Shipping to Canada. Please educate me.

[keto]

Duties, which are federal, and taxes, which are part federal and part provincial, are differing amounts and are often confused.
-Duty into Canada on USA made goods is 0%, but all of it has to be USA made. Japan, China, Indonesia, etc etc countries of manufacture all have different but similar rates, around 6%
-the base federal tax is GST 5%, but additionally every province has their own provincial sales tax PST, and many provinces 'harmonize' GST + PST into HST as one number%
-FedEx, UPS, DHL, any commercial carrier charges handling 'brokerage' fees. To @jlo95 If you are able to make the trip to the local depot where the parcel landed, you can do your own brokerage for $0.00 just by doing some paperwork. Most people don't know this. You still have to pay duty if due, and taxes.
-USPS hands off to Canada Post, and they are very very hit and miss with collecting taxes and duty. Many of us have the majority of our experience where the parcel is just handed off/put in the mailbox with nothing charged....but it's not predictable, in my experience. I've paid $3 and I've paid hundreds, but many more times I've paid zero.
-In any case, shipping international, you'll have to do some customs paperwork. THIS, more than any other factor, is why Americans will not want to ship to Canada, despite the fact it takes about 2 minutes. Name, address, phone#, what's in the box WHAT'S IN THE BOX, MAN? (heads are not allowed), value.
-Also, if insuring the package, just like every other (domestic) case, the shipper is the one insured and has to follow up in the event of a claim. The intended recipient has no status with the shipper, as they didn't pay the shipper.

 

[Edgetone]

I think this is where I’m confused. The bass I sold was valued at $1500 on the customs form. But according to the Canada Post tracking info, he had to pay $248.60 in duty and taxes. That seems high.

I'm in BC so here's the breakdown of the import costs:

Canada Post put the value at 1988.70 CAD
Duty: $0
Excise Tax: $0
GST: $99.44
PST: $139.21
Hadling fee: $9.95
Total: $248.60 CAD

UPS seems to be the worst for brokerage fees. I once bought an $80 pedal from the US and paid $120 in tax, duty and brokerage fees from UPS. I try to avoid them but sometimes that's the only option.

Overall shipping between the US and Canada and vice versa is pretty easy. The only extra step on the shipping side is declaring what you are shipping and the value for customs. And it's helpful to let the buyer know they will pay their country's duty and taxes.

 

[Andy Marshman]

All of this is in line with what we pay to import from the USA. 15 or more years ago, I purchased many guitar pedals, used, from sellers in the US. The seller had to fill out some postage stamp sized info sticker about the contents and mail it via USPS. I had to convince a couple of sellers to do this and every time it worked out fine.
Now that I'm a bass player I'm selective about what I buy from you folks. My Ric was one of two exceptions. I need to really, really want a bass to pay all those extra fees - but that's the cost to Canadians for importing stuff. There's supposed to be a Free Trade Agreement in place between Canada, Mexica and the US but I've never seen the good side of it. Ya see, we also have idiot politicians that put such agreements together.
For musical gear, it's often easier and cheaper for us to buy at home.

 

[logdrum]

The best mail service is the UK Royal Post destination US. Faster than expedited courier service and the US does not collect taxes or customs on musical instruments. They could but never have in my experience and that includes a 7K USD Baritone Sax declared value. The only thing I had to deal with was a grumpy USPS guy that had to lug it to my front door.

I use to buy from BikesDirect.com and I may have also gotten expensive bike frames. IN the US in 3 days. How tough is the border crossing from Vermont on 89 nowadays?

 

[Rocket Queen]

Paging @Green Knight ....

 

[tb-player]

The best mail service is the UK Royal Post destination US. Faster than expedited courier service and the US does not collect taxes or customs on musical instruments. They could but never have in my experience and that includes a 7K USD Baritone Sax declared value. The only thing I had to deal with was a grumpy USPS guy that had to lug it to my front door.

I use to buy from BikesDirect.com and I may have also gotten expensive bike frames. IN the US in 3 days. How tough is the border crossing from Vermont on 89 nowadays?

I have some a bass coming from Bass Direct in the UK. It’s coming via ParcelForce. Like Royal Mail, that service connects to the US via USPS. So I’m having it shipped to my PO Box to minimize local postal carrier handling. Curious to see how long it takes & what I have to pay in addition to the price of the instrument/shipping. I was quoted 4-6 working days. That seems optimistic. I guess we’ll see.

 

[tb-player]

I'm in BC so here's the breakdown of the import costs:

Canada Post put the value at 1988.70 CAD
Duty: $0
Excise Tax: $0
GST: $99.44
PST: $139.21
Hadling fee: $9.95
Total: $248.60 CAD

UPS seems to be the worst for brokerage fees. I once bought an $80 pedal from the US and paid $120 in tax, duty and brokerage fees from UPS. I try to avoid them but sometimes that's the only option.

Overall shipping between the US and Canada and vice versa is pretty easy. The only extra step on the shipping side is declaring what you are shipping and the value for customs. And it's helpful to let the buyer know they will pay their country's duty and taxes.

I wonder why Canada Post valued it differently than what was on the customs form. Still, the process was easier than I thought. Glad it arrived safely. You could tell how paranoid I was by how tightly it was packed… lol.

 

[DonaldR]

I wonder why Canada Post valued it differently than what was on the customs form.

Probably because $1500USD = $1988.70CAD

 

[Green Knight]

Canafa Post/USPS involves the least amount of bovine-feces charges… lately they’ve been more reliable for me than the private ones, and they’ve always been cheaper

 

[tb-player]

Probably because $1500USD = $1988.70CAD

Hahaha… total American brain-dead moment on my part.

 

[jmlee]

Agree with the consensus so far. USPS for everything except high value items where the customs brokerage fees charged by the carrier can represent a tolerably small percentage. FedEx has typically lower brokerage fees and better cross-border mechanics than UPS. Shipping across the US-Canada border is at worst modestly annoying. Just be honest in filling out the extra form (no bad at all really), be a good communicator, and be patient re: delivery. I’m shipping something stateside to a TB member on Wednesday, and I’d encourage our American cousins to keep this channel open.

 

[DonaldR]

There's supposed to be a Free Trade Agreement in place between Canada, Mexica and the US but I've never seen the good side of it. Ya see, we also have idiot politicians that put such agreements together.
For musical gear, it's often easier and cheaper for us to buy at home.

With the Free Trade Agreement, there's no custom fees, easy transit of goods between those three countries and you only pay local sale taxes as if you were buying locally. Not bad IMHO.

 

[emal]

As mentioned
UPS-Fedex will ding the receiver for Brokerage
Minimum 80$
Depending on value taxes are unavoidable
GST and Pst depending (federal and provincial)
You can avoid brokerage by doing the clearing yourself
USPS is very slow for some reason but avoids brokerage as Canada Post too
200$ CDM and less should not incur any taxes

 

[franklindayala]

Any time I list an item, I put the typical “CONUS only” at the bottom. 2 weeks ago, I had 2 separate individuals from the Great White North approach me about making an exception. One was a $2k bass. The other was a small, $200 accessory.

I’ve bought from overseas many times but never sold that way. I use Pirate Ship so I figured, “What the heck? Let’s give it a try!” and agreed to do the deals, as long as the buyers paid the extra shipping costs. Deal on both counts.

The bass buyer requested that I ship via USPS since UPS 2-day has higher fees. So I chose the USPS Priority International Expedited option which was 3-5 days as opposed to their standard USPS International which was 10 days. That was 2 weeks ago. Tracking says the bass is being delivered today (and no, there was no long delay at customs). Duties and taxes were roughly $250.

When I ran the shipping quote for the small, $200 accessory, the USPS delivery estimate was 4-6 weeks?? So I chose UPS which said it would take 2-3 days. The shipping price was only $2-3 higher for that. The buyer agreed and we were good. That package arrived on time. The buyer was charged $40 in customs/brokerage fees.

These fees and timelines are all new to me. And I hate telling someone from Canada no. I’m just curious, is there a better way?

Pirate Ship did make it easy. But it generated commercial invoices for each ‘Friends & Family’ deal. Do you guys from Canada (or other countries) assume that you’ll have to pay a ton extra and/or wait forever when you buy from the US? Is there something US sellers can be doing to make this process easier all the way around?

Please educate me.

As long as it is well shipped and has a tracking mail, i'm cool with the waiting time.

In Perú there is 30% of tax. So you have to roll with that.

 

[u2brothr]

Canadian here. I buy things all the time from the USA. Even bought my most expensive bass from Korea.....and it arrived with no duty.

Don't ship via DHL, UPS, FedEx. They will charge brokerage fees ON TOP of the possibly duties.

I always ask to ship visa USPS. The item will go to customs in Canada.

If the mailer puts the item as a gift.... it might go through without duty.
If the mailer puts the value of the item over $100.... the receiver might/might not be charged duty. In Ontario, Federal and Provincial sales tax is 13%. So sometimes the item will arrive at the post office and in order to receive it, you will have to pay duty.

I find if I am ordering a LOT of things.... somehow my address is flagged and I get dinged for the Duty.

If I order a few things every couple of months, they arrive zero duty.

In most cases, if the item is arriving from a specific company (not a personal seller), I will get dinged with Duty.

YMMV

I should add. I go to a festival every year in Detroit. If there is someone out there who REFUSES to ship to Canada, then I ship it to my mailbox in Detroit when I go visit, and pick up the item there.

However, most USA sellers are quite reasonable and help facilitate items to Canada. I should add, eBay and several other sites sometimes include the duty in their shipping methods so that the item arrives freely, because the duty is prepaid.

 

[Lowendtech]

All of this is true. USPS all the way.

well… except the thing about the water going down the toilet backwards here.
Although I seen it with mine own eyes in Aus. as a kid. Freaked me right the heck out. Apparently I came running out of the John telling my Mum some wild a$$ tales of water devilry.

I’ve been charged over $120 for a $250 pedal once in duties etc. I try to keep the expensive purchases to local and I’ve been pretty lucky that I’ve found most of what I want in basses here in Canada but have bought tons of pedals from the USA with varying charges and wait times through customs. ‘Tis what ‘tis.

I always appreciate when someone in the USA takes the extra bit of time and effort to sell/ship to me. I’ve had the opposite happen and it’s never a great feeling if it’s something you really want.

 

[soma89]

As a canadian buyer, i always plan on paying atleast a couple of hundred in border fees when im buying a bass or guitar from the states. You gotta pay to play, sadly.

 

[Mosthigh]

Buying stuff from the US is usually no hassle, as long as you know what you're getting into with brokerage fees and taxes, and the possibility your package might be torn apart and show up in tatters (that said, it hasn't happened to me yet).

What really irked me was when I sold a power amp to someone in California on Reverb, I had to pay like 15% state import sellers tax or some bs. I guess it depends on the state, but many are looking for any kind of tax grab that doesn't involve its own residents to cough up. So we (Canadians) get hit with extra fees going both ways over the border.

 

[2ndBassGuitar]

Shipping with UPSP is better for Canadian buyers. As mentioned numerous times, there are NO brokerage fees when you ship this way. And sometimes the provincial and national taxes do not get charged when you ship to Canada through USPS (they hand off to CanadaPost). It is safe and reliable.

There is no duty charged in Canada for goods made in the US, European Union (CETA), China or Japan. I am a Lakland dealer and basses made in Indonesia have 6% duty.

When you ship, please use a dedicated form fitting bass guitar box. I have my boxes custom made and they are 52” x 17” x 5”. They fit most bass guitars and cases. DO NOT use the larger boxes the courier companies sell. It costs more to ship with the boxes, the shipping peanuts are a pain, and your bass is better protected in the form fitting box. That is why the manufacturers use these boxes.

I have shipped well over 500 instruments and many across the boarder.

 

[2ndBassGuitar]

Buying stuff from the US is usually no hassle, as long as you know what you're getting into with brokerage fees and taxes, and the possibility your package might be torn apart and show up in tatters (that said, it hasn't happened to me yet).

What really irked me was when I sold a power amp to someone in California on Reverb, I had to pay like 15% state import sellers tax or some bs. I guess it depends on the state, but many are looking for any kind of tax grab that doesn't involve its own residents to cough up. So we (Canadians) get hit with extra fees going both ways over the border.

The seller does NOT pay the California tax.