I found the below on beyond.ca and wonderning if anyone tried it:



There are a lot of posts on beyond.ca about UPS. Duty, GST and specifically brokerage fees seem to be the

largest area of complaint.

Unfortunately, the opinion that brokerage fees are a 'scam' or 'ripoff' are largely formulated on ignorance of

the process. They are very lucrative for the companies doing the brokerage work, that I would conceed. But they

are not a 'racket'. Duty and GST are unavoidable, however, I will point out a way to 'cheat' on duty a little

bit, if you wish to try. (See end of post)

DUTY AND GST (OUCH!)

"Other" shipping companies are still required to charge the same things for Duty and GST. Duty charges vary

depending on the type of item you are importing. These are fixed percentages based on the amount and

classification of the item. Please note that your government has established the rates applicable - not some

shipping company. Duty and GST are not charges the shipping company is making up - they are actually charges

from Canada Customs. The shipping companies merely collect this from you because they incurred these charges

when they cleared the packages for you.

BROKERAGE FEES TOO... (UGH!)

The only variance in what you will pay to import your goods will be brokerage fees. But likely you will still

pay brokerage fees of some level while it may vary from shipping company to shipping company. You may also find

it increases based on the quantity and value of goods imported.

So, for all those people who don't understand how to NEVER PAY BROKERAGE FEES AGAIN, this post is special for

you. Read on...

POWER OF ATTOURNEY

First, shipments to businesses are different than shipments to individuals. When you ship via UPS, UPS has a

little thing called Power of Attourney over personal shipments. This gives them the ability to automatically

clear your package through customs. They fill and file the paperwork, and charge you a brokerage fee.

For businesses, Power of Attourney is not automatically given to UPS. So, UPS will contact the business asking

who the broker for the company is. Large businesses will likely have a brokerage company do the work. OR the

business can fill out a form which will give Power of Attourney to UPS for purpose of clearing the package(s)

through customs as another option.

THIS IS WHERE IT GETS IMPORTANT

Whether your shipment is a personal thing, or a business thing, you have the option of "Self Clearing". What

this means is that you are going to have to do the filling and filing of the paperwork yourself. In the case of

a personal shipment, you MUST notify UPS as soon as you have the tracking number that you intend to self clear.

In the case of a business, they will contact you - at which point you indicate you are going to self clear.

SELF CLEARING - THE BASICS

Once you have indicated that you are going to self clear...when your package 'arrives' at your shippers

warehouse, they will prepare the necessary forms for self-clearing. You must then go to your shippers

warehouse, and pick up these forms. You won't even require a pen! The forms are filled out already with the

necessary information from the computer. So, off you go...

Once you have the clearing forms, you must then proceed to Canada Customs. (It's just off 32nd Avenue, N.E. -

you turn left just before Staples, then right, then right in to the parking lot). This is handy, because pretty

much all the shipping companies have warehouses just minutes away from this location.

Keep in mind you must be the person who the shipment is to, or you must be an individual with Power of

Attourney over the Company if it is a business shipment.

Once you are inside, you will find a computer - and a book. The book contains all the line codes you may

require to understand in order for you to fill out the forms correctly. Kind of like doing your taxes! (Same

idea). When you have entered all the information, which will usually include ports of exit and port of entry,

method of shipment, costs of goods, classification of goods, importer name, shipping costs, etc. The computer

will then print out the finalized forms which will indicate how much you must pay in Duty and GST for your

imported goods.

They have agents there who will then have a quick once over of your information, and then you will proceed to

pay what you owe at the cash desk.

Once you have paid what you owe, your papers will be stamped "cleared". You return to your shipper with these

papers, and they will retrieve your packages. You have just brokered your own packages, and have avoided

brokerage fees completely.

SOUNDS LIKE TOO MUCH WORK

Then pay the damn brokerage fee and don't bitch!

AS PROMISED, CHEATING THE SYSTEM

All goods imported in to Canada have different DUTY rates applied to them depending on the type of good. Even

within the automotive realm, duty rates are not all the same. For example, importing a flywheel, may have a

higher duty rate than say, 'automative transmission components' - now, you're just a silly chump filling out

the forms, so if you know which areas require less duty, you can 'work' the system slightly to allow a lower

rate of duty to be applied to your imported goods. You're only going to save a few percentage points. But it

can be done. Uhm, and if for some reason what you are doing gets questioned, you'd be like But more often than

not, you're not going to be questioned unless you are completely re-classifying the goods.

Cheating the duty by a couple percentage points isn't the point of this thread. Completely removing brokerage

fees is the point!

Hope some people find this helpful. If brokerage fees annoy you, this the way to avoid them. If you think it's

easy, power to you. If you think, my god, why would I do that? Pay your brokerage fees but at least understand

the process so you know what it is you are paying for...

Enjoy

 

Always knew about clearing packages myself... but up here in Red Deer we have no option.

I hate when I order a $25 item and pay just as much in brokerage/duty/gst

 

Or you can tell UPS to f*ck right off, use Canada Post, and pay a flat rate of $5.00.

 

I think with UPS I'm just going to start using a fake name. Try sending a collection agency after a guy that doesn't exsist

just kidding...

 

From what I've read, as long as you have Canada Customs in your area, you should be able to clear the packages yourself...no?

I am under the assumption that the package gets here to Edmonton (in my case), gets held up, I go to Customs, etc.

 

we don't have a customs office in red deer... edmonton and calgary do, but thats it

 

Sounds like that guy has some connection to UPS, either he works for them or he has family or friends who work for them. This doesn't negate the fact that UPS are still a bunch of scum sucking highway robbers.
It's never been about the GST or Duty since this is dictated by the Feds. It's ALWAYS been about their EXORBITANT brokerage fees.
Canada Post will clear customs for you and only charge you 5 bucks while UPS will charge you up to 5 times that amount for a similar item.
FedEx and Purolator will also clear customs for you and do the same job that UPS does and charge MUCH, MUCH less. I'm sorry, but that guy's lengthy disortation about the why's and wherefore's of UPS doesn't justify why UPS charges the highest brokerage fees of ANY carrier that services our community.

For example, my recent bumper purchase from Hardtopguy would have cost nearly 450 bucks alone for shipping and who knows how much for brokerage when it got here. It was shipped by FedEx and cost about 50 bucks. I don't know how much the brokerage will be as I've not received the bill but I'm very confident that it won't be anywhere near what UPS would have screwed me out of.

The UPS BOYCOTT continues.

 

thats funny cause someone sent me some samco hoses for my corrado once and he shipped it UPS from the states and he spelled my name wrong. they sent me 1 notice and that was it.