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Shipping to Canada?

post #1 of 5
10/31/08 at 1:42am
Thread Starter 
I need some help. I sold an item on eBay that I now need to ship to Canada. I have always avoided it, but I figured I mind as well learn to ship things above the border. There is no better time then the now.

That being said, I don't want to make a mistake. Should I declare it as a gift? I figure the ppl at the post office will be able to help me out some but I'd like to get some advice from some of the international shippers here. A lot of the items that are bought and sold here are expensive. I need some tips and tricks for insuring that a valuable and relatively expensive package gets to it's destination safely. The package weights about 2lbs.
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post #2 of 5
10/31/08 at 3:05am
For the love of god, don't ship by UPS or FedEx.

Read this page here on what it's like for Canadian customers ordering from the US: Guide for Canadians to Ordering Online from American Shops

Edit: I neglected to mention that those brokerage fees only apply to ground shipment. If you choose to ship by air, you're in the clear.
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post #3 of 5
10/31/08 at 12:46pm
I will never buy from the states again unless the thing is shipped via good ol' USPS. The brokerage fees charged to the recipient by UPS are just plain rude, dude!

Of course, that's off-topic given that you already wrote that you will be shipping via USPS. I'm not sure what advice to offer. As a Canadian, I've never had a problem receiving goods from the States that were sent via the post office. If you want to mark the item as a gift, that's your option, but I never expect this courtesy from people I buy from. If it's an expensive item, I'd probably prefer to have insurance even if it meant there were a chance of paying border fees upon receipt. Our border is not nearly so expensive as the EU border for receiving stuff (unless UPS is involved), so I wouldn't worry too much about it.
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post #4 of 5
10/31/08 at 1:08pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the help!
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post #5 of 5
10/31/08 at 1:44pm
Aside from it being customs fraud to declare a gift when it isn't a gift, there is a limit ( I forget exactly how much but I believe it's well under $100 ) to the amount of non-taxable merchandise allowed .... gift or not. The buyer will be charged taxes on any amount above that limit .... again, gift or not. If you declare it a gift and customs opens the package during routine inspections and discovers otherwise (like finding an invoice or copies of emailed purchase details), the package might be confiscated. Also, if you declare the value of the item at one amount, but insure it at another, customs will go on the higher amount and perhaps look deeper into the transaction.

And yes, USPS is by far the most reasonable when it comes to brokerage fees.
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