Received shipping notice with a surprise - warning to Canadian buyers

[hutzelbein]

The worst was I was taxed on the dollar when I received it, which was .30 different than when I bought it - bad timing.

I think customs is always calculated with the current exchange rate. It would make the process very difficult if they would have to use the exchange rate of the day when you ordered. And I guess it would result in a lot of fraud - people would claim that they ordered at a time when the rate was much better (for them).

As far as I know, there's no difference between DHL and USPS in that respect. Interestingly, parcels sent with USPS are delivered by DHL / Deutsche Post in Germany as well. 30% of the time, they even do the customs work and collect the money (which is often more convenient, because I don't have to pick the parcel up myself) - but they do it better and for free... Same company, different "branch" as I was told...

Hopefully, the product is going to be worth it.

I have never had any Warbonnet gear disappoint me. I actually prefer my WBBB and my WB tarps over all other commercial hammocks and tarps.

[Singingcrowsings]

I always expect to pay taxes (and it's always on the CAN$ value) and this is normal. But the point is when the vendor uses a courier like DHL, outrageous brokerage fees are always going to be added on top. It almost doubles the total cost of the order.

That's why shipping via USPS is selected, and later on confirmed by email, when placing the order.

Yes, even Fed EX and UPS put an automatic charge, plus duty, plus taxes. I would have totally done what you did and made sure it was USPS.

I think customs is always calculated with the current exchange rate. It would make the process very difficult if they would have to use the exchange rate of the day when you ordered. And I guess it would result in a lot of fraud - people would claim that they ordered at a time when the rate was much better (for them).

As far as I know, there's no difference between DHL and USPS in that respect. Interestingly, parcels sent with USPS are delivered by DHL / Deutsche Post in Germany as well. 30% of the time, they even do the customs work and collect the money (which is often more convenient, because I don't have to pick the parcel up myself) - but they do it better and for free... Same company, different "branch" as I was told...



I have never had any Warbonnet gear disappoint me. I actually prefer my WBBB and my WB tarps over all other commercial hammocks and tarps.

I'm sure it would result in a lot of fraud, but on the buyer's end, when the dollar suddenly got flushed down the toilet, it kind of took a bit of the joy out of receiving my new cloud of heaven.

That's interesting about the deliveries. I know sometimes Canada Post hires independent couriers, but I've never seen another official company cross that line. Glad it works out for you!

[Don]

So I'm not the only one that has noticed this. I live in Japan and every time something is shipped via FedEX or DHL I get hit with extra fees. That's why I try to have everything shipped USPS. I purchased something recently from the US and DHL added $10 as some sort of service fee. That's on top the shipping and Custom's fees.

[bkrgi]

USPS or I move onto another vendor.
Even stuff off of Amazon.ca ..paid the CDN taxes and the item gets shipped from the US by DHL....and you all know what happens next.
It did get sorted by the vendor but unreal....so I always double check and recheck where things are shipped from and who will be the shipper....Anything other than USPS equals massive gouge.

Also be reaaaalllllly nice if Mr Sunny ways would follow the US lead and increase the duty/tax free amount from 20$ to 800$....but will not hold my breath..

[warbonnetguy]

So according to DHL, they do NOT charge any brokerage fees at all (they've told me this twice now). They (just like USPS and every other carrier) are responsible for collecting any duties imposed by the Canadian government but it should be no different than the amount USPS collects or so I am told. UPS on the other hand definately charges a brokerage fee on top of the duties, not sure about fed-ex. USA and CAN are both apart of NAFTA so not sure why there are duties at all. (Someone once told me that CAN just calls it something besides "import duty" to get away with that.)

We'll stop using DHL if so many people are having problems, I cannot see the duties you pay, all i have to go off of is what i am told by DHL.

Can somebody supply a link or photo of their customs bill showing where the brokerage fee is itemized seperately from the duties?

In the past few months, we have been sending some orders out DHL if the price is basically the same, because the service is alot faster for an international order (like 4 days to Europe vs 2 weeks), but this was based on the understanding that there were no extra brokerage fees on the customer's end, SO i apologize if anybody ended up paying more

[Singingcrowsings]

So according to DHL, they do NOT charge any brokerage fees at all (they've told me this twice now). They (just like USPS and every other carrier) are responsible for collecting any duties imposed by the Canadian government but it should be no different than the amount USPS collects or so I am told. UPS on the other hand definately charges a brokerage fee on top of the duties, not sure about fed-ex. USA and CAN are both apart of NAFTA so not sure why there are duties at all. (Someone once told me that CAN just calls it something besides "import duty" to get away with that.)

We'll stop using DHL if so many people are having problems, I cannot see the duties you pay, all i have to go off of is what i am told by DHL.

Can somebody supply a link or photo of their customs bill showing where the brokerage fee is itemized seperately from the duties?

In the past few months, we have been sending some orders out DHL if the price is basically the same, because the service is alot faster for an international order (like 4 days to Europe vs 2 weeks), but this was based on the understanding that there were no extra brokerage fees on the customer's end, SO i apologize if anybody ended up paying more

It might not be called "duty". A lot of times it's simply called a 'handling fee', meaning they "helped" our package go through customs. But they seem to make sure they put all their packages through customs (it's random for USPS), I suspect to be able to get their cut.

[bkrgi]

To be clear
There is no duties on made in America goods entering Canada
There is sales taxes charged on the CDN$ value when the goods enter Canada customs
USPS/Canada Post deliveries that get dinged the sales tax are also charged by Canada Post $9.95 as a handling/brokerage fee....this is a clear and known constant regardless of the value of the goods

Now the problem arises when DHL UPS and all the other couriers, is that there "brokerage" fees are ALL OVER THE MAP...a $300 value of goods can be dinged outrages amounts in "brokerage" fees of 50-100$ ...they seem to pick numbers from the sky....
PLUS... the likes of DHL has a habit of sending a invoice AFTER you pick up/receive one's package for their outrages fees and if you refuse to pay they threaten ones credit rating....MASSIVE disgrace.

All vendors NEED to ship only USPS to Canada ..end of story. Failure to do so means I and many others wise to the Courier reality shop elsewhere.

[babaloo]

Can somebody supply a link or photo of their customs bill showing where the brokerage fee is itemized seperately from the duties?

Brandon, it might be duties themselves, not just brokerage fees. As hutzelbein has explained, DHL will do the complete customs for you, if the sender picked DHL. But here in Germany there are like a million different rates to pick from. And if DHL doesn't know exactly what's in the parcel, or still picks the wrong rate, you will have to fight for the refund. Which is not exactly a pleasant experience, as, again, hutzelbein has explained.

If you do the customs yourself you can tell the customs officer exactly what the item in the parcel is and he will, if needed together with you, pick the according rate.

Differences in rates are drastic sometimes. For a tarp you would have to pay 12% on top of the shipped item's cost. For a down product like a quilt it will only be 3.7%.

And if you realize that you will have to pay 19% tax on top of the combined price (shipped item + customs), that makes the difference even steeper.

[warbonnetguy]

So we will not be using DHL anymore except by request of the customer, just wanted to let everybody know that orders shipped to CAN are now USPS by default

[HammockCanoe]

So we will not be using DHL anymore except by request of the customer, just wanted to let everybody know that orders shipped to CAN are now USPS by default

To help clear customs faster, it would really help to write a better detailed description on the declaration form. On my package, it was written "Blackbird". Customs officers need to know what the product is and where it was made. They didn't open the package, but it was held at customs and then classified as "Plastic". I would suggest "Camping hammock custom made in US" as a description.

For Canadians ending up here, USPS always use the shortest route to Canada whatever the destination in Canada might be. So my package went: Evergreen - Aurora- San Francisco - Richmond, BC - Montreal, QC.

EDIT:
Oh, another information for Canadians. When I ordered my Blackbird, the exchange rate was at 1.3225. So my total cost was: US$170 + shipping = US$211.90 = CAN$280.25 + CAN$42.84 taxes and handling fees = CAN$323.09.