I live in Canada and have received numerous packages through UPS, Post, trucking companies. The way to get around brokerage fees is to have the shipper state under shipping instructions "to be cleared by receiver". Most of the time UPS goes ahead and brokers it themselves and try to charge brokerage fees but b/c of special instructions stated, they wave the fee and write it down as goodwill. This has happened a few times to me. Also, it's easy to broker yourself - just a hassle to pick up the form and bring it to Customs but normally customs office is close by most shipping offices - at least in large cities.
