Shipping to Canada and Customs

[xjamiex]

Hey guys,

I found my Enterbay Jack Bauer on an American website for really cheap plus shipping with USPS for only like $25 bucks. What can I expect from customs? I heard it is like $5 for Canada Post and then the GST, PST and HST but I don't want to order it and then get slapped with even more taxes. Can anyone shed any light on this?

Thanks

[pandaprime]

What mail items are duty- and/or tax-free?

You don't have to pay duties and taxes if your mail item is:


a gift worth $60 or less; or
an item worth $20 or less.

http://cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications/pub/bsf5092-eng.html#_item03

What duties and taxes do you have to pay?

http://cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications/pub/bsf5092-eng.html#_item06

Canada Post Handling Fee

When items are imported by mail, the Canada Post Corporation is authorized to charge the recipient a fee for collecting and remitting the duty and taxes owed to the government. There is a $5 handling fee for mail items and an $8 fee for express mail items. If your mail item, is duty- and/or tax-free, you do not have to pay a fee.

http://cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications/pub/bsf5092-eng.html#_item11

[cloud]

I recently ordered an Enterbay Lord Godless figure from BBTS and got taxed. You'll pretty much be tax if you order from BBTS of a good that is more than $60.

[ARROW]

There is NO duty on action figures at all. In fact there's no duty on many toys.

The term "duty" is often misused--what you can be assessed is GST/PST or HST, plus the Customs handling fee, IF you use regular mail services.
GST is 5% of the declared value of the item in Cdn dollars, PST varies by province, often around 7%. HST is only assessed in provinces with the HST program in place, and it replaces GST & PST. You will NEVER pay all three.

If you have the item shipped to you by a expedited service, such as UPS, or Fed Ex--then you may pay the above, plus an added handling fee, PLUS a customs broker fee.
The brokerage fees can be where the gouge happens, as they can be more than the GST/PST amounts.

[cloud]

I've also heard a way to beat the customs broker fee by letting the expedit service know ASAP that you want to declare customs yourself and not through there' brokerage service. You'll have to go to the custom's service yourself to file some paperwork once the item has arrived to their storage but at least you won't have to pay the unreasonable brokerage fee.

[Wing Leader]

I broker stuff for my business across the border all the time, so I can say that it's not that difficult to do and often worth it, but you have to keep a few things in mind. If you're not close to the border to begin with, is it really worth it after gas? Also, I would never recomend doing it for just one item unless you live within a half hour drive from the border. Also, if the item ships via USPS, the brokerage fees are minimal. Like someone else already mentioned, I do believe they are about $5.00 per box. However, if the company only ships via UPS, Fedex or some other courier like that, the fees can be astronomical since they use their own brokers. In this case it often depends on the total cost of the item as much as it does on the size and wieght. I've heard of packages from $80.00 -$100.00 costing $30.00 plus in brokerage fees from Fedex. This is why I do what I do.

It looks like there is a lot to think about, but there really isn't. Since you're not a US citizen you shouldn't be charged any taxes except for when the item crosses the border, and since there are no duties on most toys like someone else mentioned (I believe the big exception is large wheeled toys like electric kid cars and things like that), the only big numbers to keep in mind are shipping costs and brokerage fees.

If anyone has any specific questions about what the paper work is like or any other issues with this, just pm me and I'd be happy to help. I do this at least twice a month, so I know how it works.

Hope this helps.

[Dumitru Ivanov]

I've also heard a way to beat the customs broker fee by letting the expedit service know ASAP that you want to declare customs yourself and not through there' brokerage service. You'll have to go to the custom's service yourself to file some paperwork once the item has arrived to their storage but at least you won't have to pay the unreasonable brokerage fee.

Same old problem between choosing what's more important, time or money. That's why they don't have an online form to fill-in.

[MULTIPLEX]

You'll be fine.

[Dumitru Ivanov]

In the future, you can go try W2C consultants (https://w2c.ca/consultation/). Their online procedure is pretty intuitive and the overall quality of the services is good.