Oh good! You must be sick of paying made-up, ridiculous UPS broker fees too! So was I, so I figured out how to legally avoid paying them to scammy courier companies. It's easy and all the instructions on how to do it are right here.
Yep. This post is especially for my Canadian readers or anyone else who is subject to UPS "broker fees" on online items you've shopped for and had shipped to your house.
How to Avoid Paying Broker Fees to Courier Companies
Broker fees are a scam and I want everyone to stop paying them right now. In this post I'm going to teach you how to avoid paying any and all broker fees. Legally. Because I hate them. And I like you.
Here we go.
(if you'd like the quick cheat sheet so you can see how easy it is, skip to the bottom of the post, then come back up here to read exactly how to do everything)
I'm happy to pay UPS or any other company whatever fee they charge to deliver my package but when they want to randomly charge some arbitrary amount to "broker" my package as it crosses the border I start to get my back up.
And when I get my back up, I get angry and start typing furiously on the computer looking for answers.
in 2015 ... I got my back up.
I had ordered (yet another) chicken door opener off of the Internet from a nice man somewhere in The United States.
Before it made it to my door I got this email from UPS.
When I got the email my first thought was I'M NOT PAYING IT. I'll send the stupid chicken door BACK. Broker fees are a scam. A complete scam.
#1. What the fine folks at UPS don't tell you is what exactly these broker fees are going to be. As soon as you allow them to be your "broker" by saying "yes go ahead" in your reply email they can charge you any amount they want.
#2. What the fine folks at UPS also don't tell you is YOU can broker your own package. It's called "self clearing". And it's ridiculously easy.
This is how I responded to the UPS email.
The first email I got in return was basically ... "Um ... I'm not sure about that. You're gonna have to call this number". I did not call the number. I emailed them again. A day later I got what I needed from UPS to "self clear" my package.
- Instructions on where and how to self clear the package including phone numbers and fax numbers (cause this is 1982) which has a spot for stamping by customs.
- The commercial invoice which also has a place for stamping by customs.
- And the regular invoice provided by whoever shipped you the item.
Here's the email they sent me and all the documents that came with it so you can see what they look like:
Legally they have to give you this information. They cannot say no. They cannot claim it can't be done (although they have done exactly this in the past). In my case after my email got to the right person I got a very prompt and efficient response from UPS. No hassles.
If you get an email like the one I got just copy and paste the body of my email and include your shipment order number. (I blurred mine out).
If you don't get an email first and someone from UPS brings your package to your door asking you for the broker fees say no. SAY NO. Say you're going to self clear your package and send them on their way. The second you sign anything, you can't go back. You will have agreed (knowingly or not) to UPS acting as your broker.
Once they leave call UPS and at 1-800-742-5877 and press "3". You will be connected to broker services. Tell them you're going to self clear your item and you'd like the documents you need for that emailed to you. Make sure you have your tracking number handy.
Would you like to save this stuff?
We'll email you this post, so you can refer to it later.
Once you have the documents you need you just take them to your nearest CBSA office. That's the Canada Border Services Agency. You've probably never noticed a CBSA office before but they're all around us in Canada. We're filthy with CBSA offices. You just didn't know it. What you need is a CBSA office that handles self clearing of items. Those are Inland offices and they're fewer and farther between than regular CBSA offices. They're usually at airports but can also be found other places.
If you're lucky there's an inland office near you. Mine was at my local small airport, a 20 minute drive away.
Here's a link that will take you to a map of all the Inland Offices in Canada so you can check right away if one is near you.
How far you want to drive will probably depend on how much money your broker fees with UPS would be. So let's talk about that a tiny little bit.
UPS has decided that they will charge you a percentage of whatever the value of your package is. So if you have a package that's worth between $40-$60 UPS has randomly decided they will charge you $16.75. If your item was $40, then you'll be paying almost 40% in broker fees. 40%!!!!!!!
The higher the value of your package, the lower the percentage you pay for your broker fees BUT they still charge more money based on how much your package is worth.
So you pay $16.75 for a $40 package, $30.40 for a $150 package, $71.80 for a $750 package and so on. The higher the value of your package, the more money you'll be paying.
EVEN THOUGH THEY ALL TAKE THE EXACT SAME AMOUNT OF WORK by UPS. Scam.
You can see the full list of the UPS broker fees here.
I took my documents to my local CBSA office and told them I was self clearing an item. I was one of two people there by the way. No waiting in line, no paying for parking even! I didn't have to explain what I was doing to them, didn't have to convince them I was allowed to do this, I just gave them my documents and they said, thank you ma'am, I'll be back in a second.
And in a second they were back with my forms (now stamped), an additional form, and a bill for my duty and taxes to pay. In this case there was no duty because the item was made in the U.S.A. and I just had to pay my Canadian taxes on it. I paid my bill and they brought me my B-15 form. That's the form you need to send to UPS to prove you paid your duty and taxes.
Your item is now self cleared.
Self clearing just means you pay the duty and taxes yourself. That's all it means. That's it. There's no brokerage office, no mounds of paperwork, no nothin'. Instead of UPS paying your duty and taxes ahead of time, you pay them when your item arrives in Canada.
Yup.
Broker fees. Scam.
When you get home, scan the B-15 form that border services gave you along with the form titled "self accounting procedures" and email it to UPS.
By the next morning my package was delivered.
Is it a pain? A tiny bit but I felt GREAT after doing it. Suck it UPS. I'll self clear my own items. Also, I'm confident that the Canada Services Border Agency is up to date on when or when not to apply duty. UPS has been known to apply duty to things they shouldn't. Like paper goods. Instruction manuals, books, concert tickets should all be duty free.
Other online buying tips for Canadians? If you have the option, don't use UPS or Fedex. Instead have your item shipped by USPS which is The United States Postal Service. No scammy broker fees there.
If you are ordering items under $20 then UPS is fine. There are no broker fees on items that range in price from $0 - $20.
How to Avoid Broker Fees
How to avoid the scam UPS broker fees when receiving online shopping orders.
Instructions
- Do NOT agree to UPS acting as your broker. Not through email or when they’re at your door. Just say no and do NOT accept your package.
- Email or call UPS and say you are going to self clear your item. Ask them to email you the necessary documents.
- Bring those documents to your nearest Canada Border Services Agency (must be Inland offices)
- Pay your actual taxes and get your stamped forms back along with the B-15 form they provide.
- Email the forms back to UPS to prove you paid your owing taxes.
- Wait for your package to arrive free of charge.
Notes
UPS will try to avoid doing this. They'll pretend not to know what you're talking about. They'll avoid emailing or calling you back.
PESTER them if you have to because they DO know what you're talking about and they HAVE TO by law give you the information you're asking for.
- Do NOT agree to UPS acting as your broker. Not through email or when they're at your door.
- Email or call UPS and say you are going to self clear your item. Ask them to email you the necessary documents.
- Bring those documents to your nearest Canada Border Services Agency (must be Inland offices)
- Pay your taxes and get your stamped forms back along with the B-15 form they provide.
- Email the forms back to UPS to prove you paid your owing taxes.
- Wait for your package to arrive free of charge.
I've used this technique several time since this post and I've received countless emails from happy Internet searchers who found my post. This isn't easily found information. But it is important information as far as sticking it to companies that already make obscene amounts of money goes.
Happy online shopping and everyone say it with me one last time. UPS can suck it.
→Follow me on Instagram where I often make a fool of myself←
this is gold, I know it's super old but thank you so much! Somebody shared a link to it on an article I was just reading when I googled scam brokerage fees. The other partial success I've had is you can call them and they will be pretty quick to drop it down if you complain about the exorbitancy of the fee. I've had good success with this.
Oh! Good to know. I know that the companies are making it more difficult for people. Pretending like self-clearing isn't a thing.😏 ~ karen!
After reading all this I'm really unsure how to avoid getting charged all the duty fees I bought a used radio for 60 bucks and it cost me 46 bucks in duty & taxes which is just ridiculous. UPS stated it already cleared customs once it hit windsor. I wasn't sure when I was to call UPS for the paperwork can I go to customs with just the paperwork created by the vendor and the UPS tracking number? or do I need all the paperwork created by UPS signed? I paid the 46 bucks but I know I probably could have done all the paperwork myself for nothing paying 10 bucks in gas to go clear it out of customs. I'm still pretty confused about the whole process and I'm sure UPS makes its share of money off of custom duties...
Hi Jeff. If you've already paid then I'm afraid you're done for. Next time refuse to pay. It doesn't matter if it has crossed the border or not. When you refuse delivery and payment, you then contact UPS and have them send you all the information for self-clearing. That gets taken to your nearest customs pickup area. They look at it and determine how much money you owe to bring it into Canada. It's nominal compared to what UPS overcharges. ~ karen!
No, they don't have to. I had a package arrive with $17 due in brokerage fees. I told them I wanted to self clear it, they said that was not an option. I told them they were legally obligated to give me that option, they said they weren't. I asked to speak to a supervisor and she said that self clearance was no longer an option.
They just sent me my package to my door. No note, no fee. Now I just got a letter dated 5 weeks ago saying I owe them more than 50% the value of my package which are gifts and US snacks. About $75USD (it was probably less but that's what my friend wrote). I'm confused now because they say it was done and it's too late. I was never given the choice to self-clear or refuse the package.
First person on the first sent me to the CBSA and they said they only handle the tax part. Called them back and no one could give me details for the charges. Someone is apparently going to call me back. I don't wanna back down. Those charges are ridiculous!
PGA processing fees, Entry prep fees, Additional Tariff Lines fees... and the GST. Insane. I can't even find information on whether the $60 gift allowance is taken into account when it comes to all the fees or just GST.
I totally could have self-cleared it for the price of a full gas tank in 2025!
Just keep fighting. I know it's exhausting. ~ karen!
Thank you sooooo much for your excellent article on how to self-clear a package coming up from the States! I really appreciate the clear step by step instructions complete with photos of the paperwork. I did what you said and saved myself $118! Super appreciative of your great help with this!
Excellent! Thanks for letting me know. It really is such a scammy process and company. ~ karen!
Hi, I followed all the steps yet the UPS customer service agent on the phone stated because CBSA had inspected and cleared the package-- I could not self clear the item.
I told the customer service agent to return the items to sender, and she provided me with a phone number and case number to dispute the brokerage charges.
This was two pieces of clothing, from the US that I purchased during Black Friday.
Hi Frustrated Shopper. This is a thing they do. They just say no it isn't possible. It is possible and you have every legal right to self clear an item that you did not sign for or accept. I would contact them again and ask for your call to be escalated. ~ karen!
Hi,
I am so happy that I saw your article before let UPs screw me up!So my package just shipped from usa and as soon as I knew it I sent email to ups that I want to do self clearing so I ask them send me all the paperworks.
They replied email right away with no paperworks but saying port of entry will contact me when my package is there.
Does anybody have any idea what this mean?
Someone that I don't know from the USA donated a few cymbals to our band as we desperately needed them. Our old ones were broken. And we didn't have the money to buy a new one.
This person used UPS to ship the item. And he sent me the tracking number. I was shocked to see that it said that I owed $250 even before I received it!
So when UPS came, I met the driver in the driveway before he even got out of the truck, and I refused the delivery. He said, "OK, no problem" and drove away with the package. It didn't even leave the truck.
I was shocked to receive a bill in the mail from UPS saying that I owed $250 anyway even though I refused the delivery! The thing never even got to my doorstep - let alone off the truck! And most of that $250 are brokerage fees.
Besides that, it says on the bill that the payment was due a week before I even received it in the mail.
I checked the tracking after that, and it says clearly "Delivery Refused" and it also says that the item was "disposed of" in Canada. I assumed the package would be returned. So this was another surprise.
Please note, UPS never contacted me about brokerage arrangements.
Could you please give me some advice as to how to navigate this? Should I just send UPS a generic email saying "I will self-clear..." as you described above, and then tell CBSA all the details including the fact that the delivery was refused, and disposed of?
Or, should I fight directly with UPS saying that it was never received as I refused it? And I should not have to pay for this as I never got the item anyway?
What should I do? Your help would be greatly appreciated.
Honestly, all I can do is wish you good luck. I don't have that level of experience. The only thing I can tell you is that you have to wear them down. If it were me, I'd just keep emailing them. If you can possibly (hahaha) get someone on the phone you may have better luck. ~ karen!
I bought an item for $30 USD and paid $42 USD for shipping. I was shocked when they said I owed them another $42 and that collections agencies would come after me if I didn't pay it. I didn't know that I should have turned away the package.... The kicker is that I don't owe any taxes, per se... It's 100% brokerage fees.... And they cost more than the item itself? How is that possible? I contacted UPS for the custom documents, but it might be too late...
I just got an ups brocherage fee of $581 cdn. I wasn’t home and they left a notice. The thing is it’s my husband’s package is from Turkey. I’m assuming he’s allowed to declare this shipped item when he clears customs on his return. I stumbled on your post and we will follow your advice to not pay that whole amount. Thank you for your post and any other advice you might have.
Karine
Hi Karine. As long as you refuse it and say you're going to self clear you should be O.K. but don't let them play dumb. They'll try to refuse or say it isn't a thing etc. etc. Just stick to your guns. ~ karen!
Thank You so much!!
Hi Maam, I am an international student and received a parcel from my family and it said fees to be paid on parcel 132$. Last time it was not UPS and it was only 18$. Me and my family were shocked I googled found your page and rejected it and told them I will self clear. Thank You so much from a broke international student.
Good work! I'm glad it has helped. Good luck. ~ karen!
good advice.
I'll add these tips.
1. if you don't live near a CBSA Inland office you might kick your clearing over to a non-UPS broker. I use Clearit.ca which charges a flat rate of about $45 per shipment. if the value is high (on a recent $750 CAD bike shipment the UPS fee would have been about $95) it's worth it.
and I was able to not even have to waste time on the phone with UPS by simply emailing my instructions (to move the clearing to Clearit.ca and to send the PARS documents to info@clearit.ca) and my UPS tracking number to broker@UPS.com
2. if your US seller is willing to accept your own shipping label (via Email) you can save a lot of money on shipping charges by using pp.netparcel.com
though most commercial sellers aren't prepared to handle one off emailed labels from each of their customers. This works better for private sellers in the USA.
what do you value your time at? do you have time to drive 2-3 hours back and forth to the airport or customs office? Do you have time to wait for 1-2 hours in line? Do you have time to fill out all the paperwork? Do your soul have enough chi to actually deal with customs agents? IF yes, then fine but if not, hire someone to do this. I did it myself 2x and never again. Oh, forgot mentioning I have to pay the toll road fee of $30.
Agreed. but my comment above and kick your clearing to a non-UPS broker like Clearit.ca
What can you do if UPS delivers a package to you, does not require a signature or payment and then sends you an invoice for the brokerage fee a month later? This can't be legal can it? They're threatening to send me to collections.
@James this just happened to me. UPS delivered a package to my rental mailbox (they supposedly had an employee of the rental mailbox company sign for my package) and I received an invoice about a month later that listed a 'payment due' date preceding my receipt of the invoice. The invoice specified brokerage fees for more than 3x the amount of duty charged. I called UPS and was told that I should have known to call them as soon as the package was delivered and that I have no option but to pay the full amount because the package has already been delivered. It's ridiculous.
Hi James, any update on your situation? I have the same problem. Any advice here?
Thanks,
K.
This just happened to me as well. The bill came 3 months after the package was delivered and they gave me 7 days to pay. I just got the letter yesterday and its due today.
I was an insurance broker in British Columbia Canada, which means I had to register vehicles being imported from other jurisdictions like the USA. In my 30 + years doing the job, I'd had maybe a dozen vehicles imported using a customs broker. Every single one had incorrect or incomplete documentation....yes maybe the vehicle could physically cross the border but it couldn't be registered without additional hassle to the purchasers. I had registered literally thousands of imported vehicles and these few were among the worst.
It is just a scam. A huge scam where they just do things all crazy-pants to make the most amount of money possible. ~ karen!
Thank you soo much for this article! I ordered a second hand lens that cost me $800 and I paid the shipping of $100 CAN, when it came to the door I wasn't home luckily but they said it was going to cost me another $309!! $400 to ship an 800 item! I was so mad, but l found your site and tried it! A visit to the UPS store, 6 emails later, 5 phone calls and even talked to a supervisor, second time she wouldn't come to the phone but finally emailed me the papers! My CBSA was at my local airport and the border guard was wonderful, told me that all I needed was my invoice and tracking number and I had those the whole time!! She charged me $103, just the taxes! I will never pay UPS brokerage fees again!!