shipping options. The only sure way to have EMS/JP used is by asking to guarantee he'll ship that way. Some will not do that, but those are typically ones who do not show EMS/JP as option.

 

[Don_ih]

My seller is being a bit of a pain.

Since you have the invoice, having purchased through eBay, you can pay the duty, receive the parcel, then appeal the charge. See here. Of course, it ties up your money.

 

[Marcelo Paniagua]

Most Japanese sellers have EMS/Japan Post stated in shipping options. The only sure way to have EMS/JP used is by asking to guarantee he'll ship that way. Some will not do that, but those are typically ones who do not show EMS/JP as option.

Yes that is my experience too. There are some seller that only ship by DHL.

Majority of them offer EMS and some are willing to accommodate if EMS not listed and you ask for it from them but a couple wont, so I avoid those.

 

[Marcelo Paniagua]

Also, when the seller wont ship by EMS, I let them know why I'm not buying from them, so they are aware DHL is preventing me from buying from them.

 

[DDTJRAC]

I needed to rebuy a bunch of lenses for a system I sold off a year or so ago. I started with one this week that cost $99 US dollars, which with exchange is $143. With shipping I paid a total of $204 Canadian. So it was sent to me via DHL Express from Japan. So today I get the customs payment request and its asking me to pay a whopping $167 Canadian before they'll clear it. That is more then the lens actually cost! WTF? How the heck can duty add up to this much, and I dont believe even the tarrifs would cost that much?! Does anyone know why my duty is more then the item itself? I sent a heated letter to the seller asking him why and threatened to have it returned to sender for a full refund.

Poor fellow! I have ordered tons of gear in the thousands of $ from Japan over the years and no duty. Get a friend in the USA to receive it if you visit regularly.

 

[GregY]

Poor fellow! I have ordered tons of gear in the thousands of $ from Japan over the years and no duty. Get a friend in the USA to receive it if you visit regularly.

SC if you read the thread you'll see that there was an error from the seller in filling out the paperwork. BTW sending to the USA and then driving to get it won't save any money. IME Both courier and postal exchanges will go wrong. I'll no longer buy from Ebay USA sellers since the Global Shipping has lost 2 items and took more than 30 days.. on ones that did arrive. By contrast, I have a !00% success rate with shipments from Japan....arrival times in the 4 days to 1 week. Sometimes they just show up (DHL)....no additional charges....sometimes there are brokerage fees. C'est la vie.

 

[Hassasin]

Also, when the seller wont ship by EMS, I let them know why I'm not buying from them, so they are aware DHL is preventing me from buying from them.

Yeah, I do the same. One time seller reversed his denial to do EMS after I stated clear reasons why I can't buy.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Please keep us informed at this proceeds.

 

[braxus]

Well after a day of no communication, I asked DHL to send it back to him. They told me they can email the seller, as he needs to approve that request. Soon after I get an email from the seller explaining what has taken place so far, and he said DHL dropped the ball. His request for customs changes didnt happen. So he agrees it should be sent back to him, and then he will resend it back to me with the correct info. It just means the lens will travel a bit (hopefully without damage or loss).

I purchased a second lens from Japan 2 days ago from another seller, and he offered Fed-Ex. That shipment was also quick and the duty charges (well its really taxes) were only 29 bucks (including the fee for brokerage).

 

[ant!]

Just FYI, I prefer when buying from Japan a reshipper (I use fromJapan.co.jp, but there are others) and buy from yahoo auctions Japan (recently renamed to jdirect auctions), instead of eBay.
Advantage: I can combine multiple orders, I think 60 days or so into one shipment and have a large choice of shipping options. And I find the prices better then on eBay, which seems more for the export market vs Japan internally. You could also order from Japanese shops or ad portals, even bargaining is possible through them to an extend.
Disadvantage: since it's reshipped, you don't get an easy return as with eBay in case something is not as described, so you'd need to take more care. And of course you pay also shipping in Japan, a small fee for the reshipper, and if it's a shop Japanese VAT.

For me it worked well, and I got quite some good deals, for Pentax 645 lenses and some Minolta stuff.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Well after a day of no communication, I asked DHL to send it back to him. They told me they can email the seller, as he needs to approve that request. Soon after I get an email from the seller explaining what has taken place so far, and he said DHL dropped the ball. His request for customs changes didnt happen. So he agrees it should be sent back to him, and then he will resend it back to me with the correct info. It just means the lens will travel a bit (hopefully without damage or loss).

I purchased a second lens from Japan 2 days ago from another seller, and he offered Fed-Ex. That shipment was also quick and the duty charges (well its really taxes) were only 29 bucks (including the fee for brokerage).

Well now you are making some good progress. I hope the nightmare ends well for you soon.

 

[braxus]

Well this morning I got a text from DHL and it showed a revised (corrected) duty broker charge. Its only 36 bucks. Problem is I spent the funds for the other lens, so I"ll have to cover this new charge Friday morning. I asked DHL to hold the package till then. Hopefully they dont screw this up and send it back to him like I previously requested.

 

[braxus]

Well I paid the duty this morning and they delivered it this afternoon. So I now have it in my hands. Worked out well considering what could have happened.

 

[Ron (Netherlands)]

"and yes, the value for duty does include shipping and other charges" ...Here in Europe it is the same...

 

[Sirius Glass]

Well I paid the duty this morning and they delivered it this afternoon. So I now have it in my hands. Worked out well considering what could have happened.

Enjoy! << insert several back flips here, please >>