Do you pay duties on YesStyle and Stylevana in Canada?

Ordering skincare from Hong Kong feels simple until a notice arrives asking for another C$20 before delivery. Whether that happens depends on a few published rules, and most of them are easy to look up. We read them on 8 October 2026 and put them next to the prices in our October Price Index.

We don’t ship parcels and we haven’t ordered from either shop for this page. Everything below comes from the CBSA, the Canadian Customs Tariff, the CRA, Canada Post and each shop’s own policy pages. Rules and rates change, so treat this as the position on that date and check at checkout.

Three charges can land on one parcel

Charge	What the sources say	Who collects it
Duty	A tariff on the goods, worked out from their value in Canadian funds	CBSA
GST/HST (and provincial tax)	Most imports are also subject to GST, plus PST or HST depending on the province	CBSA, collected for the provinces
Carrier fee	C$9.95 per dutiable or taxable item for Canada Post. Courier brokerage fees vary, and the CBSA pages we read give no amount	Canada Post, or the courier

The shop’s shipping fee, which we covered in YesStyle vs Stylevana, is separate from all three.

The C$20 line, and why it rarely matters

The CBSA’s rule is simple: if someone mails you an item worth C$20 or less, there is no duty or tax to pay. For courier shipments the CBSA splits the rule by country of export. Parcels from the United States or Mexico get a higher line (duty and tax free up to C$40, duty free up to C$150). From any other country, the line is C$20.

Stylevana says it ships from a Hong Kong warehouse, so the C$20 line is the one that applies to its parcels. The CBSA words the rule as an item or shipment worth C$20 or less, which we read as the whole parcel. Both shops set their free-shipping minimums well above it (C$68 and C$75), so a basket you’d actually order is past C$20.

Of the non-sunscreen products we track, 7 of the 14 in stock at Stylevana were C$20 or less in October, and 4 of 10 at YesStyle. Single cheap items do fall under the line. A basket almost never does.

Duty: what the tariff says about skin care

The Canadian Customs Tariff for 2026, published by the CBSA, classifies skin care preparations under 3304.99.90. The most-favoured-nation rate is 6.5%. The preferential columns, including the one for Korea (KRT), show Free.

So for Korean-made skincare the schedule points to no duty. Two cautions. First, whether a parcel gets the preferential rate is decided at the border, and neither shop’s policy pages say how they declare parcels. Second, as we understand it, a trade preference follows where the goods were made, not where they ship from, so Hong Kong dispatch doesn’t settle it. We haven’t confirmed how the CBSA treats preference claims on small parcels, so the examples below show duty both ways.

Tax: GST and HST by province

The CRA lists these rates:

• 5% GST in provinces without HST, such as Alberta.
• 13% HST in Ontario.
• 14% HST in Nova Scotia, since 1 April 2025.
• 15% HST in the other participating provinces.

Canada Post’s page says the CBSA collects provincial sales taxes and HST by province of residence on most taxable imports over C$20. British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Quebec also have provincial taxes of their own, and we haven’t modelled them. The tables below use GST/HST only, so they understate the bill in those provinces.

What it adds up to

Here is the extra cost on a parcel that goes over the C$20 line, using a C$9.95 Canada Post fee and tax on the goods’ value. Duty is shown separately at 6.5% in case no Korean preference is applied.

Extra cost on the parcel	C$50 order	C$100 order	C$150 order
GST only (5%)	C$2.50	C$5.00	C$7.50
Ontario HST (13%)	C$6.50	C$13.00	C$19.50
15% HST provinces	C$7.50	C$15.00	C$22.50
Canada Post fee	C$9.95	C$9.95	C$9.95
Duty at 6.5%	C$3.25	C$6.50	C$9.75

A C$19 order is under the line, so nothing is charged on it.

At C$50 in Ontario, tax plus the Canada Post fee is C$16.45, which is 32.9% on top of the goods. At C$150 the same charges are C$29.45, or 19.6%. The flat fee is why small baskets hurt most. These figures are estimates. They tax only the goods’ value, ignore any tax charged on duty, and assume the CBSA counts the goods’ price alone toward the C$20 line. We haven’t confirmed how shipping is treated in either calculation.

The same basket, all in

We used the three-item basket from our comparison: COSRX snail essence, Anua toner and COSRX cleanser, priced on 5 October 2026. The estimate is for an Ontario address, with Canada Post carrying the parcel.

	YesStyle	Stylevana
Products	C$54.22	C$47.27
Shop shipping	C$8.88	C$7.99
Ontario HST on the products (13%)	C$7.05	C$6.15
Canada Post handling fee	C$9.95	C$9.95
Estimated total	C$80.10	C$71.36

The gap grows from C$7.84 before tax and fees to C$8.74 after, because tax follows the product price. The flat fee is the same for both.

Two things could shrink YesStyle’s number. It says it refunds customs-related taxes and fees on orders under US$1,000, as YesStyle Credit, if you claim within 30 days with the payment receipt. Its page doesn’t say whether the GST/HST charged at the Canadian border counts, and it lists postal fees such as pick-up handling fees as excluded, so ask its support before relying on it. YesStyle also ships Premium Standard by post, which is where the Canada Post fee applies. Stylevana says it picks the courier per order, so its parcel might arrive by post or by courier, and the fee you pay could be a courier’s brokerage charge instead.

If the bill looks wrong

The CBSA describes two routes. Both are about the assessment itself, and the form asks for supporting documents such as invoices that show the correct value of the products.

• Before you pay, refuse delivery and ask Canada Post to return the goods to the CBSA. Canada Post takes your phone number and a form, and the CBSA contacts you to discuss the assessment.
• After you pay, complete Form B2G, the CBSA Informal Adjustment Request, printed on the back of the Form E14 on your parcel. Send it with your invoice or other proof of value to the nearest Casual Refund Centre.

The CBSA says it will not refund broker’s fees, shipping or handling costs. Refusing a parcel won’t get your money back from the shop either: YesStyle says it isn’t responsible for a refund or reshipment when a customer refuses a package over customs issues.

What we couldn’t verify

• How the CBSA applies the Korea preference to a small parcel shipped from Hong Kong.
• What any courier charges as a brokerage fee, since the CBSA pages we read give no amount.
• Whether shipping counts toward the C$20 line or the tax base.
• The provincial taxes collected at the border in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Quebec.

If you’ve been charged duty on a K-beauty parcel and want to help us fill these in, our contact page is open.

Shipping terms for every shop we track

Sources

Read on 8 October 2026:

• The CBSA’s table of low-value shipment thresholds for mail and courier.
• The CBSA’s page on mail and courier imports, for the C$20 rule and the GST, PST and HST statement.
• The CBSA’s Chapter 33 of the 2026 Customs Tariff, for tariff item 3304.99.90.
• Canada Post’s page on customs duty, taxes and exemptions, for the C$9.95 handling fee.
• The CRA’s GST/HST calculator and rates, for the provincial rates.
• The CBSA’s page on disputing duty and taxes, for the two dispute routes.
• YesStyle’s help page on customs and tax, for its refund policy.
• Stylevana’s terms and conditions, for the importer-of-record wording.

Keep going

• Compare the two shops’ shipping and returns in YesStyle vs Stylevana.
• See every store’s price in the Price Index.
• Read how we make money before you click through to a shop.