Post by mikes on Dec 13, 2017 11:25:27 GMT -5
Hi guys
I know this had been discussed before but I keep seeing comments on many forums (not so much this one any more) regarding the unbelievably high shipping rates on packages from the USA to Canada. People chalk it up to company greed or the Canadian government duties and taxes. There is corporate greed happening here but it's on the part of the shipping companies, not the product producers or surprisingly the government. I've experienced this first hand when many years ago I ordered a package valued at around $200, only to receive a bill 2 weeks after the package had arrived saying I owed an additional $90 for "Entry Fees". Needless to say I was pissed and looked into it more closely. The following information applies to anything shipped from the USA to Canada but I'll use an Emotiva product as an example.
Turns out most shipping companies have come up with a multitude of additional fees that they tack on to an international shipment and it's quite difficult to figure out which fees will apply to your shipment but the basics are as follows (let's ignore the exchange rate even though everything is applied on the CAD value)
If I was to purchase an XMC-1 ($2499) directly from Emotiva and ship it directly to my house (in Ontario) using UPS standard shipping, according to the following the package would be subject to an additional charge of
www.ups.com/ca/en/shipping/zones-and-rates/customs-clearance.page
Entry Preparation Fee - $101.35
Bond Fee - $6.00
Import Charge Processing fee - $4.25
Subtotal - $111.60
Now add GST (or HST depending on the province) to this mess and you have a total fee of $117.18. I have to stress that this is in addition to paying for the international shipping, and any applicable sales tax or duties. Again it's difficult to determine if there are other applicable fees, let's call that a best case scenario. I've also noticed that over the years they have steadily lowered the "Value For Duty" on the Entry Preparation Fee. When I was charged it on my $200 package, it was the first step. Now they are adding that fee to packaged above $20. I'm not picking on UPS, their fee page was just the easiest to find. I'm sure all major shipping companies have a similar fee structure. So how do we avoid this?
One way is to call CBSA in advance and pay the taxes and duties before the package crosses the boarder, then UPS can't charge you the Bond Fee or Import Processing Fee, however they might still charge you the Entry Preparation fee. I don't know because I've never done this.
You can avoid all the fees by paying for an express shipping option, not a perfect solution because it add quite a lot to the base shipping costs for an item, but it will likely still be cheaper that paying the additional fees plus you get your stuff a lot faster.
You can ship things USPS. Because they are a government run entity, they hand off the packages to Canada Post, they then take care of the packages entry into Canada. Typically you will only be charged the taxes. (That's been my experience in the past, however I haven't shipping any high value items using USPS recently and things may have changed)
In my case I've found the best solution is to ship the packages to a boarder store or another location within the USA that will hold the packages until you can pick them up then cross the boarder with your packages. I know this solution is only available to people within a reasonable driving distance to the boarder but if you are, there is probably a store or business providing this service. In my case I live 30 min from the boarder and there is a store within 200 yards that provides this service. I ordered an XMC-1 and XPA-7, I received free shipping because the destination is within the USA. I drove 30 min to pick up the packages, paid $6 to the store for holding the two packages, then paid the sales tax when I crosses the boarder and drove home (No additional duties or fees). The trip takes me a little over an hour, but I think that if the trip is under 2 hours it's totally worth it. Not only do you avoid the massive fees, USA to USA shipping is typically way cheaper ( if not free ) so you can save even more. Everything I order from the USA gets shipped to the boarder store (I have 4 packages waiting there for me now!).
Again I know this has been discussed at length before but I keep seeing it come up, and know how pisses off I was to get that bill from fedex, so i figured I would pass on my experiences to fellow Canadians.
Also the XMC-1 and XPA-7 are fantastic.
Mike
I know this had been discussed before but I keep seeing comments on many forums (not so much this one any more) regarding the unbelievably high shipping rates on packages from the USA to Canada. People chalk it up to company greed or the Canadian government duties and taxes. There is corporate greed happening here but it's on the part of the shipping companies, not the product producers or surprisingly the government. I've experienced this first hand when many years ago I ordered a package valued at around $200, only to receive a bill 2 weeks after the package had arrived saying I owed an additional $90 for "Entry Fees". Needless to say I was pissed and looked into it more closely. The following information applies to anything shipped from the USA to Canada but I'll use an Emotiva product as an example.
Turns out most shipping companies have come up with a multitude of additional fees that they tack on to an international shipment and it's quite difficult to figure out which fees will apply to your shipment but the basics are as follows (let's ignore the exchange rate even though everything is applied on the CAD value)
If I was to purchase an XMC-1 ($2499) directly from Emotiva and ship it directly to my house (in Ontario) using UPS standard shipping, according to the following the package would be subject to an additional charge of
www.ups.com/ca/en/shipping/zones-and-rates/customs-clearance.page
Entry Preparation Fee - $101.35
Bond Fee - $6.00
Import Charge Processing fee - $4.25
Subtotal - $111.60
Now add GST (or HST depending on the province) to this mess and you have a total fee of $117.18. I have to stress that this is in addition to paying for the international shipping, and any applicable sales tax or duties. Again it's difficult to determine if there are other applicable fees, let's call that a best case scenario. I've also noticed that over the years they have steadily lowered the "Value For Duty" on the Entry Preparation Fee. When I was charged it on my $200 package, it was the first step. Now they are adding that fee to packaged above $20. I'm not picking on UPS, their fee page was just the easiest to find. I'm sure all major shipping companies have a similar fee structure. So how do we avoid this?
One way is to call CBSA in advance and pay the taxes and duties before the package crosses the boarder, then UPS can't charge you the Bond Fee or Import Processing Fee, however they might still charge you the Entry Preparation fee. I don't know because I've never done this.
You can avoid all the fees by paying for an express shipping option, not a perfect solution because it add quite a lot to the base shipping costs for an item, but it will likely still be cheaper that paying the additional fees plus you get your stuff a lot faster.
You can ship things USPS. Because they are a government run entity, they hand off the packages to Canada Post, they then take care of the packages entry into Canada. Typically you will only be charged the taxes. (That's been my experience in the past, however I haven't shipping any high value items using USPS recently and things may have changed)
In my case I've found the best solution is to ship the packages to a boarder store or another location within the USA that will hold the packages until you can pick them up then cross the boarder with your packages. I know this solution is only available to people within a reasonable driving distance to the boarder but if you are, there is probably a store or business providing this service. In my case I live 30 min from the boarder and there is a store within 200 yards that provides this service. I ordered an XMC-1 and XPA-7, I received free shipping because the destination is within the USA. I drove 30 min to pick up the packages, paid $6 to the store for holding the two packages, then paid the sales tax when I crosses the boarder and drove home (No additional duties or fees). The trip takes me a little over an hour, but I think that if the trip is under 2 hours it's totally worth it. Not only do you avoid the massive fees, USA to USA shipping is typically way cheaper ( if not free ) so you can save even more. Everything I order from the USA gets shipped to the boarder store (I have 4 packages waiting there for me now!).
Again I know this has been discussed at length before but I keep seeing it come up, and know how pisses off I was to get that bill from fedex, so i figured I would pass on my experiences to fellow Canadians.
Also the XMC-1 and XPA-7 are fantastic.
Mike
