Caveat Emptor

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Pfddi

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Jun 22, 2022
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Tulsa OK USA
Reposting to help others who missed the post @TMC references below...

Purchase from Krale the other day:

1749144756876.png


Then received this from UPS:

1749144811505.png


Please be aware of your purchase from foreign sources. See @TMH's comments and link below
 
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A quick search of "Krale" in this forum might have led you to this older post:

Krale And UPS Import charge??

Nothing to do with Krale. All U.S. Customs charges, with UPS collecting them (as law demands), and charging an admin fee.

Highest rates for items originating from PRC, regardless of where they ship from.

But with your post, the 'warnings' have been renewed - and the more folks who can see them before making the purchase, the better.
 
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So an update to the post. Here is the invoice from UPS:

1749145132220.png


Clearly the taxes aren't the bulk of the cost - it's the "brokerage fee" charged by UPS. I have shipped a lot of items outside the USA and have received a lot from other countries. I normally use EMS/USPS as there is no "brokerage fee" at all. I have never had a problem with damaged goods and have shipped guitars in both directions which are a bit more sensative to shipping damage than a gun!

My takeaway for foreign sources will now be "if they ship using UPS, don't buy from them"
 
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Pfddi said:
So an update to the post. Here is the invoice from UPS:

View attachment 567810

Clearly the taxes aren't the bulk of the cost - it's the "brokerage fee" charged by UPS. I have shipped a lot of items outside the USA and have received a lot from other countries. I normally use EMS/USPS as there is no "brokerage fee" at all. I have never had a problem with damaged goods and have shipped guitars in both directions which are a bit more sensative to shipping damage than a gun!

My takeaway for foreign sources will now be "if they ship using UPS, don't buy from them"
Click to expand...
Times have changed….don’t believe it is the fault of UPS.
 
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SilentSquirrel said:
stop worrying!
Stop Worrying,
STOP WORRYING!
Chill out & be patient.
Before you know it, all them foreign parts will be made right here in the USofA
It's in the plan Sam
Click to expand...
Never going to happen
No infrastructure
No trained employees
Tariffs just passed on to consumer, possibly marked up.
 
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I guess I'm most upset about the $47 "broker fee"! It seems it was quite a bit less before, but I was also buying higher priced items so the ratio was not as bad as the one on this last purchase. Now the "accountant" in me will be doing more "total cost analysis" between different purchase options to make my retirement funds go as far as they can!!!
 
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The use of "brokerage fee" makes a handy catchall to mark up deliveries (about which you don't know the amount until it's too late) just because most likely there is no federal prohibition on the practice. Or is there, and who to ask for an offical answer?

An example from the nongun realm: A US salesscum who likes to buy and sell used boats figured out a way to skim off the top of sales of Canada-made boats by (trying to) scare US shoppers into ordering the product through him instead of directly from the manufacturer rep. He promoted the things shortly before tariffs went into effect, had no takers, and then proceeded to say people could still buy through him at the earlier price, but WITH AN ADDITIONAL "international brokerage fee" of unstated amount.

I'd seen earlier examples of his shady tactics intended to take advantage of trusting buyers and sellers, but this last one takes the scumbag cake.

UPS and USPS could not reach agreement on a new contract for their shipping partnership, formerly known as SurePost. We suddenly began seeing an awful lot of increased Amazon truck/van deliveries in my area, possibly to take up the demand for delivering. Then it dropped off just as abruptly.

I'm waiting on what happens with my AOA order that they ship UPS by default. I dislike UPS for several reasons; other shipment is possible but the cost might be absurd, and I don't know if "brokerage fees" would be added by others. Tariff expenses they can't control. It is the predatory use of those to skim more for the shipper that makes me even more opposed to using UPS. I might need to take the most expensive transportation choice: go get the gun myself via road trip.
 
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