DHL Fees

I ordered a gasket circle cutting tool from ebay this week for $25 USD or about $30 CND. Shipping was by DHL and that to me wasn't a problem as I had ordered a motor and VHD drive for my milling machine a few years back and found out that DHL did not charge brokerage fee for importing items into Canada until the value was above $1600 CND.

Well that gasket tool came to the door yesterday. Shipping to Canada was $17 USD or about $20 CND, but the driver wanted another $23 CND for brokerage and taxes. So a $30 CND item cost $43 CND to get it to my door. Keep in mind that items from the USA that come to my door USPS have no taxes and brokerage until the item is above $200 CND. Well my dad who is 87 tells the driver that he will give him cash and the driver states that they have a policy NO CASH. Only Credit card. The driver left with the package and note of how to settle the fees.

I tried calling DHL to find out what the thresh hold value on an item was for duty duties and taxes. Just to let you know no matter what number you press at their 1-800 number you cannot talk to a real person you have to go to their web site and register a complaint and look for your answer. I gave up.

I know that UPS was bad for fees and taxes but I can still talk to a real person and pay cash at the door.


DHL at one time offered good customer service and was an alternative to the gouging from UPS to deliveries to Canada. In my opinion they have fallen below that low standard. Please be warned that they offer no customer service what soever.

Normally in these matters I would ship the item to Bob Martin in Kentucky and he would forward it to my USPS. I didn't take that option because DHL normally was what I call reasonable. That is gone.

TonyK.

Grimsby Ontario Canada.

Hi Tony,

Same here - but if I go by UPS, I have it sent by air. Brokerage is included, but I don't recall how duties are handled.

From the vendors, I have had Obert ship via USPS and received the items, no problem. I think the same from Midwest (USPS vs. other methods).

I hear you, so frustrating on the brokerage (duty, I can understand). Also, I believe vintage car parts are not subject to duty if the correct Tariff code is applied (NOS would be eligible, but not new production parts).

I recently bought a set of NOS pistons and an AFM for my uno turbo, all duty and tax free via parcel post from Europe! I don't know how I got lucky on that one (value was clearly marked)


I buy a lot from digikey in the US. $8 to ship to Canada, overnight and no additional brokerage (they collect taxes and duties) - I also buy from McMaster, same thing - cheap, effective, love it.

Yep, when shipping from the USA to Canada, USPS seems to be the best choice for lower-value, not-too-big-or-heavy-for-USPS types of items.

One of the other alternatives for Canadian eBay buyers buying from USA sellers is the eBay "Global Shipping Program." The USA seller sends the item to a clearing house/reshipping center in Erlanger, KY run by Pitney-Bowes, and then PB contacts with various carriers to get the item to the destination country, process thru whatever customs/duties need to be collected, and then on to the Buyer. As nice of a system this is for a USA Seller (the Seller no longer has to know what international paperwork is needed, and the Seller is relieved of delivery liability hen the item gets to KY), international buyers in general and Canadian buyers in particular absolutely detest this shipping method, mostly because of the cost: the Pitney Bowes overhead added to collection of duties according to the letter of the law (and not the typical lax enforcement by local postal authorities) drives the price of shipping way up.

You would think as close of relationship that the USA and Canada have had for 200+ years, there would be no duties, tariffs, or additional costs for cross-border transactions. Just another example of politicians and bureaucrats getting in the way.

OUTRAGEOUS! I was seeing if I could be any help...

but even the smallest package is about $35 bucks from here, small box is $67.

Too bad you Canadians appear to be on our "B" list... GEEZ!

I do see there are NAFTA programs for businesses but nothing for an individual. What a world we live in! Sorry for your trouble.

Reply

Good morning Tony. Yes, I feel your frustration.

But you really cant blame DHL. They are just following Canadian law, as they are required to do.

To answer one of your questions, the "threshold" for importing goods into Canada is only $20 Canadian. Above that limit, goods are subject to duties (which varies depending on the classification of the goods and the country of origin ) AND the HST on the value of the goods and the shipping. This requires a formal customs entry to be made, either by yourself, or someone on your behalf - in this case DHL. This is called brokerage. And if they have to do this work - and pay the taxes and duties on your behalf - then it only makes sense for them to charge a fee for this service.

In the case of DHL, I believe the brokerage fee is 2.5% of the value of goods and shipping, with a mininum charge of $7. Add in the HST (probably another $7 ) and duties. Then the swines usually add in a "processing fee" and a "COD fee". As you found out, it can really add up !!!

By the way, the "threshold" of goods going the other way - that is from Canada into the USA - is $200 US. Hardly seems fair eh ? But dont feel so bad, many other countries are far worse than Canada. Some of the Scandinavian countries have duties and fees AND a 24% tax !!

All of the large courier companies are obligated to follow the letter of the law as it is written. They are forced to do so. Unfortunately, they also take the opportunity to tack on a few extra questionable fees. I guess they know when the package arrives at your door, you dont have any choice....

But as myself and others here have found out - the Canadian Postal Service seems to be a different story. They too are SUPPOSED to collect taxes and duties, but it seems they rarely bother to do so. Rather surprizing seeing as they are a crown corporation. Yes, I too have found that MOST of the time, the postman just drops off my parcel without asking for duties and taxes and such. Go figure. It seems to me that anything under $1000 or so just slides on through....

So.....to make a long story even longer....When ordering goods from the US, I always insist that they be sent via the USPS which goes through Canada Post. You have seen what happens when it ends up with one of the couriers.

In cases of Ebay where the seller only uses UPS or DHL or similar, I have it sent to a facility across the border in Niagara Falls, New York. I use a place called CBI. They accept the parcel for me (they charge a $6 fee ) and once in a while I drive across and pick them up. This works great when the seller offers free shipping to the USA.

Hope this helps. Cheers, Doug

Black-Tooth said:

Too bad you Canadians appear to be on our "B" list... GEEZ!

Click to expand...

The import rules are imposed by the Canadian government, so it is not our "B" list.

Black-Tooth said:

I do see there are NAFTA programs for businesses but nothing for an individual. What a world we live in! Sorry for your trouble.

Click to expand...

NAFTA only applies to import duties, and only for goods manufactured within NAFTA. Regardless of import duties, the Canadian government will collect sales tax (I think the limit is $60 for gifts, $20 foe anything else). And of course the carriers will collect fees and surcharges as they see fit.

USPS

Check with your USPS location. The one where I have my PO Box in Washington State has now started accepting street address shipments for carriers that will not use PO Box, they even offer email notification. Going into competition with drop ship sites.

Thanks for the comments

DHL changed their policy as at one time there were no duties or taxes on items less than $1600, so that is why I purchased from that vendor.

I have purchased items from the Netherlands and China, the price of the item well they lie. I haven't seen anyone jump on a plane to arrest some one in China or the Netherlands. On the rare occasion I need something and I don't want to pay more in shipping and duty than the item is worth I get a member of this board to help me out and all of it works out fine. I just didn't see it coming and the fact that they will not take cash at the door and I cannot talk to anyone with the phone number they leave on the card just adds up to poor service and members of this board should be aware of this short coming of shipping from the USA to Canada.

Thanks again.

TonyK.

Grimsby Ontario Canada.

First of all I'm not aware of how much different countries charges on import duties and all that stuff. So I may not know what I am talking about. Just experiences.

I've dealt with DHL numerous times. I have to order just about all my parts for my Trabant from Germany and they typically insist on using DHL. Sometimes I can get lucky and find what I need from Hungary, Romania, or some other former Eastern Bloc country.

DHL charges US$55 for anything up to a 5kg package. Not sure quite sure how much they tack on for every 1 kg after that. Then sometimes the shipper charges 19% VAT. Sometimes they don't.

A typical package from DHL takes about 3 weeks for it to arrive.

I've ordered some parts from Hungary. It usually arrives in less than 2 weeks and shipping is cheaper. Example: I bought two steering wheels at the same time. Long story on that one but one came from Hungary and one from Germany. I think shipping on the one from Hungary cost me $25, the one from Germany cost $55. Both weighed the same.

My wife bought me some NOS tail lights for $10 with free shipping from Romania! Custom Yugo parts from Slovenia on the other hand is expensive.

What I can't understand is why I can order stuff from the UK and it seems to arrive quicker and cost less than if I ordered it from Canada.

I ordered an East German Ushanka from a military surplus place in Quebec. It took 3 weeks for it to arrive. The hat cost $15 but the shipping cost $20! The package couldn't have weight more than 2kg at the most. What's up with that?

On the other hand, I did get lucky on a gas tank for my Tomos TX-50. I ended up getting it for a resonable price in about 2 weeks. The tank was about US$15 with no mention of an import duty. Shipping may have been about $10. Funny it came from British Columbia. I live less than 1000 miles from Quebec but maybe 3000 miles from BC!

Just wondering if sometimes the import duty is mixed in with shipping charge. Where as with Canada, the import duty is tacked on after the fact.