Customs Thread

[JMac88]

I wish the other thread would not have been locked. I believe a more proper title to his thread should have been "Avoiding BROKERAGE fees". Keep in mind brokerage fees are not customs fees, and have nothing to do with the government of Canada.

Brokerage fees are what UPS and FedEx will charge you to do the paperwork for your parcel to cross the border. Since both companies own their own brokerage companies, they can charge whatever they wish which usually is an extortionate amount.

I too am a firm believer that these fees are not right. The paper work quite literally takes 5 minutes on 95% of the parcels crossing the border. These fees’s should be regulated in some form by the government but are not.
Here is 2 ways of which I know how to avoid brokerage fees:

1) Use USPS/Canada post. The 2 companies have an agreement not to charge brokerage fees on parcels going to either side of the boarder.

2) Do the paperwork yourself. It takes a little more time to do this but sometimes can mean saving hundreds of dollars.

3) There are other companies that specialize in cross border shipping that own their own brokerages and do not charge a huge amount. But sometimes getting a company ship through them is harder because they are not a "familiar" name or do not offer business incentives.


The fees that you will have to pay are:

1)GST Naturally

2)Customs charges on items manufactured outside of North America (I believe it is 6.1%)

3)My province has no PST or HST but I believe this must be paid in other provinces?

4)There are random customs checks on parcels; if yours is selected there would be a charge. It’s usually around $15.


With our dollar so strong it’s nice to get things from the US right now, this might help you buy a little more.

To the original poster, hopefully this helps out a bit.

[djpathfinder]

IBTL on this one too. LOL...just kidding!

[JMac88]

Originally Posted by djpathfinder

IBTL on this one too. LOL...just kidding!

HAHA, shooo

[IDZRVIT]

Brokerage fees are not normally as high as what was quoted in the other thread. UPS has reduced their brokerage/handling fees for items coming into Canada. I suspect that was a move to capture lost business to USPS/CP. Customs fees vary from 0% (motorcycle parts) to well beyond 6.1% which I assume is for car parts. I wish I lived closer to the border so I could take advantage of a US mail address or similar. Also, from my experience, you get your packages quicker using UPS/FedEx than you do via the post office.

[Pat@SMM]

The rate of the duties charged on an item is based on where it is produced and what the item is. For example; textiles have 18% duty regardless of where it comes from and mostly everything else is 6.5%.
The brokerage fee is will vary greatly between companies. The brokerage firm that I use charges $18 per transaction so much less than the 30% that UPS or FedEx might charge.

[Dizzy]

Goods manufactured in the US or Mexico can are brought into Canada duty free under NAFTA. You will however need to pay any and all taxes you would normally pay in your province when you purchase something.

Duty rates vary greatly but they are only based on what category the goods fall into, not the country they are coming from. For instance, textiles such as linen or bedding - 20%, Clothing - 18%, Groceries - 7%, Auto parts - 8%, oddly enough, motorcycle parts - 0%. The rates and percentages are all over the map.

Brokerage fees can be just plain silly. UPS for instance charges a flat rate based on the value of the gods crossing the border. That seems strange to me because every item entering requires the same paperwork regardless of the value. It is quite simply a cash grab. If you buy something for $5000 and have it imported, the brokerage fee is $76.20, so proportionately, that doesn't seem so bad. However, if you buy something for $42, the brokerage fee is $19.45 which proportionately is outrageous! You can see the rates here. These rates are often exagerated, but those are the actual amounts charged. They haven't changed recently either, they've been at these levels for years.

Canada Post does not have any agreement with USPS as far as I know not to charge brokerage. They are simply set up as a government agency to do it. The charge a flat fee of $5 regardless of the value.

The simple solution for avoiding brokerage is to ship via postal service. Unless it is a huge dollar item, I will never ship via a courier as the fees eliminate any possible savings. It will take a week longer for the package to arrive, but it is seldom I am in that much of a hurry. I also find packages arrive in much better condition via postal service than any courier.

A lot of American manufacturers and retailers will not ship to Canada. For that, I keep a postal box in Niagara Falls NY and have things mailed there. A quick 1 hour trip to retrieve it, and no brokerage paperwork required. You simply tell customs when you return what you have. If it’s not a huge amount and the officer is in a good mood, they’ll usually let you go without paying the tax.

As for the whole “we’re raped in Canada” arguement, sorry, but there are reasons for duties and taxes when you bring things into the country. If you could buy things in the US and bring them here tax and duty free, our manufacturing and retail industry would most likely collapse and subsequently, so would our economy. Are we over taxed, you bet. But on the whole, do we enjoy a higher standard of living than most countries in the world, yes, we do. That is also part of being Canadian. People who instantly scoff at our taxes and compare us to other countries tax rates seldom take into account the rest of the economic conditions that accompany them. If the biggest gripe you have in the world is the amount of tax you have to pay on your modifications for your Z, count yourself very lucky. There are a lot of people south of the border worried about things like employment and foreclosure. I’ll keep my tax rate and other unpalatable things to avoid the other things that accompany “cheap goods”.

Ever see the bumper sticker....”Unemployed Yet? Keep buying foreign and you will be.”

[JMac88]

I can appreciate the unemployeed comment, but the fact still remains that there are little to no aftermarket car part manufatures in Canada. There are just some items that will have to be purchased from cross border.

I made this thread simply to give ideas how to avoid paying high brokerage fee's. I don't want this to turn into a nasty debate like the other thread did.

[Dizzy]

Complete agree. I have a mailbox in the US for that exact reason. There are a ton things available in the US that we simply can't get here, and just as many US sellers that won't ship here.

[Ztoon]

If you have a shop or tuner that does your instal, then have the pcs. shipped to them. You can't negate all the costs, however business to business fees are frequently less than shipping to an individual.