FocusCanada Forums

If I buy parts used from the states, I will have to pay duty, right? If the sender labels them as "gifts" then, I don't pay duty, right? Anybody out there know for sure?

Thanks.

been waiting for my MAF (ordered from a guy in florida) for more than a month and a half.. got a letter last week from Customs (canada) telling me they had a maf sensor here and required me to fax or send them through mail a receipt or ebay# or whatever..

still haven't received it.. a 9.99$US MAF!! and still dont know if its ok.. they haven't said anything for my fax or anything..

If it was truly a gift then nothing.

For non gift car parts:

duty: no (if from US or Mexico, 6%(?) if from elsewhere)
tax: yes
brokerage: most likely (plus they tax the brokerage fee!)

I guarantee that with drugs/terrorism these days anything marked "gift" will get extra scrutiny (x-rayed). Something like a MAF would look suspiscious when scanned.

svt_rodg,Sep 17 2004, 08:49 AM Wrote:If I buy parts used from the states, I will have to pay duty, right? If the sender labels them as "gifts" then, I don't pay duty, right? Anybody out there know for sure?

Thanks.

If the parts are made in North America you shouldnt have to pay any duty fees. You will however have to pay any applicable taxes (GST/PST) on the declared value and a $5 handling charge from Canada Customs if it passes through the Customs people.. That's for USPS shipping anyway. Supposedly if it's marked as a gift, or under a certain declared value, the Customs people wont do anything and it'll get through with no charges.. maybe.

If they're shipping with a courier company (UPS, FedEx), you'll have to pay whatever they decide their brokerage fees are. They set up their own paperwork so it doesnt have to go through the same stuff at the Canada Customs part of the border, but a lot of times their charges are really high.. and sometimes they wont charge you anything at the door, just mail a bill a few days later.

UPS and FedEx will most likely cost you a LOT more in extra fees, but they can get it to you really fast. USPS is usually the cheapest way to go, but sometimes can be fairly slow.

I'm waiting on a shift knob from the States right now, the seller was going to mark a low value on it and mark it as 'gift', so we'll see when that gets here if it worked or not.

I'm thinking of getting used H&R coilovers for $800 US or $1042 CDN and st170s for $200 US or $260 CDN. Do you guys think I'll pay a lot of duty and taxes? Should I tell them to use a certain company? What about Purolator?

Purolator is owned by Canada Post. They screw you too. And for some cool info, Canada post is getting out of the air mail business fairly soon. They will no longer be dealing with stuff of that nature. Great eh?

I've bought alot of things from the states and shipped there also. You WILL pay duty on whatever you bring in from the states based on the bill of sale (new product) or by the declared value of the product based on what the original shipper wrote on the initial shipping agreement.

As for brokerage, for example, if you ship by GROUND, Fedex 'employs' someone to act on your behalf when the product reaches the border. Their fee is what you pay and it is usually prorated based on how much the product is that you are shipping over the border. There really isn't any way around this, I heard UPS sometimes doesn't charge brokerage which is true with FedEx also but it's all based on the price (value) of the product going over the border.

Also, if say the reciever DENIES to pay the brokerage, the shipper gets stuck with the bill, something to think about if you ship some used stuff to the states, it can come back and bite you in the ass.

Another thing, if you ship by AIR, it might be cheaper, yes I said it. By AIR, there are no BROKERAGE fees so even if the shipping might be higher, the brokerage fees worked into the total price if you ship by GROUND might be more then by AIR which is faster, etc......

Some things to think about. I have done ALOT of research on this, been shipping out about 2-3 packages a week to the states for a couple weeks now...... also been purchasing stuff.

Quote:You WILL pay duty on whatever you bring in from the states based on the bill of sale

Unless the item is under $49 (I think thats the magic number), or if the item is marked as a gift, you won't pay duty.

Yeah you could be right, I got some packages going to the states right now that I 'declared' for $40CDN and one for $100CDN I believe, once I hear back from the guys I shipped to, or when I get the brokerage fees after they say they WONT pay them (which is outlayed in the FedEx rules and regulations) I'll let you know how much they are.

The guys I talked to all know about the brokerage fees but they can still screw me over, one of the risks of over the border shipping.

The lady at FedEx thought it might be closer to a hundred bucks but even with that, they couldn't give me a straight answer. Sounds like they have different brokers that deal with this all the time so the fees sometimes will be applicable and sometimes not and also sometimes might be twice as much for the same declared value package depending on who did the 'handling' for you.

Really sucks, bunch of crap, hense why I said sometimes it is cheaper to just sent it via air instead of ground.

As for it being marked 'GIFT', I know for a fact (according to all my many calls to Fedex) that you will get dinged with BROKERAGE, but for duty, not sure, I'll check into that next time I ship and ask them..... not doubting you one bit.

I was told by Roadrace engineering (florida, I think) that if he sent it by air, it would save on duty and shipping. I didnt listen to him so I dont know if its true. :unsure:

Yeah it is, which SUCKS!!! I mean seriously you get the package quicker, it's cheaper??? Yeah like that makes sense to me?

But sure, they go and rape your wallet by shipping it to you slower, more ecconomical for them. Actually I am not sure if the shipping company gets the brokerage fee, I believe it's the broker that gets it in care of Fedex. Not 100% sure though, suprised Fedex doesn't employ it's own brokers for this. Maybe they do?

If you can sift through government websites to find what you're actually looking for, this link might help:

http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/import/startintro-e.html

It's the Canadian Border Services Agency, they've got everything about importing/exporting things on there. But the real information is in the Tariffs which might be tough finding what you're actually looking for.

So unless you're getting an unbelievably good deal, or you definitely cant find the parts in Canada it's usually a good idea to shop around the Canadian retailers first. Especially for big dollar items, where the percentage you pay can make a big difference on how much you're saving by buying used or ordering somewhere with a cheaper price.

I just got some dvds i ordered from hongkong today... Customs ATE the pacakging .. ha ha ha ha ...

But didnt get charged anything .. woohoo!

General rule of thumb (sorry if this has already been said) .. Order of shipping companies to use.

USPS
FEDEX
then if you have to..
UPS

tdot-zx3,Sep 17 2004, 02:22 PM Wrote:I just got some dvds i ordered from hongkong today... Customs ATE the pacakging .. ha ha ha ha ...

But didnt get charged anything .. woohoo!

General rule of thumb (sorry if this has already been said) .. Order of shipping companies to use.

USPS
FEDEX
then if you have to..
UPS

yep, I've had the cheapest deliveries through USPS so far.

They're REALLY slow though. I waited a 3 weeks for my JGS header....

Also to add.... shipping in Canada, screw CANADA POST. Fedex is usually 1/2 the price.....

Quote:You WILL pay duty on whatever you bring in from the states based on the bill of sale (new product)

There is NO Duty on canadian or us made auto parts. Actually alot of US and Canadian things are zero duty. You must pay pst and gst though.

Really? I am almost certain I paid duty on my springs that came from http://www.madperformance.net in Cali. I will find my BROKERAGE bill from Fedex, I know it was split into multiple charges, (figures).....

Yeah you are right, I only had to pay GST/HST and the typical BROKERAGE fee. My mistake on the DUTY part.....