eBay

byto253 · ‎12-01-2022

Thought it may be useful to share my recent experience from going to the US to ship a number of items. The main focus was larger and heavier items where shipping from the US by USPS was much cheaper than from Canada.

On .com I ran auctions to end on a Thursday with 3 day handling, so that I had lots of time for payments to come in before going down on Monday. I use a US package holding service that provids a US address that was my "ship from" address on .com for these. With the US "ship from" address I was able to use calculated shipping for US addresses, and then print USPS labels directly from eBay.com and get the eBay USPS discounts.

I ended up with 14 items to bring across and all auctions were paid within 2 days. 2 heavy items that I really wanted to go had no bids, but I relisted them right away with a BIN equal to the starting bid price and they both sold within a day.

This was an "informal entry" which means that the value of goods going to any one address is under $800US and the total is under $2,500. More than that is a formal entry, and good luck sorting that out!

The biggest challenge was finding the correct US form to use. You need to complete a CBP 7533 form, which is available as a PDF download from the link below. If you are unclear or have any questions, the US border folks encourage you to phone the point of entry to ask questions as they prefer you have everything together.

https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/assets/documents/2022-Nov/CBP%20Form%207533.pdf

There is a $14.25 fee for commercial entry that is to be paid. In most cases you provide the form to the Border folks and they direct you to the payment office. Be sure to have the labels already applied to the parcels when you get there.

I actually showed up with the incorrect form, so had a more special experience! But Kudos to the CBP officers at the border, they were very good and professional. I had to go to the commercial office where an officer asked a few questions and provided the correct form. I was well organized with a detailed list that had all the item descriptions, values and destination names and addresses, which they liked. After getting the form sorted the office did an inspection of my parcels, opened and resealed a couple of them and I was on my way. It was dead quite at the border with zippo backlog, so they had time for that.

A bonus was that with the extra "service" I got the fee was not charged.

I had brought a packing tape gun with me so I taped the 2 parcels up better than the single piece of tape customs used. After that I just left the parcels on the counter at the USPS post office - if you want you can wait until they scan all the packages and get a receipt.

So it is pretty easy to do this ... with the correct form. It is just a question of it is worth the time.

I was going across for personal reasons already, which worked out since it is about an hour each way plus bridge tolls.

flipistics · ‎12-01-2022

Thanks. That's really helpful information.

a52split · ‎12-11-2022

@byto253 wrote:
There is a $14.25 fee for commercial entry ........

FYI, this fee is for your vehicle. Many years ago, I did an import exactly like you described, but since the lineup at the border was so long, I parked my car at my friend's house (less than a mile from the border) and borrowed his bicycle. With my small packages in a backpack, I pedaled to the front of the line and went straight inside. When I told the CBP guy I was cycling, he told me I didn't have to pay the fee since I wasn't using a vehicle.

I wasn't aware that the form 7533 was still a valid method of bringing your items across the line like you described. I thought there was some new online system and you had to register an acct and pay a steep annual fee. Whatever happened to that method.

byto253 · ‎12-11-2022

It was the customs agent that gave me the 7533 so it is still valid. He did mention something about going online but it is not fully implemented. I got the feelng that for low volume, or one off trips like I did, the physical 7533 is still going to be valid.

I think there is an annual fee if you have the volume to warrant getting a transponder and you submit everything electronically. The agent was very clear to call the station where you are crossing if you have any questions, and they welcome that.

motomike_canada · ‎12-12-2022

@byto253 wrote:
I think there is an annual fee if you have the volume to warrant getting a transponder and you submit everything electronically. The agent was very clear to call the station where you are crossing if you have any questions, and they welcome that.

interesting, back in the day there was a sticker for your windshield and you'd just hand the paperwork over.

Funny enough, when I used to do this and filled out the forms and manifest, it didn't matter how I did it, I would get someone telling me to do a different way. Would do it there way the next time, and get told it was wrong again lol. but never really had an issue, just kept being told to change it for next time... actually should have filled out the 4 different ways and marked them with the customs official's name so i knew which form to hand in depending who was at the booth.

also also, since it's a commercial entry you should be able to use the truck/commercial lane instead of going inside, since they have the capacity to do the paperwork right there. Ymmv.

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎12-12-2022

@motomike_canada wrote:
@byto253 wrote:
I think there is an annual fee if you have the volume to warrant getting a transponder and you submit everything electronically. The agent was very clear to call the station where you are crossing if you have any questions, and they welcome that.
interesting, back in the day there was a sticker for your windshield and you'd just hand the paperwork over.
Funny enough, when I used to do this and filled out the forms and manifest, it didn't matter how I did it, I would get someone telling me to do a different way. Would do it there way the next time, and get told it was wrong again lol. but never really had an issue, just kept being told to change it for next time... actually should have filled out the 4 different ways and marked them with the customs official's name so i knew which form to hand in depending who was at the booth.
also also, since it's a commercial entry you should be able to use the truck/commercial lane instead of going inside, since they have the capacity to do the paperwork right there. Ymmv.

@byto253

@motomike_canada

Many moons ago was coming back from Ont back to Mb and took the US route. Had a care(food items - some packed, some not) package with me from family. Being the darn honest person I was I tried to declare so they would know I wasn't being sneaky. After a major song and dance they basically told me...Why are you bothering us. Get!!! How things have changed!!

-Lotz

motomike_canada · ‎12-13-2022

@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:
Many moons ago was coming back from Ont back to Mb and took the US route. Had a care(food items - some packed, some not) package with me from family. Being the darn honest person I was I tried to declare so they would know I wasn't being sneaky. After a major song and dance they basically told me...Why are you bothering us. Get!!! How things have changed!!
-Lotz

heh yeah I took the US route from the Soo through Port Huron/Sarnia when I was 19 or 20, and had a case of beer with me. Declared it on entry to US "you're not 21... so you didn't tell me you had alcohol, RIGHT?" yes ma'am! lol