Is this ebay's answer to all the International people saying that they did not get there items? now that an independant 3rd party is shipping the items to you now.
Just curious if it is or just another way for a company to grab money off us for no reason. I only payed extra a couple times.
Customs brokers serve a useful ( if annoying) purpose in international trade and commerce. They act a guarantor in expediting goods coming into the country, typically shipments of larger goods and commodities that see cross-border trade, but also items like mail and parcels which would otherwise have to all be inspected individually. Think about the number of pieces of mail that come into the country on any given day at all points of entry.......and then think about the manpower needed to individually clear each of those pieces, those in addition to the bills of lading for goods like lumber, equipment, food, all manner of products. A customs broker takes on much of that blanket responsibility so as to free up customs and postal staff that would otherwise have to process and inspect those imports. They also provide useful business intelligence by monitoring what kinds of goods typically get imported into the country.
Not everything ( at least at the level that you and I import toys into the country) gets handled by customs brokers though, as there looks to be a certain cost threshold and shipping type that seems to trigger their involvement in clearing. Courier services always seem to use them, because their imports are speedy and often of higher value. Regular parcel post doesn't always use customs brokers because the items tend to arrive by slower means ( truck traffic etc) and are typically of lesser value per item.
