Shopping Ebay.. Buying from Canada? (1 Viewer)

[Tom Garvey]

Sorry if this is in the wrong place..

Is there a problem with buying from someone in Canada and shipping to the U.S. on Ebay? I notice very few if any bids on items in Canada.. Please enlighten me.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

Not really. It's just a matter of perception.

Being in Canada and having to put up with the reverse situation ie buying from the US and shipping to Canada - I have never encountered any problems.

All of my transactions to US have completed without a problems. I have never had customs issues or lost shipments.

 

[Andrew Pratt]

I've never had a problem shipping to the US so feel free to bid.

 

[Christian Behrens]

Only thing I can think of is that shipping might take a little longer as it has to go through customs. I bought my motherboard from Canada on eBay and it arrived right in time for the weekend when I put everything together.

-Christian

 

[Craig Woodhall]

Yes, i have shipped many, many things both ways.. Help us poor canadians out and buy canadian sometimes

 

[Frederick_Falk]

One thing to be aware of is that there is also duty charges. I bought a MD player from someone in Canada and it cost me cost to $90.00 in additional charges to have it shipped here. Neither I nor the seller knew that these charges were going to be levied so it was a BIG suprize. Other than that, the transaction went very smoothly and there was very little delay in shipping vs having something shipped from someone in the US.

 

[Tom Garvey]

Are there always duty charges (from Canada to US) or is it a hit or miss thing?

Does anyone know how they determine the dollar amount?

 

[David Norman]

Must be very hit or miss coming from Canada to US b/c I've rarely ever been hit and the one notice I got from UPS for a RFD-1 Demodulator, I ignored and they never sent a second notice. Of course, most of my purchases have been 50-60 USD or less.

Going to Canada it seems to be much more consistent that the buyers get hit, but I think most of the Canadians expect such.

The only real downside to buying is the higher shipping cost and slower shipping. The biggest downside I have is not being able to track packages other than the most expensive express packages and in filling out the customs forms -- deciding how honest I want to be today in listing things as Merchandise or gifts and/or declaring values.

 

[Marc Carra]

As long as you have a block heater handy to defrost the package when it arrives, you should have no problem
Seriously though, I've shipped just about everything to the US with no problems.
Marc.

 

[Greg Welch]

I just received an item that I bought from Canada. It was sent standard ground. It was promised to be delivered in about 8 days and it took a month. It seems that US Customs sometimes takes 2 to 3 weeks in some cases for items to get through. The item was in perfect condition when received, I just wanted to let everyone know it could definitely take a little more time than you might expect.

Greg.

 

[Jah-Wren Ryel]

There is something like a $400 max duty-free limit on canada to usa imports. I've placed orders for shipments of a couple of hundred dollars worth of DVDs at a time from canada and never had to pay any duties.

 

[DaveHo]

I recently bought $400 CND worth of electronics from a private party. He shipped it airborne express and it took 3 days. No duty.

-Dave

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

Duty is dependent on the item. There are few things that should require duty if they were landed in North America and the customs forms are filled out correctly. Taxes may or may not be applicable depending on where you are. If you ship UPS they will gouge you for any customs issues, which can substantially increase your costs, as they will charge brokerage, dispersement and COD charges on top of taxes in many cases.

I have no experience with US customs, but Canadian customs is hit and miss on items. If you ship by mail, there is a $5 handling fee plus any taxes on items over $20CAN. That doesn't mean they always charge on items above $20, but they are supposed to. They can also evaluate what they feel is the fair value at their discretion, no matter what is declared.

Overall there is no big deal really, the worst that can (specific to cross border, and assuming the thing isn't lost) happen is that you may pay duty/taxes. A call to customs will tell you whether the classification you are trying to import will be dutiable or not. Couriers will likely charge for brokerage.

 

[Marshall W. Carter]

I've never had any problems with shipping or receiving from Canada. Most of the times the items have been received quickly (generally about 5 days or so with airmail), and without duties of any kind. I did have a problem with a Canadian postal money order once, but have since received and deposited two without issue (though there is an additional wait period). With the advent of PayPal (have had some use BidPay too), that's not really an issue any longer, so bid away...

 

[Ricky T]

I am about to buy an Aragon Soundstage prepro from Canada. 39 lbs for $1500. Can someone please tell me if and how much U.S. Customs will charge in duties and tariffs? Would the seller or buyer be charged? What are ways to minimize this? The seller will ship Fedex COD to NJ, and pay all Fedex shipping and insurance.

I suppose the COD would prevent a lower assessment of the value? And if I prepay with Paypal or money order, the Fedex insurance amount would be apparent?

 

[Seth_L]

Ricky,

Was it made in the US, Mexico, or Canada? If so there is no duty. You can have the seller misdeclare it's value (might not work because of COD), or label it as a gift (also a problem with COD).

The buy gets charged. Don't us UPS either because they tack on a bogus custom's broker charge. Fed Ex doesn't do it.

Generally if things are small they get through without duty, but something larger like a pre-pro is less likely to evade US customs.

However, I believe per the 2000+ page your duty may depend on how they classify it. If it has a tuner I think it might be covered under 8527.90.95 which will get you at 6%. If you don't have a tuner it should be free under 8519.99.00

It's really kinda iffy because you don't know what the customs person will classify it as. If might work if you attempt to have the sender classify it as 8519.99.00 (if he can classify it as something).

Seth

 

[Seth_L]

There is something like a $400 max duty-free limit on canada to usa imports. I've placed orders for shipments of a couple of hundred dollars worth of DVDs at a time from canada and never had to pay any duties.

That's only if you were out of the country for more than 48hours, are a citizen/resident of the US, and are bring the items back on your person or with you.

Seth

 

[Seth_L]

One thing to be aware of is that there is also duty charges. I bought a MD player from someone in Canada and it cost me cost to $90.00 in additional charges to have it shipped here.

You got screwed. According to the tariff schedule under heading 8520.90.00 "Magnetic tape recorders and other sound recording apparatus, whether or not incorporating a sound reproducing device:" are "Free".

Who charged you a fee? UPS? UPS is notorious for charging a "brokerage fee". However, I've not heard of it being as high as $90.

Seth

 

[Alex Dydula]

My Two Cents:

I learned about this duty free, NAFTA stuff last year when I was buying some speakers. I just happened to find a dealer in Canada with some great prices and having bought stuff for a motorcycle and getting a brokerage house bill three months after this purchase, I asked this Canadian dealer about shipping and tariffs.

What I learned was no applicable Canadian tax (VAT) and if they are shipped by a NAFTA 'approved' shipper then no duties apply.

The stuff I bought was shipped by FEDEX and was 'DUTY' Free accroding to this dealer, the paperwork on the box's had NAFTA all over.

End result is you can get a good deal buying from Canada mos of the time if the US to Canadian dollar is in your favor!!

A.

 

[Seth_L]

Alex,

What people don't realize is NATFA only applies to things made in the US, Mexico, or Canada. If it was made in Japan, but you're buying it in Canada, there's still a Duty.

Seth