This message and thread is to explain someof the financial details and explain in more detail about our charges and policies. We invite questions, discussion, and requests for information on matters of charges, freight, and other related items.

Customs and Brokerage Fees:
Until very recently the customs clearance fees on Fedex Ground shipments were (sometimes) $2 for a customs bond fee.

That (if they charge it, they usually do not) is to cover Fedex's cost for their bond.

These are "informal declarations" Which means a customs entry under $2,000 which does not require all the formal paperwork a higher value shipment needs.

Recently they decided that even though it is an informal entry, they are now charging $16 for customs document preparation and filing.

When we heard about this new practice about a week ago, we told Fedex to put these charges on our account, and we have now switched all future shipments over to Fedex Air.

This service level includes the customs document charges, so there will be no more blackmail from them.

This costs us about $3 more than the original shipping cost we have quoted of $25, but on orders already booked we will eat the $3.

Packing and Handling Fees:

Some people mentioned they were charged a $12.50 fee for packing and handling. This is for orders placed on credit cards.

When we put a credit card charge through, the credit card companies charge us 2.5%. They call this a "Merchant Discount".

We could raise the price this amount and charge everyone this, but then it would not be fair to those who have paid us by Paypal or cashiers cheques.

However even the Paypal route of no fees will end soon.

As of February 8th Paypal is going to limit personal accounts to a maximum of $1,000 per month of incoming payments.

To receive more one has to "upgrade" to a "commercial account"
At that point all incoming payments get levied a 2.9% charge, and a $0.30 fee for handling.

So, as of the end of the month we are charging a packing and handling fee of 2.5% on all payments except those made by cashiers cheque or money orders.

Exchange Rate on Credit Card Orders:

When we receive an order paid by credit card we enter the payment into our credit card terminal.

This is a terminal of an organization called "Moneris"
Moneris is a jointly owned credit facility operated by the Bank of Montreal, the Royal Bank of Canada, and Harris Bank of Chicago.

Because we are in Canada we have to enter the charges in Canadian dollars.

On the day we enter it, we contact our bank, and find out the exchange rate for that day between U.S. and Canadian Dollars.

When the charges go through your bank in the USA, it is a day or two later, and the exchange rate may have changed a bit.

Sometimes it goes up. Sometimes down.

So, when you get your bill, the charges may be out by up to 1%.
We have no way to avoid this at present.

We are now opening an account with Harris Bank of Chicago, and they will be sedning us a terminal we will use for US credit card charges. Then the amounts charged will be not subject to exchange, and the charges will be more accurate to our customers.

I hope this explanation helps you understand the process a bit better.

Thanks!

 

Each week Rachael (She Who Does The Book-Keeping) in our office prepares the paperwork to ship orders.

If there are orders made with credit card payment, she enters the invoices, and inputs the charges to our credit card terminal.

As the week progresses we pack orders, ship, and so on.
Shipment may happen from 1 to 7 days after the charges date.

We generally want a couple of days to pass so that if there is a problem with a payment, or if the individual wants to put it off, or to dispute the charges, there is still time to react and make the needed corrections BEFORE we ship the goods.

 

Should I be concerned if 2 weeks have gone by since my card was charged and I have not heard anything about a delivery yet?

 

Not really . You are 5 units away from what we shipped so far.

We ran out of a bunch of bits a week ago, as I forgot that over the last week everything in Asia shut down for Chinese New Year.

We get our wiring harness bits premade over there.
There are about 85 wires in the harness assembly.

If you can picture yourself cutting, stripping, putting on crimp terminals on each end, putting on heat shrink insulation for 85 wires. That makes the wires ready to be attached/inserted to the plugs and sockets of the connectors.

Now multiply that by 100..

That is what a batch build takes, among other things.
We now get that tedious stuff done over there, where people will happily do it for $2 a day.

 

whew...to think I thought I was poor at $3.72/hr.

 

Canzoomer, I don't Know how things work in Canada but Just to get you up to speed on US Credit Card Laws. The Merchant Fee that a credit card Company chages you for every transaction you run is a fee that cannot be allocated to the consumer. If the Credit Card Companies find out you are doing this they can take your merchant account and ability to take credit cards away, and actually fine you. That is something that alot of small companies or individuals with merchant accounts dont know or realize and the Credit Card companies are actually going after Merchants doing this.

Dont mean to be the sore thumb here, but that is just the way it is.....the way around it is to charge a "Handling Fee" to everyone across the board that will purchase from you. You just cannot only charge that handling fee to CC purchases only.


Just trying to help you CYA!!