Brokerage Fees on shipping from Whiteflash to Canada?

[LostSapphire]

Hello everyone.

I live in Canada, approx 1 hour from the US border. My Wf ring will be done in approx 4 weeks (

), and my plan was to simply have WF ship it directly to my office.

But I got to thinking, and have seen a few postings from people commenting on brokerage fees.

I''d appreciate your comments and experience with this kind of thing. My other option is to ship it to someone I know in NY state and drive over to pick it up myself.

Either way, I am obligated to declare the item and pay applicable GST and PST, so it makes no difference that way....

suggestions?

Thank you.

LS

 

[anne_h]

I live in Montreal and buy most of my jewelry from the US. The border thing is so annoying!

Most items, I ship to a friend in the US. She brings it up when she visits me. We do not declare (I know some people do not agree with this).

My e-ring was fairly expensive (for us), so we drove down to NYC to pick it up and drove it back across the border.

The few times I have had something shipped to me in Canada (FedEx), the government charged me only sales tax (PST/GST). No duty (that''s been phased out).

Only twice did I get charged an additional separate brokerage fees... that was when I received a tee shirt and a steam cleaner. In both cases, the shipper was one I was not familiar with. The big ones like FebEx do not charge brokerage fees (that I know of).

Hope this helps!

Anne

 

[pixley]

Ditto AnneH''s advice, with the addition that UPS always tries to tack on some sort of brokerage fees and I hate them for it, so I would avoid UPS too if you can.

 

[LostSapphire]

Date: 7/24/2008 8:14:28 PM
Author: anne_h
I live in Montreal and buy most of my jewelry from the US. The border thing is so annoying!

Most items, I ship to a friend in the US. She brings it up when she visits me. We do not declare (I know some people do not agree with this).

My e-ring was fairly expensive (for us), so we drove down to NYC to pick it up and drove it back across the border.

The few times I have had something shipped to me in Canada (FedEx), the government charged me only sales tax (PST/GST). No duty (that''s been phased out).

Only twice did I get charged an additional separate brokerage fees... that was when I received a tee shirt and a steam cleaner. In both cases, the shipper was one I was not familiar with. The big ones like FebEx do not charge brokerage fees (that I know of).

Hope this helps!

Anne

Thankyou for this information! WF ships Fedex, and I thought I''d just get it shipped to Buffalo and drive over to get it. I had already figured out there was no duty, but it was the Brokerage that was making me nervous...

I''ll double check this with WF before we ship. Have time to do that...caust I''m just WAITING, WAITING...WAITING!!!

LS

 

[LostSapphire]

Date: 7/24/2008 8:16:25 PM
Author: pixley
Ditto AnneH''s advice, with the addition that UPS always tries to tack on some sort of brokerage fees and I hate them for it, so I would avoid UPS too if you can.

Thank you Pixley.

LS

 

[alu]

I agree with the two posters above..

Don''t ever go with UPS is possible, they always have extra brokerage fees. Luckily WF uses FedEx.

And ship to the USA and get it yourself. I called FedEx and they had a place on their site which you could use to calculate the taxes you would have to pay (based on your province and the amount of the item) if you were to ship it to yourself. It was hard for me to find... but I remember comparing it to bluenile''s Canada shipping calculator and it was very close: http://www.bluenile.ca/pop_order_calculator.asp

You''ll probably decide to ship to the US

 

[LostSapphire]

Date: 7/24/2008 8:26:18 PM
Author: alu
I agree with the two posters above..

Don''t ever go with UPS is possible, they always have extra brokerage fees. Luckily WF uses FedEx.

And ship to the USA and get it yourself. I called FedEx and they had a place on their site which you could use to calculate the taxes you would have to pay (based on your province and the amount of the item) if you were to ship it to yourself. It was hard for me to find... but I remember comparing it to bluenile''s Canada shipping calculator and it was very close: http://www.bluenile.ca/pop_order_calculator.asp

You''ll probably decide to ship to the US

If there are no brokerage fees, it is worth my while to ship it to here in Canada: PSt & GST are applicable either way....of course the shipping fees are a bit different...I had seen somewhere else on here that someone was quoted 20-25% of the value of the item would be assessed as brokerage...yikes. Hence my anxiety...

LS

 

[Ben_G]

I believe that WF ships to Canada via International Priority. (You should call them to confirm this)

If this is true, Fedex International Priority (at least to Canada) already includes brokerage as part of the service, so it should not be any additional cost to you. You only need to pay for applicable taxes.

Obviously, you should also contact Fedex to confirm this, but that''s what they told me when I called a few weeks ago.

 

[LostSapphire]

Date: 7/25/2008 4:45:13 PM
Author: Ben_G
I believe that WF ships to Canada via International Priority. (You should call them to confirm this)

If this is true, Fedex International Priority (at least to Canada) already includes brokerage as part of the service, so it should not be any additional cost to you. You only need to pay for applicable taxes.

Obviously, you should also contact Fedex to confirm this, but that''s what they told me when I called a few weeks ago.

Thank you Ben. You and I are both on the same page.

In fact, Shimmer in the Coloured Stones thread has just shipped from WF to Canada using this process. She''s detailed it all out for me (YAY) so now I feel so much better.

And yes, y ou are correct, no duty. GST and PST (if applicable) are handled through Fedex. Everything goes through customs on the "up and up" so no worries there either.

So I''m good to go....now, how can I last for 3 more weeks! oh the agony!

LS

 

[LostSapphire]

UPDATE:

OK so the ring ships on Tuesday.

Whiteflash is shipping it through to Canada for me. But Vera mentions something she *heard* about brokerage fees:

She said they had a client who shipped to a business location. Fedex assessed $500 brokerage on the shipment.

She said if it goes to a person, no fees apply.

Anyone heard of this? I've e-mailed Fedex but doubt I'll get a response..will try calling them tomorrow.

The waybill from Fedex would be addressed like this:

Mrs. LostSapphire
c/o ABC company
Main Street
CanuckLand

Any comments out there?

thanks

LS

 

[shimmer]

Oh so thats why I had to pay when I got my ring shipped to the office last time!!! When they called I said I didn't care, just get the ring to me (it was like $100), I wish they would have explained that...hmm, next time I'm shipping to my home address!

ETA: sorry, that was a lightbulb moment for me, yes I would change it to a different address if you don't want to pay extra brokerage fees

 

[LostSapphire]

Date: 8/22/2008 10:27:11 PM
Author: shimmer
Oh so thats why I had to pay when I got my ring shipped to the office last time!!! When they called I said I didn''t care, just get the ring to me (it was like $100), I wish they would have explained that...hmm, next time I''m shipping to my home address!

ETA: sorry, that was a lightbulb moment for me, yes I would change it to a different address if you don''t want to pay extra brokerage fees

I have the option of shipping it to a Fedex pick up location, which is within 45 minutes of my office. So that''s how we''ll do it....

Thank you for the clarification.

LS

 

[LostSapphire]

Date: 8/22/2008 8:51:16 PM
Author: LostSapphire
UPDATE:

OK so the ring ships on Tuesday.

Whiteflash is shipping it through to Canada for me. But Vera mentions something she *heard* about brokerage fees:

She said they had a client who shipped to a business location. Fedex assessed $500 brokerage on the shipment.

She said if it goes to a person, no fees apply.

Anyone heard of this? I''ve e-mailed Fedex but doubt I''ll get a response..will try calling them tomorrow.

The waybill from Fedex would be addressed like this:

Mrs. LostSapphire
c/o ABC company
Main Street
CanuckLand

Any comments out there?

thanks

LS

UPDATE TO THE UPDATE:

After thorough discussion with Fedex today, here''s how it works:

The parcel MUST ship using Fedex Express service level in order to not be charged Brokerage Fees.

Addressing like this is perfectly fine:
Mrs. LostSapphire
c/o ABC company
Main Street
CanuckLand

It is vital that if the parcel is shipping to a business address, that it be very clearly indicated on the waybill, the customs declaration, and the Power of Attorney that this is a "personal" shipment.

Fedex thought that perhaps the purchase that WF was referring to looked like a purchase BY a business, instead of by an individual. (You know when you use your business to purchase something so you get the ''write off''?).

They also said if the customs declaration is incorrectly filled out, it could be interpreted as a business import.

Once the parcel arrives at the Canadian Border, it goes into a hold until I fax the "One Time Power of Attorney" to them. This form gives Fedex the authority to act as my broker to bring the parcel through to Canada.

On the OTPOA, a payment option (VISA, csh, cheque, or bill to a fedex account) must be indicated. This is where they charge out the GST, PST (if applicable) and possibly duty, depending on the item. My understanding is that finished jewellery pieces do not have a duty assessed on them.

Upon clearance of the OTPOA, the parcel is put back onto the Fedex truck. The following delivery options are available, none of which will incur brokerage fees provided the shipment is Fedex Expressed:
- home delivery
- delivery to a Fedex Ship Centre Location
- delivery to my work address

Upon delivery, I will be given the total charges paid on my behalf @ Canada customs, depending on the payment arrangement I indicated on the OTPOA. If "cash" is chosen, or, no VISA card # or FEDEX account # is given, the driver will expect cash payment before leaving the parcel.

(I figure this is what might have happened in Shimmer''s case above).

FEDEX was even good enough to rough out a timeline for me:

Tuesday - ship from WF
Tuesday night/Wednesday morning - lands @ Customs, waiting for my OTPOA
Wednesday - back onto the truck, for arrival in the Toronto Dispatch Depot later in the day
Thursday a.m. (at the latest) - drop off at my office.

The parcel is covered by the Insurance paid for at the WF shipping end until it is signed for at the final drop off.

Just thought I''d post this for anyone else worried about how this works.

LS