I run a small company, and use Shipstation to ship my packages from Canada to USA via UPS. I’m meticolous about weight, sizes (only have a few products) and coding them for CUSMA with origin being canada, and the right Harmonization codes.
Today, I got a VERY disturbing email which sure looks like it came form shipstation:
In December I shipped 214 packages .. average value was $200 CAD, and average shipping label was $18 CAD.
Shipstation cannot answer if this is real yet or not … They ended the chat and said they will followup via email.
I’M FREAKING OUT ….. $30,580.23 in “adjustments” just doesnt make any sense. I’ve had other UPS adjustments but they were just a few cets to a buck here and there.
With ZERO detail given, can someone help me make sense of this ?
From Shipstation ….
”
Thank you for your patience while we looked into your case.
I’ve shared your concerns with our leadership team, and after a thorough review, we confirmed that these charges are government‑mandated duties and taxes assessed by the destination country. Unfortunately, this means we’re unable to waive the fees.
That said, we understand the impact this has on your business. To help ease the burden, we’ve submitted a request for the balance to be charged in two installments: 50% of the total due initially, with the remaining 50% charged one month later.
”
3 days later, on a Saturday evening at 8pm , this is what I get …. with not a single ounce of detail.
So Shipstation has given detail, and I’m at a loss.
My weights are 100% accurate, and they blanket chose EVERY shipment in December and applied a weight to them that is 2x + what any of my actual weights are. I have no SKU’s that are even close to 907g.
I’ve also been shipping for a year+, and NEVER been charged like this before. Certainly been some adjustments (which i debate every time, as they seem to always want to use 907g as a default for some reason.) Entry Prep Fee & Disbursement Fees … no idea what they are or are for.
This happens very offen with couriers esp. 3rd party like Shipstation, Freightcom, etc. We have this happen many times with Freightcom and now we record every shippiment. we measure the size and weight on a scale. its a pain, but so far its the only way to fight it. If you don’t pay it, they will suspend your account and send it to collections. We once ask for proof of the size and weight they claim but they said it was on us to prove it which i find bs.
Good luck on this and keep us updated incase anyone else runs into this problem as well.
That amount definitely sounds unusual, especially if your historical UPS adjustments were only minor differences.
I’d recommend:
• Verifying directly inside your official ShipStation billing dashboard
• Contacting UPS billing support independently (not via the email thread)
• Checking if dimensional weight or customs reclassification triggered a bulk adjustment
Also, if you’re frequently shipping cross-border, it may help to implement stricter shipping rule validation at checkout to minimize post-label adjustments.
Hopefully this turns out to be either a system error or a phishing attempt.
