UPS really nails Canadians to pick up the parcel at customs and deliver it to your home, is there another way to have it shipped to Canada?

[shopperman.250]

I have ordered a few things from the US and the orders delivered by UPS almost added 60% to the bill.  Very unreasonable rates. Is there another way.

[dmil8030]

It is up to the sellers how they ship their items, - it's always their choice.  Most sellers, however, use the postal system, which is reliable, safe, and ever-so affordable.

Buying from the US, your best value is USPS First Class International, -- low-cost cheap-o mail with comparatively quick delivery.  This service does not provide a tracking number so some sellers will not use it.  They prefer USPS Priority, which costs a lot more, - even for small items it's around $32, give or take.

At the moment you are new with a feedback of zero so it is highly unlikely that many sellers will drop the Priority and send it First Class for you.  Sellers of smaller, low-value items generally use only First Class so you should have no trouble finding things to buy.  But you are buying gifts and they are at all costly, so will be the postage.  You can see for yourself if you want to poke around in the US Postal rates pages:

http://ircalc.usps.com/?country=10054

[dmil8030]

Oh, and I meant to add that even items coming through the post can incur charges.  It's that customs/duty/tax thing.

Anything with a declared value over $20 may have charges, depending on what it is and where it is made.  So an item from the US (a NAFTA) country will have no duty if it is made there, but if it is made in Italy it likely will.  Duties are reasonable, around 10-12%, but can be as low as 5% or as high as 18%.  Clothing is among the highest.

Taxes you pay just as if you bought it locally, - depending on your province.  If you are in Ontario, that's 13%.  If you are in Alberta, only 5%, and so on. 

And whilst the fee charged by Canada Post to pass this loot on to the government is only $8.50, as you already know couriers charge a lot more, UPS being the worst.  No one likes to pay these charges, but when you buy from outside the country you become an importer.  Many items coming by mail are not assessed and just show up at your door, but never 'expect' that, and if you are asked to pay charges, do it promptly.

If you would like another link to nose around in, there's this one about importing by mail:

http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/import/postal-postale/duty-droits-eng.html

Happy shopping. 🙂

[heidilynn0_3]

US sellers are beginning to sign on to eBay's new Global Shipping Program. Items that qualify for duty/taxes are paid at checkout rather than delivery.

These listings can be identified by.."import charges..To be provided at checkout"... under shipping in top part of listings.

[reid4311]

I'm noticing the same thing. I won a cd for a $1.00. The sellers info said please contact for international rates which I did. He said to ship a cd to Canada was $7.75 which I thought was reasonable but when the invoice came it was a whopping $17.45! I contacted the seller who said he'd send a payable invoice. Later he responded that he couldn't. In effect he was being blocked. So I transferred the amount agreed upon to his paypal account and that was also blocked because he stated he couldn't print the stamps. We then cancelled the deal. I live in Toronto, he was in Rochester. I can buy 1 cd from an English or German seller and still pay roughly $7.75. This global shipping service is nothing but a cash grab rip off! I have now set up my searches to show only Canadian sellers for dvds and Canada / Europe for cds. Too much drama south of the border!