Upper Deck ePack charges Customs Duty

[carlyazfan]

I decided to get the 14 transferable cards I had sitting in my ePack account transferred to me. Not planning on buying anything further from that site, so I thought I would just tidy things up a bit. I had done a couple of transfers in the past, and was pleased with the process. This time however, a new step has been added for Canadians. I had to declare and confirm a value for the cards included in the package. They are nothing special, so I chose $14 US total ($1.00 per card). As a result, part of the cost (over and above the shipping and "card fee") that the system levied was one for Duty $1.13 US. I suppose this means they no longer ship from Burnaby, BC to Canadian addresses. Glad these weren't Ultimate cards!

Dave.

 

[odjickfan]

Good to know!

 

[Triple B]

What a confuculated mess.

 

[RGM81]

It's the same thing when you ship them from COMC. All of the ePack cards are stored at the main COMC office in Washington, so the fee is there for when they're bringing cards over the border.

 

[TanguayFan]

$14USD is below your personal exemption. You shouldn't be charged anything.

 

[byrone]

Is it duty or HST?

Shouldn't be any duty on Canada/USA made goods crossing the border

 

[DredJAw]

Having been out of the hobby the last several years, what the hell is an epack and transferring cards?

 

[DredJAw]

Is it duty or HST?

Shouldn't be any duty on Canada/USA made goods crossing the border

No, comics are printed in the U.S. and we comic book collectors in Canada almost always get duty charges because of the fairly large sized packages and high value.

 

[TanguayFan]

Is it duty or HST?

Shouldn't be any duty on Canada/USA made goods crossing the border

NAFTA isn't some blanket agreement allowing unlimited and unfettered duty free trade across the border. I am sure there is probably some fine print regarding what is eligible, and what isn't. I wouldn't be surprised if certain printed material is exempt from Free Trade.

However, items purchased through the mail from anywhere worldwide with a value under $20 CAD are exempt from Duty AND taxes under our personal exemptions. So in this case, $14USD does not reach the threshold under the current exchange rate or any recent exchange rate. I would dispute the charges with COMC.

**EDIT** I was correct....printed material such as books, magazines and periodicals are subject to taxation and/or duty charges, regardless of value. See the list here...

 

[dahabsfan]

The duty being charged is on the amount paid for shipping. As far as I have been able to find there is no exemption for services such as shipping. It something I suspect you will see ebay adopt as well in the very near future.

Darren

 

[TanguayFan]

The duty being charged is on the amount paid for shipping. As far as I have been able to find there is no exemption for services such as shipping. It something I suspect you will see ebay adopt as well in the very near future.

Darren

Pretty sure eBay already does it through the GSP. I have seen fees levied for items that are under the exemption limit. But I have not seen anywhere that indicates that shipping is a taxable service either, or included in the value of the item, so not sure where either of us could find that info one way or the other.

Nothing like paying $25USD for a $10USD item.

 

[dahabsfan]

Pretty sure eBay already does it through the GSP. I have seen fees levied for items that are under the exemption limit. But I have not seen anywhere that indicates that shipping is a taxable service either, or included in the value of the item, so not sure where either of us could find that info one way or the other.

Nothing like paying $25USD for a $10USD item.

Yeah that GSP is a lovely thing isn't it? What they are doing is trying to avoid the whole "gift" notion for items under $60 and make everything subject to taxes...unfortunately they fail to recognize the $20 EXEMPTION for Canadians and have blanketed everything into being taxable...I would be interested to know what Pitney Bowes is doing with the taxes collected on all the items under $20 that should not be collected.

Darren

 

[TanguayFan]

Yeah that GSP is a lovely thing isn't it? What they are doing is trying to avoid the whole "gift" notion for items under $60 and make everything subject to taxes...unfortunately they fail to recognize the $20 EXEMPTION for Canadians and have blanketed everything into being taxable...I would be interested to know what Pitney Bowes is doing with the taxes collected on all the items under $20 that should not be collected.

Darren

One would think that that was a class action lawsuit waiting to happen. They are preying on the ignorance of the casual, online, cross-border shopper.