What US Customs paperwork do I need to drive over border with Ebay items I sold valued under $200

[blueacre]

I live in Ontario Canada near the US border crossing in Niagara Falls. I have been selling used vintage car parts under $200 to US customers. I would like to start driving them over the border myself and take advantage of the reduced shipping cost by shipping USPS from Niagara Falls New York. I know there are services like Chit Chats Express in Toronto but I am only 15 minutes from the border and would have to drive an hour to the nearest Chit Chats location.

I have been told there is a simple process for bringing items into the US if they are under $200. I wold appreciate if anyone who is currently driving items over to the US to ship could fill me in on the process and what paperwork I need to do. Also can I do this at any of the bridges in the Niagara area - I usually cross at the Rainbow bridge.

thanks

Gary

[hlmacdon]

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@blueacre wrote:

I live in Ontario Canada near the US border crossing in Niagara Falls. I have been selling used vintage car parts under $200 to US customers. I would like to start driving them over the border myself and take advantage of the reduced shipping cost by shipping USPS from Niagara Falls New York. I know there are services like Chit Chats Express in Toronto but I am only 15 minutes from the border and would have to drive an hour to the nearest Chit Chats location.

I have been told there is a simple process for bringing items into the US if they are under $200. I wold appreciate if anyone who is currently driving items over to the US to ship could fill me in on the process and what paperwork I need to do. Also can I do this at any of the bridges in the Niagara area - I usually cross at the Rainbow bridge.

thanks

Gary

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You'll need an inward cargo manifest form filled out (7533) along with a copy of invoices. Process wise you have to go through the commercial lane with the trucks as it is considered a commercial entry. There is a fee per crossing if you don't have a transponder. I believe the fee is $10 per crossing and the transponder fee really shot up in cost this year. Expect to get a few inspections of your goods and vehicle, so ensure that things are declared properly. You'll often get asked about the country of origin, so ensure you know that.

[recped]

FYI - That $200 limit is going to soon be $800.

Both US Congress and Senate passed the bill last week, there are a few details to resolve before it heads to the President. Obama has already committed to signing the bill that this change is included in.

I do not know exactly how long it will be for US Customs to institute the change but it should only be a matter of months.

https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/644/text#toc-HBC4E009677E74B7EA7ED9106B1BBF9...

[reallynicestamps]

Time to start nagging our MPs about raising the Canadian maximum from $20?

Since CBSA sensibly ignores most of the under $100 imports, it would not surprise me if Canada actually made more money with a higher, but enforced, maximum.

Your MP doesn't even need a stamp on his envelope.

Your MP name

House of Commons

OTTAWA ON

K1A 0A6

[gorilla-scales]

How about just providing Canadians with an affordable postal service that we can actually use and not have to take out business to the US?

[mr.elmwood]

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@gorilla-scales wrote:
How about just providing Canadians with an affordable postal service that we can actually use and not have to take out business to the US?

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Because Canada has the population of California in an area, 24 times larger.

or

Everyone in Canada living in Newfoundland and Labrador. It is that kind of scale.

[gorilla-scales]

So you're saying volume is the problem.. if we had more people, more revenue?.. don't you think that volume would increase massively if they offered a fair priced service similar to USPS FR boxes?  As it stands, they are missing out on potential business.

[mr.elmwood]

Not just volume, logistics. Canadians are never going to be able to generate the volume of traffic that the US has. 35 million cannot do what 318 million do.

Massive economies of scale when there is a large population in a small area. It is massively costly when there is a very small population in a large area.

To drive from one end of California to the other, is 12 hours. To drive from Victoria to St John's, is 78 hours. Same population. Which do you think would be cheaper to service?

[hlmacdon]

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@gorilla-scales wrote:

So you're saying volume is the problem.. if we had more people, more revenue?.. don't you think that volume would increase massively if they offered a fair priced service similar to USPS FR boxes?  As it stands, they are missing out on potential business.

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To add to what mr.Elmwood was stating, the USPS system works because of the volume and population density across the country. They are able to have a very efficient hub and spoke system with major distribution centers feeding numerous processing facilities. Mixed with that you have a huge amount of air traffic across the country that they can leverage to ferry traffic to those facilities where appropriate. With Canada that doesn't work due to the smaller population density in a large land mass. We have comparatively few major population centers and many smaller areas to deliver to. Our final mile to the customer ends up being a much longer portion of the overall send/receive process.

What they do need to look at however, is a more affordable small package class for the public to help offset the decline in lettermail processing. As of a few years ago they were pinning their hopes massively on parcel volume increasing but that was relying on key major retail accounts which are now in decline. That being said, you are still not solving the geography/population density issue regardless of the potential volume increase.