Customs Fees charged by UPS to Buyer Upon Delivery

[vintagerosanne]

Sold an item for $25.00 US plus $19.99 shipping to a person in California.  No communication from Buyer whatsoever.  UPS was not able to deliver because Buyer Refused delivery.  UPS claims that there was $53.00 US Customs owing to Buyer at the door.  UPS called and asked me to pay it!  In order for me to receive the item, I have to pay the $53.00 US.  Anyone else experience this?  This is June 2025.  Thank you.

[john_koenig99]

That amount sounds like a DJT tariff. Was the item made in China? 

Have UPS given you a breakdown of the fees?

[easoss]

Another UPS victim. I was contacted by them about a package destined to me. It was from Panini and was a redemption trading card I submitted 4 years ago. I had no idea what it was but the charge to me to receive it was $17. I paid it with a sneaking suspicion the item inside wasn't valuable at all. And guess what, the card inside was worth $10. The card was printed in the USA. This is nothing more than a blatant cash grab by the courier companies.

My advice, use the post office and hand write your address labels. I have had no issues when I do this. Nothing attracts tariff interest like printed labels and invoices on packages. Their suspicion radar goes up substantially.

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

A large chunk of that $53 is likely fees related to the service that the carrier provided clearing the item. UPS and Fedex charge large fees to import items. 

For example, I have a recent Fedex invoice for something I imported from USA to Canada. The total price of the goods imported was around $200 CAD. The invoice from Fedex for importing it is for about $150. Out of that $150, around $65 is fees from the carrier for clearing it. Only $32 is GST/HST (which I can claim). The rest is "customs duty". 

Compare that to UPS/Canada Post, who only charge $9.95 CAD in fees to clear a package. I could be wrong, but they also rarely apply tariffs, only GST. GST/HST. GST/HST is able to be claimed as a credit by businesses who are registered, so it's not a major issue, but duty is an issue because it cannot be claimed the same way.

I understand the above exampe is USA into Canada, not Canada into USA. But it is meant to illustrate the kind of fees that some carriers charge to import goods. $65 of $150 is fees, so a $53 fee on a cheaper item isn't a surprise.

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

As far as I know, I have not had any customers who buy items below the de minimis get charged any import fees by UPS. I used UPS for a 2 week span in June, so the sample size is reasonably high.

I mostly ship items with a country of origin of Canada, USA, Indonesia, and Mexico. I use the proper HTS code, include a detailed description, and I include a clear shipping bag with invoices on the outside of the package. My physical items are also clearly marked as Made In XXXX. If the marking isn't extremely evident, I add one using an address label sticker over a poly bag.

Did your item have a China country of origin?

When you ship something to the USA you usually have to fill out a CN22 form that includes a description of goods, HTS code, and country of origin. Did you not mark the country of origin, or not include an HTS code? Did you not include an invoice?

It is possible that your package was charged because the item was either of Chinese origins, or they could not reasonably determine that it wasn't of Chinese origins because the CN22 form was not complete on your end (HTS code, etc). That's just a guess.

As far as your responsbility to your buyer, they waived their buyer protection when they refused the package. You're not on the hook for refunding them. You can choose to abandon the item if it makes more fiscal sense.

As far as the UPS fees go, I do not know if UPS will come after you for the fees if you do not pay them. You would have to figure out whether you are obligated to pay them if you abandon the package. 

Although, if they were charged because you made an error with the 

[byto253]

Has the item been returned to the local UPS and they are holding it wanting payment? 

That happened to me with a return and UPS tried to charge fees, even though the parcel was correctly identified as a return.  I called UPS and spoke with the brokerage people.  After a PITA process I was able to go to a Customs Canada office to do clearance myself and UPS did not charge after getting the customs form.

Your situation looks to be different but I would call UPS Canada and follow the prompts to get hold of the brokerage office and explain the situation.  i.e.  Customer refused delivery so it is a return back to Canada to you.   That may not get you further but speaking to the brokerage folks is much better than the general reps. 

[reallynicestamps]

This is an Undeliverable item since the buyer refused it.

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/ebay-money-back-guarantee-policy/ebay-money-back-guarantee-policy...

EBay will not require you to refund anything.

Tell UPS to return it.

You will be out the cost of shipping.

[vintagerosanne]

Made in China, and no breakdown on the fees.  Just that UPS had to clear it and charged me!

[vintagerosanne]

UPS wants me to pay $53 US to return the item.  I said Abandon it!

[vintagerosanne]

Exactly what I thought!  This is ridiculous!  DJT has spoiled the eBay Seller Stores!

[vintagerosanne]

I'm NOT using UPS anymore!  I would rather pay Canada Post and wait for the extra delivery time.  UPS has broken so many of my items it's ridiculous!  They tell you it's not their fault!  Oh, so the large parcel looks lik someone ran it over with an airplane!!!  That could be why the contents were broken!  NO MORE UPS!!!

[vintagerosanne]

Yes, and I will not pay for it!  That is called EXTORTION!  They can keep it!  NO MORE UPS!  They break stuff, kick the parcels around, and deny any wrongdoing.  NO MORE UPS!

[vintagerosanne]

UPS wants the $53 US to return it!  I said - abandon it!  NO MORE UPS!

[printerwarehousecalgary]

yup!  Sold an item for $550US Duty and brokerage somewhere around $450US.  Am now told I have to pay the 450 + 38 for return shipping.  Thats $488.  to have the item returned.  Oh by the way if I do not want product back I still have to pay the $488.  At least ebay didnt give the buyer a refund.  Thus I get 550 from Buyer and pay US government $488.  Boy was that ever fun.  Item not yet returned, but hopefully soon.  

[nhl_automotive]

Don't ship Chinese made items to the US right now or your buyer will not only pay tariffs but the huge brokerage fees which is what your buyer is seeing. 

[vintagerosanne]

eBay is contacting UPS to Return the item to me!  I am not paying, I am covered.  This is on UPS.  Din't fall for the Extortion that you have to pay to receive your shipped item.  It is yours, not UPS!

[vintagerosanne]

eBay is taking care of me.  You should NOT be paying to have your merchandise returned.  That is on UPS and covered by eBay!

[morepleaseshop]

Hi,

I was wondering how and when UPS charged you for shipping on that item? Did they just charge a normal shipping from you to the buyer or did they try to slap you with all thouse charges through ebay?

I got 2 buyers in 1 day to refuse to pay to UPS so they say they will ship them back. The shipping charge didn't show up in my records yet and I wonder if they (UPS) might decide that the easiest way to get all those money that the buyers didn't pay is to charge it as "shipping costs" to the seller's account...

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

If the buyer refuses, it will be charged to your eBay balance at a later date. You can find social media posts with horror stories about this. This is assuming that you printed the label via eBay labels. 

I'm currently using UPS, and I message each buyer before I ship the item. I let them know they may get a large brokerage charge, and give them 2-3 days to cancel before I print the label. 

Keep in mind, that buyers refusing items over customs fees invalidates buyer protection. Based on the terms the buyer agrees to when they shop on eBay, you would be within your rights to keep the item to fund the unrecoverable costs of the buyer refusing delivery. Legally, whether the buyer could come after you for the refund in small claims would be a different discussion, I don't know the answer to that. 

[morepleaseshop]

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@ilikehockeyjerseys wrote:

If the buyer refuses, it will be charged to your eBay balance at a later date. You can find social media posts with horror stories about this. This is assuming that you printed the label via eBay labels. 

This was exactly my worry. If the UPS will try to recoup their charges from me. Yes, I printed ebay labels.
I don't have any sosial media,so, can't see thouse, but I found this thread and wonder how it worked out in the end.

I wonder if contacting UPS and stopping them from shipping items back will help...

So far the buyers are not demanding anything, but I'm more scared to be charged with what they refused to pay and more.