I received a package today from the US, a knife I had bought off eBay. Now, when getting packages from the States, I’m used to paying duty fees, usually in the range of $10-$20. However today, when it arrived, I was told I had to pay $36, plus tax, in ‘brokerage fees’. I may be spelling that wrong, on the receipt it only says ‘brok. fee’, and I only heard the guy say it.
Does anyone have any idea what this fee is for, and why it would be so high? I’m wondering if this is a normal thing or if I ought to try and fight it. Otherwise, I’m just curious as to why I had to pay the price of my knife again in fees.
Seems like the seller should be the one to pay that, anyway, not the receiver. I know that when we ship packages to italy and such, we are the ones responsible for paying the taxes and duties and such.
I would double check to see what the seller declared the value at. If he mis-declared it, kindly take it up with him to see if he will perhaps cover half of the fee since it was his mistake.
I had that happen to me with a $4 item I bought off eBay, and was declared $25 value, causing me to pay $11 in customs fees. I mentioned it to the seller, scanned the invoices to show him what I was talking about. He was confused as to how he had made the error, and although I suggested just half of the customs fee, he reimbursed me for the full amount.
So if the seller made an error, it could be worth it to take it up with him.
To clarify a bit, the declared value of the item was $75, which is what the knife usually costs. I just got it at a lowered price. This is not a problem in my eyes.
As for duty, like I said, I’m used to paying it. I don’t think it’s something you can pay in advance; I usually have to pay when I go to the post office to pick up my packages. It just usually isnt so very high.
At the very least it’s good to know what the fee is FOR. I had no idea what a brokerage fee was.