General Forum

Today, I stopped by my Post Office to pick up a trade package.  I was surprised it had not been put in the mail box as I have had larger trades that have fit in the mail box.  This one was for about 350 cards.  I was shocked when I was charged $35 in taxes and handling fees. At first I thought I had been mistakenly charged for duty but nope, all taxes and the standard $9.95 service fee by Canada Post.  Why would this have happened for a box of cards that I would have valued at $50 or less?

Looking it over, I now find that the declared value was $200 US! Even though it was marked as a "Gift" anything above $45-50 US will incur these charges. Considering what I paid to send the other half of the trade, I am now at $55 for these cards and that is without considering the value of those I sent.

Unless I am getting some true vintage cards or some very valuable RC from the 60s and 70s, I would never pay as much as the declared value for cards. Other than the one 1983 RC which can be had for $15, the rest of them can be found in larger lot buys probably for pennies to the card.

I know we all value our cards dearly but realistically, 1980s and newer cards (other than the odd exception) are not worth the value we personally place on them. Having to now add the extra cost I just incurred to complete this trade takes away much of the enjoyment there is in trading.

I am not telling the sender he is at fault; if he honestly thought the cards are worth $200 and wished to be honest with the Post Office (not that they care what declared value you put on the box), so be it. But the consequences at the other end are costly. Had the declared value been $50, they would have shown up in my mailbox without the added charges.

For those who do not know, a Canadian can receive a gift of $60 Cdn or less in value without being charged taxes or duty.  Sports cards do not have duty charges but if over the "gift" limit, we have to pay 13% of the declared value in taxes and, as soon as any charge is incurred, Canada Post charges $9.95 for handling fees. Therefore overvaluing cards for whatever reason can cause serious consequences. Additionally, if you use a different shipping company than USPS / Canada Post, they will automatically charge brokerage fees even if there is no duty or taxes to be collected.

I believe Americans have similar international "Gift" rules with similar value limits though I have never researched it.

All in all, a depressing day.

I had a similar experience once when a trading partner declared $100 for what in reality was about $10 worth of cards.

That's strange to me since it should only be considered a gift if the exchange in value is uneven. Even if the cards are worth $1000, you typically don't owe taxes if you are sending $1000 back the other way. I'm not a lawyer or anything, nor have I done any trades with values that high, but I've also never even been asked the value of the cards I am sending when I have to go in to the post office.

As soon as you have to put a Customs Form on the package, you have to declare a value.  That is going both ways. That declared value is what Customs will use in determining what charges to lay. A gift under $60 Cdn will not receive any charges.

Thanks for this thread. I never would have known that and will definitely not be valuing anything over $50 if I ever ship internationally. However, I would definitely inform the sender. I'm sure it was an honest mistake, but they need to know for future reference. 

I appreciate the info and if I send via post office rather than international forever stamps I will be sure to post a small value AMt definitely a bummer to pay all that! 
thanks for the info!

I am sorry that this happened to you Bruno. I think it is on both parties because I have never shipped internationally I would know. Granted I would have asked anything I need to know if I was doing a trade. But since you know (and we know not a everyone reads the forums) maybe just inform all your trade partners the rules of the post office.

I currently have sent back a package in appeal to Canada Customs. The sender (a member here) declared US $200 in total value for about 75 cards. I've been charged CAD $40 in fees for something the actual value was closer to $10 or $20. He probably wanted to do well and have more insurance value, but he didn't expected that Canada Customs officers went in strike in the last days. It was probably the worst time to have such error on the form, because one of their actions was a work-to-rule of postal item processing. The stike is supposly over, but the issue is no one at Canada Post seems to know how to deal with the appeal. I printed the CRA / Customs web page where the process is explained and the postal clerk taped it to the package. Meanwhile, tracking shows it as returned to sender, because my address was incorrect.

By the way, depending on which postal port of entry the package is entering the country (Vancouver, BC; Toronto / Mississauga, ON or Montreal, QC), you can also have to pay additional provincial sales taxes. In Montreal, they're also supposed to collect Quebec sales taxes for Quebec residents and Vancouver does it for BC residents. Toronto is different, because Ontario has harmonized GST (provincial tax is included in what Federal charges).

I think this is actually really smart to put out in the air. I only do trades across borders if they are fairly large (The only one I have done was a PIF to Shaw Racing). It's good for future trades though as I will not over value cards for insurance proposes. In reality if it's all base cards then 300 cards can be seen as around $50. I have never received a package from across the border but i would assume it's similar.