Anywhere in Canada to get DIY LED supplies?

[sphelps]

Originally Posted by GMGQ

How much (value) did you order? If it's a few hundred bucks, technically you should still get dinged for duty... Even if the sender checks off "gift."

Usually it's the smaller packages that can squeak through customs.

It was $80 worth of stuff and I didn't pay duty. I don't think I've ever paid duty or GST on any items shipped USPS. I even just ordered $600 worth of bathroom fixtures and paid no duty so I'm not sure if some companies pay the duty for you or what. When something is shipped courier I usually always have to pay brokerage fees which I believe include duty and sometimes GST.

[kookie_guy]

Originally Posted by sphelps

It was $80 worth of stuff and I didn't pay duty. I don't think I've ever paid duty or GST on any items shipped USPS. I even just ordered $600 worth of bathroom fixtures and paid no duty so I'm not sure if some companies pay the duty for you or what. When something is shipped courier I usually always have to pay brokerage fees which I believe include duty and sometimes GST.

USPS is by far the cheapest. Not sure how you are getting away with not paying. Some companies charge you extra up front and prepay the fees for you, so that may have been your case.

- USPS charges $5 brokerage, and then you pay tax. This is done at package pickup. No pay, no package.
- UPS charges something like $15 plus tax, and they want the money at the door, or no package for you.
- FedEX is the worst. They are something like $20, plus the tax. The worst part is that THEY pay the fees on your behalf, and then mail you a leter 4 weeks later that you owe them money. If you don't pay, they send it to collections.

At least with UPS and USPS, if there's an error made, you can show paperwork and the brokerage/fees are adjusted. With fedex, is a pain in the ass, since the fees were paid a month prior.

[Bryan]

Originally Posted by kookie_guy

- - UPS charges something like $15 plus tax, and they want the money at the door, or no package for you.

Not quite.

http://www.ups.com/content/ca/en/shi...ration+Charges

If you can get away with using USPS you are better off unless you are talking high dollar items.

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by Bryan

Not quite.

http://www.ups.com/content/ca/en/shi...ration+Charges

If you can get away with using USPS you are better off unless you are talking high dollar items.

and that realy isn't right all the time.

I ordered 19 bucks worth of LEDs from the us 5 years ago and when the UPS guy got to my door they wanted 35 bucks brokerage and import fees. so I refused the package then right away called the company and explained what had happened and asked them to resend them USPS. they came 5 days later with 0 for fees as they put "tester samples" on the way bill.

Steve

[GMGQ]

Read Section 2.2:
http://www.canadapost.ca/tools/pg/ma...Gcustoms-e.asp

Basically anything over $20CDN is subject to duties/taxes (with a few exceptions).

Items marked as "Gifts" under $60CDN are exempt; over $60CDN is duty/tax applicable.

If you use USPS, the only people that check are Canada Post, and they dont have the time nor manpower to inspect each package in full detail. That's why a lot of packages slip by without duties/taxes (even though they should get dinged).

Courier companies (UPS, Fedex) will be the broker for the packages they ship by default, so anything that's duty/tax applicable (as per the above criteria) WILL get flagged and processed by these companies. By providing this service, they will charge you their stupid brokerage fees. It's a source of revenue for them, so that's why they're so strict on it. It's totally legit, and they're following the letter of the law to a T for these packages. (You CAN refuse the brokerage fees and advise them that you wish to import it yourself, but there's a lot of paperwork you have to do before they will release the package to you, w/o their brokerage fees).

Technically by asking the US shipper to mark it as Gift or anything other than what it is, is illegal, and many US companies plainly state that they will NOT do that, as they will be committing mail fraud if they do.

If you ask them to declare a lower value than it actually is, then IF the package gets lost, you will only be covered for the amount stated on their customs declaration receipt. So that's a bit of a risk too.

These smaller companies shipping smaller packages dont really care one way or the other. But the larger ones may.

For anyone who lives near the US border, I do suggest you ship larger packages to a post office service right across the border, drive down to pick it up and pay them the $3US per package or whatever, then drive the package back to Canada yourself and take your chances with the Cdn border guards. You save on shipping costs since they will be at the cheaper domestic US rates (so the seller can't Gouge you for shipping to Canada), and you have a 50/50 chance at the border :P

I use this one all the time:
http://www.thelettercarrier.com/services

Just something to think about.