My fellow Canadians ...

[gkent]

Just in case you didn't know ...

I the past whenever I sold an item I'd generally ask for payment with a USPS International Money Order for the simple reason that neither I nor the buyer would be hit with ridiculous percentage fees that Paypal charge,

Well I recently sold some items and the buyer insisted on paying with Western Union. I won't bore you with the details but I ended up not getting the full amount out of the deal because WU screws us on the exchange rate.

So this time (same buyer) I told him I wanted payment with a USPS International Money Order. But knowing he might be objectionable I decided I do all the research into the cost, etc..

WELL ... it just so happens that as of April 2019 the USPS and CanadaPost no longer issues money orders which are redeemable in either country.

IMM Revision: Termination of International Postal Money Order Service with Canada Post

IMM Revision: Termination of International Postal Money Order Service with Canada Post
Effective August 30, 2019, the Postal Service™ is revising Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, International Mail Manual (IMM®), part 371, to reflect that the exchange of international postal money orders with Canada will be discontinued.

As published in the article titled “Canada Post to Terminate International Money Order Service” in Postal Bulletin 22526 (8-15-19, page 38), Canada Post will discontinue its international postal money order service exchanges with the U.S. Postal Service®. Likewise, the Postal Service will no longer sell international postal money orders destined for Canada, and will no longer cash international postal money orders issued by Canada Post.

Customers who have a USPS-issued international postal money order destined for Canada may redeem the money order for face value at any USPS® retail unit. Also, customers in possession of a Canada Post-issued money order must cash it at a U.S. Post Office™ facility before August 30, 2019. Starting on that date, customers will be advised to return the money order to the sender.

 

[dodgedifferent2]

I ran into this before.
I have done an international e-transfer thing. Wife did the transaction for me because she is in the banking industry so not entirely sure.
Now I only use PayPal and suck up the costs because I would rather be safe.

Otherwise, I have a credit card I only use for online stuff.

 

[Dave6T4]

You can still purchase a U.S. funds M.O. from your banking institution. There could be an additional charge for this, besides the usual rape on the exchange rate.

 

[gkent]

You can still purchase a U.S. funds M.O. from your banking institution. There could be an additional charge for this, besides the usual rape on the exchange rate.

Exchange rate is a fact of life. And when dealing with banks you know there's going to be a spread between buying and selling of a couple points. But get this ... on my recent deal the Western Union "agent" gave my customer a 23% exchange rate (we're sitting around 35% with the banks right now). So they basically took a 13% cut IN ADDITION TO the Western Union transaction fee !! And that 13% came out of my end. So instead of receiving $205 Canadian the local Western Union agent handed me $184 !!!

 

[Sam69sat]

You got screwed by the buyer. Next time you need to tell him the amount you expect to "receive" in Canadian dollars. That way he'll end up paying the fees and they won't be taken from your end. You can try it on wu's site. Choose the countries and fill in the "Receive amount" box and it'll automatically update the amount he needs to send.

Send Money Online

Send money online instantly with Western Union.

www.westernunion.com

 

[WileERobby]

You got screwed by the buyer. Next time you need to tell him the amount you expect to "receive" in Canadian dollars. That way he'll end up paying the fees and they won't be taken from your end. You can try it on wu's site. Choose the countries and fill in the "Receive amount" box and it'll automatically update the amount he needs to send.

http://[URL]https://www.westernunion.com/us/en/web/send-money/start

[/URL]

Yeah... I'd tell the buyer, "I get $xx amount of Canadien dollars" NET. not Gross. in my pocket. I don't care how you get it to me, if you got to attach a bag of cash to a carrier pigeon.

 

[Dave6T4]

If I sell parts to U.S. customers, I always specify payment in U.S. $. I find that a lot of Americans do not understand U.S./Canada $ exchange rate.

 

[padam]

I think every institution (trading platforms , shippers, financial services, government/taxes) involved in the secondary markets are trying to squeeze every last penny out of them.

I wonder where this is headed because soon it won’t be worth the effort.

An example:

I live close to the Summit mothership, so I normally pick my parts up there. Sometimes I root through the demo / bargain rack. There are some fantastic deals there, and it’s a strong temptation to pass them on while making a few bucks to fund my sickness.

Last thing I did was a Mcleod steel flywheel.
It was new, was probably just a display. I paid 150 + tax = 160.

I think they are selling for 375-410.
I think brewers just sold a used one for 350 on Facebook.

I offered it here for 275 I think, would have taken 250. No interest here so I put it up on eBay .
I ended up selling it on a best offer for 240.
Buyers total was 301
eBay took:
Tax -19
Transaction fees -40
Shipping label -36
Add fee -29

They paid me 177.

So I made $17 for my efforts.

This isn’t worth the trouble.

 

[gkent]

The thing that pisses me off with Ebay is they charge the seller the tax on the item. Its something to keep in mind that you should add that to the final charge ‘cause ebay is gonna ding you for it!

 

[padam]

The thing that pisses me off with Ebay is they charge the seller the tax on the item. Its something to keep in mind that you should add that to the final charge ‘cause ebay is gonna ding you for it!

Yes they calculate your fees by including tax, shipping, and their ad fees.

 

[33 IMP]

I've never bought or sold anything at eBay, and I don't have a pay pal account.
Are you telling me they charge a fee on the total AFTER they add in the tax and shipping? That's just theft, if you ask me.

 

[gkent]

That's just theft, if you ask me.

That's the general consensus !

 

[Dave6T4]

....and then PayPal charges a fee.

 

[kiwigtx]

While I'm not Canadian, I do feel your pain. The costs of exchange rate losses and the exploding cost of postage have pretty much convinced me that International Trading is going the way of the Dodo. Even as a seller I get beaten up, and I'm not the sort of guy to jack my prices to hedge against the coming charges. As a buyer I'll lose both ways - paying extra for shipping cost, plus all the local taxes that are collected by overseas selling house (Summit etc) and then potentially importing duties and more taxes. It used to be fun, but the cost has taken the thrill of buying parts in to more of a nightmare.

The cost of importing cars has now got to the point where unless you're extremely wealthy, it just isn't worth the trouble anymore.

eBay, PayPal and even Amazon are all about making money of your misery.

 

[gkent]

plus all the local taxes that are collected by overseas selling house (Summit etc) and then potentially importing duties and more taxes.

Summit does not charge local taxes on foreign orders. In the case of Canadian orders, there is a MINIMAL brokerage fee of about $4 regardless of the value and they charge the appropriate Canadian tax. If we order over $300 U.S. worth of merch, shipping is free.

So in a nutshell if I order $300 U.S. worth of stuff from Summit they add $4. plus 13% Ontario sales tax and (if everything's in stock) it shows up on my doorstep three days later. And, AND - if I have any sort of discount code that will come pretty close to covering the tax !!

 

[kiwigtx]

Summit does not charge local taxes on foreign orders.

I probably didn't phrase that correctly....Summit Collect Taxes on behalf of the NZ Government.

That way our Govt gets its hands on the tax money before the goods are sent.

 

[gkent]

I probably didn't phrase that correctly....Summit Collect Taxes on behalf of the NZ Government.

That way our Govt gets its hands on the tax money before the goods are sent.

There was a time when I'd order **** and have it delivered to a U.S. address. They'd charge me $5 per box. I'd pay the local tax on the order. Then I'd drive down (the border's about an hour away) and pick the stuff up. If I was going down for a few days I could probably safely bring back almost $2k worth of stuff without paying tax. But if it was just a quick hop back and forth for the parts then there was the "risk" of paying the tax - on top of the state tax I'd already paid. Not to mention the cost of fuel, bridge tolls and my time. I absolutely love the Summit deal - and I have no problem paying our tax. The tax id less than what it would cost me in fuel for a return trip.

 

[Dave6T4]

Summit now has a warehouse up here in Ontario, and ships more common stuff from there. I also have a parcel drop in U.S., but I haven't used it since before the Pandemic.

 

[Sam69sat]

 

[gkent]

Summit now has a warehouse up here in Ontario, and ships more common stuff from there.

It would be nice to know what they stock there ! Any idea where its located ?