Shipping to Canada Customs Charges

I assume you are referring to the customs charges to the Canadian recipient? If so, then generally under USPS / Canada Post, there are no charges other than GST (federal tax), PST (provincial tax) and a small handling fee of $5. If you send it UPS or Fedex, the customs charges will be substantial, as much as 25% (not including the taxes). I believe there is a calculator on the respective sites to estimate the costs. If this is not what you were asking – sorry. ;)

The above is correct if the Product is made in Canada, US, or Mexico as under NAFTA no additional duties beyond GST / PST apply. If the product is made outside North America than additional duties may apply.

Here is a link to the list of what rates different types of items are charged.
http://cbsa.gc.ca/trade-commerce/tariff-tarif/2011/01-99/tblmod-eng.html

Down Bags would be charged a 4.5%. Most textiles are charged at 7% to 8%.

Now whether or not you get charged the duties is a mystery to me. I have recieved stuff under $200 and have been charged nothing. Not even the $5 fee and GST. I had a Mont-Bell sleeping bag (just over $200) shipped and was charged the $5 plus GST. In other cases driving accross the border I was over my weenkend limit and was charged a perferred rate duty of 5% on everything I was over on that was made outside of the US.

I would say if your product is made outside of the US you would be looking at paying $5 plus GST/PST and an additional 8% duty that may or may not get assessed.

No, this functionally incorrect. What you are saying SHOULD be correct but alas, in practice this is not the case. I am Canadian and almost exclusively purchase gear from the US and this includes items made in countries outside of Nafta. If I ship through USPS I never get charged a customs fee. So theory and policy get ignored in this case.

What is the largest dollar Value purchase that you have had shipped in. I would assume that at some point Customs would take an interest.

Personally the only time I have had extra tarrifs applied is when driving back from the US but even then they usually let you go. IMy purpose was to provide the worst case scenario that legally the government could charge.

The real important point is what you have in your first post is Always ship with USPS and never with UPS Ground, Fedex, DHL etc.

However if you shipp with UPS Expidited Worldwide (Air Service) the brokerage fee is included with the shipping cost and then you only pay GST plus possibly duties. You can also clear the package through customs yourself but that is a rather complicated process and requires you to inform UPS in advance but it does avoid the ridiculous brokerage fee that they charge.

I shipped a Hilleberg Nammatj2 and had no custom fees. I am knocking on wood.

+1 What David said.

I've never had a problem with goods from non-NAFTA countries. The most expensive item I brought across the border (picked up in US and drove across) was a $2000 amp made in China and a $1500 turntable from Britain.

They didn't even blink an eye, made in England written huge on box, and I just had to pay GST & PST.

Do they even ask on the customs form where the product was "made"? I couldn't imagine the drugstore clerk (most post offices that are in cities/towns in Canada are counters in a drugstore) asking?

I wouldn't worry about it and send with confidence via USPS. DO NOT under any circumstances (unless it's overnight air and even then double check) send via FedEx or UPS ground.

"I am Canadian and almost exclusively purchase gear from the US and this includes items made in countries outside of Nafta. If I ship through USPS I never get charged a customs fee. So theory and policy get ignored in this case."

Unfortunately, this isn't always true. I've purchased many tents (5-7) and other gear over the past 5 years with much of the stuff being made outside North America. In all of those cases I was just subject to the regular 12% HST and $5 Canada Post handling fee, except for one case.

About 2.5 years ago, I bought a MSR Carbon Reflex 2 tent (made in Asia) online from a individual. When the parcel arrived, I got a customs bill totally nearly $200. As it turns out, they applied the 12% HST and a 30% tarrif for tents not made in the USA. I did some reading and supposedly this tarrif is quite obscure but it is still valid and it gets enforced once in a while. So your odds are quite good of not being charged this, but you never know for sure.

What I do now is when I buy a tent online that is not made in the USA, I ask the seller not to use the word tent on the customs form. I ask them write 'Nemo Obi' or 'camping gear' or whatever, as long as it's not something like 'Nemo Obi Tent' because most customs agents aren't informed on what an item really is, so it should just sail through if you don't use the word tent. I personally prefer to keep things nice and generic on the customs labels. I like it when shippers just write 'camping gear' as the item description.

Hi folks,

Sounds like there is not much of a saving by buying it while in Canada, oh well.

Thanks,

Stephen

The main savings when buying gear online for Canadians are:

1) The Cdn dollar is worth more than the USA dollar, yet retail prices are higher in Canada. A $560 tent in the USA would cost about $530 Canadian dollars, yet the retail price here would probably be $600 or $650.

2) Most of the deals out there (websites with sales, eBay) are from sellers based in the USA. If you're just shopping the Canadian market then you'll have a harder time finding the item you want for a sale price. Most items can be found for 20% off if you buy it from the USA and maybe wait a little.