How expensive is it bringing a camera into Canada from the US?

MatthewC

MatthewC

Well-known member
I'm looking at picking up the HPX170 from a dealer in the states. What am I looking at in terms or charges/taxes at the border? I'm saving quite a few hundred dollars over buying it over here in Vancouver, but I'm just wondering if its worth it once everything gets added on top.

Cheers,

Matthew
 
I'm not suggesting you break the law or anything but why would you get charged taxes at the border? For all they know, you've owned that camera for a long, long time right?
 
Matthew,

You'll be looking at the GST and PST as if you bought it here. The thing to be aware of with bringing it across the border unannounced is that for insurance claim purposes you might need to show import paperwork. If you are getting it shipped here, then as I said, it's GST & PST (based on the Canadian$ equivalent of the declared US$ price) usually collected by the carrier upon delivery.

I too am in Van and as much as I like to support local businesses, I'm not willing to part with the $$$ that is typically required to shop locally.

Cheers,
 
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simonclivehughes said:
Matthew,

You'll be looking at the GST and PST as if you bought it here. The thing to be aware of with bringing it across the border unannounced is that for insurance claim purposes you might need to show import paperwork. If you are getting it shipped here, then as I said, it's GST & PST (based on the Canadian$ equivalent of the declared US$ price) usually collected by the carrier upon delivery.

I too am in Van and as much as I like to support local businesses, I'm not willing to part with the $$$ that is typically required to shop locally.

Cheers,
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I was looking at a $4800 US camera, with GST and PST (12%) bringing the camera up closer to $5900 CDN after taxes, which is what the camera sells normally for in Canada, before taxes. I think I will have to import. Is this simiiliar to your situation for buying a camera up here?
 
Rick Meyer said:
Seriously. Why would you have to DO anything? Why would they even give that camera a second look at customs?
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Rick,

You're assuming that Matthew can drive to the dealer and back. This probably is not the case, so it's going to come by courier and it will most certainly go through Canada Customs.

Cheers,
 
MatthewC said:
I was looking at a $4800 US camera, with GST and PST (12%) bringing the camera up closer to $5900 CDN after taxes, which is what the camera sells normally for in Canada, before taxes. I think I will have to import. Is this similiar to your situation for buying a camera up here?
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I bought a couple of Leica M8 bodies down in Seattle and brought them back into Canada, paying the taxes when I crossed. In my case, because the bodies were close to 10K US$, I wanted to make sure everything was on the up-and-up for the reasons I described in my post above. Also, for reselling, this can be an issue.

If you want to try to dodge the bullet, that's fine, but, however much I'd be happy about not paying the government, I certainly wouldn't want to be that 300th car that they pull over and search.

Some equipment I buy locally, like Nikon equipment as Nikon has such a draconian warranty policy (they will not honor or even service US warranty items in Canada and vice versa), but on other items, especially ones with high dollar amounts, I'll certainly shop at B&H or other US based suppliers. Even with the Canadian taxes, it's almost always less expensive, plus there's a much greater variety and stock situation than local dealers. Obviously the higher the item cost, the greater the potential savings.

I guess that if you are a business, you might be exempt from one/both of these taxes, but I don't know for sure.

Hope that helps,
 
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If it is shipped to Canada via UPS, you may also have to pay a brokerage fee, around $80 to $100 with taxes plus GST/PST.

http://www.ups.com/content/ca/en/shipping/cost/zones/customs_clearance.html

To avoid brokerage fees, you can tell UPS you'll act as your own broker, go pick up the paperwork and clear it through Customs, usually in Richmond/ Vancouver Int. Airport.

If you plan to take the camera back into the US to shoot and bring it back into Canada, have the camera registered at Canada Customs, with an " Identification of Articles For Temporary Export" card, you also should carry the invoice, and proof that you paid the GST/PST. I was told by two different customs officers, if you don't have proof, they can charge the GST/PST again!
 
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Yeah, GST and PST as mentioned, plus the brokerage fee. UPS can be real dicks when it comes to stuff like that.

As far as buying it in the US and driving it across the border, I'd be really careful with that. I've seen customs officials confinscate stuff people bought abroad and then appraise it at a higher value with what they believe is the actually cost. Usually from the US because of our trade agreement, you wouldn't see any crazy tarriffs and you'd just have to pay the tax on it.

The dollar is pretty low right now, and you'd probably would save yourself the 12% buying it in the US.
 
JConnors said:
Yeah, GST and PST as mentioned, plus the brokerage fee. UPS can be real dicks when it comes to stuff like that.

As far as buying it in the US and driving it across the border, I'd be really careful with that. I've seen customs officials confinscate stuff people bought abroad and then appraise it at a higher value with what they believe is the actually cost. Usually from the US because of our trade agreement, you wouldn't see any crazy tarriffs and you'd just have to pay the tax on it.

The dollar is pretty low right now, and you'd probably would save yourself the 12% buying it in the US.
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But...am I boning myself with Panasonics 5 year warranty? Am I going to have to have to ship my HPX to the US to get it fixed? I figure it's almost worth paying the extra $300 bucks to buy locally and have that service and support.
 
But...am I boning myself with Panasonics 5 year warranty? Am I going to have to have to ship my HPX to the US to get it fixed? I figure it's almost worth paying the extra $300 bucks to buy locally and have that service and support.
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I would think you'd have to ship it back to the US. I'm not sure though.

Where have you've been looking around town?
 
JConnors said:
I would think you'd have to ship it back to the US. I'm not sure though.

Where have you've been looking around town?
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Apparently there's only 2 places in BC that apparently are allowed to sell it.
Lorne Lapham has them going for $5899 with a 16GB P2 card. I finally found the other company, Applied Electronics and they have them going for $5683 with a 16GB P2 card. I'm waiting for a Lorne Lapham salesmen to call me back and I was going to see if they would price match Applied Electronics for me. Both are located in the GVRD. I'm pretty much abandoning any idea of buying from the states at this point, $5683 is pretty competitive, but it sure took a few days of digging to find them. Are you looking to pick one up as well?
 
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