FeeVerdict — Methodology

Last updated: September 2026

Scope: Carrier brokerage / customs handling fees · observed vs published tariffs

What we measure

FeeVerdict compares what you were charged (brokerage/clearance fee only) against published carrier schedules and crowdsourced medians for the same carrier × country × parcel value band.

We do not calculate import duty or GST/HST — those are government charges. We focus on carrier administrative fees (entry preparation, disbursement, processing, transaction). We never add MPF, inbound processing, or ICOD to the published baseline.

Data sources

Every displayed figure links to its source class: PDF URL, « n submissions · period », or CBSA/Canada Post page.

Verdict rules

Published baseline = entry preparation (or the carrier’s single published minimum) + disbursement minimum from the official schedule for the value band. Thresholds are stored on the active tariff document (threshold_normal_pct = 10, threshold_important_pct = 50).

An observed median is a market statistic only when n ≥ 5. Below that, the figure is indicative: value-band pages show Undetermined (not “significant gap”). Charged-fee pages still compare this invoice to the published tariff — that verdict does not depend on the median.

Every verdict block shows n, the period, the tariff version, and this confidence level.

The comparison is valid only if the invoice line is carrier brokerage/clearance (not duty or GST/HST), the service matches the published schedule (typically Ground/Standard), and — on value-band pages — the parcel value is in that band.

Submission moderation

1. No invoice photo required for aggregate stats — optional for dispute cases
2. Outliers (>5× band median) flagged · not counted until n≥3 similar reports
3. Canaries — honeypot values detect bulk scraping; fake rows never in public median
4. No republication of third-party complaint text (forums, press) — aggregates only

What we never publish

• Raw submission database or CSV dump of individual rows
• Individual tracking numbers tied to fees (privacy)
• Full carrier invoice dumps

Aggregated pages only: e.g. /en/ca/dhl/brokerage-fee/100-cad-parcel → median, n, verdict.

Limitations

• Tariffs change — dateModified on each page; IndexNow on updates
• Express vs Ground changes totals — always check service type
• We are not a licensed customs broker · not legal advice
• Class actions and disputes: informational links only

Contact

Questions on methodology: [email protected]

Report a data error: [email protected] with a source URL — we update within 7 days. There is no separate /contact page; these addresses are the public channel.

Express vs Ground brokerage

Published carrier schedules on FeeVerdict refer to ground/standard entry-preparation fees billed separately on many invoices. Express and air services usually bundle customs brokerage into the shipping price paid at checkout — those totals are often not comparable to the ground tariff lines we cite. When you submit an observation, select Express if that applies so we segment medians correctly. Carrier pages flagged in the country catalog include an additional FAQ when ground vs Express tariffs are not directly comparable.

U.S. inbound baseline (J1)

For United States inbound, the published baseline is entry fee (if a value grid is published) + disbursement minimum. We never add Merchandise Processing Fee (MPF) as a FeeVerdict line, even when a carrier’s percentage is calculated on duty + tax + MPF. We also omit the FedEx U.S. Inbound Processing Fee ($2.65 / $1 Connect Plus) — a third layer, neither entry nor disbursement. That omission slightly understates the full carrier bill and keeps the comparison conservative on the layers we actually measure. DHL US publishes no entry-by-value grid; the J1 baseline is Duty Tax Processing only ($17.50). UPS US stays undetermined until official entry-prep amounts are sourced.