Shipping and Customs

[Nemo]

I am trying to purchase some gear from the US and they offer shipping from UPS. The total value is approx $59.00 USD. When converted to CAD it is approx $90.00.

 

I ran a quote on UPS and their cheapest is $13.00 and when I contacted them they said the customs fees would be 19 -20 CAD on top.

 

Is it cheaper by US Mail or does any one have any other tips suggestions.

 

Thanks in advance Nemo

[Raf]

usps ground is cheapest but takes the longest. gifts or warrantee have no duty.

[spanky]

it's actually only $65. or so converted to Canadian, as for shipping, ship it to me i'll bring it across lol... usps is the least expensive way, don't think they can give you tracking tho and it takes a bit longer... i'm not sure tho, i have a U.S. addy and just ship there and pick up, but from what i've read USPS is the way to go

[OhioFisherman]

Just the stuff I have shipped up north, US postal service is the way to go if your not in a hurry. It took about 2 weeks for items to get to Ontario from me in Ohio. LOL I can get a package to California in about 3 days by them. Cost was reasonable.

[keram]

Avoid shipping by UPS, Their charges are even bigger scam then gas companies. At the time of purchase everything looks nice. The surprize comes later (1-2months) You will receive a billl from UPS for brokerage fee, customs fee, Bull fee, and others ^$&&^$& fees which can easy match your original purchase price. It was my first and last experience with UPS. Since then when I order something from US, I specifically request shippment by anything but UPS. USPS is O.K., it take longer, so you have take it into consideration.

Edited May 2, 2007 by keram

[solopaddler]

DEFINITELY avoid UPS, you will be stung with extra charges. USPS is by far the cheapest way to have stuff delivered.

[hawkeye]

Avoid UPS like the plague. My wife bought me a rod and reel from BPS about $200US the shipping, handling, brokerage etc came to over $50. For that I could have bought a better reel.

 

I noticed that Cabelas ships USPS and that works just fine. Takes 3-5 days

[irishfield]

UPS uses a "crown and anchor wheel", that they stole from some Lions Club, to see what the fee of the day is for brokerage.

 

I had no option on my Pursuit stuff. Shipping due to weight was $140us which I can almost understand...but UPS dinged me for $78.11+ gst for brokerage on top of collecting both taxes for our lovely government. Fedex would have cleared it for free!

Edited May 2, 2007 by irishfield

[Nemo]

it's actually only $65. or so converted to Canadian, as for shipping, ship it to me i'll bring it across lol... usps is the least expensive way, don't think they can give you tracking tho and it takes a bit longer... i'm not sure tho, i have a U.S. addy and just ship there and pick up, but from what i've read USPS is the way to go

 

 

Just FYI if you buy on VISA here is how they convert. Take the USD X 1.54 = CAD amount then add 2.5% fee for service. So $59.95 USD X 1.54 = $92.32 plus 2.5 % = $94.63 CAD.....

 

It is on CIBC's website

 

http://www.cibc.com/ca/faq/credit-cards.html#q6

Edited May 2, 2007 by Nemo

[douG]

The current rate of exchange is only 1.109. I wonder about the date of that webpage ? Visa should be offering 1.14 or so.

 

The exchange rate is set at the time of purchase and it will vary according to date and time.

 

Hope this hleps.

[spanky]

that's the example they give you, current exchange rates are $1.10 per $1. U.S. (not $1.54 as they show in the example)... so you'd convert the $59. U.S. x 1.15- to be safe (our dollar is at .89 per U.S. dollar), then figure in the 2.5% (or whatever their conversion fee is at)... i use mastercard myself, but i'm positive they'd charge you close to the exchange rate, the $1.54 they show on the site would be almost .50 more expensive then it actually is.... and it says it's just an example

 

my inlaws use VISA alot for their business, never paid much more then the current exchange rate...

 

www.xe.com/ucc for current rates

 

EDIT- DouG beat me to it lol

Edited May 2, 2007 by phat bassturd

[Guest lundboy]

UPS Canada is even worse than mentioned here. A lot of times they will bring the item into there closest bonded warehouse to you, which will be pretty far away. Hold your package for the brokerage fee, taxes and duties, and refuse to ship it the rest of the way to it's final destination from their bonded warehouse unless you pay them again! Even though you already paid for the complete shipping to your door!

 

Fedex at least will deliver it to your door without question. But a month later you will receive a bill from them for $40 Brokerage fee, $6 handling fee, and whatever taxes and duties.

 

Best advice... If the company you are dealing with in the US refuses to ship by US Postal service... do not order from them, unless you are getting such a deal that even with the extra fees, you still save money over what it would cost here with taxes.

 

There is no reason why these companies can not ship via Mail, out side of some kind of discount that they are running with the courier.

 

Buy from Cabellas.... They tell you the entire costs upfront and only a $3us brokerage fee. And they ship by mail to Canada (BPS does not anymore).

 

I would rather buy from a TRUE Canadian local dealer and pay a little more than give my money to a US company or courier company's in-house customs broker.

Edited May 2, 2007 by lundboy

[Terry]

like Wayne said

[Nemo]

Thanks dOUG and PB that is good news on the rates. I wondered why it would be so high.

 

The company also offers Global Express Mail which I think is a service of the USPS.

 

I will confirm. Thanks for the help on this.

 

Nemo

[[email protected]]

Been burned so many times by UPS I won't accept a package from them...outlandish brokerage fees that are likely in contravention of NAFTA. Get the shipper to use USPS. I just received a $500 item with no extra fees using USPS Global Priority in 7 days.

[John]

The prob with UPS is that they have their own brokerage house. SO they ding you on the freight and they ding you on the customs clearance. USPS all the way.....

 

John

[Tootsie II]

Please correct me if I'm wrong but the duties charged by the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency apply on any retail purchase over $ 40.00 US in value. NAFTA only applies to large sales of bulk traded commodities between companies in the two countries. Below the $ 40.00 value there's no duty. Usually no matter what carrier you use ( US/Canada Post, FedEx, UPS or any other), they must collect the duty on behalf of the government. I believe the duty on general merchandise such a fishing tackle is around 35%.

Recently a friend bought something worth $90.00 US on e-Bay. Luckily the seller, an American, knew this and declared the value at $ 40.00. The item came in duty free.

[Terry]

well that is basically right, but they do sometime check and add duty even if it is below 40 and if you have had other things sent from the states they will hit you almost every time

 

and the carrier, UPS is nasty, they get to charge a broker fee whether it's duty free or not and UPS uses a "crown and anchor wheel", that they stole from some Lions Club, to see what the fee of the day is for brokerage. as Wayne said

[John]

What Terry said........

[irishfield]

I believe the duty on general merchandise such a fishing tackle is around 35%.

 

Say WHAT?

 

Too many people confuse and use the wrong terms. There is absolutely NO duty on anything coming out of the USA if it's made in the USA or some other countries. They will collect 6% gst and 8% pst when it crosses the border but lets not confuse this with "duty". "Offshore" fishing gear does have a duty if they catch that it's not made in the USA when clearing it. Pretty sure the duty rate is between 4 and 5 %..forget the decimal.. it's 4.something. Even all that added up is only 18.something percent.

[LipDip]

Read Raf's post again. Have the sender mark the box 'Happy Birthday' or 'Warranty Repair---No Charge.' You might get charged a bit for the actual shipping weight but there will be no Duty and marked otherwise, stuff can spend WEEKS at the border. This is a cheap and fast way to do it. A big, heavy reel like a Garcia 7000 will cost about twelve bucks US to ship. By the time you pay for a Money Order (my bank gives me 12 free a year), convert your money and pay to send it down, more often than not you're no further ahead. Shoppers Drug Mart is a decent one-stop deal, get your MO and send all in one shot. Cherry deals or hard to find stuff are all I send $ by mail for. Unless its a steal or its rare, I'll usually pass. There are some incredible deals from private sellers out there. One man's trash=anoher man's treasure. Amazing what people are willing to buy and sell for.

[spanky]

pretty much everything fishing related is free... boats can get you dinged 25% if they're over 30.5 metres... rods and reels are 6.5%, sportsmesn fishing line is retail packages are 7%... for 90% of the stuff it's free, but also most is listed under commercial fishing.

 

I do the B3 self entries myself (if any truckers clear through Queenston/Lewiston and have to go inside, i'm the one on the computer manually entering everything lol), clearing customs through my business, instead of using a broker.. it's just a whole lot easier for me and makes things cheaper aswell.... especially since the Tarrif schedule is available online, got it d/l and knokw exactly what to enter before i leave my house and go pick up my stuff!!