Shippin to Canada

[cnc]

Can some one tell me who has shipped from a business from the States to Canada what was involved to get the items here did u pay GST,PST, Duty when it arrived to your home Any input would be great....Thanks Chris

[lhicks]

Chris, the most important thing I have learned is to use US Postal Service (USPS) service if at all possible. Depending on the size of the package (and probably how much money is owed) I've had Canada Post deliver it right to my door, or else you will need to go down to the main office and pick it up.

I have had a few packages from UPS where they charged me some gawdawful freight duty fees (like $35 CAN for an $80 shipment) on top of the GST, PST which you will also be required to pay.

HTH,
Liam
Alberta, Canada

[cnc]

I'm lookin at shippin some pistons and rods with rings and bearings, so USPS would be ok do u think Thanks

[BILTIT]

Go USPS! So much easier on the pocket book!

[cnc]

Thats my concern is the outrageous shipping cost from the border....and the Duty,pst gst.....any ideas around it HMMMMM LOL

[75cancup]

CNC If you can try fedex they seem to be cheaper for some reason , but if you have to use ups please enjoy paying gst twice !! mike

[cnc]

what do u mean twice with UPS??? i was hoping to use USPS in the states an Canada post here...BTW were is Grafton??

[02Hawk]

I just had a hood shipped from VFN in Illinois to here in Edmonton. It went by truck to a bonded warehouse in town. I went there, paid the freight bill and got the bill of sale, and the bills of lading. Went to customs filled out the paperwork and paid the customs rates and GST (no sales tax here). Got the paperwork stamped and went back to the bonded warehouse and picked up the hood. Couple of hours and some cash.

[68birdragtop]

Chris. If you are having something from the u.s. shipped to you in Canada, ask them to use the U.S. Postal service if possible but i would imagine most businesses use UPS or Fedex.In Canada we are allowed to import $20 canadian worth of stuff before you are hit with duties.UPS or Fedex charges YOU a "brokerage fee" (for their clearing the parcel with customs)of usually close to $40 canadian PLUS duties based on the value of the item you are receiving.For example:it will run you about an additional $60 canadian(brokerage fees plus duty) FOR A $100 U.S. PURCHASE PRICED ITEM. They will not let you have the package until said fees are paid for.If you have it shipped to you US postal service and delivered to your home via Canada Post and they flag your parcel, Canada Post has a flat rate fee of $5 canadian for their "handling fee" PLUS applicable duties,$5 sure beats $40 which can ruin a good deal on what you are buying.Canada Post tends to slip a lot of packages through so a lot more chance of not being hit with duties and fees.I know as i work for Canada Post.I also ship and recieve to and from the U.S. a lot.I honestly dread seeing the brown or white and green truck pull up in front of my house as i know i'm about to get shafted.I ask everyone if they will ship the post office before i buy anything.
Also note that if you ship something of higher value via Fedex from Canada to the U.S. YOU PAY THE BROKERAGE FEES,NOT THE BUYER.YES,THEY WILL SEND YOU A BILL FOR $25-30 USD.
UPS has a section on their forms to tick off saying the buyer/receiver pays any said fees.

[cnc]

That what i'm hoping to do ship it USPS if possible....Thanks Everyone

[PLAY400]

I get stuff shipped to me from various US businesses and none of them pay any ot the Canadian taxes. As far as shipping there is 1 extra form for Customs that must be filled out but it's the same form we use to ship to the US. Most stuff comes UPS and since we have an international depot here I clear the stuff myself and do not pay brokerage fees, just taxes. Mind you I have had some Guys complain that there were taxes involved and they woud only ship to the border. Never figured out what they were doing wrong. USPS to Canada is okay of you don't need it for 3 or 4 weeks, my experience.

[75cancup]

CNC Every bill i have gotten from the man in brown always has two gst taxes on it , i would have to look at a bill to see exactly why , my best friend is a shipper and he just shakes his head when he has seen a invoice. Grafton is 50 minutes east of oshawa . goodluck . mike.

[cnc]

I had no idea were grafton was nice to meet u ....

[paul6874]

CNC.
Be sure to have the supplier show what year and model the parts are for on their invoice. There is no duty on parts for domestic vehicles over 25 years old.

[cnc]

Paul6874 the parts are brand new for a stroker 400

[PLAY400]

CNC.
Be sure to have the supplier show what year and model the parts are for on their invoice. There is no duty on parts for domestic vehicles over 25 years old.


To the best of my knowledge there is no duty on anything made in the USA or Mexico, remember NAFTA? Only have to pay GST and PST. And as of late the Canadian Custom's workers must be pissed cause last 2 time my Buddy picked up parts across the Border they either waved hime through or on collected duty on the cheapest item. Not the Custom Agents I've met

Since 9/11 it has become difficult to ship ship some electronics. I was sending a radio down for a 69 Camaro and had to get all the FCC number etc. Ended up shipping it as auto parts, no problem.

[Northern Goat]

Being a tax guy, please let me help.

CNC - the actual rules are that ANY auto parts manufactured in North America can cross the border duty free. That being said, all of the Asian built repop stuff I order from PY gets through as NA built.
USE USPS, like everyone else said you will get raped by BROKERAGE fees (the fee charged to look at a part and say "from US, not duty") otherwise.


75 Cancup - The first GST amount is probably for your parts, the second GST charge relates to the brokerage fees (nice eh?).

[wolf]

The $5 Canada Post fee for clearing your item through Customs quietly went up to $10 recently. Still much less than UPS wants to charge (BTW you can pay much more than $40 for their brokerage fees, their fee goes up with the value of the shipment). Also, anything over $1600 Cdn (if I recall correctly) will NOT be cleared by Canada Customs on your behalf.

However, you can avoid paying the UPS brokerage fees by clearing your shipment through Customs yourself. You can't avoid paying the GST (and possibly RST, HST, etc, depending on how greedy your Provincial government is). Most automotive related parts are duty free (if country of origin is the USA - if not, watch out!), but you still have to pay the taxes.

If you're going to use UPS, as soon as the package is shipped, get the tracking number from the shipper. Call 1-800-pick-ups, give them the tracking number, and tell them you want to clear it through customs yourself. When it arrives, get the paperwork from UPS, go to your nearest Canada Customs office, pay the duty/taxes, and they will forward the appropriate paperwork back to UPS to release your shipment.

I do the above all the time, and it works out well (assuming you have the time to chase the paperwork yourself).

[PLAY400]

The $5 Canada Post fee for clearing your item through Customs quietly went up to $10 recently. Still much less than UPS wants to charge (BTW you can pay much more than $40 for their brokerage fees, their fee goes up with the value of the shipment). Also, anything over $1600 Cdn (if I recall correctly) will NOT be cleared by Canada Customs on your behalf.

However, you can avoid paying the UPS brokerage fees by clearing your shipment through Customs yourself. You can't avoid paying the GST (and possibly RST, HST, etc, depending on how greedy your Provincial government is). Most automotive related parts are duty free (if country of origin is the USA - if not, watch out!), but you still have to pay the taxes.

If you're going to use UPS, as soon as the package is shipped, get the tracking number from the shipper. Call 1-800-pick-ups, give them the tracking number, and tell them you want to clear it through customs yourself. When it arrives, get the paperwork from UPS, go to your nearest Canada Customs office, pay the duty/taxes, and they will forward the appropriate paperwork back to UPS to release your shipment.

I do the above all the time, and it works out well (assuming you have the time to chase the paperwork yourself).

And you must contact the international department of UPS. And what happens alot of time is UPS will still clear it and try to grind you for the brokerage fee. This results in another call to UPS and they'll either

1. drop the brokarage, just charge PST/GST and deliever it again. When they chose this method they often try to claw back the brokage a few months later but another call straightens it out.

2. Or they will just unwind the whole clearing process and you can pick up paper work, clear customs and pay taxes then either pick up the stuff from UPS or have it delieved after you drop the cleared paper work off with them.

Like I said before Postal Service is too slow, generally 3-4 weeks around here.

[gto406]

I am a _big_ proponent of 'do your utmost' to buy Canadian first. Only go outside Canada if it is absolutely necessary. Shipping from the US is a PITA.

As PLAY400 noted, UPS will hit you for brokerage regardless. I ordered a pair of doors (from Memory Lane in CA, USA). I did my own customs/clearing (and avoided brokerage). However, the doors were shipped with one of the windows in the up position. So U guessed it, it broke by the time it got to the 'CDA'.

Memory Lane was great. They shipped a new window. However CDA Customs rejected it (sent it back to CA), when the value was declared (correctly) as $0.00. When Memory sent it back to me, they declared a value on it, and UPS (who they used to ship the glass) nailed me for brokerage/taxes. By that time, I wasn't going to argue, I just paid the damn thing.

Now I always try and buy here in CDA first. Supports our local guys too.

[carbking]

I am a _big_ proponent of 'do your utmost' to buy Canadian first. Only go outside Canada if it is absolutely necessary. Shipping from the US is a PITA.

Now I always try and buy here in CDA first. Supports our local guys too.

Bravo gto406, bravo. I most definately agree with you, and do the same thing. I buy everything I can for my business in the state of Missouri, outsourcing to the other US states only if I cannot get it in Missouri. Buying items for the business outside of the US is a concept I have never considered. Help provide jobs for the biggest percent of ones sales.

But on to the question presented in this forum - from a vendor's viewpoint:

We ship LOTS of stuff to Canadian customers. The vast majority have "drop-points" in the USA and cross to border to pickup their stuff.

When we first got started back in the 1970's we tried to use the USPS to ship to Canada. We had lots of "re-ships" due to damage. But the "straw that broke the camels back" were a couple of carburetors that we shipped to Canada. Canadian customs swore that the boxes were empty; the US po swore the boxes were delivered intact to customs. Our carburetors have never been cheap. The US po refused to reimburse us for the carburetors. In fact, the local postmaster told me that's the way it is, if you don't like it, use another vendor. We took him at his word, and have been using UPS exclusively since. Now there are no re-ships, we have NEVER had a problem with a UPS shipment to Canada; and we are actually making a profit on what we sell when we sell to Canadians (with the US po we lost money because of the re-ships).

I fully understand the "brokerage" problem, and I sympathize with our Canadian customers; but we cannot afford to lose money with the US po trying to save money for our valued Canadian customers.

Maybe one day, some legislators will be elected in Canada that will remedy this ridiculous situation!

Jon.

[redrobster]

Guys, I have been down this road many times before, UPS is DOUBLE the cost of the original item.No way can I justify the shiping costs but thats the way it is.These guys should be wearing black masks when they deliver, so that I feel better about being ROBBED of my money when it comes to shipping chargesThe short of it is I get the majority of my parts from our friends down south and I now have patience and ask for all parts to be shipped anything other than UPS.Remember The United States Postal Service is pretty good and less expensive . :beerchug: