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Tariffs on cards from Canada?
craig44
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I have not purchased any cards from Canada for over a year. I am currently considering one on Ebay. does anyone know if there are still tariffs on cards coming to the states from canada? if so, how much? and how does one go about paying it?
thank you in advance!!
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
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I bought 2 vintage hockey cards from a Canadian eBay seller in early June, then one more card early July from the same seller.
When I purchased the items, I saw a notice "Due to US customs policies, the buyer of this item will need to pay import fees to the shipping carrier prior to delivery". When I clicked on it, there was an eBay page that explained how tariff fees are collected (there appeared to be 3 methods).
My transactions were like any other eBay purchase, but the shipping costs were much higher than US purchases ($10 for the 2 card order, $18 for the single card order). I assume these higher shipping costs were tariff-driven (i.e, the import fees were included in the total price). To date, I have not received any bill specifically for tariffs/import fees.
oh, that is good to know. i didnt know whether to expect the mailman to be asking for payment at the door or how it worked. it sounds like the tariffs were included in shipping costs
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
I just recently purchased cards from Canada with the "buyer of this item will need to pay import fees to the shipping carrier prior to delivery" disclosure. It was 2 cards that cost $39 USD total and the import fee was $1.06 USD, which eBay collected at checkout.
great news. i was fearing it would be some sort of COD type deal. sounds like they will just take their cut whenever i pay.
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
i bought one from martin sports/cards -- they didn't charge me anything.
The way I understand it, the tariffs are for the importation of Canadian goods into the U.S.A. In our realm here, that would be O-Pee-Chee cards.
If you're buying a U.S.A.-made item, like a Topps or Bowman.....etc..... card, at least in my view, there should be no tariff, as you are actually "repatriating" the item to it's country of origin (The U.S.A.)
At least that's how I see it.
Steve
I purchased several items on ebay from Canada in the last several months. The only time I was charged a fee was when the seller shipped UPS. The fee was $10 on a $20 item.
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Sorry would have to disagree, the Tariffs Canada must pay US now have no direct correlation to the actual Product (With Some Exceptions of course) Everything Canada Sends to us now gets a Reciprocal Tariff of, 50% as of last night, but Dementia Don could change that in a Heart Beat! I Generally don't buy from Canada any more due to the Increased Shipping costs from Canada. Sheesh 3 Comics is now $19.99-$24.99. I just pass!
I received a PSA graded card from Canada yesterday and was not charged a tariff. It was hand delivered to my door just three days after the purchase. On the mailing label, the seller identified it as a “paper trading card” with a value of $100 which is well below what I paid. Customs clearly did not open the package to verify the accuracy of the description although I assume they have the ability to x-ray packages when they’re suspicious. I was surprised it did not go through PSA’s authenticity verification process since the purchase price was greater than $500. Does anyone know why it wouldn’t have?
Tariffs are the sellers responsibility and not the buyers it seems.
I do not believe authenticity verification or PSA grading are available on foreign purchases.
Matt
Whoever imports (usually the buyer) pays the tariffs.
However, if shipped Canada Post, the shipper pays upfront and this is because USPS and Canada Post do not have the system in place to collect the tariffs in the US. But I would assume the shipper would include these fees upfront.
I ship from Canada to the US all the time.... tariffs and broker fees are not always collected. Some get through and some get dinged. If the item was 'made in the USA'.... quite often the receiver just pays the broker processing cost and zero taxes or tariffs.
Honestly folk we in the US should never have to deal with bs stuff and we did not prior to 2025.
Yeah I know times change but my opinion on this will not.
It's the singer not the song - Peter Townshend (1972)
Not even a minute do I buy the whole buh buh buh I'm a man-child japery - Me (2025)
I have bought and not paid if it is a TOpps card, If the seller lists the origin country as US there should be no tariff. I did pay the UPS $10 processing fee
What if the OPC card is graded by PSA?
Is it a US product?
What if a Topps card is graded by KSA?
Is it a US or Canada product?
The card I purchased was OPC and graded by PSA. The seller’s description did not indicate either, only that it was a trading card, so my guess is that US Customs did not care enough to check since the declared value was only $100. There was no tariff charge when I checked out, only sales tax, since the buyer offered free shipping. I was certainly glad to receive the card so quickly with no added cost. If the package was lost, the seller might have been screwed since the declared value was much lower than the selling price but that was a risk he was willing to take to keep his shipping cost low and/or to keep my tariff cost low if enforced. Either way it worked out great for me. But I’m still puzzled why it didn’t go through eBay’s authenticity verification process.
I sell items on ebay mostly shipped to United States maybe 500 per year with a small amount being sports cards.
Sports cards are a tariff free product to the United States from Canada.
Single baseball cards are classified under the HS code 4911.99. This classification generally applies to other printed matter, including printed pictures and photographs.
Tariff Information
HS Code Description Tariff Status
4911.99 Other printed matter, including pictures Tariff Free
This means that when importing single baseball cards into the United States, there is typically no tariff applied.
Where you pay a fee is the entry fee. UPS and Fedex might charge you an entry fee for document processing. If the seller ships Canada Post they have to pay any document/entry fee as they dont allow the buyer to do that. Its because Canada Post and USPS have some kind of agreement for shipping back and forth. The charge we pay is $2.99. UPS or Fedex is a option for the buyer or seller to pay any fees.
Unless its a low value card we can sneak it in first class mail which isnt supposed to be allowed but its the only reasonable way for us to ship a low value card - just under $2.00 Canadian. Even small packet costs thru USPS cost us about $9.00 Canadian to the United States. UPS cost is about $12-15 and the document processing fee will be about $6-$10
I also do have to marked where the item was manufactured. SO OPC is manufactured in USA originally. Its worded the origin of the item
There is a line in the law that says something to the effect that if the item's value was increased through action in the foreign country, then the tariff applies, since it would now be considered a foreign-made product.
So, if you buy a Topps card from a dealer in Canada, and you're in the USA, and the card is raw, then no tariff would theoretically apply. However, if the card was graded and slabbed, then the tariff would apply. But then you also get into if the card was graded/slabbed by PSA, which is in the USA, then it's still a USA-made product, and "theoretically", no tariff would apply. If, however, the card was graded/slabbed by KSA, then it is a Canadian-made product, and the tariff would apply.
So..........it's a mess.
Steve