Additional 25% on duty tax?

[nomoreicbc]

I would like to know if anybody else has had a similar experience.

I have recently bought an used camera on ebay.com I paid $1000 for the product, $60 for shipping which is high but I accepted that. and additional to it $80 for import taxes to bring it to Canada. All that I agreed to pay. No problem with that. My problem is that after a month I received an invoice from FedEx ground for $222.30. Thinking it was a mistake I called them and explained that I have already paid for shipping but they said that was also for importation I told them on ebay you paid that in advance and I am not paying that amount so they said they would contact the sender. In the meantime I keep receiving the "payment reminders" from FedEx till I received a demand of payment from a financial institution. I called them again to see what is happening they say all the amount is duty taxes that it doesnt have anything to do with what I have already paid on ebay. So I ask them how come its such a high amount... To make the story shorter I said and would like to dispute the payment because I didnt find it fair so they the transferred me to the broker company which the one that bills Fedex they said customs charges the gst the rest its the broker's fee and all this happens when Fedex ground is used. I still can't believe the % I have to pay in addition to all the charges I have previously paid. They didnt offer a different solution other than paying the whole amount.

I have previously purchased from ebay many many things and this is the first time it happens so if its Fedex thing -which I didnt choose the sender did. I´ll just make sure to never ever use their service and make sure that every time I buy something the senders dont use it either if not I´ll be expecting to pay 25% more of the original bill. All this over an used product bought not from a company. Maybe it's just me but I dont see it normal

 

 

[bush_cheney2004]

Wow...that is highway robbery.   It is not uncommon for buyers in Canada to request that U.S. sellers declare a very low value for items they get on ebay because of the very excesses you have described.    I don't know why Canadians tolerate this kind of abuse....some just get a shipping address across the border to avoid being ripped off by taxes and fees.

[?Impact]

In the old days, we used to pick up our parcels at the post office and pay the duty and all was fine. Ever since the capitalist FedEx, UPS, etc. got into the picture there have been fees upon fees upon fees. Time to send all the capitalists back to where they belong.

[cannuck]

14 hours ago, bush_cheney2004 said:

Wow...that is highway robbery.   It is not uncommon for buyers in Canada to request that U.S. sellers declare a very low value for items they get on ebay because of the very excesses you have described.    I don't know why Canadians tolerate this kind of abuse....some just get a shipping address across the border to avoid being ripped off by taxes and fees.

My US companies are located in WY and NY and our largest client has 12 offices scattered all over the US.  I do exactly what you suggest:  accumulate small purchases in my WY office and bring stuff home when I am there, or if moving equipment or myself in and out of US client offices and projects, have large purchases shipped to meet my transport and import myself.

Here is a good article from a camera shop in US:   http://fortune.com/2017/12/20/abbey-inn-indiana-katrina-arthur-350-fine-negative-review/

I agree that the Fedex, UPS, etc.people take advantage of consumer ignorance, and one should indeed read the fine print before using them.  If we send those capitalist pigs "back to where they belong" we would lose the price advantage that the idiotic federal rules on transborder traffic that SHOULD give the public mail systems a business advantage.  The real solution is to get the feds to back off on the highly restrictive and totally bungled protectionist regulations that set up the opportunity for carriers to screw over Canadian consumers.