Canada's Crazy Customs charges

[bilgladstone 13]

I ordered two packages of similar size recently: on from California and one from Florida. The first arrived quickly with no delays or charges. The one from FLA was delayed at the border and I was charged GST, PST and a $5 "Handling Charge"The guy at my local Postal Substation where I picked them up said that it's entirely arbotrary where or not you get charged. He is an old-timey gent who's been around the Canada Post block for decades, and suggests that on busy days, they just push the parcels through and on slower days, they are more likely to rate more packages for tax and import charges.Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose...

[cassini75 0]

your lucky if it come through ups its a min $80 brokerage fee. regardless on value or size

[Francesco 71]

If I must have something shipped across the border, it's either US Postal Service or I cancel the order. I, too, got burned by UPS' outrageous brokerage charge -- $76 for a $28 item.I pay $36 a year for a USPS PO box Stateside, and a further $60 a year for use of a mail-drop (plus $2 per package).

[bilgladstone 13]

Yes, I've been hosed by UPS too many times. Now I always insist tha US shippers use USPS.

[Overkll 0]

It must be simpler on the US end to ship UPS? Many sellers seem reluctant to ship USPS... sucks considering the UPS rip offA good example is my $60 DVD player incurred $90 worth of UPS fees for me and the seller... still a good deal for a $400 player. Tried to let the seller know, but they only paid $30 for the shipping and didn't seem to care that they were making UPS rich.

[Nextourer 1]

Same.... UPS charges ended up making my item cost 2x what it originally cost. What the hell is a storage charge and why is it being stored on my account?

[cassini75 0]

theres a place where i have parcels shipped in port huron, no yearly fee and $5 cash per package. 5 min from the boarder and easy to get to.

[SCHMART 0]

Fed ex on stuff from Canada is like ups...when sellers ship me thru Canada post, never a problem

[garthD 0]

When I order from the States, I always use USPS and I find I get dinged about half the time. When ordering from the UK, I go with Royal Mail and find that I only get customs charges on about 1 in 10 packages. Not sure why the huge discrepancy...garth

[MightyMouseTech 0]

Always use the mail service when you can. Only once have I had to pay duty/taxes on an item shipped though the mail, including shipping from the UK. Most small items from the UK arrive as "product samples" and are not subject to duty/taxes. I was really surprised when I recieved an enitre set of rims and it just sailed though as well..... Helpful tip though. If you ship anything overnight express with FedEx or UPS, all the other fees are included in the purchase price, no further brokerage fees. On smaller items it almost always works out being cheaper. And the bonus is you get the parts faster. I once got a set of fuel injectors from California within 12 hours of ordering them.For bigger items I just have the items shipped to the UPS store in Ogdensburg, NY. They only charge $2/package for small packages and $5/package for large ones Then I just drive over the border and bring it back myself. You will always pay the duty and taxes when you are only in the US for less than an hour, but there is no brokerage fees, and a lot of companies in the US will ship for free within the US. No special arrangements are required, I just have the packages shipped there to my name, and then c/o UPS Ogdensburg.

Edited October 2, 2009 by MightyMouseTech

[Francesco 71]

Fed ex on stuff from Canada is like ups...when sellers ship me thru Canada post, never a problem

That is if they use "Ground" instead of "Express." If I send stuff by FedEx Express Priority (or Overnight), the brokerage is included in the shipping charge I pay up front. True, it becomes an expensive charge for most folks... but since I've been working for an airline I get a huge discount, so I take advantage of it. Edited October 2, 2009 by SameGuy

[smartzuuk 167]

UPS can die a brown death. I too, am fortunate to have a place I can ship packages to across the border. Even better, is it is $4.00 a package... kinda pay as you go. Then I go down for 48 hours, and come home tax free. On personal goods. Thankfully my business stuff ships other than UPS - because that I have them deliver right to me in Canada.

[parts4smarts 1]

The answer is obvious.....when possible order from your friendly and efficient Canadian aftermarket supplier !!!They look after all this crap for you !! Just ask Fast Eddy or Stevie.......harald

[Francesco 71]

[VRsyncro 0]

For bigger items I just have the items shipped to the UPS store in Ogdensburg, NY. They only charge $2/package for small packages and $5/package for large ones Then I just drive over the border and bring it back myself. You will always pay the duty and taxes when you are only in the US for less than an hour, but there is no brokerage fees, and a lot of companies in the US will ship for free within the US. No special arrangements are required, I just have the packages shipped there to my name, and then c/o UPS Ogdensburg.

I've done this many many many times! It's amazing to see the stacks of tires that are always inside there! It got so crazy down there that I started asking shippers to add a unique mark to the package so I could find it within the stacks of boxes and parcels inside there. There is also a warehouse in Ogdensburg that you can become a member of and they will receive big ticket items for you (i.e. Anything on a pallet, cars, engines, etc...) Name escapes me at this time unfortunately.

[MightyMouseTech 0]

I've done this many many many times! It's amazing to see the stacks of tires that are always inside there! It got so crazy down there that I started asking shippers to add a unique mark to the package so I could find it within the stacks of boxes and parcels inside there. There is also a warehouse in Ogdensburg that you can become a member of and they will receive big ticket items for you (i.e. Anything on a pallet, cars, engines, etc...) Name escapes me at this time unfortunately.

That is the International Corporate Center. Highly recommended, but they are only open 8:00-5:00 M-F. But it is so close to the border, you can actually see it from the US border crossing.http://www.corp-center.com/They really like it when you bring them Timbits. Not that I go there very often.... :rolleyes:And if you call them ahead of time and put your name on "the list" they will actually call you when the package arrives. Edited November 3, 2009 by MightyMouseTech

[Francesco 71]

Yeah, my place is called Trimex Enterprises in Mooers, NY (closer to Montreal -- 85 Km door to door from my house in the West Island). I pay them $5 a month for mail (street address) service, and $2 per package.

[Francesco 71]

The Corp-Center price list makes them look kind of dear... $4 a package, $6 a tire, etc...

[MightyMouseTech 0]

The Corp-Center price list makes them look kind of dear... $4 a package, $6 a tire, etc...

True, but one of those "packages" I had delivered there was an entire engine on a pallet........$4.