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Customs fees and broker
 

I have bought a lot of stuff from China and it was always shipped via DHL or Fedex and I have never had to pay anymore including the customs fees. This was taken care of up front.

I ordered some items from Aliexpress and paid $600, I was told that included shipping. The items are being shipped by sea and I just got a call from a shipping broker who said they are handling my shipment. They said the need $95 for this and $45 for that and then some other fees that would total over $200 and they said that is just their charges. They said the shipping company would charge storage fees and there would be customs fees. Also, they said that they only see the shipping going to the port of Charlotte,SC and not right to my door.

Is this normal for sea shipment? I'm feeling like I was mislead by the supplier and I just want my money back. I paid via Paypal and if I open a dispute will I get my money back. Need help on how to proceed.

Re: Customs fees and broker
 

Scam to get more money out of you.

Contact your supplier and get your money back.

In your communication and understanding with these people, they take care of shipping and handling charges.

If the supplier miscalculated, that is their problem.

Let your supplier know that this will NOT fly and you WILL go to another supplier if they are trying to make this stick.

Re: Customs fees and broker
 

When you have things shipped by sea often its upto the buyer to sort out a freight forwarder (although sometimes the sellers can provide this service as well). You do not have to use any one company though, ring around and you may be able to get items delivered to your door for cheaper.

Re: Customs fees and broker
 

WTFudge would you agree to import foo-foos WITHOUT checking your shipping costs?

:eek:

Re: Customs fees and broker
 

Not foo-foos, I always get total cost upfront and they said it included shipping

Re: Customs fees and broker
 

When you get a quote for shipping by sea that is all it ever is, the shipping by sea.

It does not include any of the dock fees or freight forwarding fees.

Important to do research before shipping things via methods that are not door to door.

Re: Customs fees and broker
 

The seller never told me that it wasn't being shipped to my door.

Re: Customs fees and broker
 

I agree with other posters. I shipped some furniture from India (to the UK) a few years ago and the store where I bought it warned me it would only be shipped to the port and I would have to get my own broker to handle things the other end. They did give me a couple of names to look up. It took 8 weeks to ship so I had plenty of time to phone around brokers and sort something out. The broker handled the customs clearance, payment of fees and transport to my door. As soon as the consignment arrived they were around to the warehouse pretty sharpish and gave me an extimate of the total.

I dont think you are being scammed but you will know in future to look into shipping when you ordered the consignment.