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.
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←
Ryan
I was shocked. My package worth $600 USD was charged $94 CAD in brokerage fees. Completely caught off guard. The sales tax was $38. This is such a rip off! I wish I could get my money back. I'll know for next time, thanks for posting this!
Esse
Hello thanks for the insightful information. I never received any prior delivery or duties information Ups delivered the package left at my door and days later mailed me duties for 97.60 on a shipment of about $200. Is there anyway I can still go about the self clear cause I really don’t want to pay such outrageous amount in duties.
Karen
Hi Esse. All you can do is call or email them to discuss it. Explain you didn't give approval for them to act as your broker and see what they say. ~karen!
SM
Thanks for this guide. I have shipped my luggage back while traveling and ended up with a $900 duties fee from UPS. I am not coming back to Canada till February so can not go to CBSA in person. What should I do?
AJ
I’ve been charged a brokerage fee even though I rejected the package over a month ago. This packages wasn’t even something I bought but were MY pair of sunglasses I left in a relative’s car which he then took to Canada and sent me via UPS. Is the letter UPS sent me outdated? Or are they justified in trying to charge me even though I never accepted the package?
Karen
Hi AJ. They can't charge you if you never agreed for them to be your broker. But to get the money back you do need to go through the whole process of emailing them, asking for self clearing forms etc. etc. UPS is awful. AWFUL. ~ karen!
Rz
Just wanted to say thank you for this info. Was about to pay $52 for my package and while pondering why I'm being charged brokerage and not only the tax on the item from U.S.... I googled and found this.
Guess how much I paid today at CBC?
$16 only!!!!!! Tracking shows customs cleared and item is on the way
Kirill
UPS is charging me $64 in brokerage fees to clear a $210 package, with a $24 tax amount. Read your article while being on hold. Heading to a CBSA office first thing tomorrow morning to self-clear it. Kudos for the info! Art Of Doing Stuff the right way indeed :)
Jennifer Oliveira
Thank you so much for this! Can't believe UPS tried to scam me a $105 on a $100 order. Here's hoping my local airport in Kitchener has a self clearing CBSA office!
You are a godsend!
Nancy Tigress
Wow thank you for that. I was looking this up for the third time since I'm emailing the company to have then cancel it while it's on its way. UPS told me if the company cancelled when they would scan next time they would know and send it back. This makes no sense to me but I'm trying. I told the guy don't even try to deliver it. I'm not paying! There's no way il pay a fee I've never heard about or seen before in my life.
I'm getting charged 70.88 brokerage fee with duty it equals to 101.73$ for a 200$ product. 2 tiny metal adapter pieces.
Shipping rarely il choose a place where there's shipping costs only for good reasons or maybe saving. Duty even those it sucks I get it, we can't skip those. But brokerage fee and other junk 🙄 not a chance.😑
Il see what I can do on my end. Il start with seeing what the company says, even more now that I see I bought this and then the sales came flying through. Ugh.
Maybe I could do the clearing online. I hope so. 😅
Karen
You can self clear! But UPS makes it as painful as possible. I'm not sure why their system hasn't been regulated by the government. :/ ~ karen!
Alana Walker
Karen, why is no one contacting CBC Marketplace about this scam? If you really want to stick it to UPS, this would be the answer, no?
Karen
I did raise that point with a friend of mine who is an executive producer at CBC years ago. But *really* the government should be regulating it and they aren't. :/ ~ karen!
Sean
Just got an invoice from UPS for a package that was delivered to my mailbox. Nowhere did I authorize them to act as my agent. Guess I'm spending the next little while emailing and on the phone to have their brokerage fees knocked off.
Susan
I ordered a supplement from the US for about $50. The UPS guy delivered it, and wanted to collect a $26 brokerage fee, but said he couldn't because there was a problem with his point-of-sale device. But he left the package with me.
Then UPS emailed a bill for the $26. There is no duty owing. The only "government fees" owing are GST/HST on their "Entry Prep Fee" and and something called "COD/Online Fee." There was no COD; this item was fully paid before shipment, including shipping fees.
Do I have to pay this? SKETCHY AS HELL!
Carol
Hi Karen,
I ordered a supplement from the us for $ 77.00 through Amazon in Canada and Ups was charging me a total of $127.71 in custom and brokerage fees in total. Decided to return the product and was refunded by the seller. Should I have to pay for the the charges of 127.71 to ups and then claim it after. What should I do. Thanks.
Carol
Karen
Hi Carol. In order to avoid the charges I believe you have to refuse delivery of the item. But call UPS and tell them what happened and see what they say. It's always best to talk to (pester) someone on the phone if you can. ~ karen!
Curvenut
Hi,
I am receiving a package (value 1500$) from UK. The package is sent with FedEX.
Does this how to apply to FedEx too ?
Thanks
Manjeet
Thanks Karen for this information. I saved $100 in brokerage fees, couldn't believe how UPS is scamming people and it was so easy to get it self cleared.
Magnus
Hello Karen,
First off thank you for this it's great!!! I already called UPS to start the process and already they are claiming it can't be done via email...would you care to share the email we should use? Thank you kindly, you are awesome.
Kirsten
Thank you, so helpful!
Karen
Good luck! ~ karen
Mone
I just got a $77 scam charge from UPS for a product repair. it's not even a sale. I've already paid my fair share of custom + sales tax when I first purchased it from the US. Thanks so much for this info. I'll definitely give it a try!
Karen
Keep on them Mone! Don't give up if they try to brush you off. ~ karen!
Bill
You all need to acquire a decent professional lawyer that is 100% knowledgeable in NAFTA law & sue these idiots that are breaking the law. Since 2020 it's now called USMCA, replaces the current NAFTA agreement that governs trade in North America.
I have been regularly ordering stuff from WDC (Western Digital) in Irvine, California since the 70's (50 years)& other USA based companies & have NEVER paid any duties because it is ILLEGAL & against NAFTA law. Any company in the past that tried to intercept my packages & act as my broker has been sued & the supreme court judges demanded to see their entire business ledgers to nail them for all their past illegal brokerage attempts. Every broker that tried to intercept has been bankrupted out of business & imprisoned over the last 50 years.
Why? you ask. Very simple. I'll explain it as my lawyers told me . Basically, under NAFTA, if the product is made in USA & NOT in Canada, there are NO duties under the Tariff schedules. If the product IS made in Canada & you still buy from the USA, then you will pay duties because you should have bought Canadian & supported your own country :o)
Almost 100% of all computer related internal parts are made in USA & NOT Canada so no duties on hard drives, video cards, power supplies, memory, motherboards, etc.
I'll give you an example of what transpired back in the 80's & is still valid legally in 2021!
I ordered several drives from WDC in USA & normally they arrive the next day at my doorstep but this time they were delayed & I called WDC to find out why. Apparently when the Purolator plane arrived in Toronto to unload other peoples items, mine somehow got taken off as well & was misdirected. CBSA agents noticed that my package was wrongly taken off the plane but too late to return it to the plane since it already took off. CBSA agents directed my package to a brokerage & they in turn sent me a postal mail stating that they required me to pay duties & brokerage fees before they would release & ship my package to me in NS. I contacted my lawyer & when he saw the letter from the brokers, he immediately contacted the judge to inform him of another disaster case. The case was handled in Ontario by my lawyer & the judge told the broker firm that unless they had a signed letter(or email) with my signature authorizing them to act as my broker, they broke the law. The judge demanded that they produce my package instantly & hand it over to my lawyer at NO cost. The firms' records were also inspected to ascertain how many other people were scammed as well & they were bankrupted out of business due to the fines imposed by the supreme court judge & imprisoned for 7-14 years for NAFTA infringement & violation of my rights. The CBSA agents were also charged for failure to comply with NAFTA laws & they were fired for lack of due diligence.
So do NOT pay duties for ANYTHING made in the USA unless it is on the special schedule of restricted items (farming gear, wood, food, etc.)
Double D
Thanks for this guide! The UPS number in the comments (1 800-335-8763) is the best one to use for any inquiries. Their brokerage department's number is 1 888 520 9090.
A point of clarification for anyone reading this: you get charged stupid brokerage fees for UPS Ground shipments only. If it's done via air shipments (i.e. UPS Worldwide Express or UPS Express Saver), the fee is $10 plus tax PER SHIPMENT. So, if you are ordering many items that come from many warehouses, you will be paying $10 plus tax per separate shipment. Make sure that you insist on the shipper combining items into one shipment where possible. A bit steep of a fee but far better than the fees others are paying if your purchase value is significant. They design it as a convenience fee and do whatever they can to avoid helping you bypass it. But on a $450 shipment like I'm considering, it's worth the $10.
James
Hi! Thanks for the great information you have provided! You have touched on crucial points! decking contractor