eBay: ship US to Canada, devalue to avoid Customs?

[Yvon]

if the bass is made in the ISA you are not supposed to pay any fee. But make sure that it is visible. Ask the seller to write made in the USA every where on the box!
Also make sure he writes Bass Guitar, and not just Bass. Very important.
Avoid UPS! I won't buy any bass from the US that is ship UPS.
USPS is the best. They will charge only 5$.

 

[Baird6869]

Shipping an expensive bass but with a much lower value is just stupid IMO. $1000 bass valued as a $50 gift MAY save you $100-ish in taxes, but also the item is insured for only $50. If it gets lost or mangled, you are SOL.

The worst I will do is ask sellers in the US to value the item at the maximum insurance ($850 or $1000 I think). If they refuse, that is cool with me.

Also, honesty can be the best policy as Customs in Canada does let LOTS of items slide with no taxes charged. The last 2 basses I bought from the US (a $2000 Dingwall and a $2000+ Roscoe) came through with no Customs charges or taxes due.

I have dozens (if not hundreds) of transactions with sellers in the US and have NEVER had any issue due to being in a different country. Even on TB, I have bought/sold/traded many basses without incident.

 

[Baird6869]

if the bass is made in the USA you are not supposed to pay any fee.

No Customs, but PST and GST are absolutely charged regardless if the bass is made in USA or even Canada (like a Dingwall or FBass coming back into Canada).

 

[MoSlevin]

How can it be that so many good people think stealing from our government is OK?

I don't condone it either, but it reminds me of an old bumper sticker "Don't steal - the government hates competition!"

 

[Geddyfleaharris]

No Customs, but PST and GST are absolutely charged regardless if the bass is made in USA or even Canada (like a Dingwall or FBass coming back into Canada).

Exactly. NAFTA rules that if the bass is Made in the USA then no duties. You will still have a customs inspection fee plus the PST, GST. Taxes are taxes. Unless you buy private in Canada or from an Ebayer in Canada you can't get around them. FedEx has charged me $7 or $8 for their brokerage, Canada Post $8 - $10 for theirs no matter what the value of the package but UPS is a whole other matter. I just paid $30 of brokerage fees to UPS for a $300 pedal because the shipper wouldn't use anyone other than UPS. I wanted the pedal so what do you do. I avoid UPS 99% of the time.

Also if the bass or item is Made in China/Asia etc. then you will likely end up with import duties that can total 8-10% of the value on top of the brokerage fee and taxes. At least from my experiences.