Date: Fri, 7 Jun 2002 15:29:31 -0600
Reply-To: Ben McCafferty <ben@KBMC.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Ben McCafferty <ben@KBMC.NET>
Subject: UPS fees was: Re: Canadians beware! UPS are a bunch of crooks
[adr]
In-Reply-To: <IBEMIMEBBBEOIIGIKKAHIEAKFFAA.vanagon@busdepot.com>
Content-type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
Well, I did some digging around. As Ron pointed out, the expedited services
include routine clearance, and are much higher. I did a quote for a 10
pound box from CO to Vancouver, and it was around US$15 via standard
(ground) without clearance, or about $60 for expedited service (air) with
clearance. I don't know what Canadian law says, but in the US, every
citizen has the right to represent themselves at US Customs, and to clear
their own freight into the US territory. With that in mind, an importer
could have something sent from Canada via UPS and decline their brokerage
service, and go through the various forms for entry and duty payment on
their own. Not a fun thing, unless you know what you're doing.
On ups.com, everywhere I looked at international shipments, they clearly
said whether routine clearance is included or not. For U.S. importers,
there is a nice section on definitions for various things related to import
(bonds, duty, live entry, etc.).
I called their customer service number, and asked what it would cost me for
clearance into Canada from the U.S., and here's what I got, for those of you
considering shipments to Canada (or from the U.S., as the case may be).
You need three pieces of information: Value of the shipment, Duty Rate (you
can call 506-877-4878 to get the Canadian duty rate for something), and GST
rate (usually 7%).
Take Value and multiply by Duty Rate. This gives the amount of duty you
will owe. Add Duty and Value, and multiply the result by GST rate. This
gives the amount of GST you will owe. For Entry Preparation
(clearance/brokerage), take the Value only and apply the following table:
VALUE Entry Prep Fee
CAD$.01-40 CAD$6.25
40.01-100 16.75
100.01-200 23.25
200.01-350 30.00
350.01-500 34.00
500.01-750 38.25
750.01-1000 43.25
1000.01-1250 48.50
1250.01-1600 51.50
1600.01-5000 54.00
Every additional 1000.00 value adds 3.75 to the entry fee
To get your total, add Shipping Cost, Value, Duty, GST, and Entry Prep fee.
If there are any abnormal aspects to your shipment (it requires extra forms,
inspections, etc.) there would be additional charges.
This morning, I had said to 80 Westy Pokey that clearance charges don't
change by value, but obviously in the UPS world they do, so that doesn't
hold in this case. But this hopefully gives a clearer picture of what you
can expect from UPS in this regard. FedEx is probably similar, but I didn't
take the time to call them.
These charges are not something that they can legally hide, but you do have
to know what questions to ask, I guess. I think it's just a somewhat
mysterious topic since it's not something most people deal with every day.
What ever happened to NAFTA, anyway????
bmc :)
"Faith will move mountains, but you'd better bring a shovel...."
> UPS includes the brokerage fee in their expedited or express service to
> Canada, but not in the standard service. So if it had been sent via 2 or 3
> day air, there would have been no brokerage fee collected C.O.D. at all.
> This is why, if you look at UPS's standard via expedited rates to Canada,
> you often find that the latter is 5 or 6 times the price and really doesn't
> even get the package there much faster. Much of the price difference is the
> brokerage fee. UPS's rate chart and literature do not make this very clear,
> in my opinion. Furthermore, I have had just about zero luck trying to get
> UPS to estimate in advance how much the brokerage fee will be on standard
> shipments. It seems a bit unreasonable for you to be expected to pay a large
> fee C.O.D. without being able to find out up front about how much it will
> be.
>
> This is why we ship US Air Mail to Canada whenever possible. No brokerage
> fees, reasonable rates, reasonably fast service, and generally less breakage
> of fragile items as well. The only drawback is that it is not trackable.
> This can be a hassle, as the package must be missing for at least 30 days
> before the post office will consider it lost and initiate an insurance
> claim. Fortunately, it is a very rare problem; we get only one or two loss
> claims a year on airmail to Canada, out of several packages shipped each day
> (although late delivery is more common, as even airmail shipments travel via
> Canadian surface mail from the border on).
>
> - Ron Salmon
> The Bus Depot, Inc.
> (215) 234-VWVW
> www.busdepot.com
>
> _____________________________________________
> Toll-Free for Orders by Part # 1-866-BUS-DEPOT
>
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