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Showing 1 of 667 conversations about:
Mipit
21
May 29, 2014
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Well, mass drop has been fun, but this is probably the last time I'm going to use it if I get surprise fees like these.
twe4k
5
May 30, 2014
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Mipityeah same here... I'll definitely think twice before ordering again from massdrop... basically I ended up paying more for the same product and a slower delivery without any way to track it, what's the use ?
massdrop could we have any info on these new fees ? If I remember correctly, all my previous orders were done using USPS, I had access to a tracking number and never had to pay broker fees because packages were handled by CanadaPost at the border... what changed ?
massdrop could we have any info on these new fees ? If I remember correctly, all my previous orders were done using USPS, I had access to a tracking number and never had to pay broker fees because packages were handled by CanadaPost at the border... what changed ?
Mark
3186
Admin User
May 30, 2014
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twe4kHi Twek et al,
We haven't changed our shipping policies. When we ship to Canada with USPS, they hand it off to Canada Customs, who inspects/processes it, and passes it to Canada Post who delivers it to your door.
Canada customs flags/inspects a small portion of the packages (our estimates is around 10%), assess the sales tax (generally 13% HST), and charges a $9.95 handling fee. Canada Post then delivers it to your doostep with a Cash-on-delivery notice. The 90% that don't get inspected, just pass through customs and show up at your door.
Why isn't this documented clearer on our website?
1) Every country has different policies, and we realistically can't track all of them 2) What I just wrote is a generalization of Canada's rules. Technically, Canada Customs can basically charge you any taxes/handling fees that they deem appropriate, and whether the're inspecting 10% or 50% or 90% of the packages, depends on how busy they are (how many people are on vacation...) 3) If we ship via UPS, they have an agreement with Canada Customs to "inspect all packages", so you're effectively guaranteed to have to pay taxes instead of 'rolling the dice'. Their brokerage fee is $30 instead of $10. 4) Random aside, Royal Mail UK seems to be really on-the-ball with inspecting packages and I've seen very few slip through without being charged taxes. They also take a lot longer because I imagine they have a big backlog of packages 5) International tracking is really, really expensive. Canadian tracking is less so and I think we're starting to get that rolling with USPS. 6) International shipping details are stated in our FAQ: https://www.massdrop.com/faq 7) Import taxes are the responsibility of the importer, not the exporter. Just like if you fly to the United states, buy something at Bestbuy, then try to bring it back to Canada, if the customs officials want to charge you taxes, is that your fault or Bestbuy's fault? E-commerce is slightly different but the broad strokes are the same.
Hope that clarifies some of your questions/thoughts!
We haven't changed our shipping policies. When we ship to Canada with USPS, they hand it off to Canada Customs, who inspects/processes it, and passes it to Canada Post who delivers it to your door.
Canada customs flags/inspects a small portion of the packages (our estimates is around 10%), assess the sales tax (generally 13% HST), and charges a $9.95 handling fee. Canada Post then delivers it to your doostep with a Cash-on-delivery notice. The 90% that don't get inspected, just pass through customs and show up at your door.
Why isn't this documented clearer on our website?
1) Every country has different policies, and we realistically can't track all of them 2) What I just wrote is a generalization of Canada's rules. Technically, Canada Customs can basically charge you any taxes/handling fees that they deem appropriate, and whether the're inspecting 10% or 50% or 90% of the packages, depends on how busy they are (how many people are on vacation...) 3) If we ship via UPS, they have an agreement with Canada Customs to "inspect all packages", so you're effectively guaranteed to have to pay taxes instead of 'rolling the dice'. Their brokerage fee is $30 instead of $10. 4) Random aside, Royal Mail UK seems to be really on-the-ball with inspecting packages and I've seen very few slip through without being charged taxes. They also take a lot longer because I imagine they have a big backlog of packages 5) International tracking is really, really expensive. Canadian tracking is less so and I think we're starting to get that rolling with USPS. 6) International shipping details are stated in our FAQ: https://www.massdrop.com/faq 7) Import taxes are the responsibility of the importer, not the exporter. Just like if you fly to the United states, buy something at Bestbuy, then try to bring it back to Canada, if the customs officials want to charge you taxes, is that your fault or Bestbuy's fault? E-commerce is slightly different but the broad strokes are the same.
Hope that clarifies some of your questions/thoughts!
twe4k
5
May 30, 2014
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MarkThank you Mark for the detailed explanation ! Yes it does clarify things a lot. I think part of my frustration was due to the lack of explanation from the delivery guy... A few minutes ago I went to throw the shipping box away and noticed the import form glued to the bottom of it... You are right, the fees were indeed $10.64 in taxes (federal + provincial in my case) plus the $9.95 handling fees.
Glad to hear that you guys are working on having more packages tracked when shipped to Canada :)
Glad to hear that you guys are working on having more packages tracked when shipped to Canada :)
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