Trading Question

[Kezzup]

Hey guys,

I finally heard back from ups, I was told the charges were not for duties but brokerage fees to import into Canada, which I thought was the same thing but apparently not. So the delivery guy was obviously wrong. They did tell me that the reason it was so high was due to the value amount that was claimed on the original invoice.

These charges I will have to pay and understand that This can happen when dealing from country to country which I accept.

The ups person did tell me a new form could be submitted stating the real value of the models and I could be reimbursed some of the monies. I have contacted the trader on the other end and kindly asked if he would do so. As the items in question were two transports that were assembled and based and used. He stated the total retail value and for some reason the fees with taxes etc were around 1/2 the retail value.

I have left the items and trader name out of the forum as I do not want to tarnish his rep in any way.

As to the request for a new value I have left that up to the trader to do, if he is unable to do so I will still leave positive feedback, as this can happen when trading outside of the Country.

Thanks everyone for all the help!!

Jason

[MagickalMemories]

I have left the items and trader name out of the forum as I do not want to tarnish his rep in any way.

As to the request for a new value I have left that up to the trader to do, if he is unable to do so I will still leave positive feedback, as this can happen when trading outside of the Country.

Two very responsible statements, there. Thank you.


I don't think I'd ever send to Canada via UPS. It seems to me that the fees are even worse through them.
Also, I think we ALL missed that it was a UPS delivery, rather than regular mail. Otherwise, we might have speculated at the handling... err... brokerage fees, too.


Eric

[MaximumTaco]

I've done a ton of trades back and forth with the US, some ebay stuff as well. Any shipping done through a private carrier tends to have brutal fees added. UPS sends the item to a 'customs broker' (which they own) that assesses the value (for a fee, which they charge you and pay to themselves) and charges you the government import duty (which happened because of the high marked value) and forwards that money to the government.

You may get back the gov't fee - that's what I had experience with. Good luck with UPS, I know the USPS is really convenient because then you have no extra fees in the event of a customs levy, and you can track all the way into Canada using the USPS tracking number (you just enter that number into the Canada Post website).

Hope that helps - better luck next time.
-Daniel

[Norseman]

Yeah UPS is brutal for that sort of thing. It is basically a service fee. Businesses are a bulk of UPS's business and items meant for resale generally need to go through Import Brokerage for them to fill out all the proper customs and tariffs and paperwork so and item is actually legal to sell in Canada. You are obviously NOT a BUSINESS. I would go down to UPS and cause a stink. For those items there is NO WAY you can be hit for a importing brokerage fee. I believe UPS acts as it's own import broker so it is an internal fee, which is A LOT easier to get them to waive. If the item is obviously used and not for resale there is NO WAY you should be charged a Import brokerage fee.

Was your trade partner a business or sent from a business? This could explain why UPS did this.

[Ironhide]

I have left the items and trader name out of the forum as I do not want to tarnish his rep in any way.

As to the request for a new value I have left that up to the trader to do, if he is unable to do so I will still leave positive feedback, as this can happen when trading outside of the Country.

Two very responsible statements, there. Thank you.


I don't think I'd ever send to Canada via UPS. It seems to me that the fees are even worse through them.
Also, I think we ALL missed that it was a UPS delivery, rather than regular mail. Otherwise, we might have speculated at the handling... err... brokerage fees, too.


Eric

Nothing in any of the posts cited that it was a UPS delivery until now.

[kturock]

There was a clue we all over-looked.

It was an international trade WITH TRACKING info.

UPS is one of the few services that has international tracking.

[s_o_r_r_o_w]

I encourage the OP to read the link in my sig about cross border trades with Canada.

This nonsense with UPS can and should be avoided.

Also--if you raise a big enough stink about it with their customer service, you might get the fee refunded.

[MaximumTaco]

There was a clue we all over-looked.

It was an international trade WITH TRACKING info.

UPS is one of the few services that has international tracking.

USPS and Canada Post can both be tracked internationally - just enter the tracking code from the origin system into the destination system's tracking page once it's crossed the border. I've used this many times

-Daniel

[kturock]

There was a clue we all over-looked.

It was an international trade WITH TRACKING info.

UPS is one of the few services that has international tracking.

USPS and Canada Post can both be tracked internationally - just enter the tracking code from the origin system into the destination system's tracking page once it's crossed the border. I've used this many times

-Daniel

What tracking code?
You can't get delivery confirmation for international mail.
Numbers from insured mail, isn't available off the website, only from the internal USPS computers.
Customs numbers only go as far as the border.

SO, what number do you use for tracking?

[Kezzup]

Hey guys,

My bad for overlooking the UPS, I am so used to seeing USPS that I overlooked it. As to mention about business on the other end I don't think there was one involved but I could be wrong.

But again thanks for all the help and quick responses

Cheers,

Jason

[MaximumTaco]

Of course as soon as I try to find an example with a trade from here I can't find anything!

I'll show one example of a shipment from Canada to the USA, and then an example incoming to Canada. I'm not sure about the different terminology for the American system. I will say as a caveat that the super cheap 'small packet' international service doesn't come with tracking unless you pay extra. When you say delivery confirmation, does that go beyond just having their computer confirm it was dropped off? I.e., does delivery confirmation for you mean a signature to confirm delivery? I'm just saying I can check in the computer to see that a package has been delivered, I've never tried to get a signature.

I'd recommend trying any number you get from USPS just by punching it into the Canadian site. It works that way for all the international carriers I've dealt with - I get stuff via Hong Kong mail all the time (dealextreme.com rules!) and you just punch the local carrier's code into your local site, as soon as a package with that tracking number enters the local system it gets tracked regardless of whether or not it's a 'local' code.

Here's a couple screenshots...

To USA (Canada).png

To USA (USA).png

And I requested the 'additional info' - here it is below. At the time of shipping all this info popped up on the USA site.

This is a post-only message. Please do not respond.

Daniel Perez has requested that you receive this restoration information for Track & Confirm as listed below.

Current Track & Confirm e-mail information provided by the U.S. Postal Service.

Label Number: CX28 9438 **** *

Service Type: International Parcels

Shipment Activity Location Date & Time
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Delivered FLAGSTAFF AZ ***** 07/28/10 12:16pm

Arrival at Unit FLAGSTAFF AZ ***** 07/28/10 6:05am

Inbound International ISC CHICAGO IL (USPS) 07/21/10 8:31pm
Arrival

Origin Post is
Preparing
Shipment

Foreign International CANADA 07/21/10 6:55am
Dispatch

Foreign Acceptance CANADA 07/19/10 8:18pm

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

USPS has not verified the validity of any email addresses submitted via its online Track & Confirm tool.


For more information, or if you have additional questions on Track & Confirm services and features, please visit the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
section of our Track & Confirm site at http://www.usps.com/shipping/trackandconfirmfaqs.htm

I know this isn't showing quite the point that we're talking about re: shipping *in* from the US..

I dug through my old stuff but I can't find any incoming with packages with tracking that are recent enough for it to work Here's one example from Hong Kong coming in to Canada...

To Canada (Hong Kong).png

To Canada (Canada).png

If anyone reading this thread has any sort of number at all involved in a shipment to Canada, would you mind punching it in to the Canada Post website and see if it works? I have tracked incoming packages before...

What tracking code?
You can't get delivery confirmation for international mail.
Numbers from insured mail, isn't available off the website, only from the internal USPS computers.
Customs numbers only go as far as the border.

SO, what number do you use for tracking?

[MaximumTaco]

Update:

Found a shipment I got in from the USA recently enough that the info is still available. Here's an order I did from the Warstore that was shipped via USPS. Again - I don't know if this is cost-effective for small trades, but it seems like it's an option going either way somehow... but I can't be sure what the situation is in your crazy American post offices from here

When I'm shipping from Canada, I can do international small packet to USA for $7-9, or it's about $15-17 to get the same package shipped with tracking. I usually don't do it for small trades, but in any case where the box is large enough that you're paying that much for shipping anyway (not sure what the small packet criteria are, but anything larger than a good sized cereal box would have to be the pricier way), you get the tracking included in the price. I've got the Canadian view of the American tracking number, just waiting on the email from USPS to show the detailed shipping info, right now it's just the basic view on their site so you can't see much.

Question: when you say there's no tracking from USA->Canada, are you saying usually there's no number at all that you can possibly pay for, or that the numbers that are given (if you pay for it) stop functioning at the border?

First, the view when punching in the tracking number on the Canadian site...

To Canada from USA (Canadian view).png

And here's the basic American view, supplemented below with the full pathing info below - this is what I saw when originally tracking the package while it was in transit

To Canada from USA (USA view).png

This is a post-only message. Please do not respond.

Daniel Perez has requested that you receive this restoration information for Track & Confirm as listed below.

Current Track & Confirm e-mail information provided by the U.S. Postal Service.

Label Number: CJ20 2509 525U S

Service Type: International Parcels

Shipment Activity Location Date & Time
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Delivered Abroad CANADA 08/03/10 3:17pm

At Foreign Delivery CANADA 08/03/10 7:20am
Unit

Out of Foreign Customs CANADA 07/30/10 12:25pm

Into Foreign Customs CANADA 07/30/10 10:05am

I usually find that here or so is where the tracking info disappears and you just see basically that your item has passed the border. Try punching your tracking code into the destination system's website at this point.

Arrived Abroad CANADA 07/30/10 10:05am

International Dispatch ISC NEW YORK NY(USPS) 07/29/10 3:06am

Arrival

Shipment Accepted SOUTHOLD NY 11971 07/28/10 1:21pm

Electronic Shipping 07/28/10
Info
Received

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

USPS has not verified the validity of any email addresses submitted via its online Track & Confirm tool.


For more information, or if you have additional questions on Track & Confirm services and features, please visit the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
section of our Track & Confirm site at http://www.usps.com/shipping/trackandconfirmfaqs.htm

Hope that helps. Let me know if that works for anyone else.
-Daniel

[MagickalMemories]

Please, take this as a specific statement, rather than a blanket statement.
I cannot speak for anything beyond my experience.

I have had times where I sent to Canada and, when I gave my partner the Customs form #, they were able to plug it into the Canadian postal site and track the package. I did not look into it myself, and the topic didn't come up on every Canadian trade, so I cannot speak for all shipments.

I have a form for a delivered item at home that I can use to check this out. Now, just to find out what the Canadian Posal web site address is.


Eric

[kturock]

Hmm according to the online form, nothing is available.

Maybe we could get a permanent sticky with the links for usps.com, ups.com, Canada post, and UK post...

Yes most everyone can look up the ones for their country, but what about for other countries..I don't know the ones for canada or uk post.

[MaximumTaco]

Canada Post: www.canadapost.ca (my contribution!)

There's always teh googles too!