Shipping an amp to Canada…

  • Thread starter Thread starter bionicmark
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bionicmark

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Hello Everyone.

Anyone have any experience shipping gear to Canada from the US? Specifically (or not) using Pirate Ship? When the item is shipped/received, does the seller have to pay additional taxes or duties when the buyer receives the amp/guitar?

Thank you in advance.
 
bionicmark said:
Hello Everyone.

Anyone have any experience shipping gear to Canada from the US? Specifically (or not) using Pirate Ship? When the item is shipped/received, does the seller have to pay additional taxes or duties when the buyer receives the amp/guitar?

Thank you in advance.
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I shipped a used guitar to Canada using Pirate Ship/UPS and they did have to pay a duty on it. IIRC total fees came to about 21%.
 
I received a vht from Canada once wrapped in shrink wrap like a giant plastic football. Amp was in perfect shape….lol
 
Buyer should be paying duties, taxes, etc.

Also depends on the shipper... USPS is great. UPS or other companies give scam brokerage fees and you may be at their mercy for any unexpected fees. I will never buy anything unless it's USPS when it crosses a border US to Canada. I always ask. Been burned by UPS in the past and found out the hard way.

For anything over $20... and it depends on what's being imported... but most items are $10 plus 13% of the declared value.

$1000 amp would have $140 in fees. $100 pedal $23 in fees.
 
Apparently there is some kind of lottery when it comes to paying duties and fees on certain shippers like UPS in Canada. Whatever their number is is what they have to pay and it can be huge apparently. Only the buyer pays it though, not the seller. I hope the buyer is aware because I don't know what happens if he decides not to pay it.

Apparently USPS is not as bad or expensive.

I recently shipped an Atomic AA6 to a buyer in Canada from the US and he had to pay around $150 in fees for that little thing. He bought it from me for $275 shipped. I used UPS because it was half the price of USPS. I'm not sure what the fees would have been if I would have used USPS but he said it wouldn't have been as much.. I honestly don't know. He said this about the fees
UPS brokerage is calculated using a 3-digit random number generator.
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If I had shipped him 2 separately, they would have had different fees depending on that number.
 
As everyone suggested, it is the buyer paying the fees. It would be 12% plus the brokerage fees.
I also agree the UPS is horrible, coming up with bogus brokerage fees just because they feel they can. FedEx is not far behind, but slightly better. USPS is the better option, that’s also been my experience.

One thing though: the buyer can request “self clearance” from both UPS and FedEx. They would email you the paperwork, you go to the nearest Canada Customs Border office (CBSA, look it up). And that’s it, you only pay the GST/PST. I’ve done it a few times, the only downside is driving time and hassle to the CBSA near you. Otherwise it is quick an painless.
 
I am in Canada. Yes, the buyer is 100% responsible for any duties, taxes, and brokerage fees. Anything shipped UPS with 100% have brokerage fees. USPS is handed off to Canada Post this side of the border, and probably won't incur brokerage fees, but may be subject to duties and/or taxes.
 
Many of the provinces have harmonized sales tax
Fees +Duty + GST+ PST, + Possible HST.
 
Don’t know why anybody would wanna be shipping to a bunch of De-gens, up north anyway. 😁
 
As a Canadian, I always request where possible things be shipped via USPS from the US for minimal taxes/duties when the item gets to me. UPS can eat shit with all their extra fees.
 
As others have said always use USPS for shipping from bald eagles to maple leaves.
 
I had an amplifier shipped from the states recently, and the buyer was good enough to put ‘warranty repair return’ on the customs paperwork. He still insured it for $3500.

It saved me paying any duties or taxes.

I didn’t ask for this, but it was a pleasant surprise.
 
SQUAREHEAD said:
I didn’t ask for this, but it was a pleasant surprise.
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SQUAREHEAD said:
I had an amplifier shipped from the states recently, and the buyer was good enough to put ‘warranty repair return’ on the customs paperwork. He still insured it for $3500.

It saved me paying any duties or taxes.

I didn’t ask for this, but it was a pleasant surprise.
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That’s good to know. If I’ve have to ship to Canada again, I’ll use that.
 
Yep - I've shipped to many countries, and even though many supposedly impose Brokerage Fees, Canada is the only one I've consistently seen them applied to. And when added on top of Customs Fees it can be egregious, and it's the usually the responsibility of the recipient in Canada.

Because USPS deals directly with the Canadian Postal Service, they do not charge fees. Most Canadians will rightly request the shipper to use USPS over the other services, and I do.

While all services can charge them, the most common boogeyman is UPS. Never misses an opportunity to nickel and dime. When using UPS through Pirate Ship, the brokerage fee is not included in the amount you pay for the label. You can elect to pay on the buyer's behalf, but no one ever does (duh).
 
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