[Carbonman]

Can anyone tell me what the duty is for European cans imported into Canada? I'm trying to figure out what a set of DT880's would cost me.

 

[TrevorNetwork]

14% tax on the declared value. Unless the customs officers decide to open them, and choose a new declared value for them. In that case, you'll be taxed 14% on the value they assign. Should the seller ship via a unbonded carrier, UPS is a great example, you may also pay a $50 brokerage fee.

Cheers!

 

[Carbonman]

Is that just GST & PST, or is there an actual 14% duty plus taxes? I'm going to see what kind of a deal Commercial electronics will give me if I pay in advance to get them to order them in. I don't know of any other Beyerdynamic dealers in Vancouver.
I may sell off my HD600's to make the purchase less painful.

 

[TrevorNetwork]

I might be interested in your HD600s. As far as the duties, I have never paid any. Typically it's just the taxes. As an aside, if you would like a Sonic Impact T-amp, I ordered mine two days ago from thinkgeek.com, it was shipped last night at 8:00pm, and I received it at 9:00am this morning. Shipping was ~$7.00. Total cost ~$29.00 USD.

No duties, no taxes, overnight shipping.

 

[Phragm3nt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carbonman Can anyone tell me what the duty is for European cans imported into Canada? I'm trying to figure out what a set of DT880's would cost me.

I have been in contact with headphone.com about this very issue. If you dont mind waiting the lady said they will ship to canada with USPS (United States Postal Service), it will take longer, low brokerage fee, and a low delivery charge. Otherwise they use FedEx I think she said, and they are 2-3 days, high delivery charge, and a higher brokerage fee

headphone.com does in fact have the dt880's for 259.00USD.. I would consider them if I were you. Atleast the fees (brokerage / shipping) would be lower than from Europe.

As for thinkgeek... At our office we always order from there and always get scr3wed on tax / brokerage fees. Great stuff, not really worth the extra $$$.

Good luck with your decision!

-Michael
-Alberta, Canada

 

[sony_man]

aaaah all this math. but it sucks how the people have the power to open our belongings.

 

[pne]

customs has a special code for charging you fee's. don't think you can avoid it by shipping slow usps. I recieved a slow shipment (4-6weeks) from the u.s. marked with a 50 usd value, and was taxed $30 in total. Have also recieved a similar package from fedex taxing about $20. Best way to lower the fees is a small package with low declared value. Also, marking the item as used usually prevents you from being taxed. whether or not an online store will do this for you is another matter since it probably is a violation of federal law.

 

[Quad]

Fed Ex Express (air service) does not seem to charge the brokerage charges (at least on the last two things I got from the US to Canada). You pay $10.00 more for faster shipping but do not pay the brokerage fees.

Maybe it is the same from europe I would think FedEX would tell you.

edit - You do pay the GST and PST still and a $7.00 "ROD Fee" from US at least.

 

[dshook]

Hey

Ask your shipper to mark the gift as a commercial sample with a low value. This can reduce the duty by a whole lot, and I have also had no duty at all. Disadvantage is this only works through regular post, as couriers will charge the cross border brokerage.

 

[Wodgy]

One thing many people in Canada fail to realize is that when you're importing used goods (e.g. from the Head-Fi buyer/seller forum) there is zero duty and you only have to pay tax on the price you paid for the used goods, NOT the value of those goods. Canada Customs has no way of verifying the actual price you paid for the goods, so the value on the green customs form can be declared as low as you want if the shipper is willing.

Canada Customs cannot decide the used goods are "worth more" than the green customs form says and then charge you more (unless they have proof, such as a receipt in the box). That's not the law for used goods. Taxes are not based on how much the used item is worth, they're based on how much you claim to have paid.

You can have a sender in the US claim $1 on the green customs form as long as the item is clearly marked as used and then buy insurance for the item for its full value, which may be substantially higher. There's nothing wrong with this for used goods (except the unethical angle, but know your rights). My local UPS guy hassles me every time I do this, but after insisting he always relents.

Official info about this here:
http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/E/pub/cm/...13-10-1-e.html

 

[aerius]

What Wodgy said is correct, but there are a couple caveats. Customs guys are not stupid, you're not going to have us believe that a Stax Omega II for instance cost you 10 bucks, and depending on the Customs officer, they might just wave it through, flag your name in the system so that all future parcels to you are opened & thoroughly searched (and delayed I might add), or they might even go as far as to contact the seller and get a price out of him.

Not so nice Customs guys might even go "screw you you tax cheating clown" and smack you with the full charges for new goods. Those Omega II's, which you claim to have bought used for 10 bucks now get taxed on their full MSRP. Obviously you can go dispute this with Customs, and you'll probably win, but to do so costs a lot of time & maybe a good deal of money.

 

[TrevorNetwork]

Quote:

Not so nice Customs guys might even go "screw you you tax cheating clown" and smack you with the full charges for new goods. Those Omega II's, which you claim to have bought used for 10 bucks now get taxed on their full MSRP. Obviously you can go dispute this with Customs, and you'll probably win, but to do so costs a lot of time & maybe a good deal of money.

Exactly what I was talking about.

 

[Wodgy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aerius What Wodgy said is correct, but there are a couple caveats. Customs guys are not stupid, you're not going to have us believe that a Stax Omega II for instance cost you 10 bucks, and depending on the Customs officer, they might just wave it through, flag your name in the system so that all future parcels to you are opened & thoroughly searched (and delayed I might add), or they might even go as far as to contact the seller and get a price out of him.

It's not a matter of belief. If someone bought anything used and got a good deal, customs has zero ground to stand on unless they have evidence.

What you're suggesting Customs agents start doing is harassment, and frankly it stinks. I don't know enough about Canada to know whether it is actually illegal. (I suspect it is, if applied without evidence.)

Quote:

Not so nice Customs guys might even go "screw you you tax cheating clown" and smack you with the full charges for new goods. Those Omega II's, which you claim to have bought used for 10 bucks now get taxed on their full MSRP.

They simply cannot do this. Sorry. Go read the link I posted.

Quote:

Obviously you can go dispute this with Customs, and you'll probably win, but to do so costs a lot of time & maybe a good deal of money.

It doesn't cost any money. There is a form you need to fill out. That's all. I would be surprised that someone from Canada Customs is spreading this misinformation, but frankly I'm not, as it has been my experience that they tend to imbue what they're doing with some kind of mysticism, and they're largely successful at doing this because Canadians by in large tend to be credulous about their government institutions. Know your rights and don't let the customs guys jerk you around.

 

[aerius]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wodgy It's not a matter of belief. If someone bought anything used and got a good deal, customs has zero ground to stand on unless they have evidence. What you're suggesting Customs agents start doing is harassment, and frankly it stinks. I don't know enough about Canada to know whether it is actually illegal. (I suspect it is, if applied without evidence.)

Fact, everything I mentioned happens in Customs already. It's not strictly legal, but there's enough of a grey area that the Customs guys will almost always get away with what they're doing.

Quote:

It doesn't cost any money. There is a form you need to fill out. That's all. I would be surprised that someone from Canada Customs is spreading this misinformation, but frankly I'm not, as it has been my experience that they tend to imbue what they're doing with some kind of mysticism, and they're largely successful at doing this because Canadians by in large tend to be credulous about their government institutions. Know your rights and don't let the customs guys jerk you around.

It's a feel good form. File it and watch them take 3 months to process it. There have been many cases where those forms are just filed away somewhere until the person actually goes out and files a lawsuit against Canada Customs.

There is a huge gap between what the law says Customs can do and what Customs does and gets away with in practice, theory vs real world application. I'll be the first to tell you it's BS, but that's just the way our screwed up system works.

 

[elnero]

Wow Wodgy your so smart!!!You know more about what goes on inside Canada Customs than people that actually work there. It's good to know Head-Fi has such a resident "expert" in... well in just about everything it seems.