We both ship from Winnipeg, right? All my parcels headed to the USA clear by the end of the first whole business day that Canada Post has them, like if I mail something at 9 am today, it's being processed for export by midnight (give or take a few hours) the end of the following day.
Example below. I mailed it on the 10th and it was leaving Canada by the night of the 11th. It's always like this for Tracked Packet. Lickety split.
My point is that I don't think we need to worry quite yet and international parcels get outta dodge right fast.
With Canadapost shipments TO the USA customs processing is included with all services. (It may be extra for high-value shipments). Haven't done the documents on one of those in a number of years. If you were to choose a courier for shipping to the USA any ground shipments would require you to assign a broker to clear when they arrive at the border. Most air shipments customs is generally built in. Another reason why air shipping is more expensive. Coles notes version of Purolator's/DHL information attached for reference only. At one time Purolator used Peacebridge brokers for US-bound shipments and they were not cheap/per shipment. Not sure who they use now. You would be in the same situation shipping anywhere else internationally by other couriers. Also using a courier or several for international shipping would require setting up accounts and credit checks unless you pay per shipment. DHL does have the option to pay with Paypal. One of the "advantages" if you forget prices is Canadapost CAN handle shipping to most places. Not so good for oversized shipments but you can't have everything. In the past 10 years of selling on eBay I've used alternative couriers a total of 5 times. I use Canadapost because overall it's convenient. Gone, for me, I'm in a bind. Really all depends on where you ship to and what you ship. Always possible for a bit of negotiating depending on volume but "could" require a contract.
Purolator:
Assigning a Customs Broker for U.S. Shipments
When shipping to the U.S. with the Purolator Ground® U.S. service, you have the option of selecting your own customs broker. The customs broker must be a licensed U.S. customs broker and be able to clear Purolator shipments moving through our delivery network. If a customs broker is not assigned on the commercial invoice or bill of lading, we will assign an approved customs broker on your behalf according to the Purolator Terms and Conditions of Service. Note: Customers are not able to select an alternate customs broker for Purolator Express® U.S. and Purolator Express® International shipments as all customs clearance will be performed by Purolator’s designated broker.
DHL
http://international.dhl.ca/en/express/optional_services.html
One last thing to consider for anyone used to filling out Customs Documents with Canada Post, it's a much more labour intensive with couriers. More I's to dot and t's to cross. You may or may not require a Tax ID number(Businesses) or basically a Social Insurance number(Personal) for US shipments depending on the value and an ACTUAL REAL phone number for your customs documents, often not the easiest information to get from a 1 of's customers. And much more critical is that the HS codes you use are correct and that order values are accurate. You are bypassing a lot of this by using Canada Post. Canadapost can get away with this due to the volume. The other way to bypass this is just go out and become a Customs Broker and you can prepare your own shipments. 1 website lists the fees for the application as 200 and extra for the exam. Easy Peazy!!! Prices may vary.
-CM
