Avoiding duty on US to Canada shipping

[Tiptoptune]

Anyone know of how to avoid duties or any fees when shipping boards to Canada? I will be shipping both new and used boards. I have shipped to Canada before both UPS and US Mail and about half the time the receiver has been hit with fees. Any ideas?

Thanks

[Marker]

My best luck has been with USPS. If you are very clear on what you write in the paperwork, like 'NOT FOR RESALE' or 'REPAIRED AND RETURNED' or something (just hypothetically of course), you will be less likely to be hit with fees. It's always a bit of a gamble. I've used DHL and FedEx as well with great success in the 'condition of arrival', but they are more strict.

Stay clear of UPS at all costs.

[Chris Houghton]

Remember that the receiver always has to pay GST (7%) and also PST (Ontario 8%) on the declared value - so if you insure for $500, he's stuck with $75 fee minimum. Brokerage is the cheapest with USPS/Canada Post, usually $4 or so. No duty on snowboard stuff. I agree USPS and Canada Post is the best deal.

[Dave*]

Definitly use US postal service, brokerage fee minimal ($5) or non existant just the GST, sometimes I have been dinged by PST

UPS those brown truck #$%^ers will never be used by myself ever again and I will NEVER deal with a company that ships by UPS and does not give the option of regular postal service to Canada.

I learned my lesson last season with a small bomber order of about $75 us with $12.95 shipping.

It arrived with $54 brokerage fee and some extremely piss poor customer service and an ongoing battle that lasted approx 4 months attempting to deal with UPS's buerocracy.(sp)

That was my one and only dealing with UPS.

I WILL NEVER DEAL WITH UPS EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am going to guess that the other couriers such as fedex etc would be much the same.

[Neil Gendzwill]

Originally posted by Dave*

I am going to guess that the other couriers such as fedex etc would be much the same.
UPS only charges the ridiculous brokerage fees when you use their ground service. My martial arts supplier ships stuff from Japan to Canada all the time using EMS which turns into Purolator when it gets here. Brokerage fee is about $6, not sure if Purolator charges more if you use the ground service.

[Tiptoptune]

Thanks all for the help.

[Matt D]

I see I am not the only one UPS has screwed with. I have heard this too, that the big fees only get charged with slow groud service.

Last year Michelle sent me my bombers with some NAFTA documentation, and I never got charged a penny, not even tax.

The other way to get around that stuff is get someone in the states to accept the initial delivery, then send it to you as a gift with an insured value of X dollars. I have done this with some other non-snowboarding stuff, worked great.

Matt D

[Donek]

As long as the products you are shipping are made in the US or Canada, NAFTA applies. I downloaded the form off of FedEx's web site. The number in the top right corner is OMB No. 1515-0204. The only other identifying number on the form is 19 CFR 181.11, 181.22. If you fill out this form and include it with the commercial invoices, your buyer shouldn't have to pay more than their usual VAT.

[tangaloor]

They use some company called PBB logistics to deal with the customs fees---what happens is that you pick up your equipment with no duty/tax charged and think "what a deal!"
Then, about a month later, you get a letter from PBB charging you for the customs duties and taxes they "paid on your behalf to expedite your shipment".
This is fine, I guess, unless within that month you returned something, and, thinking that there was no problem with duty, you didn't keep sufficient proof of return to satisfy customs that it was returned!

This happened to me, and now I'm fighting over a $150 duty/gst/pst assessment, which they 'paid on my behalf' with no notice to me, on goods i've since returned.

[Neil Gendzwill]

Yeah, the PBB bill is a bit of a surprise the first time. But it does say on the paperwork you get from Purolator that you will receive a bill for duties and taxes later. However the bill is very reasonable compared to what UPS charges on ground-delivered stuff.

They've renamed the company (PBB) so that it's more clear that it's Purolator's in-house brokerage service, forget what the name is now.

Probably the easiest is just the postal service, but then you don't get the tracking.

[Linus]

I've ordered a pair of Bombers last season with USPS....
and the box with NAFTA agreement paper got to my house
without any fees but about 3weeks later, that PBB sent me
a letter that saying they paid $88 duty for me......I wanted
to call these ppl and say F@#$ you but I didn't bother to do so

I guess that NAFTA is not working and that PBB company is
collecting money from everybody whether they like it or not...

I'm kind of fraustrated to order something from states now....
is there any solution to this problems?????

[gmarsden]

You can't blame PBB for doing their
job of collecting taxes that our
government dictates. Their fee is
reasonable, UPS's is not.

Your need to direct your anger where it
belongs and try and change the political
landscape in this country.

- Greg

[Linus]

gmarsden, you should know that they have no right to pay
the duty for me or behave.......

and you know PBB is there to support collecting taxes and fees
which is not belong to them....hope you heard of NAFTA....

do you know how hard it is to tell them that the duty they paid
shouldn't be paid????....they probably say pay us(PBB) and get
refunds from government.....which you have to go through hell...
and that is why they get to collect all the fees and duty...because
ppl like me won't bother to go through all that....

gmarsden, my anger is not to ppl working at PBB...it's the DEVIL
inside of them....:D

[gmarsden]

If you were charged duty it would be
a mistake. You should have only been
charged 15% tax and a handling
fee.

NAFTA does not exempt you from the
PST and GST, which on a set of TDs
was about 60-70 C$

[Marker]

I've never been charged duty by USPS/Canada Post/PBB, only GST. As has already been said, it's pretty difficult to sidestep the GST/PST. It can happen, however.

[ARCrider]

I have heard that you can get around paying the duties and tax by keeping a PO box across the border.
Or have your stuff delivered to a stateside friend and have him or her send it across the border to you as a gift.

[Neil Gendzwill]

The limit of value for a gift is $60. But so long as the sender marks clearly on the paperwork "made in USA", you should only have to pay GST and maybe PST.

[Sean]

All,

Maybe there is an opportunity for an enterprising alpine type who lives near the US/Canada border to join our growing ranks. Our tactical plan is to don anti IR signature stealthy ninja suits and sneak into the land of loonies with a cache of Bombers and Doneks.

After making the connection at the LZ, the intrepid "entrepeneur" could then return with a new supply of Priors and Coilers to be swapped for good ole US greenbacks which could then be used to buy more inventory from our deep cover suppliers, codenames "Nif" and "Naes."

I hear the border crossings around eastern Washington/ northern Idaho are kinda undermanned these days so the opportunity is strike is ripe. Please don't respond to this as the "company" may be monitoring this. Not to worry - we will find you.

Regards,

The Anti Gst Anti Pst Entrepeneurs
( A.G.A.P.E.)

[Steve Wood]

Jus to add to the growing list of complaints about UPS and FedEx:

A USD15.00 replacement part for my Thinkpad ended up costing me around CAD65.00 once UPS slapped their outlandish brokerage fee on top of everything.

I would caution against using FedEx for anything you really care about. I have had to file claims with FedEx on two occasions for smashing video displays clearly labelled fragile and in their original packaging. They had been shipped back to the manufacturer for warranty repair and came back to me in little bits.

On another occasion I was shipping a high-end workstation and the FedEx agent watched me fill out the waybill for a declared value of USD25,000.00. Then, upon discovering that the package was just a little too large to fit in the passenger elevator, used the full force of his boot to shove the computer through the doors. I had to look away...

Since then I have only shipped sensive gear by Airborne Express and they have a good track record so far.

SW