Canadian Customs

[eldave04]

Anybody know how they determine how much to charge you for various items ordered from other countries (made outside USA/MEXICO so no NAFTA) ? I ve been looking through government bs for a while, and it appears that they just spin a magic wheel and whatever comes up thats what they charge. bastards...

[HEWSINATOR]

I have tried to figure this out for a very long time as well, and I do not believe that NAFTA applies to consumer goods bought in the states, and shipped here. Example would be when you spend more than your limit on holidays and have to pay on it. I have ordered a few things from the states and the fees range from nothing, not even GST, to rediculous amounts of almost as much as the goods.

[minya]

NAFTA is irrelevant to consumer goods.

Customs will pretty much charge whatever they want. As long as the item is marked as being less than $50, though, you're okay.

[eldave04]

Minya,

How do they determine what to charge though. This is driving me crazy because I want to order more pricy stuff, but am afraid of what the customs will be. I am also afraid that if i get the seller to mark it down to 50 and it s lost in the mail i m screwed. What do you guys do?

[NESK]

i live in southern ontario and have freinds who live in buffalo, NY. i just get stuff shipped to their house and run over and grab it when i can and drive it over myself, for clothes and records it works just fine, but if its anything big, or items you dont want to take the tags off of (for resale perhaps) then its probly not such a good idea.

ive gotten jacked by customs a few times when ive had things sent across the border so im all DIY about it nowadays, it saves a lot of money and even alot more time waiting for the goods to clear inspection.

Edited by NESK on Nov 29, 2005 at 05:35 PM

[SENDkylHISPASSWORD]

Depends where you get it from, but a lot of places will mark it as a gift, therefore no custom charges. See if they can do that for you.

my favourite things

http://mfthings.blogspot.com/

[eldave04]

Thanks for the replies,

I m looking for a specific document or formula, one because I have no friends in the states, two because I don t want to get jacked, and three because customs are outrageous and there doesn t even seem to be an explanation as to how/why. Even if they mark it as a gift, it has to be under $60 CAD, and if it is something worth $600 USD and is lost, I will only be able to recoupe the 60 CAD which sucks.

Thanks

[minya]

eldave, as far as I can tell there is no specific formula. It seems to be how they feel on that day and at that minute.

However, pretty much nothing ever gets lost in the mail. I really would not worry too much about having a package get lost.

[breakfasteatre]

.... are a motherfucker

gift shmift, doesnt mean shit anymore

i got a jacket valued at 75 dollars as a 'gift' and got 21 dollars in customs fees, motherfuckers. It definitely seems random, or however angry the customs officer is. I have also received things with customs fees that were not even opened... :|

[minya]

$75 = over $60 = fees will be incurred.

$60 is the limit.

Although you're right, it sure seems quite random regardless.

Edited by minya on Nov 29, 2005 at 08:56 PM

[triniboy27]

^^^^

Minya is correct in that $60 is the limit, though to be on the safe side, I normally get it marked @ $55.

I believe the logic in that $55-$60 mark is that's the amount that you can technically leave the country for a day and return with and not get charged duty.

Check it out the next time you're flying into the country and you're filling out your customs card...

[HEWSINATOR]

Though it may seem random to us, I am sure it is not. I can not imagine that the legislation passed to enforce this says "and duty will be whatever a customs officer deams fit." There must be some method to the madness.

May I suggest that you try phoning? It may be a tough process too, but somebody may know where to point you.

[minya]

Actually, given that customs officers have nearly free reign to do absolutely whatever they want in regards to people coming into the country, I wouldn't be surprised if the policy is the same with incoming shipments.

[eldave04]

Apparently it is 13%, but that is added to PST and GST yielding a delightful 28% to the listed value.

[HEWSINATOR]

Not for me, I get a delightful 20%, I love Aberta, and not just for that reason.

[Guest]

I've been importing merchandise for years and customs in Canada are pretty straightforward. Let's just suppose something is not declared as a gift you have three possibilities:

1) The shipment is not taxed, that's right no $$$ to pay!! They don't open it or look at the papers. Happens pretty often when the package comes from Europe or Asia but almost never when it comes from USA. Before 9-11 this was the most likely scenario.

2) The package is taxed, you have to pay: 5$ for handling fees + the appropriate provincial tax + the federal tax. In other words you pay the amount of tax you would usually pay if you bought something locally + 5$.

3) The package contains merchandise classified as “luxury goodsâ€. You have to pay an additional 10% (I’m not so sure might be 15%, my memory is hazy) on top of everything. This is exceptional and will only happen if you import jewelry (e.g. Gold Rolex, diamond ring, etc.)

Now this presupposes you’re using Canadian postal service and not UPS or some other crappy carrier. The Canadian postal service is among the most reliable (big place, few people = need a damn good postal service) in the world and offers various means of delivery (air, land, quick delivery, whatever). The private carriers actually charge you an ENORMOUS and pretty random fee to handle customs in your name and slightly speed the process. This racket is just a nice way to get your money and if you absolutely need to use a private carrier you can escape those fees by getting them tracking number from the shipper/seller as soon as he gets it and calling the company to say that you’ll handle the customs yourself. This usually means getting to a UPS/etc. distribution center (sometimes near airports), wait in line for your stuff and the appropriate papers (they have crappy service to discourage you from doing this) and then going to a nearby customs office to give them the papers you got at the distribution center and pay your customs fees (taxes + 5$, sometimes they don’t charge you O_o).

The basic idea behind this is: watch what the seller is using and make sure it’s handled by Canada post when it reaches the border. The best way to do this is to use US regular mail, as other means of shipping (like us airmail or whatever) are something transferred to UPS when they reach the border. Just email the seller and then US/Canadian mail to know what’s what with each shipping services and you’ll eventually master this and avoid the big custom charges.

[Fuuma]

I've been importing merchandise for years and customs in Canada are pretty straightforward. Let's just suppose something is not declared as a gift you have three possibilities:

1) The shipment is not taxed, that's right no $$$ to pay!! They don't open it or look at the papers. Happens pretty often when the package comes from Europe or Asia but almost never when it comes from USA. Before 9-11 this was the most likely scenario.

2) The package is taxed, you have to pay: 5$ for handling fees + the appropriate provincial tax + the federal tax. In other words you pay the amount of tax you would usually pay if you bought something locally + 5$.

3) The package contains merchandise classified as “luxury goodsâ€. You have to pay an additional 10% (I’m not so sure might be 15%, my memory is hazy) on top of everything. This is exceptional and will only happen if you import jewelry (e.g. Gold Rolex, diamond ring, etc.)

Now this presupposes you’re using Canadian postal service and not UPS or some other crappy carrier. The Canadian postal service is among the most reliable (big place, few people = need a damn good postal service) in the world and offers various means of delivery (air, land, quick delivery, whatever). The private carriers actually charge you an ENORMOUS and pretty random fee to handle customs in your name and slightly speed the process. This racket is just a nice way to get your money and if you absolutely need to use a private carrier you can escape those fees by getting the tracking number from the shipper/seller as soon as he gets it and calling the company to say that you’ll handle the customs yourself. This usually means getting to a UPS/etc. distribution center (sometimes near airports), wait in line for your stuff and the appropriate papers (they have crappy service to discourage you from doing this) and then going to a nearby customs office, give them the papers (that you got at the distribution center) and pay customs fees (taxes + 5$, sometimes they don’t charge you O_o).

The basic idea behind this is: ask what the seller is using and make sure it’s handled by Canada post when it reaches the border. The best way to do this is to use US regular mail, as other means of shipping (like us airmail or whatever) are something transferred to UPS/etc. when they reach the border. Just email the seller and then US/Canadian mail to know what’s what with each shipping services and you’ll eventually master this and avoid the big custom charges.

Edited by Fuuma on Dec 1, 2005 at 01:34 AM

[weiyung]

you could also have the person write that this item is a return item, which I don't think is taxed.

or mention that the item is a promo item and there is no value

never tried, but believe it works

[homi29]

i hate customs and all these extrananeous means to make money

its way worse in canada than it is in the states as well

i just ordered a couple hoodies, worth about 70-80USD each, and they're being shipped through UPS

how much money should i be prepared to pay, assuming the seller didnt mark as a gift, and I have to deal with all the costs

think worst case scenerio here

[kumo]

the canadian customs is pure idiocy, they charge 14.5% for tax and 18% for duty on all gaments imported to canada, and they charge you 5-10 dollars on top of that to charge you all the money. plus, they hold your stuff for 3 weeks to do all these.

[nairb49]

I think it also depends on the garment, for some reason.

For example, i got charged 40CAD on a pair of jeans I paid 80USD for that got shipped via UPS from New York.

They were marked as a 50USD value, so i'm not really sure how they came up with 40CAD to charge me. Something about brokerage fees, holding fees, fees for coming up with names for fees, etc etc

But then I've ordered lots of other stuff from the states, UK, asia etc, that have been marked as a higher value, and don't get charged any customs at all.

I guess it depends what time of month they are.

There's someone on this board who works for canadapost, can't remember who it was, but maybe they can help out?

nairb49

[Becks23]

I bought a pair of $45 USD sneakers off ebay... sent through UPS and i had to pay another $45 CND... BS

i have nothing but good experiences with USPS and in fact if UPS is the method of shipment on an auction i immediately skip out.

[minya]

Quote:

i hate customs and all these extrananeous means to make money

its way worse in canada than it is in the states as well

i just ordered a couple hoodies, worth about 70-80USD each, and they're being shipped through UPS

how much money should i be prepared to pay, assuming the seller didnt mark as a gift, and I have to deal with all the costs

think worst case scenerio here

--- Original message by homi29 on Mar 21, 2006 04:57 PM

You'll be paying at least $30, probably more. UPS will charge you "brokerage fees" regardless of declared value/whether or not it was marked as a gift.

[Kasper]

i've been ordering stuff on the internet for like 7-8 years now so i have become a master in the art of not paying custom fees. first, like ppl mentionned before, DO NOT EVER use UPS or FEDEX unless you really have to. because they charge you brokage fee, you can be sure than they will always make sure of the real value of the package so they can charge you the highest fee possible. the only way around it is to get shipped priority or express, i don't remember how they call it, cause you will only have to pay taxes, no brokage fee. but shipping is quite expensive (for eg, i paid 25$ for a pair of air max last year). anyway, i always use USPS. the best thing about USPS is that because of the sheer volume of mail coming in to canada, the canadian customs do not have the time to check everything so most packages just go through without inspections. i have a friends whose dad was an exec at Post Canada and he said the pre 9-11, they only checked about 10% of the incoming mail so the chance of having to pay was quite low. it's probably a little higher now but still, i often get stuff without having to pay anything.

i know that it might not be usufull for clothes, but the is this site by Canada Post called Borderfree

www.borderfree.com that have partnership with many american stores and when you checkout, you pay in canadian $ and it includes all taxes and fees you will have to pay. i always use some of Borderfree's partner site for electronics cause it always end being cheaper than canada, not to mention that it's very straighforward and you never get any bad surprises. and the taxes are always much lower (i've never paid more than GST (7%), but i think taxes are cheaper on electronics).

some friends of mine and i have been ordering for a while through Digital gravel and they declare all their products as promotional products so none of us has ever had to pay anything. and when buying stuff off ebay, i usually ask to have a value around 50$ and to declare as gift. i can't fully insure the products, but stuff almost never get lost in the mail and anyway, if you pay with your credit card, you're insured anyway, just a bit harder to claim the money. another thing to keep in mind is that most canadians live less than an hour away from the american border so it's worth once in a while to just go on a shopping trip with your friends. we go to New York (i live in Montreal so 5-6 hours away) maybe every 2 or 3 months only for shopping. we have calculated that the cost of the trip is pretty much equal to what we would pay in shipping and custom fee and since i buy maybe 90% of my clothes in the states, it's totally worth it.

[Becks23]

^^^ good post man

i've been eyeing stuff up at Digital Gravel for awhile.

[Kasper]

i agree with you that Canada Post international shipping rates are a bit of a rip-off. for X-Mas, my mom sent me a box and it costed like 50$ by boat (was double by airmail), took more than a month to arrive to japan. then, i used the same box to send some stuff to my family and it costed around 35$ by airmail, took less than a week to arrive. it's not normal that japan post is a third of the price of canada post.

[mixedup]

i gotta agree...UPS is the WORST!!! their brokerage fee alone will be more than the tax/duty you pay. absolutely ridiculous. avoid at all costs.

[eldave04]

Has anyone had any experience with marking packages as returns? I am trying to order a lap top from the US and don t want to pay customs, but also don t want to loose the insurance, any ideas?

[mixedup]

actually, i believe they can tax ANY value that comes across the border (i.e. even a $10 item)...just as the personal exemption amount for a trip across the border for <24 hours is $0.

the amount of "duty" on items varies (from none to god knows). it's the gst & pst that kills you (in lovely ontario we get nailed with the pst as well!).

i mailorder WAYYYY too much stuff (records, shoes, clothes, dvds, etc) and have been doing it far too long. sometimes you get hit, sometimes you don't. i'd say overall, i'm still way ahead.

if in doubt, have the item declared at a lower value (and make sure whoever is shipping it to you doesn't include a proper receipt! my girlfriend ordered boots once, they were declared at a low value, customs felt the need to open/inspect, saw the receipt and nailed her on the "proper" value!).

[mixedup]

Has anyone had any experience with marking packages as returns? I am trying to order a lap top from the US and don t want to pay customs, but also don t want to loose the insurance, any ideas?

if you want to go that route, i'd recommend having the shipper mark it as "warranty replacement". it works from what i hear.