CANADIANS: Read before you purchase from the USA!!!

[canuckchat]

If you reside in Canada - and purchase an item from the USA - you need to educate yourself as to the fact that you WILL be paying applicable taxes and possibly duties on the item when it crosses the border into Canada.

Yes, if the item is shipped by postal service, your "brokerage handling fee" will be a nominal $5 or $8 - plus the applicable taxes for your province (and possibly duties, but seldom are they charged.)

And yes, MANY times the items shipped by postal service are NOT charged taxes or duties incoming - so sometimes you will escape paying the taxes that are due to the Canadian and provincial governments.

However, you should ALWAYS - and I stress ALWAYS! - calculate the cost of the taxes and possibly duties into the decision to make a purchase internationally.

Additionally, if your item is sent by the USA seller (or other international seller) through a courier service (for example, UPS, FEDEX, DHL, etc.) then your applicable brokerage fee will be upwards of $25, on a sliding scale dependent upon the value of the incoming item.

Yes, these fees (brokerage, tax, duty) are ALL part of the cost of buying an item internationally and having it shipped to you in Canada.

It is NOT up to the seller to pay these for you - YOU are the importer of record - YOU are the one who will be billed for these charges - YOU are the one who will NOT get your parcel until you pay these charges.

So - before hitting the "BID NOW" button, do a bit of calculating and make an informed decision to see if it is really worth getting that imported widget!

Happy Bidding, Folks!
:-D

[mirrorman4u2]

Canadians should buy from fellow Canadians.
The ROR, rip off rate, can be too much for most Canadian buyers to stomach

[mirrorman4u2]

Always expect to add 25 Percent ontop of your US to Canada purchase. Sometimes more depending on the size and weight of the item.

[canuckchat]

- be informed

- know what the exchange rate is

- always expect to pay gst and pst (if applicable to your location) when purchasing from an out of country seller

[euwern]

have you guys experience buying a bike from America and get shipped to Canada? What's the experience like? Do they appear to have the same problem?

_{Honda Motorcycle Accessories}

[canuckchat]

expect to pay all the taxes (federal and provincial if applicable) plus brokerage

[catwhiba]

I really wish US sellers would just use the plain-old post office. The hassles with couriers are so enormous that I wonder how they make any money at all.

Also, I hope I don't have the RCMP knocking at my door or anything, but the fact is that you hardly ever get charged anything at all for stuff that comes by mail, at least if the declared value is under $100 or so. And if the goods have some evidence of being manufactured in the U.S.A., then there's no duty, at least.

[goodnotes88]

I cannot stress this enough. BUYERS please read everything before you bid. I just had a buyer who sent me a Personal cheque with Canadian dollars, and asked me why can't I sell in CDN, and why is S&H from Canada is $1.50 after he got combined for that 1 price. He says why can't I charge .54 cents. It is everyone's perogative to sell in US or CDN. We pay everything in US, why sell in CDN. Does everyone have problems with buyers from QUE.

[xenotime]

>Canadians should buy from fellow Canadians.

Unfortunately, no one in Canada sells anything I want...In fact, hardly anyone here sells anything at all.

[resologist]

Yes, one may have to pay sales tax and GST on goods imported from the United States; but, the advice offered regarding courier services is quite naive.

I have received motion picture equipment from the States, United Kingdom, and France, (each package declared at more than US$1000), and not been asked to pay anything by Canada Customs, (via postal services). On the other hand, UPS and Fedex will always apply their "customs brokerage" fee on most anything other than an envelope.

If it's from the States, USPS First Class and Priority Mail International will do the job. Be warned, tho, not to use Express Mail nor Global Express Guaranteed services; then, USPS uses courier services for delivery to your door, (with all the extra fee and hassle of any courier delivery).

Two horror stories:

I ordered a hard-to-find book from an Italian book seller. It was sent via Fedex. Fedex never delivered it, never left a message at my telephone number (with my address on the package), and sent it back to Italy. When I complained to Fedex, I was told that I'd have to pay to have it shipped a second time, and would be charged a second time for their customs-brokerage fee. The book seller wouldn't offer any refund nor ship it any other way. I wrote this off as a total loss.

I obtained a wonderful underwater housing for a motion picture camera from Argentina. It was shipped via DHL. I was asked about customs clearance by DHL at the Toronto airport, sent the authorization via fax at the local Mailboxes outlet, and paid the taxes, duty, and their fees, via a credit card. A year later, (after the package was delivered), a fax arrived at the local Mailboxes outlet for me. I was advised that DHL had authorized a collection agency to get the "past due" amount, (taxes, duty, and their fees, already paid). When I pointed out that it had been paid, the collection agency still wanted to collect, (no profit for them in correcting an error in billing). I told them to send me their bill, but the collection agency did not have my address, (the same place the package was delivered). The collection agency did find my telephone number but failed to ever discover my address; and, after about a year of stupid telephone calls, they gave up asking for money that had, long beforehand, been paid.

Do I want to use UPS, Fedex, or DHL for shipping? No.

Be forewarned.

[cash_buyer2009]

I notice that some sellers are selling their (for example) $20 item for $.01 and charging 19.99 shipping
Instead of $20 with free shipping!

Since they don't and cant charge duty or taxes to the cost of shipping this looks like a loop hole?

[hockey_card_corner]

> Instead of $20 with free shipping!
>
> Since they don't and cant charge duty or taxes to the cost of shipping this looks like a loop hole?

Man I hate it when you have eveything typed out and hit the send button and get a timed out message..

Another couple loop holes I heard about from UPS & Canada Post employess..I don;'t know how legal they are..

Example: You buy 30 Bluray DVD's from the States for $300 ..Awesome deal!

Loophole: You ask the seller to put down the quantity as 30..and Unit Value of $10 each.. mark as gift or commercial sample. Apparently you escape Customs because the Unit value is under $20 CAD

Example: You buy a Bluray player from the States. Worth $200

Loophole: You ask the seller to mark it as Refurbished..Used etc.. Apparently these items have no monetary value ....Same with Recycled items etc...

I'm not sure how the seller would feel about shipping a Bluray player with no value...I'm thinking insured value and actual value are both the same when it applies to customs..

Either way, always take the extra fees associated with doing cross-border, out of Canada busines into consideration. You might get lucky sometimes, but you'll get hit sooner or later...And you might laugh when it happens...

I purchased a $200 item from the States and thought for sure I was gonna get nailed..never happened.. I purchased another item valued at $30 and had to pay the extra funds..:^O no biggie I guess

Happy Shopping!

[val256]

So, I suggested to buy from Canadian retailer for triple price??? Even when you pay all taxes and duties, it will be cheaper than here. This is reality.

[sir*snarkypants*ross]

"I don't know how legal they are ..."

every one of your examples are NOT legal
Lieing on customs forms is a federal offense ... lie at your own peril. You get caught once, you'll pay full market retail value
Get caught twice you'll be fined
Continue doing it, and getting caught, you'll be looking at prosecution and maybe jail time
All so you can save a buck or two


C:
C:\spot
C:\spot\run
run spot.run

[hockey_card_corner]

> "I don't know how legal they are ..."
>
> every one of your examples are NOT legal
> Lying on customs forms is a federal offence ... lie at your own peril. You get caught once, you'll pay full market retail value
> Get caught twice you'll be fined
> Continue doing it, and getting caught, you'll be looking at prosecution and maybe jail time
> All so you can save a buck or two
>


> C:
> C:spot
> C:spot
un
> run spot.run

>
>

I never said they were 100% legal...but they are loop holes...I live in Canada so I don't have to worry about finding loops holes for US buyers etc....They are allowed $200 while Canadians are only allowed $20.

I'll give you an example of a loop hole I found.

I purchased a large lot of hockey cards at auction from a US seller. There were roughly 1000 cards & I paid roughly $500. He shipped them through UPS Standard delivery and I never had to pay any customs or taxes on the amount... I asked why I didn't have to pay & I was told because the seller wrote down 1000 units ( hockey cards) & even thought the overall value was $500 each unit Value was under $20 therefore I didn't have to pay...

I know this might be a poor example..but If I were buying a large lot of DVD's from the US I would ask them to give it a try....If there's a spot on the customs form that says "Units" I'd fill it in...then put the Unit value. Might work might not..but I can't see anyone getting charged for it..

I'm not 100% certain about this one either...maybe you know. Does Canada Post honour insurance claims for Hockey Cards damaged in the mail?

[wolfsbainlegend1]

Note: You can always refuse the item, then you pay nothing but the purchase and original shipping. If the item has a brokage fee and duty tax, it is you right to refuse it. Then it's sent back.

[ydnar12002]

Don't know if someone else mentioned this. I too had a UPS brokerage charge. I called their call centre and they told me to just tell the seller to mark 'Will Self-Clear' on the docs from now on. UPS will contact you when the package gets into Canada. It sounds like some mysterious process but it's not. I went to the local border services office, filled out some paperwork (simple) they made a determination of what the item was and calculated the duty plus GST (only a few dollars). It is not a complicated process and certainly not what the courier companies will charge as a brokerage fee. If they charge you this wihout your authorization contact their call centre and complain loudly. When I did it they meekly cancelled the brokerage charge.

[elwickedo]

UPS are thieves.

If you live in BC and have been robbed by UPS, you can join a class action lawsuit against them at at the law firm Poyner Baxter web site. www.poynerbaxter.com/UPS.htm

[kasiablue2000]

Yes, this is what it is like to buy from another country. No surprise. It's been like that forever. Having said that, in all the years I've been buying from the US, I've only paid duty and or fees 3x. I expect them but they rarely happen. The point is to be aware that you can be expected to pay them.

[kasiablue2000]

> >Canadians should buy from fellow Canadians.
>
> Unfortunately, no one in Canada sells anything I want...In fact, hardly anyone here sells anything at all.


Even if we do buy from fellow Canadians there is no guarantee that the item is coming from Canada. In July I thought I bought DVDs from a seller in Canada. The seller was there, but the item was counterfeit and shipped out of China. I don't think location matters as much as the item you are buying and the trustworthiness of the seller. As each year goes by I get less and less confident in Ebay, as a buyer. There is just way too much fraud going on. A friend of mine thought she was buying a collector doll from a lady in New Brunswick. She got a knockoff from China. Paid over $400. I just found this out today after going though the scam I have been dealing with.

[nicole_n_pepper]

the easy way out that i do is if im going to buy something for more then $20, i buy it from a canadian seller, if its under $20, (from my experance) you will not get the brokerage or have to pay taxes, sometimes you can ask them to mark it as a gift and 99% of the time they wont catch it and you will not pay extra for it