Brambleberry international shipping (WTH?)
- Thread starter josianeg
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CreativeWeirdo
Assume humorous intentions.
OF COURSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Welcome to life in Canada
Adding more here instead of adding another post.
Your subtotal is $203.63 USD
Shipping is $56.86 USD
Taxes, duty, and carrier surcharges (which apparently are different from shipping???) $174.54 USD
So your total is $435.03 USD; an EXTRA $231.40 USD, that you get NOTHING for.
Right now the exchange rate is 1 USD = 1.25 CAD
$435.03 USD = $541.72 CAD; but I don't know what your credit card company is going to charge you. Most likely, a whole lot more.
Adding more here instead of adding another post.
Your subtotal is $203.63 USD
Shipping is $56.86 USD
Taxes, duty, and carrier surcharges (which apparently are different from shipping???) $174.54 USD
So your total is $435.03 USD; an EXTRA $231.40 USD, that you get NOTHING for.
Right now the exchange rate is 1 USD = 1.25 CAD
$435.03 USD = $541.72 CAD; but I don't know what your credit card company is going to charge you. Most likely, a whole lot more.
Last edited:
violets2217
Well-Known Member
I’ve never ordered from Bramble Berry… but goodness gracious! It’s more than your order! 
Saponificarian
Well-Known Member
As much as I love some of their FOs, I had to stop buying from them. WSP is my go to now.
But... I just ordered from Nurture which is also in the USA and only had to pay customs and taxes (like 28 CAD?) when I did my own custom brokerage (which I do to avoid private carriers brokerage fees).
This is RIDICULOUS.
I wish we had more information about crossing the land border starting November 8th.
I'd just have my order shipped to my 24/7 locker address near the border and pick it up... I've been told that we'd need COVID-19 vaccination proof to enter the USA (not a problem) but that I'd need a negative COVID19 test to return to Canada (!).
That means I'd AT LEAST have to stay overnight to get the result, no? I know there are faster PCR tests but these probably cost even more that the above fees... And even if the cost was affordable, just how the heck does a Canadian have a COVID-19 test done in the USA?
Anyone knows?
I hate that I've wasted SO MUCH TIME shopping on their website, reading reviews and debating which FOs to buy... to have it not work in the end!
Yep...that's your government for you.
Countries don't have sales tax agreements...too problematic. As an example...I used to live in Arizona and a companies I used to work for sold their goods all over the state. While the state had a single sales tax rate, each city had it's own it's own sales tax rates. On the average, I filed 18 to 23 different sales tax reports every month. Needless to say that I was very grateful that our goods were not sold out of state or I would have been filing even more sales tax reports.
Now imagine trying to do that on a world-wide scale? And having to collect that money from that country? So the solution is for the 'end-user' to pay the taxes along with import 'duties'. The 'carrier surcharges'...that would be if the carrier has to pay out more money to have the good delivered to you...like airline fees.
It sucks...it's why I am VERY grateful that I live in the US with lots of soap supplier options.
According to your government's website: Canadians are always eligible to enter Canada but must complete testing requirements and mandatory quarantine if they do not qualify as a fully vaccinated traveller.
Check if you qualify as a fully vaccinated traveller
To qualify as a fully vaccinated traveller to Canada, you must:
- have received at least 2 doses of a Government of Canada-accepted COVID-19 vaccine or a mix of 2 accepted vaccines
- or at least 1 dose of the Janssen/Johnson & Johnson vaccine
- have received your second dose at least 14 full days prior to the day you enter Canada
- Example: if your second dose was anytime on Thursday July 1, then Friday July 16 would be the first day that you meet the 14 day condition
- upload your proof of vaccination in ArriveCAN
- have no signs or symptoms of COVID-19
- meet all other entry requirements (for example, pre-entry test result)
Me...call and ask. Tell them you need to make a day trip.
ResolvableOwl
Notorious Lyear
Eww. Just eww. I mean, I'm nearly feeling privileged with this case: I ordered something (non-soapy) in the US for $93 USD and was charged a mere $87 USD shipping cost. I swallowed the pill (b/c well, I wouldn't order overseas if it were available in Europe). In the end, it's intercontinental shipment. Just like USA→Canada is (?).
It sometimes appears like as if old-fashioned sellers and the shipment companies of their choice want to lose customers to Amazon, AliExpress & co. – who somehow happen to also calculate with their costs. Unfortunately it appears that those who are inhibiting a healthy, steady logistic&mobility transformation now, aren't those who will have to suffer from the fall-out of the collapse. I'll stop now. Enough politics for today.
It sometimes appears like as if old-fashioned sellers and the shipment companies of their choice want to lose customers to Amazon, AliExpress & co. – who somehow happen to also calculate with their costs. Unfortunately it appears that those who are inhibiting a healthy, steady logistic&mobility transformation now, aren't those who will have to suffer from the fall-out of the collapse. I'll stop now. Enough politics for today.
Some of it's politics...like when the US shut down a local nickel mine to import nickel from another country. It completely devastated three communities, but hey...it improved relations.
A lot of it is economics. Money you spend over here is money that you aren't spending at home so to make up for the lost revenue, your country charges you extra taxes and duties. Helps the country since they are still getting their money, but it does nothing for the retailer.
And while BB maybe a 'major' company in the soap supply business...it's still just a local business. Shipping internationally is not as easy as sticking postage on the box and sending it on it's way. In addition to taxes, duties and fees a country may charge, there are often restrictions on what can and cannot be imported. Korea, Japan and New Zealand won't allow botanicals without special documentation. Italy doesn't allow cosmetics or soap making supplies to be imported. Greece requires special paperwork from the FDA. Mexico has special licensing requirements. You have to have an import license for Indonesia. Serbia requires a local business license for imports over $200. You can purchase Really Red! Pigment from Nurture Soap in the UK/EU, but you can't use it in any products that you are selling. And shipping internationally is often a crap shoot...a lot of stuff doesn't make it to the recipient and there is no way to track it once it leaves the US.
If you are getting a Covid test to enter the US, wouldn't that still be acceptable for returning to Canada? I don't know how much you would have to pay for a test as a non-US citizen if you were to get one here, but as I understand it the rapid test will give you results within hours. Drugstores with pharmacies have the tests - you would need an appointment.
CreativeWeirdo
Assume humorous intentions.
Well, I'm VERY grateful that I live in Canada because I'm not afraid of going bankrupt if I get sick.
No, Canada is not intercontinental. (Unless I misunderstood your statement.)
I just spoke with Brambleberry about the fees and how I would prefer to pay duties/taxes "the usual way" instead of upfront like this, and apparently there is no way around this.
Basically, BrambleBerry is taking away our freedom to do our own custom brokerage and forcing up to pay UPS's unreasonably high fees.
I told them that on soapmakingforum.com many Canadians are saying that even if they love BB's products they don't order from them anymore and are taking their business elsewhere.
The customer representative answered that they "are looking into [this matter] but for now [they] can't do anything about it".
When companies such as Nurture Soap are making it EASIER (ex: showing total in CAD instead of USD, choice of English or French, etc.) and CHEAPER (different shipping options, including DHL - often cheaper than UPS - and USPS - the cheapest but it doesn't have a tracking # nor insurance) for international crafters to buy from them, Brambleberry should take notice and fix this issue.
Nurture offers a shipping option with Borderguru where the customer can pay taxes/customs and carrier's surcharge fees in advance, but they don't FORCE you to use it!
I don't see why BrambleBerry couldn't do the same. Maybe they have a deal with UPS and are getting a cut on those mysterious "surcharges"...?
And for the person who was asking, "surcharges" could be juste any type of fees the private carrier decides to charge.
AVOID Fedex Ground shipping from the USA like the PEST. Last time I had something shipped by them, I not only paid a really high shipping cost, they sent me an invoice for fees that was around 70 CAD... of which only 7 or so CAD were the taxes/customs!
I agree with this, oh my god. I couldn't imagine living in a country where receiving a diagnostic of cancer meant not only that you might die, but also that you'll end up financially broke.
I'll try to look into the requirements to go through the USA/Canada land border. As you said, calling is probably my best option.
I don't mind paying taxes/customs, what I'm saying is that I SHOULD have the option to do my own custom brokerage to avoid paying the carrier (UPS, FedEx, DHL)'s fees on top of that.
It's easy, you ask the carrier for a document they call "manifest" and bring it to a Canada border services agency along with the detailed company's invoice (where all the products are listed along with their cost).
You'll only have to pay the ACTUAL taxes/customs. In the FedEx ground case I was mentioning earlier, I saved 63 CAD on a 70 CAD bill. That's a lot of money so the time/trouble (contacting the customs department of the carrier, going to the CBSA...) was definitely worth it!
Have you seen this response to your other thread posted earlier today?But... I just ordered from Nurture which is also in the USA and only had to pay customs and taxes (like 28 CAD?) when I did my own custom brokerage (which I do to avoid private carriers brokerage fees).
This is RIDICULOUS.
I wish we had more information about crossing the land border starting November 8th.
See the post I mention above, which I thinks includes the information you asked about there as well as here.
I will repeat it here.
Quote:
Short trips that are less than 72 hours
Canadian citizens, people registered under the Indian Act, permanent residents and protected persons travelling to the United States are allowed to do their pre-entry molecular test before they leave Canada.
- If your test is more than 72 hours old when you re-enter Canada, you’ll be required to get a new pre-entry molecular test in the United States
End quote
Reference page (scroll down to Short trips that are less than 72 hours): COVID-19 testing for travellers - Travel restrictions in Canada – Travel.gc.ca
Oops, I meant to edit the above post so as to combine them.
Orebma
Well-Known Member
wow - how on earth do you know all that? Great info!
The Italy one interests me. . My boss bought in some 'Hemp and blah blah luxurious' bars of soap. Hemp oil is legal to use here. Her business runs through shopify. About 6 months into things we got a 'cease selling' notice from shopify or they'd close our site.
I went back to them and said hemp was legal and sent the info etc. They came back and said it wasn't them but that it was one of their bank affiliates based in Italy??
Shopify said it didn't matter if it was legal to sell in NZ - they had gotten the word and had to follow it through.
So we took it down off the site.
The weird thing was we had several other Hemp products on shopify - Hemp Oil, Hemp Oil Capsules etc etc etc and none of them had to be pulled
I used to do side work for a cosmetic company that shipped internationally and I remember all the problems they went through. There is a boat load of paperwork involved to begin with...customs forms and every country is different. Some you can get away with saying "cosmetics" and a value, others require a detailed list of what is in the box and value of each item. Then comes customs...reminds me of the TSA (airport security) here. Even though their website says ABC and/or XYZ is legal to fly with, it's up the agent at the airport and depending on the item, it could just get confiscated and tossed or you might have an option is mailing it back home. So...I went to BB's website and searched for their International Shipping Polices.
I do a lot of online shopping so I am always checking 'shipping'.
