[guilty]

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.