Are you still buying in the USA? Why?

[Mike-fish]

with customs it's practically whose hands touch it. I've brought stuff in from the states 2 packages (to big and heavy to make it one) both with identical contents and such. shipped from same person (and address) same day to the same address on the same day. both shipped the same way too. one had a 20$ fee on it and the other one no charge.

[mike31154]

I imagine it boils down to the luck of the draw in many cases for the smaller, lower cost items. If you consider the volume of goods coming in & going out of the country, customs can't possibly screen every single item. I'm sure much of it is xrayed to help them decide what gets scrutinized more closely.

I've been ordering various items in small batches from Asia via eBay for a DIY LED lighting build since January & have yet to pay any duty or brokerage. I made sure the items I purchased had free or minimal shipping costs, so no surprises. All the orders were under the $50 mark with 2 exceptions & even they were under $100. Funny thing though, although most items entered through Van, one order went all the way to Mississauga for customs processing before making it's way to Vernon. Go figure.