BrianMurphy
Veteran
Pay the taxes. Save yourself the grief and hassle. IMHO
[WTB] Tips regarding receiving used gear in US from Canada?
- Thread starter Gweilo66
- Start date
AaronC
Member
Marking the Item as Gift only raises the roof amount .. before taxes get imposed..
Coming into the US $100 is the limit, and as a Gift it raises to $200, but im not sure on the exact amounts..
but it works on something like that...
I bought a camera dolly from the US.. and it costed me over +$200 in customs via UPS.
But I do live in a remote area, and I'm used to the high shipping costs.
If you declare a low amount on an international package,
they have the right to open up the package,
and check the value online or with the companies.
And issue the correct customs amount.
I've had some of my packages open, usually stamped with "OPENED".
Coming into the US $100 is the limit, and as a Gift it raises to $200, but im not sure on the exact amounts..
but it works on something like that...
I bought a camera dolly from the US.. and it costed me over +$200 in customs via UPS.
But I do live in a remote area, and I'm used to the high shipping costs.
If you declare a low amount on an international package,
they have the right to open up the package,
and check the value online or with the companies.
And issue the correct customs amount.
I've had some of my packages open, usually stamped with "OPENED".
BrianMurphy
Veteran
I said it before and now again. The cost is in the UPS brokerage fees not taxes. They rip you a new one every time so no matter which way you are sending stuff try to act as your own broker. They basically do very little other than push a couple of pieces of paper on small shipments. They gouge all of us. You could also try to find a customs broker that will donte paperwork foe less money. So much for free trade.
Tata Steva
Well-known member
Basically, anything than the "BROWN"!
They have "hidden cost" (the gauge) in their standard service. They call it brokerage fee. They never disclose to the sender about this cost. It is applied by the scale they invented where anything more than $20 in value will be gauged. It they would play fair, they should have that important information printed in BOLD on the top of the document you have to fill out to send the package. But, no! They choose to play dum for years. I even heard there is a class action law suit in B.C. About this. I don't know if this is just a urban legend or not...
Simply, I avoid UPS anytime, every time. Even to the point that I don't accept the shipments by UPS if the sender (or eBay seller, usually) sent it by mistake or even we agreed upon on this. Any online or over the phone purchases from US, I Double check first what is the shipping method. If they say "UPS", I say thank you but no, thank you...
At this moment, USPS (mail) is the best way. On delivery, I pay taxes (%13) and processing fee (usually $5 flat). That is it...