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Comment by dghlsakjg | Hacker News Reader

I don’t know if UPS going into the states is the same as Canada, but you can avoid the clearance fee by not shipping with UPS ground. The higher levels of UPS service do not have the bullshit fee added on, and you just pay the cost of taxes.

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USPS and Canada Post were the most cost-effective way to deal with customs for the longest time. Unsure if that's the case anymore.

Canadians can also self clear packages in person at a CBSA office through the Courier Low Value Shipment program [1], if the value of the package is under $3300. It's a bit of a hassle, but has saved me >$100 in brokerage fees on some packages when UPS Ground was by far the cheapest option.

[1]: https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/import/courier/lvs-efv/menu-eng....

From that link: “The CBSA has placed a moratorium on applications for participation in the Courier Low Value Shipment Program effective June 3, 2019, until further notice. For additional information regarding the moratorium please refer to Customs Notice 19-12.”

That only applies to couriers who want to participate in the program, not consumers who want to self-clear their imported shipments. A person doesn't need to register, they can just take the appropriate forms to a CBSA office and pay any taxes/duties themselves. Kind of a confusing thing to have posted at the top of a page that seems more applicable to consumers than commercial importers.

Last time I used Canada Post, they charged $10 as a service fee. Pretty reasonable, especially compared to the $35-100 that UPS/FedEx/DHL will charge you for the same thing.

In a perfect world, we would just outlaw brokerage fees, and just have CBSA do the clearance since all of the information is already input in a computer system. We should at least outlaw forced brokerage. I never agreed to have UPS act as my agent, so I get pretty upset when they charge me a fee no one agreed to.

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