International Shipping, Insurance, Tariffs?

[The Less Blob]

I'm listing some semi-expensive books in my ebay store. I generally ship international for my less expensive items and just bite the bullet, but have some concerns with these as I do not want to risk having a $300 item disappear.

 

What is the least expensive way to ship with insurance and sufficient delivery confirmation to make paypal happy in the event of a chargeback? I assume anything with a statement of value for insurance purposes is then going to get scrutinized by the tax collectors.

 

I'd hate to cut out Canadians, that's my biggest concern. I have not shipped too many comics over the years to Europe and asia and definitely not more expensive stuff, but I have to Canada and just took my chances, which i don't want to do anymore.

[goldust40]

Global Priority with insurance is probably the most economical method, and after that Global Express and then Fedex Ground. As long as the package is trackable and must be signed for on delivery, Paypal will be happy.

 

The U.K. is not a problem with declaring the full amount on the customs form, as there is no duty or tax levied on books and comics there. Although you must specify that what you're shipping is a comic - if you don't customs and excise will charge the recipient as they'll assume it's merchandise.

 

Not sure about other European countries, especially (as in my case) since there is no customs duty on inter-EU transactions.

[Loki]

With respect to Canada, your best bet is USPS Priority, which usually runs around $25. I'm pretty sure the concern most people have is the claim from USPS that international tracking isn't available. In my experience, I've always been able to track my package on the Canadian side of the border by entering the USPS tracking number into the Canada Post website. I'd say 90% of the time it's up to date, but I've had a few parcels arrive at my doorstep while the website says they're still at Canada Customs.

 

If you don't want to use USPS, go with FedEx. Never, ever use UPS as their "brokerage fees" are outrageous. Frankly, I consider the UPS fees to be more like "ransom" for my parcel. I had to pay over $100 in brokerage fees for a $250 parcel one time. It was the last time I ever used UPS.

 

Canadian duty is pretty hit-and-miss. For parcels marked as "used books" or "books", I usually only end up paying duty if it's over $200. Stress on "usually", since I've been dinged on books valued as low as $40 before. On the flip-side, I've also had $400 books arrive with no duty.

 

Duty appears to run around 7% of the value (subject to PST+GST or HST) plus a $5 service fee (subject to GST). So, a $200 book shipped to me in Manitoba would be assessed as follows:

 

Duty = $200 x 7% Duty Rate = $14

Tax on Duty = $14 x (7% PST + 5% GST) = $1.68

Service Fee = $5

Tax on Service Fee = $5 x 5% GST = $0.25

TOTAL = $20.93 CDN

 

I'm just going on memory for the duty rate, it might be 6% or 8%. It's in that ballpark, though... A good rule of thumb I use is to assume I'm paying ~10% in duty.

 

Frankly, I consider duty as the price of buying books internationally. Anyone who doesn't is just kidding themselves. BTW - A parcel less than $20 is duty exempt, and a "gift" less than $60 is duty exempt.

 

[Topnotchman]

To be covered by Paypal dispute you must ship with signature delivery, which means it has to go US mail Global express. To ship UPS or Fed Ex is outrageously expensive. The deal with express is the added insurance is a very low amount, they have a big surcharge when you add $300.00 insurance to a standard priority package.

 

My only real bummer in 12 years, I learned the hard way with this one, Priority with insurance is not good enough over $250.00. It turns into a he said she said, and you lose.