Brokerage Fees? Avoid them!

[coach]

clipped these posts from the other thread and will keep them stickied.

Originally Posted by altima8

Broker your own stuff and you won't have to pay...takes about 3-4 minutes. I pay flat rate $25 per box when I ship kits, but if I'm shipping something really non-car-related I just fill out the forms myself. Basically, UPS and others count on you *not* knowing about these fees so they can *penalize* you with them. The item comes through the border and it's like this:

"Where's the brokerage paperwork for this box?"

"There isn't any, sir."

"Shame. Who's the carrier?"

"UPS, sir."

"Well get UPS to do the paperwork for this box."

"Yup."

UPS does the paperwork in literally 15 seconds and makes $60. They probably make more profit off that than the actual shipping itself. Crooks.

Originally Posted by altima8

Importing Goods FAQ

How to complete Form B3 when importing commercial goods

Originally Posted by altima8

Basically you get the necessary forms, look up what "class" the products are that you are importing, what exemptions there are for it for tariffs and duties (NAFTA etc.) and get an invoice from the person you bought it from. I have only done this a couple of times so I'm by no means an expert...I just know a bit about it and know it's possible.

You da man Jeff!

[Frea_Kanata]

just did some quick reading, but where do i get form b3?

[bulletproof]

Oh man.. thx Jeff..

[LionShare]

Ask the vendor to ship as gift or "evaluation material" and never pay brokerage fees again.

[Tonychanman]

some companies won't ship as a gift though, they can get in trouble for doing it too much, but if they're willing then totally ask them to.