Took a bath on international shipping

robare99 · #1 10-27-2008, 04:32 PM

4th floral Jem has arrived. I asked the seller to please ship via USPS, not UPS. Normally with USPS, the fees are around $35. Again, I thought the seller understood, but when I got the tracking number, it didn't work for USPS, bit did work at the UPS site, despite repeated requests, AND an explanation why.

The brokerage fees to pick up tuis guitar?

$299

Two Hundred and Ninety Nine dollars. So please people, of you ship a guitar from the USA to Canada, for the love of God, send it via USPS.

NOT UPS!!!

Rich · #2 10-27-2008, 04:49 PM

Counterpoint.

Only Priority mail is available to Canada, insurance is MAXIMUM at $675, and has no tracking. If you pay by Paypal the seller would be a complete idiot to ship it postal, underinsured, untrackable

Those are not brokerage fees, brokerage is around $60, the rest is the GST and PST that you owe.

robare99 · #3 10-27-2008, 05:30 PM

USPS does offer international tracking, I have about 6 guitars on the way, via USPS with tracking numbers. I'll give you your point on the insurance, buy I'm sure it's no easier proving a case with either company. Why the difference in price? I'm charged GST on guitars with USPS, yet there is a $260 difference, for a jackass in a brown suit who has a 50% chance of leaning the guitar against your front door and leaving it there in broad daylight, if you aren't there. The other couriers aren't any better . DHL's tracking sucks. Purolater and FedEx are no better.

But ya it's a total a$$ rape sending anything, not just guitars, internationally with a courier.

They aren't quite as bad within Canada, though it took 3 weeks to get an iPhone from Toronto to Edmonton. Maybe they gave it to a guy hitch hiking across Canada or something

I think most sellers prefer the couriers, becaus they come right to your door. It's easier for them

Rich · #4 10-27-2008, 05:43 PM

With a REAL courier you are guaranteed you'll pay every cent of the GST and PST due, just because you're getting a few through with USPS does not mean you don't owe the money, they're just not catching it or collecting it. The only difference otherwise is the $60 UPS charges for brokerage.

And I'm sorry, but a customs form ID number is not "tracking" and you would be screwed if you tried to give that to Paypal to prove it.

robare99 · #5 10-27-2008, 06:53 PM

we don't have PST in Alberta, but it's the only province in Canada that doesn't have PST, so I think the charges are GST, and any duties.

Rich · #6 10-27-2008, 06:55 PM

Then you should be making some calls and finding out what the problem is, but it is not UPS brokerage fee.

Lordiesel · #7 10-27-2008, 07:07 PM

Robare. . . how many guitars have you bought in the last 4 weeks? Please tell me.... what do you do for a living because I'm pretty sure I want to do whatever it is you do.

velocity · #8 10-27-2008, 08:13 PM

it is actually the ups brokerage fees. they charge an unbelievable amount. i refuse to ship through them because of this.

robare99 · #9 10-27-2008, 09:15 PM

please delete, didn't notice I posted it twice.

robare99 · #10 10-27-2008, 09:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lordiesel

Robare. . . how many guitars have you bought in the last 4 weeks? Please tell me.... what do you do for a living because I'm pretty sure I want to do whatever it is you do.

Hey. Ok let me figure it out. I went a little crazy. Here's what happened. I was kinda wandering the bay just browsing stuff. I seen that blue RG550 with the mirror pickguard and the guy was throwing in a free white Jem. He wasn't sure about his authenticy, and once I got it yeah it was pretty obvious it was a fake. From there I started looking at Jems. I picked up that blue swirl project one. I knew of a guy who had a floral for sale. I was going to buy another one to build a RootBeer or a swirl when I thought "you know, I know a guy who has the exact guitar I really want." So I hit him up and bought it. I also dropped the blue swirl off as it needed some neck work, the tremolo swapped out, and a couple other things.

I went away for a little holiday with my girlfriend to a place called Banff. We grabbed a hotel for the Labour Day long weekend (first weekend of Sept) and while we were there I noticed a Root Beer Jem was on the bay. There was about an hour left, and I was waiting for it. Wow A RB Jem, at a good price, it was always my favorite. We went out for a little walk, and I ended up forgetting about it, and the auction ended without even a single bid.

After that I don't know what happened I just thought hey, things are kinda looking sketchy in the stock market and I had some extra cash laying around. I really liked the floral guitars, and then suddenly, hey it would be nice to have a pink one, and a yellow one, and another and another. All these deals. LOL, so yeah, I have an offer out on a Rootbeer Jem locally. I'm waiting for the parts to arrive for the blue and the DNA style swirls. Waiting for my 7 string Herc Fede swirl body to come, and I think thats about it. I picked up a couple Kramer Ferringtons along the way, just for good merit. So counting the blue RG550, and the Chibanez, I've bought the following guitars.....

Kramer Ferrington sunburst strat style
Kramer Ferrigton white tele style
Kramer Ferrington Tobacco Sunburst strat

Ibanez RG550 black
Ibanez RG550 blue with mirror pick guard
Ibanez RG320 black and green swirl
Ibanez 7620 Seven string sparkle black

Ibanez Jem777 finish stripped
Ibanez Jem777 Shocking Pink
Ibanez Jem777 Desert Yellow
Ibanez Jem777 Desrt Yellow VDY
Ibanez Jem77 Floral
Ibanez Jem77 Floral
Ibanez Jem77 Floral
Ibanez Jem77 Floral
Ibanez Jem77 Floral
Ibanez Jem BSB

Waiting to hear back about a Root Beer Jem

PAW Daren Johansen swirl project
Blue swirl Jem project
White Chibanez Jem style

Herc Fede swirl replacement 7 string
Ibanez jem style guitar body DNA style
Ibanez jem style guitar body BMC

I don't want to say how much I paid in total, it's probably quite embarassing. Oh yeah, I'm a tradesman in Alberta, oil country, I make more than enough for me. I have all the toys, the car, the hot tub the house, the truck. I could be like my friends buying up cabins etc on the different lakes, but I'm just not much of a cabin guy. My car is pretty much all done up, turboed etc. Not much else to do to it. I have a PA, I have some good amps, etc. etc. I guess a guy just needs something to spend some cash on. Once I pay off my truck and hot tub in 2 years I'll have another $1200/month freed up for play money.

I have buddies that go out 4x4ing for the weekend and do $7000 or $8000 damage to their truck. Then they drag it back to the shop and slowly buy the parts, and put it back together. I have other friends with $2000 - $3000 sets of golf clubs who go off on vacation and golf everywhere. I guess you just choose your poison and have at it. I do mountain biking and have a pretty decent ride, I think I paid $3200 for it, but it's all pretty much set up enough for me. I only have to replace stuff when it gets broken.

I'm hoping the guitars will be worth something some day. Ah who knows hey, but then again, how is everyones stocks doing?

teokiatuan · #11 10-27-2008, 11:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by robare99

Hey. Ok let me figure it out. I went a little crazy. Here's what happened. I was kinda wandering the bay just browsing stuff. I seen that blue RG550 with the mirror pickguard and the guy was throwing in a free white Jem. He wasn't sure about his authenticy, and once I got it yeah it was pretty obvious it was a fake. From there I started looking at Jems. I picked up that blue swirl project one. I knew of a guy who had a floral for sale. I was going to buy another one to build a RootBeer or a swirl when I thought "you know, I know a guy who has the exact guitar I really want." So I hit him up and bought it. I also dropped the blue swirl off as it needed some neck work, the tremolo swapped out, and a couple other things.

I went away for a little holiday with my girlfriend to a place called Banff. We grabbed a hotel for the Labour Day long weekend (first weekend of Sept) and while we were there I noticed a Root Beer Jem was on the bay. There was about an hour left, and I was waiting for it. Wow A RB Jem, at a good price, it was always my favorite. We went out for a little walk, and I ended up forgetting about it, and the auction ended without even a single bid.

After that I don't know what happened I just thought hey, things are kinda looking sketchy in the stock market and I had some extra cash laying around. I really liked the floral guitars, and then suddenly, hey it would be nice to have a pink one, and a yellow one, and another and another. All these deals. LOL, so yeah, I have an offer out on a Rootbeer Jem locally. I'm waiting for the parts to arrive for the blue and the DNA style swirls. Waiting for my 7 string Herc Fede swirl body to come, and I think thats about it. I picked up a couple Kramer Ferringtons along the way, just for good merit. So counting the blue RG550, and the Chibanez, I've bought the following guitars.....

Kramer Ferrington sunburst strat style
Kramer Ferrigton white tele style
Kramer Ferrington Tobacco Sunburst strat

Ibanez RG550 black
Ibanez RG550 blue with mirror pick guard
Ibanez RG320 black and green swirl
Ibanez 7620 Seven string sparkle black

Ibanez Jem777 finish stripped
Ibanez Jem777 Shocking Pink
Ibanez Jem777 Desert Yellow
Ibanez Jem777 Desrt Yellow VDY
Ibanez Jem77 Floral
Ibanez Jem77 Floral
Ibanez Jem77 Floral
Ibanez Jem77 Floral
Ibanez Jem77 Floral
Ibanez Jem BSB

Waiting to hear back about a Root Beer Jem

PAW Daren Johansen swirl project
Blue swirl Jem project
White Chibanez Jem style

Herc Fede swirl replacement 7 string
Ibanez jem style guitar body DNA style
Ibanez jem style guitar body BMC

I don't want to say how much I paid in total, it's probably quite embarassing. Oh yeah, I'm a tradesman in Alberta, oil country, I make more than enough for me. I have all the toys, the car, the hot tub the house, the truck. I could be like my friends buying up cabins etc on the different lakes, but I'm just not much of a cabin guy. My car is pretty much all done up, turboed etc. Not much else to do to it. I have a PA, I have some good amps, etc. etc. I guess a guy just needs something to spend some cash on. Once I pay off my truck and hot tub in 2 years I'll have another $1200/month freed up for play money.

I have buddies that go out 4x4ing for the weekend and do $7000 or $8000 damage to their truck. Then they drag it back to the shop and slowly buy the parts, and put it back together. I have other friends with $2000 - $3000 sets of golf clubs who go off on vacation and golf everywhere. I guess you just choose your poison and have at it. I do mountain biking and have a pretty decent ride, I think I paid $3200 for it, but it's all pretty much set up enough for me. I only have to replace stuff when it gets broken.

I'm hoping the guitars will be worth something some day. Ah who knows hey, but then again, how is everyones stocks doing?

wanna buy me?

robare99 · #12 10-27-2008, 11:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by teokiatuan

wanna buy me?

LOL are you a chick?

Are you hot??

LOL

buddroyce · #13 10-28-2008, 12:11 AM

If the guitar was shipped to you via UPS, you should have some paperwork breaking down on what you were charged. Keep in mind that the 5% GST and 6% Duty on guitars applies to the value of the guitar in Canadian dollars. With our dollar slipping down 20+% over the last 2 weeks, you're paying a lot more now to import a guitar than a month ago.

Bowie · #14 10-28-2008, 12:21 AM

From Eb*y:
"UPS and Fedex Class action law suits have been filed in Canada. Sellers who ship via UPS or Fedex may not be aware that their customers are required to pay a 'brokerage fee' plus a C.O.D. fee to collect the brokerage fee (!) to United Parcel Service/Fedex. These fees are based on the declared value of the item and are steep, ranging from about $25 to $70 US. In comparison, there are usually no brokerage fees for items sent by mail (though

Canada Post sometimes charges $5.00 for items over $20).
The website of the lawyer handling the class action lawsuit in BC states: the lawsuit claims that on the purchase of goods from the US, UPS fails to obtain consumers' consent to act as customs broker, or to disclose the existence or amount of the Brokerage Fee which they charge, or to provide consumers with the opportunity to arrange for customs clearance by themselves. It also claims that the amount of the Brokerage Fee charged is grossly excessive.

There are folks who refuse to purchase from sellers who deliver goods by UPS or Fedex for exactly this reason, and I'm one of them. Imagine having your package delivered by a person who won't turn it over unless you pay a large fee that you've had no advance notice of. Once stung by these fees, it's not an experience easily forgotten.

Some horror stories from Canadian **** buyers are here

iscussion forum on UPS brokerage fee

In the meantime, if you have an item on the way via UPS or Fedex and want to avoid exhorbitant brokerage fees, get the tracking number from the seller, call the courier company, and tell them you want to broker it yourself. When the item arrives, pick up the paperwork from the courier company, walk it over to Canada Customs (usually right near by), they'll process it, stamp the forms, and you can return to UPS or Fedex and pick up your package. Do not wait until UPS or Fedex delivers your package to you! Also, make sure your seller knows that the declared value is ONLY the amount you paid for the item (not including shipping), and take your proof of the amount you paid with you to ensure you aren't overcharged on duty and taxes by Canada Customs.

Update May 2008: There is litigation seeking compensation for Canadians in all provinces who have been required to pay improper fees charged by courier companies (such as UPS and Fedex) for delivery of international courier parcels. For more information or to join a lawsuit go to: classaction.ca, merchantlaw.com, and poynerbaxter.com"

robare99 · #15 10-28-2008, 01:24 PM

ahhhh you know what, that's right about the dollar makingn a difference. Still, the flat fee was $85 per guitar. I'll let u know how much I pay when the USPS guitars arrive. But it still sucks, and UPS has always been higher. Normally I tell them to forget it, if they can't ship USPS. Passed on a DY Jem here because of that. I didn't know either was being shipped that way, and once they are here, what can I really do.

Nice guitars though, the floral is a player guitar, a ways from mint, but still far from abused as well, and the yellow vine Jem is simply beautiful.