I always try and use USPS, i hate ups. But one time i had ordered 180 CAD worth of cloth diapers from the states. I go to the PO to pick them up and customs had marked down the declared value as 2400 USD!! They wanted me to pay somethibg like 400 CAD....ya right no way! So i sent it back to appeal, with the invoice and numbers and stuff, 2 weeks later i got it back and had to pay nothing....Now why did i go from paying something to paying nothing?....If we all appeal it will they come back "free"?....

I had a $10 item shipped USPS, Can customs opened it, appraised it at $120. What THEY figured it should be worth. It was a couple computer lights, cold cathode tubes. Well, had to pay taxes and such. I sent them printout's of all the Ebay info, Paypal reciepts and such of actual value paid. They told me, "I didn't sent the right info, Sorry" So our beloved Govt screwed me again.....

I've had that happen too. I just phoned them up and blew up over the phone: "How the $%^& did I get the item if I didnt pay the %^&* COD? You @#$% retards!" It worked, they dropped the charge without me having to send in any documentation. We had paid cash for the item and I think the driver just pocketed the money.

I've also had a $16 purchase re-assessed to $76 and new tax applied to it... I had to send in all of the forms and receipts to get my money back.

Yes, definitely avoid UPS if you can. As for clearing it yourself, perhaps it can be done by fax? Can they fax you the documentation which you could take to the customs office at the airport and then fax back the customs forms to UPS? I'm not sure if they need originals or will take faxes but it might be worth asking.

Did I forget to mention that they make up stories like you would not believe.

I buy tattoo supplies and equipment from the US and many other places all the time. Here's what I do that seems to work for me.

Allways use USPS because they are not only the shipping company, but more importantly they are also their own broker. UPS makes a killing on the brokerage fees.

If you can get the seller to send the item as a "gift" or a "promotional sample"....... the item will be duty exempt.

If a US seller refuses to ship an item to me through USPS, I won't deal with that seller no matter how badly I want the item.

I hope this helps someone.:smile:

Just for anyones interest... I have to shop for supplies online, so shipping is sort of a big deal... I compared the shipping cost of a 23K bucket of salt, from Ontario to Flin Flon. Shipping on a bucket through Canada Post (1 - 7 business days), ~$36.00, making a bucket of H2Ocean Pro around $113.00. Shipping using UPS (1 - 3 business days), ~130.00, about 1.5 times the cost of the salt mix. Quite the gouge...

One time, a shipper shipped me an item by UPS after we agreed to ship via USPS, I just refused to accept the delivery even after it had cleared customs. UPS had to ship it back to the sender at the sender's cost.

My sister, who lives in the States, used to send gifts for my kids via UPS all the time, even though I told her we were the ones paying the brokerage fees. Finally I told her to stop sending gifts, cause I simply couldn't afford them anymore!! LOL She got the hint and starts sending USPS ;)

one thing about UPS and FEDEX
if you ship overnight priority they don't charge the brokerage fees.
alot of times it works out to be about the same cost as it would shiping normally with the brokerage fees as it does overnight without the brokerage fees.
this is especially true if it is a small and light parcel....not so much if big and bulky.
hope this helps
Neal