Canada Shipping Rates

**TheGLL** · 10-09-2009, 10:15 AM

I have ordered for 182.40$ US and I have paid 26$ CAN of taxes.
Maybe I only pay the taxes, I don't remember.

**kaptain_zero** · 10-09-2009, 04:31 PM

Just to clarify.

If a package arrives via Canada Post, as in it was shipped via the US postal system, there are NO brokerage fees as Customs Canada assigns any taxes due, either based on the value stated on the shipping label or by opening the package and checking the invoice. If any of the contents were not MADE in the US or Mexico, there might be duty to pay on that value.... it depends on where it's originally from and what it actually is. When Canada Post collects the taxes and any duties owing, you will see there is also a $5 handling fee added to the total. That $5 handling fee covers the cost of Canada Post doing the collection and paperwork for the money collected on behalf of Customs Canada. The handling fee is a flat $5 and it does not matter how much money has to be collected. Fortunately there are days when your package sails through Customs without them collecting anything.... other days it seems like every single package worth $20.01 gets dinged for $2 of taxes AND the $5 handling fee...... <sigh>.

Other shipping companies may charge a % of the value of the package as a "brokerage fee" + the taxes owed, even if the package is "duty free" having been made in the US or Mexico.

There are ways around this, both UPS and Canada Post offer a way to set things up for a US based business so that the purchaser simply pays for shipping AND the GST/PST owing during the original purchase and the package arrives at your door with no further costs to you. Canada Post offers the "Border Free" service and UPS has their own version but I don't recall what it was called. Both services require a significant number of packages per/month or week to make it worthwhile...... I helped a US small business set this up with UPS but after 1 year the service was terminated as sales were not sufficient to justify the cost/effort and now said business only ships to the lower 48. However it sure did work well when it was running.......

The bottom line is that we Canadians are forced to pay and pay and pay our taxes...... like it or not. Fortunately AG ships via the postal service so we only get dinged the $5 handling fee on top of whatever taxes we have to pay which is often much cheaper than paying the exorbitant "Brokerage Fees" some other shippers like to hit us with.

Regards

Christian aka

Kaptain "Pushing the Envelope IS my business as a CPC employee" Zero

**TheGLL** · 10-09-2009, 09:30 PM

@kaptain_zero Thanks for your answer, it clarify a few things.

**SportEL** · 10-12-2009, 01:17 PM

On my last 3 orders, I did not have to pay for the $5 handling fee or the GST/PST. Sometimes, packages slip through without having to pay anything.

Luckily, Autogeek sends through USPS and not UPS, and shipping has been pretty quick, usually a week.

**mixmaster209** · 10-13-2009, 04:04 PM

I'm still loving AG...
My First Order cuz of my flex machine and big order i got charged a heavy 65$ of customs and brokerage.
However, my 2nd and 3rd order which were 50$ and over 120$ respectively i didn't have to pay a cent.
But...

on my 4th order totalling just under 190$ (over 200 with exchange) i got nabbed another 25$ taxes and duties.
I really don't understand the post office's inconsistencies. Its too bad we gotta pay shipping and then pay some more but i guess its worth the good service and knowing the package will arrive in one piece. I've only had the best peace of mind whenever i ordered from AG. And i've always dealt with Penny and she's been very nice. Its too bad i can't deal with Meghan!

So Meghan, what do we have to do to be graced with your kindness and your amazing customer service..?

**kaptain_zero** · 10-13-2009, 04:21 PM

Originally Posted by mixmaster209

I really don't understand the post office's inconsistencies.

Just to make sure your finger is pointed in the right direction....... It's Customs Canada that either dings you or roll stamps your package as passed through customs. When a truck arrives from the US, it goes to Customs first, where they pick through the piles and choose what they want to look closer at, then the mail items are released to Canada Post for processing. I suspect Friday afternoon there's not much interest in sitting down and typing up all those customs forms when they could be on their way home or to the bar.

In the end it really is the luck of the draw and in your case I might just go buy a 649 ticket...... you seem to have a lot of luck!

Regards

Christian

**mixmaster209** · 10-13-2009, 04:27 PM

Ya i hear ya.. Whats funny is that many of the packages that i didn't get charged for i received them on monday morning or late friday afternoon. And i had ordered early in the week.
But if theres any finger pointing its at canada customs and not at AG. AG is great.

**2003 GMC Denali** · 10-16-2009, 12:30 AM

kaptain... I think the term is called "Expedited".

I've had expedited service and not paid a dime upon delivery... but noticed later on my VISA Bill, the grand total of the Items, Shipping and Taxes/Fees.

**kaptain_zero** · 10-16-2009, 04:53 PM

Originally Posted by 2003 GMC Denali

kaptain... I think the term is called "Expedited".

I've had expedited service and not paid a dime upon delivery... but noticed later on my VISA Bill, the grand total of the Items, Shipping and Taxes/Fees.

Hmmm... "Expedited" is a Canadian Canada Post product, typically used by Canadian businesses. I just had a quick peak at what's going on with CPC Border Free and it looks like it's not doing well, only one company is shown as using it. I'm not really surprised either, seems to me I checked it out once before and the service charges were a bit excessive.

The UPS version of the same service was quite well done when I was involved with testing it. Still a bit high on the service fees but to explain how it worked, it essentially sets the US company up as a "NON RESIDENT" importer to Canada. This way, a company like AUTOGEEK could become a non-resident importer and any items they ship to Canada via the UPS service would be taxed/dutied at AUTOGEEKS net cost of said product. Once the items are located in Canada, they can be shipped to where ever without any additional taxes/fees and so the package would arrive, via UPS without any brokerage fees, taxes due or anything else.

I read that Fedex is also in the process of setting up something similar but I have no detailed information.

One last thing.... I've ordered from US based businesses in the past where items were rather pricey and I wanted them NOW. If the company you are dealing with only ships via UPS rather than the Post Office aka USPS, it's beneficial for you to ask them to ship "NEXT DAY AIR" with UPS. The reason being that UPS will wave any brokerage charges and ONLY charge you the GST and any duties owing. In the end it works out to about the same but at least you get the NEXT DAY service for your money and that's what I do when ordering high cost items.... which in my case would have been things like camera lenses, studio flash equipment, costly flash light meters etc. I'm assuming it's still the same today, I've not done it in a few years though so please check with UPS before pulling the trigger on some high dollar purchase.

These days, l prefer to have stuff shipped to a parcel handling service, just on the US side of the border, and it takes me a 2hr round trip to pick it up. It's faster, cheaper and I only pay what's owing to Canada Customs without any handling fees or anything else. Many times a US company will have "free shipping" to the lower 48 states and that often pays for my time and gasoline.

Regards

Christian