19 Nov
2005
19 Nov
'05
6:57 p.m.
Dan Cohoe wrote:
At the risk of dragging this thread on too long,
here's my take on the
topic. This is from the POV of someone on the Canadian side of the border.
USPS is my friend. They've got Global Priority mail, air parcel post and
surface mail. Simple customs declaration forms are available at the counter.
It's really not much more difficult than addressing the package label.
I've always gotten excellent service for my dollar from them.
The Canadian postal service (Canada Post Corporation)
has good hand-off from
the USPS and they also have a deal with the Canada Border Services Agency
(CBSA) to provide collection of whatever charges may be levied at crossing.
For items under $15 value there's typically no application of the usual
Sales taxes(across Canada, GST at 7 % and in Ontario PST at 8 %) and no
brokerage fee. A $5 brokerage fee and the taxes will often be charged for
values over $15 or $20
Excellent info. Bwetween you and Tom I've gotten an answer. One key is
to break it down in to very small loads if need be.
Most items of interest to this list from the USA
attract no Customs Duties,
just the taxes.
I've not experienced the loss of packages that others are referring to by
Canada Post and generally try to have epay sellers send stuff by USPS,
though most will not, apparently because of the lack of tracking through
USPS.
No experience with Fedex, but UPS rates to Canada are a lot higher than
domestic US and they will hit you with the automatic $35 brokerage charge.
For items that must be shipped UPS, again on the shipper's rules, I almost
always get them dropped at a pick-up spot in Niagara Falls NY. I`can then
cross the border myself, pay $5 to the pick-up spot and bring the stuff
across personally.
No love for UPS, used them. The broerage would likely be more than
shipping cost.
For really big stuff, I try to find a local freight
company that does
regular runs to the area of the purchase and arrange for them to stop and
bring the load back. Very reasonable cost compared to most alternatives when
you're talking bigger than 2-300 lbs. Of course you do need to have the
paper work done and ddeal with a customs broker then, but the charge is
still less than the UPS flat rate brokerage would be.
We're talking under 10-12pounds max. Small box (under 14x6x10 inches).
No commercial or retail value.
People sometimes comment to me about how difficult it
must be to cross with
some of the larger items I find....like my latest fun acquisition, a JEOL
JEM 100CXii electron microscope. In fact, going either way across I've never
had many hassles, particularly if its US-made goods I'm going south with.
I've bought US goods in CN and brought them back with zero problems at
customs. Small CN items were never questioned.
Allison