(OTHER) How To Ship Cross-Border (to Canada)
09-20-06, 08:53 PM
#1
(OTHER) How To Ship Cross-Border (to Canada)
Hey Everybody,
Well hopefully tomorrow or Friday I'll finally have my carburetor jets. I would have had them today except UPS decided to charge me 40% of the (incorrectly) declared package value in BROKERAGE!
Let me explain. When you send a package accross the boarder, you have to give it a value. They then use this value to systematically gouge you for as much money as humanly possible. Let's examine this.
Actual Package Value :$0
Value you told the UPS guy: $0
Value the guy at the UPS store decided to write down on the paper : $100
Tax the reciever has to pay: $7.23
Brokerage they charge the reciever : $44.56!!!!
This is what happened to me today. The sender tried to send it as a "gift", and told them it was worth $0, but they kept asking the same question different ways until they got him to say a dollar amount that would actually be worth something. So my "gift" package almost ended up costing me half its "declared" amount in brokerage and tax.
So here's a little write up on how to fill out the form properly so that your Canadian friends don't get gouged huge amounts of money when you're trying to be nice and send them a gift package. Here are some pointers:
1) No matter what they say, no matter what they ask you, if you're sending a package that you don't want the reciever to pay for, it has a ZERO DOLLAR VALUE. They will then proceed to ask you again, how much it's "really" worth. If you say zero dollars, they'll then ask yoiu "well how much would it put you out if the package is lost in transit?". They're trying to trick you, the answer again is zero dollars. If you say *anything* else, they will insure the package for that amount, which will be declared at the boarder, and the gouging will begin!
2) Read the form in FULL before you sign it. IF they try to tell you "don't worry, we wrote the word 'gift' on it so he won't pay anything" it's not entirely accurate. "Gifts" are only valid for things with a declared value under $50. If there is a number anywhere on that sheet over $50, don't sign it. Have them change the number and try agian.
3) Don't get insurance. Seriously. Again, if you get insurance, the question will be asked "how much do you want to insure the package for". If the package really was worth nothing, then why did you insure it for a hundred bucks? AHA! So you can fill the entire form out right, and still screw your Canadian friend if you mention a dollar amount for insurance!
Here's an example (sorry it's so huge, but it got hard to read if it was shrunk) of how to properly fil out the form.
The red writing has been added for emphasis of critical fields, the rest is just fun.
Well hopefully tomorrow or Friday I'll finally have my carburetor jets. I would have had them today except UPS decided to charge me 40% of the (incorrectly) declared package value in BROKERAGE!
Let me explain. When you send a package accross the boarder, you have to give it a value. They then use this value to systematically gouge you for as much money as humanly possible. Let's examine this.
Actual Package Value :$0
Value you told the UPS guy: $0
Value the guy at the UPS store decided to write down on the paper : $100
Tax the reciever has to pay: $7.23
Brokerage they charge the reciever : $44.56!!!!
This is what happened to me today. The sender tried to send it as a "gift", and told them it was worth $0, but they kept asking the same question different ways until they got him to say a dollar amount that would actually be worth something. So my "gift" package almost ended up costing me half its "declared" amount in brokerage and tax.
So here's a little write up on how to fill out the form properly so that your Canadian friends don't get gouged huge amounts of money when you're trying to be nice and send them a gift package. Here are some pointers:
1) No matter what they say, no matter what they ask you, if you're sending a package that you don't want the reciever to pay for, it has a ZERO DOLLAR VALUE. They will then proceed to ask you again, how much it's "really" worth. If you say zero dollars, they'll then ask yoiu "well how much would it put you out if the package is lost in transit?". They're trying to trick you, the answer again is zero dollars. If you say *anything* else, they will insure the package for that amount, which will be declared at the boarder, and the gouging will begin!
2) Read the form in FULL before you sign it. IF they try to tell you "don't worry, we wrote the word 'gift' on it so he won't pay anything" it's not entirely accurate. "Gifts" are only valid for things with a declared value under $50. If there is a number anywhere on that sheet over $50, don't sign it. Have them change the number and try agian.
3) Don't get insurance. Seriously. Again, if you get insurance, the question will be asked "how much do you want to insure the package for". If the package really was worth nothing, then why did you insure it for a hundred bucks? AHA! So you can fill the entire form out right, and still screw your Canadian friend if you mention a dollar amount for insurance!
Here's an example (sorry it's so huge, but it got hard to read if it was shrunk) of how to properly fil out the form.
The red writing has been added for emphasis of critical fields, the rest is just fun.
09-20-06, 08:59 PM
#2
MattG FTW!!!!!
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Wow that is some good info right there. If there comes a time I need to send a package across to our friendly neighbors I will use this method!
Its a shame that those Rat Bastards at UPS Store did the poor sender like that!
Its a shame that those Rat Bastards at UPS Store did the poor sender like that!
09-20-06, 09:00 PM
#3
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I don't doubt that UPissS would do that. I worked for them for 3 weeks, the company is a ******* joke. And, I can say that because I worked for FedEx for 2 years. So, yeah......UPS is just a clusterfuck of all sorts of braindead.
Man, that's just rough. Hope the package was still semi-worth it after all that hassle.
Man, that's just rough. Hope the package was still semi-worth it after all that hassle.
09-20-06, 09:12 PM
#4
Jon, I've been wondering why you, or some of the other Canadian members that live near the border don't offer to cross over for pickup, then reship within country. It would save a lot of hassle for the Northern members, not to mention the cash savings.
Sack of wet hammers. lol What are you smoking/drinking tonight?
Sack of wet hammers. lol What are you smoking/drinking tonight?
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09-21-06, 03:36 AM
#8
If you send USPS as a gift, you will usually not have this problem. I have heard that FedEx is a bit better on these fees than UPS. While over here, I send/receive things through the mail service and have never had to pay any extra tax or fees. What Jon says is true, though. If it is marked as a gift, over a certain value (depends on the country), you will get the fees. Also if you declare for say $50, but insure for $150, the receiver will likely get screwed.
In France, there is a basic VAT (Value Added Tax) of about 22%. If things are commercial or similar, you will get charged 22% tax on the value of the package (they even add the cost of shipping and insurance on into this value to make it higher). Some items will have additional fees added as well. I have heard that UPS charges outrageous additional fees. The only time I have had to pay these extra fees was from some of the TT parts. They were sent FexEx. The parts themselves were like $200 or so. But I had to pay about $40 to ship and about 60 Euro in VAT.
In France, there is a basic VAT (Value Added Tax) of about 22%. If things are commercial or similar, you will get charged 22% tax on the value of the package (they even add the cost of shipping and insurance on into this value to make it higher). Some items will have additional fees added as well. I have heard that UPS charges outrageous additional fees. The only time I have had to pay these extra fees was from some of the TT parts. They were sent FexEx. The parts themselves were like $200 or so. But I had to pay about $40 to ship and about 60 Euro in VAT.
09-21-06, 07:17 AM
#9
Im a neighborhood snitch. I will be contacting the Canadian authority. They need to learn about this ****... 
J/K, we do the same ****. Instead of shipping a complete car to Manila. We have to ship the car in pieces or most of the time, we just use the power of greeen.
J/K, we do the same ****. Instead of shipping a complete car to Manila. We have to ship the car in pieces or most of the time, we just use the power of greeen.
09-21-06, 08:04 AM
#12
Burning Oil-Grinding 3rd
Originally Posted by Dan_s_young
Unfortunately they still charge brokerage/duty. Before i've had packages arrive where I thought that I got around it, then a letter came in the mail asking to pay up...
09-21-06, 08:32 PM
#14
Originally Posted by trochoid
Jon, I've been wondering why you, or some of the other Canadian members that live near the border don't offer to cross over for pickup, then reship within country. It would save a lot of hassle for the Northern members, not to mention the cash savings.
Sack of wet hammers. lol What are you smoking/drinking tonight?
Sack of wet hammers. lol What are you smoking/drinking tonight?
You're right. 9 times out of 10 I'll ship all my stuff to Ogdensburg NY (like the rims I bought from you) and go down there to pick it up. It's only 1.5hrs away.
But when it's something small like a jet kit the size of a pack of evil cigarettes *shakes fist*, then I don't usually bother.
The problem with crossing to pick stuff up is that you either have to declare it (and spend time at the boarder filling out paperwork and pay the tax... but no brokerage), or "sneak" it home, and risk getting caught (which is a very very bad thing). At least you get $50/day of tax-free returns, so usually when I come back the "value" of what I'm bringing back with me is "$45", so I pay nothing. It's like shipping a gift to yourself, lol.
US Postal service doesn't nail you with fees much. Everything I've ever recieved from USPS was subject to $5 "handling fee" and that's it. If I'm not in a hurry to get something, I'll usually request it US Post.
I'm not sure what I'm on, but it's gotta be the good stuff.
Jon
09-21-06, 08:55 PM
#15
Rotary Enthusiast
I just bought an Aeromotive FPR from a guy in the US (just over the border in Michigan). He was supposed to ship via USPS, but it went UPS in error. The UPS guy wanted $58 in fees when he arrived at my door. "What happens if I refuse" I asked. "It'll be returned to sender" was the reply. "Then send it back" was my reply. The poor guy in brown didn't seem upset. In fact, he had an apologetic look on his face. I feel sorry for that guy, as he must get hassled all day long about his companies lousy cross-border policies.
I haven't heard from the guy in Michigan yet, but hopefully he can get the box back from UPS without any issues, and have it sent USPS. He offered to cover all extra shipping costs due to the screwup, but I'd gladly help out a bit, simply to avoid having to pay UPS.
From my experience, if the package is shipped from the US via USPS Economy Parcel, and has a value less than $75 or so, chances are it'll go through with no charges whatsoever. Some higher dollar items will get dinged, but even then it's usually just $5 + GST. If shipped via 'Global Express', the higher speed USPS method, charges seem to apply even to fairly low-dollar shipments.
The worst UPS case I've heard so far was a friend that ordered electronics parts from the US. A single oddball resistor (worth less than $1) was backordered, and shipped via UPS a few days later. He ended up paying over $40 in UPS charges to get the package that to his surprise upon opening contained only that single resistor!!
I haven't heard from the guy in Michigan yet, but hopefully he can get the box back from UPS without any issues, and have it sent USPS. He offered to cover all extra shipping costs due to the screwup, but I'd gladly help out a bit, simply to avoid having to pay UPS.
From my experience, if the package is shipped from the US via USPS Economy Parcel, and has a value less than $75 or so, chances are it'll go through with no charges whatsoever. Some higher dollar items will get dinged, but even then it's usually just $5 + GST. If shipped via 'Global Express', the higher speed USPS method, charges seem to apply even to fairly low-dollar shipments.
The worst UPS case I've heard so far was a friend that ordered electronics parts from the US. A single oddball resistor (worth less than $1) was backordered, and shipped via UPS a few days later. He ended up paying over $40 in UPS charges to get the package that to his surprise upon opening contained only that single resistor!!
