# Buying from Reverb or Ebay question



## Dan Caldwell (Feb 26, 2017)

Anyone bought a guitar from eBay or reverb that shipped outside of Canada? Just wondering if there are extra taxes or import/duty fees or not. I don’t want to find out after I buy something. 

Thanks,

Dan


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## SaucyJack (Mar 8, 2017)

I believe that you will pay customs charges if you buy from fleabay. It's automatically added to the cost at checkout time. I don't know what happens with reverb.


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## Hammerhands (Dec 19, 2016)

There are other charges you can get hit with.

You will pay taxes and duty if applicable.

If you ship with UPS or Fedex, you will likely end up paying a brokerage fee.

When you use eBay's Global Shipping Program the taxes and duties are calculated, but if the guitar has rosewood, they sometimes confiscate or steal the guitar. You may need to have the seller include a CITES certificate, which I think can take some effort and time.

Do you ever go to the border? When I buy things from the U.S., I use a parcel pickup service. The item gets delivered to the border and I go across and pick it up. I still have to pay duties and taxes, but the shipping is usually way cheaper.

It's easy for me, the border is only an hour away. I think the closest place to Renfrew is Ogdensburg, about 2 hours. Ogdensburg has a UPS Store that will hold a package for $5 a week.

I’m not exactly sure how that would work with eBay. I guess you would have to set up an alternate address, if that is possible.


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## BSTheTech (Sep 30, 2015)

Item + Exchange + Shipping + Brokerage + Tax = Final Price.

Brokerage can be cheap (USPS/CanPost) or expensive (FedEx/UPS etc). Duty is rarely paid. In 30 years I've only paid duty once and it was on a couple Marshall cabinets because they were made in the UK.

If the item is less than $100 I rarely pay any tax.


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## knight_yyz (Mar 14, 2015)

on ebay you have to see how the seller is shipping. Global shipping program? UPS? Fedex? UPS , Fedex and DHL charge a hefty brokerage fee. UPS and DHL want those fees and taxes when they show up at the door with the parcel. Actually DHL prefers you pay before delivery. Fedex will send you an invoice a few weeks down the road. 
From my experience the smaller the package the better chance it has of passing through customs without more taxes. A guitar is pretty big so there is about 90% chance that it will catch someone eye at customs. 

If something is shipped USPS then the fee is 8 bucks plus taxes. UPS, Fedex and DHL use a huge percentage. I've had 2 80 dollar items shipped by UPS that required 80 dollars in fees and taxes at the door. If I see a seller uses UPS I avoid them like the plague.


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## BSTheTech (Sep 30, 2015)

Yes, if the seller will won't ship via US POSTAL Service it's usually a deal breaker for me. 

Another option (if you live close to the border) is retain a mailbox or storage place in the US. Then drive down and collect your package(s) and broker them yourself on the way back (declare to Customs). I use a re-shipper with all my big ticket items now. Most things ship free in the US. My re-shipper then collects the item, flys it to my hometown, and I go out to the airport to broker the package myself. Re-shipping is usually a flat $18 unless the package is super heavy.


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## JonnyD (Sep 20, 2016)

USPS is the way to go, takes longer but less fees. UPS shows up really quick but you pay brokerage fees, duty’s, shipping, more shipping, etc. It’s expensive. 

However there’s a new surtax that I had to pay even with shipping USPS. Not sure on which provinces have to pay it but I had a $43 surtax, from Canada Post.


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## DaddyDog (Apr 21, 2017)

As you can see Dan, we've had all kinds of experiences. It's very hard to tell if you're going to be dinged extra or not. In my experience, USPS/CanadaPost is the only option where you may get away with it.

Speaking of which: in the last 2 weeks, I bought two items from the US. The one coming to my house needs me to pay. The one going to my Flex Delivery doesn't. I'm wondering if that's the secret. I certainly like that Flex Delivery doesn't need me to sit at home all day trying to not go to the bathroom for fear of missing the mail man!


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## J-75 (Jul 29, 2010)

I once did a Kijiji purchase across the border, had UPS take it from the seller, in Michigan, to Niagara (US). The seller agreed to split the ($80 US) UPS charge with me. I had it dropped off at USADDRESS where I collected it for a $5 holding fee. I cleared it through Canadian customs, paying them $440, before returning my round-trip drive from Toronto. Moral of the story: a: Make sure you need/want it bad. b: Do the math, Determine your total cost realistically. HTH


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## cheezyridr (Jun 8, 2009)

Hammerhands said:


> but if the guitar has rosewood, they sometimes confiscate or steal the guitar. You may need to have the seller include a CITES certificate, which I think can take some effort and time.


on all the forums i go on, i have never once heard anyone say something that even suggested this happened to them. this is the very first time i have ever heard such a thing. where did you hear it? i am skeptical that they steal your guitar


by canadian law, they cannot charge you more than 40% brokerage. also, no packages ever go through customs, and no one ever looks at them. they go to a bonded warehouse. at best, someone may look at the paperwork, but that's all the scrutiny anything gets from ups, fed ex, dhl, usps, or any large commercial shipper. you can look that up if you like, it's the truth. that said, you can use ups and avoid brokerage. in order to do that you have to "self declare". i'll leave it to you to find out how, but i knew people when i lived in canada who have done it. ups will lie to you and say you can't, but canadian law says you can. it won't be delivered to your door, you'll have to pick it up. there is paperwork involved. if you're spending enough $$ it may be worth the hassle of doing it. you'll have to decide yourself after doing the research on what is required.


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## Hammerhands (Dec 19, 2016)

cheezyridr said:


> where did you hear it? i am skeptical that they steal your guitar


Here's one example on this forum, not about a guitar, see LexxM3’s post. Let me find one about guitars.

https://guitarscanada.com/index.php...ing-with-ebays-global-shipping-program.73409/

There are at least two stories here.

Ebay meltdown : Other Guitars : The Gretsch Pages


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## cheezyridr (Jun 8, 2009)

Hammerhands said:


> Here's one example on this forum, not about a guitar, see LexxM3’s post. Let me find one about guitars.
> 
> https://guitarscanada.com/index.php...ing-with-ebays-global-shipping-program.73409/
> 
> ...


the gretch pages will not load for me, i don't know why. the first link you sent is due to a very specific set of circumstances, none of which apply to the scenario in this thread. the one in this thread involves a cites issue and cross border shipping. the one in your post is a completely different issue. both ebay and reverb (which does not use the global shipping service that caused the issue in your link) have shipped a metric fuckton of guitars, and weight size will not be an issue. only the question of cites regs, which i still doubt would be an issue here.


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## Hammerhands (Dec 19, 2016)

cheezyridr said:


> the gretch pages will not load for me, i don't know why. the first link you sent is due to a very specific set of circumstances, none of which apply to the scenario in this thread. the one in this thread involves a cites issue and cross border shipping. the one in your post is a completely different issue. both ebay and reverb (which does not use the global shipping service that caused the issue in your link) have shipped a metric fuckton of guitars, and weight size will not be an issue. only the question of cites regs, which i still doubt would be an issue here.


The ones on GretchPages are about CITES.

GuitarsCanada adds a an “s” to http, so remove the "s" from the link.

Here's another story.

https://guitarscanada.com/index.php...sent-my-jazz-bass-neck-to-the-chipper.205169/

Another guy signed up just to say this happened to him.

https://guitarscanada.com/index.php?threads/rosewood-and-cities.149561/


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## Rozz (Aug 1, 2018)

I have bought a lot of guitars off EBay and two off Reverb. There is no consistency whatsoever. As an example I bought this guitar on the 13th of August shipped Fedex from Maryland.

Ibanez AH-20 1986 Black Alan Holdsworth Model 

I got charged $40.00 brokerage fees plus GST and PST. No duty.

I bought this guitar 10 days later shipped FedEx from Oregon.

Ibanez AH-10 | Boutique Rock N Roll Relics - Blackmore

No charges at all. I just signed for it.

EBay experiences have been similar.


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## Guest (Sep 5, 2018)

Don't agree to a deal that includes Global Shipping.


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## knight_yyz (Mar 14, 2015)

Customs does not steal things. They confiscate if paperwork is incorrect or missing. According to Ebay, the seller is responsible and seller will have to refund money. if your guitar is confiscated due to the sellers incompetence. IE improper paperwork. Not sure what Reverb's policy is on that. 

If you want to self declare through UPS you have to tell the seller. When you guitar gets to the border you'll get a call saying come pick it up. You have to go to the border and pay the fees to Canada Customs. Once CBA is happy they give you paperwork. Take the paperwork to UPS and they release the item. I had to do this in Fort Erie once, I refused to pay 80 dollars brokerage on an 80 dollar item. So I went to the border and took care of Customs then went to UPS and said hand it over. They are in the same building in Fort Erie. Not sure what would happen if you lived in another province.


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## Rozz (Aug 1, 2018)

OK, I made a mistake in my original post, so I thought I had better get it right. I thought I paid $40.00 Customs fee but it was actually a $10.00 ROD fee which was charged because I don't have a FedEx acct. Not sure how I screwed that up. Old age maybe.

The rest was accurate. I found the docs. I have attached a pic of the FedEx delivery doc. as well as all the other crap that came with it. The guy who sent it represented a company. Although I don't like to disparage people, he went through all the CITES declaration garbage for a Rosewood fingerboard but the guitar actually had an ebony fingerboard. Not sure how much I would have been charged if he had just sent it without the unnecessary and inaccurate declaration.

The other guitar was sent by an individual, not a company. Fortunately he was smart enough to know the fretboard was ebony and didn't declare it using the CITES docs.

I would include the paperwork, but there was none. Not sure he even filled out any documentation. I think he just sent it. All I had to do was sign for the delivery.


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## NashvilleDeluxe (Feb 7, 2018)

Reviving this thread...
I just made an order from a well-known U.S. luthier tool company. I was completely blindsided by all the shipping, taxes and duty charges. Had I known upfront, there's no way I would have placed an order.

A $167 (Canadian) purchase with $58.49 shipping and handling (FEDEX), then ANOTHER $57.04 in a baffling combination of tax and duties for what I thought were American-made (exempt) products. 
My back end is sore after that one. 

What did I do wrong/should do differently in the future?


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## BSTheTech (Sep 30, 2015)

Using Fedex was a mistake. NEVER use a courior. Always USPost/CanPost.


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## capnjim (Aug 19, 2011)

NashvilleDeluxe said:


> What did I do wrong/should do differently in the future?


Definitely never use Fedex or UPS. They are crooks. 
Canada Post/USPS is great. I have used them literally hundreds of times and zero problems. I used UPS twice, and had two problems.
Always ask when ordering if they will ship USPS. If they won't... go somewhere else.


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## gproud (Mar 2, 2006)

capnjim said:


> Definitely never use Fedex or UPS. They are crooks.
> Canada Post/USPS is great. I have used them literally hundreds of times and zero problems. I used UPS twice, and had two problems.
> Always ask when ordering if they will ship USPS. If they won't... go somewhere else.


Yeah this... I've had a couple of instances of someone from the US using UPS and it was awful. I did a pedal swap with a guy one time and told him use USPS only and he still sent it UPS. When it got here I was expected to pay about $60.00 for brokerage fees/misc. etc... blah blah blah. I refused the item and told the guy when it got back to him to resend USPS, or send my pedal back USPS. Fortunately he was a straight up guy and resent the pedal USPS and didn't complain about paying for shipping twice since he didn't follow my instructions the first time. This was quite a while ago so I think it only cost me about $12.00 to send my pedal to him insured.


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## Hammerhands (Dec 19, 2016)

NashvilleDeluxe said:


> What did I do wrong/should do differently in the future?


How many hours are you from the border?


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## NashvilleDeluxe (Feb 7, 2018)

Hammerhands said:


> How many hours are you from the border?


Don't laugh. I'm less than an hour from Massena, where they have a Ship 'n Shop place I could have had things sent to. I am crying tears onto my packing slip. 
Live and learn.


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## Hammerhands (Dec 19, 2016)

NashvilleDeluxe said:


> Live and learn.


That’s my suggestion. It solves a lot of trouble, for the moment, and the shipping is often free within the U.S.

Related to that, I got an email from B&H the other day. I’m not sure how it relates to other states.

I recall often when I was a kid, Mom would add up all the receipts and taxes on the way back from Fargo and you only paid the portion of the provincial tax above what the state collected. That was before GST.



> -----------------------------------------
> Important Message Regarding Sales Tax
> -----------------------------------------
> 
> As you may know, based on a June 2018 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, North Dakota is now requiring out of state sellers to collect sales tax. As a result, B&H will begin to collect sales tax on shipments to North Dakota on October 16th. All reputable retailers are complying with the new laws and collecting sales tax.


Here’s a news story about it. It shouldn’t apply to Canadians, but it would take an effort by the customer and the retailer to avoid it.

If you've been ducking sales taxes for your online purchases, it's game over


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