I am looking to purchase some cards from a seller in Canada through that auction site. The listing notes that some tariffs, duty, and/or fees may be applicable to this purchase. The cards total less than $10, and the seller notes shipping via USPS First Class mail. Can anyone who has done this recently give me an idea of what these extra costs could end up costing me?

Short answer, No, not a clue.

"Due to US customs policies, the buyer of this item will need to pay import fees to the shipping carrier prior to delivery".

I was looking at a high-priced autograph card on eBay and that's what the Canadian seller has in the details. Now the USPS shipping fee is separately disclosed as $15, so import fees are in addition, plus they need to be paid to someone prior to receipt.

I don't even know what that means and, unless I start the process, I don't know what a particularly priced eBay sale will incur for import fees. Even if someone made a guess, it wouldn't be until you commit that you get a bill. So, needless to say, I'm out for all foreign sales. Wouldn't even risk it.

In January, I tried to buy something from a Canadian seller and I waited and I waited but the item didn't come. I told the seller and he said shipping to the U.S. was taking a little longer than usual so I agreed to wait another week because I received an item from Maine much later than usual.

Finally, about a month ago, I let him know it hadn't arrived and he sent me a refund. It was about a $10 card and I wanted to see what the tariff would come to and how that went (assumed I'd have to go to the post office and do some kind of paperwork.) I used to get items in less than two weeks with no extra fuss.

Costs must be something significant since Ingrid's & Lindsay's products on Kickstarter since the surcharges have been distributed direct from the US by Richard Parks as the cards are produced in the US.

What many of our European members may not realize is that this whole business of customs fees and tariffs is a lot more foreign (pardon the pun) to US residents than it is to them. We know what shipping a package will cost because its reported upfront and in the price. We get things home delivered. We rarely go to a Post Office for anything besides more stamps. Paperwork, what paperwork?

In Europe mail may not be handled well either, but they are used to it because there are a bunch of countries involved. They at least know the rules and expect it. Americans don't, I don't. I don't want to pick up anything. I certainly don't want to declare anything!

We don't have inter-state mail; it's all one country. We have inter-state sales taxes and even that gets figured out for us. So, applying import fees or custom fees to a sale when they are not precisely stated is a problem. Requiring paperwork of any kind is a problem. Paying before receipt to any carrier is a problem. Getting up and going to a Post Office, where buying stamps is an adventure, to do something exotic like paying customs charges will be a problem.

Unfortunately, that is the whole point. Tariffs and custom fees are not just about getting more money in from foreign places. It's also about keeping your people away from foreign places. It's about buying something from a domestic maker or a domestic seller, as opposed to importing it. It's a protectionist policy that extends to things as weird as buying trading cards.

And it works in the short term. It makes it costlier and harder to go foreign for whatever the targeted items or areas. What it does in the long term is a different matter for economists to figure out.

Making America Grate Again.

quote:

Originally posted by wolfie:
Making America Grate Again.

Touche!

To all US buyers and non-US-based sellers of US-made trading cards returning to the USA.

Items that are U.S.-made goods and returning to the U.S. are covered by (Harmonized Tariffs) HTSUS 9801.00.10, which states clearly that such products re-enter the U.S. duty-free, regardless of value.

This treatment is independent of the August 29th, 2025, de minimis changes — the law Trump signed has no effect here because it governs foreign-origin goods, not U.S. goods returned.


3. HTSUS 9801.00.10 is a separate statutory provision (19 U.S.C. §1202; tariff schedule adopted into law) that covers “Products of the United States when returned after having been exported, without having been advanced in value or improved in condition abroad.”

Duty rate for 9801.00.10 = “Free” — meaning no tariff ever, regardless of value.

4. Do they conflict? No. They cover different universes of goods:

Trump’s change: foreign-made goods entering the U.S.

HTSUS 9801.00.10: U.S.-made goods returning home.


5. Legal Meaning of “Articles of Foreign Origin”
In U.S. trade law, “origin” means country of manufacture or production, not the country of export.

This is established in 19 C.F.R. Part 102 (Rules of Origin) and numerous CBP rulings.

Example: 19 C.F.R. § 102.1(e) defines country of origin as:

“the country of manufacture, production, or growth of any article of foreign origin entering the United States.”

So, an item made in the U.S. but shipped from most other countries is still of U.S. origin, not “foreign origin.”

6. CBP Rulings / Guidance
HQ Ruling H285602 (2017): CBP confirmed that “country of origin” refers to where goods were manufactured, not the country they were shipped from.

Any item originally made in the United States, which becomes physically located in another country, regardless of how long, but is then sent back to the United States, unaltered, enters the USA duty and tariff-free.

So, if the cards you are buying from a Canadian, UK, Australian, or any other non-US-based trading card seller were manufactured in the USA and returned there, there are no duties or tariffs imposed, regardless of the value!

Since August of last year, when I sell a US-made trading card to a US-based collector from Costa Rica which is where I'm currently living and which accounts for 95 % of sales, I simply stamp the back of the envelope with the words that track the law's exemption language and haven't had any issues with either Customs requesting payment or buyers owing anything upon delivery. I'll be happy to share the stamped language I've added if anyone is interested.

If the cards were not manufactured in the USA, then the tariffs owed by the US buyer would be based upon the specific Tariff that exists between the USA and the country where the card was made. For the majority of modern trading cards, most of which are made in Western countries, the tariff would normally be between 10% and 20% of the declared value.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: promoking,

[QUOTE]Originally posted by promoking:

So, an item made in the U.S. but shipped from most other countries is still of U.S. origin, not “foreign origin.”

Any item originally made in the United States, which becomes physically located in another country, regardless of how long, but is then sent back to the United States, unaltered, enters the USA duty and tariff-free.

So, if the cards you are buying from a Canadian, UK, Australian, or any other non-US-based trading card seller were manufactured in the USA and returned there, there are no duties or tariffs imposed, regardless of the value!/QUOTE]

That's great information Promoking, but it doesn't match what I'm seeing on eBay. I looked at eBay's tariff information page.

https://pages.ebay.com/tariffs/

Then I looked at a few current USA made cards up for sale from Canadian and Australian sellers. They all mention import fees and direct to the Tariff page. Nowhere do I see the American made exemption you speak about. It says there will be import fees on any item that ships outside the USA.

Now you may be right, but who wants to try it when you can't make head or tail out of it and the sellers/eBay are saying there will be additional fees, whatever they may be called.

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by promoking:

So, an item made in the U.S. but shipped from most other countries is still of U.S. origin, not “foreign origin.”

Any item originally made in the United States, which becomes physically located in another country, regardless of how long, but is then sent back to the United States, unaltered, enters the USA duty and tariff-free.

So, if the cards you are buying from a Canadian, UK, Australian, or any other non-US-based trading card seller were manufactured in the USA and returned there, there are no duties or tariffs imposed, regardless of the value!/QUOTE]

That's great information Promoking, but it doesn't match what I'm seeing on eBay. I looked at eBay's tariff information page.

https://pages.ebay.com/tariffs/

Then I looked at a few current USA made cards up for sale from Canadian and Australian sellers. They all mention import fees and direct to the Tariff page. Nowhere do I see the American made exemption you speak about. It says there will be import fees on any item that ships outside the USA.

Now you may be right, but who wants to try it when you can't make head or tail out of it and the sellers/eBay are saying there will be additional fees, whatever they may be called.

That’s why I posted the actual U.S. Customs regulations in this thread. I’d venture to say that most—if not the overwhelming majority—of non-U.S.-based sellers have never really researched this issue. At best, they’ve only looked into it superficially and assumed that eBay’s blanket statement—suggesting that import duties apply to any item shipped from outside the U.S.—is the law of the land. It isn’t, and I’ve highlighted the applicable exemption.

eBay’s language is deliberately broad because it protects them. By making categorical statements, they reduce their exposure rather than risk disputes over whether buyers were adequately warned about potential duties. It also has the practical effect of steering international sellers toward their Global Shipping Program.

That said, the actual regulations tell a more nuanced story. My own experience supports that: I’ve shipped hundreds of U.S.-made cards from Costa Rica back to the U.S., and they have consistently entered tariff-free with the explanatory language on the package.

quote:

Originally posted by promoking:
That’s why I posted the actual U.S. Customs regulations in this thread. I’d venture to say that most—if not the overwhelming majority—of non-U.S.-based sellers have never really researched this issue. At best, they’ve only looked into it superficially and assumed that eBay’s blanket statement—suggesting that import duties apply to any item shipped from outside the U.S.—is the law of the land. It isn’t, and I’ve highlighted the applicable exemption.

eBay’s language is deliberately broad because it protects them. By making categorical statements, they reduce their exposure rather than risk disputes over whether buyers were adequately warned about potential duties. It also has the practical effect of steering international sellers toward their Global Shipping Program.

That said, the actual regulations tell a more nuanced story. My own experience supports that: I’ve shipped hundreds of U.S.-made cards from Costa Rica back to the U.S., and they have consistently entered tariff-free with the explanatory language on the package.

Very informative post and eBay sellers and buyers who do international transactions should look into the added import fees, not just for the money involved, but also for the loss of business. However, it will be hard to get a correction from eBay unless the rule can be legally proven as misinterpreted and enough people file a protest.

Perhaps you have ignited a flicker of interest in someone promoking.

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:

However, it will be hard to get a correction from eBay unless the rule can be legally proven as misinterpreted and enough people file a protest.

Perhaps you have ignited a flicker of interest in someone promoking.

You have no idea how many times I’ve raised this clear misstatement of the law with them, yet they continue to ignore it for obvious reasons. I even suggested that, if they questioned my research, they could verify it using any reputable legal research tool, including AI-assisted analysis, to confirm that this exemption clearly exists.

Despite months of assurances that they would look into it and get back to me, I’ve received no substantive response.

Thanks to the contributors of this thread for sharing info & experience on this subject. I purchased 3 promotion packs of
cards from a Canada seller after he accepted my offer on ebay. I got that ebay message afterwards when checking shipping status that a customs fee is going to be charged before I receive the cards. I saw no mention of this fee in the listing or the purchase details. The cards are on the way but I dont know what dollar amount will be charged and by what means. I paid approx $30 w PayPal in USD and PP converts to Canada dollars.

Not sure what Im going to do... the cards were manufactured & distributed in the USA. I chose this seller because it got me the most cards Im chasing for the best price LOL. Ugh maybe NOT!