Official Brokerage Fees Rage Thread. UPS FEDEX DHL PUROLATOR Etc

[ahato]

I got a pakage from UPS last year. It was priced at 45$ and It costed me around 38$ for brokerage and custom. Custom was 7$ I think. I was so much upset with that.
I have ordered some stuff from FedEx which is worth 780$. I got a call early morning at 7:30 from fedex office and she was confirming if it was a personal or commercial packet. I mentioned her that its personal package. She said OK and told me I iwll get courtesy call if the charges are above 60$
I have not got any call. Hope to get not a lot of duty on it

[wolf30]

+1. If you use UPS (or FedEx) Express services the brokerage fees are included.

and then they get you with a bond fee.

[Hugh Jass]

What makes this the "Official" thread about brokerage fees?

[Coz4k]

What makes this the "Official" thread about brokerage fees?

Because i decided.

The bawss decided.

[macnut]

Unit Value: 25USD
Brokerage fees: 17.25$

Not sure where the $17.25 comes from.

Isn't this the current fee schedule? http://www.ups.com/content/ca/en/shi...clearance.html

I could be wrong, but it looks like they have responded to all the criticism and lowered their fees a bit. I thought $19 used to be the min. fee for the $20.01 - $40 item value.

I paid $13 brokage fees on a $20 item.

That looks right.

Because they use the Cdn. dollar equivalent, you were above $20, so it might as well have been $35 - same brokerage fee.

Looks like $7 + $6 bond fee for them advancing your taxes due.

[CalgaryRunner]

Not sure where the $17.25 comes from.

Isn't this the current fee schedule? http://www.ups.com/content/ca/en/shi...clearance.html

I believe that's the current fee schedule.

Based on that fee schedule, it looks like the $17.25 came from:

Entry Preparation Charge: $7.00
Bond Fee: $6.00
C.O.D. Fee: $4.25

Pretty ridiculous for a $25USD item.

[O1IN85]

It's your responsibility to know the end cost of your shipment. Every courier company out there publishes their rates. You might as well rant about the sky being blue and not your favorite colour.

What's to rant about?

[Coz4k]

It's your responsibility to know the end cost of your shipment. Every courier company out there publishes their rates. You might as well rant about the sky being blue and not your favorite colour.

What's to rant about?

When i order something, 75% of the time i don't know what carrier the sender uses and i never chose to do business with UPS.

UPS sucks ***** and people in USA don't seem to know that when its time to ship to Canadians.

Also, their rates page are unreasonably hard to understand and totally overpriced. Steps to follows in order to clear your items yourself requires like half a day and gas (i don't know how much you are paid, but its not worth my time).

That is why i rant about it.

Again, ripping people off is not illegal.

[al3x89]

Because it's not a crime and thus it's none of their business. It's a free market. UPS is free to charge you anything they want no matter how ridiculous and you are free to take your business elsewhere. A simple search for UPS will show lots of threads filled with hate for them, but again, ripping you off isn't a crime.

it should be a crime to charge a fee based on the "value" of the item.

if an item is valued at $500, does that impact UPS in anyway? absolutely not. (the sender already pays a % for insurance, so these brokerage charges are ***** whether you want to admit it or not)

how bout a more reasonable flat fee......... oh wait that will never happen.

[death_hawk]

it should be a crime to charge a fee based on the "value" of the item.

Exactly.
As an example, let's use jewellery since it can be high value and low weight.

2 identical rings, one with a small diamond worth $50 and one with a large diamond worth $50000.
Both rings are packed in identically sized boxes and have close enough shipping weights that it wouldn't change the actual charges.

Since both boxes contain exactly one item, the paperwork is identical.

Why does the diamond shipper end up paying $362+Fees compared to $20+Fees?

[Ojam]

Exactly.
As an example, let's use jewellery since it can be high value and low weight.

2 identical rings, one with a small diamond worth $50 and one with a large diamond worth $50000.
Both rings are packed in identically sized boxes and have close enough shipping weights that it wouldn't change the actual charges.

Since both boxes contain exactly one item, the paperwork is identical.

Why does the diamond shipper end up paying $362+Fees compared to $20+Fees?

What Diamond shipper ships UPS standard? There are better, more secure options to ship expensive items that include brokerage in their cost.

[death_hawk]

Why not?
The buyer just spent $50k on a diamond. He can't afford Air shipping any more.

Oh and the diamond is flammable and can't be shipped via Air.

[Coz4k]

Why not?
The buyer just spent $50k on a diamond. He can't afford Air shipping any more.

Oh and the diamond is flammable and can't be shipped via Air.

[Mttzzz]

Would UPS charge brokerage fee for duties pre-paid item,but shipped by UPS standard?

[ilove]

This is why I've totally boycotted these crooks aka courier companies even for domestic service. That plus UPS once lost my legal documents and their entire heirarchy of customer service staff, from the peons all the way up to their manager gave me attitude in as-a-matter-of-fact tone of voice, not even once apologizing. That incident alone was enough to lose my patronage for life.