Guide for Canadians to Ordering Online from American Shops

Guide for Canadians to Ordering Online from American Shops

Author: Thomas Dembie

What often looks like a steal online from an American retailer can very easily turn into a not-so-great deal as a result of hidden fees that you might not be aware of. On this page you'll find everything you need to know about ordering your wakeboard gear from the US, including what those hidden fees are, how to find them and how to minimize them.

Great Service!

Instead of ordering directly to your Canadian (or International) address and incurring expensive fees, consider using a service like MyUS. Sign up with MyUS and receive your own U.S. street address. Purchases can be made from any website or store within the U.S. Those items are shipped to your U.S. address, where MyUS provides specialized international package forwarding services from your new U.S. address to your international address.

Brokerage Fees

Here's a great explanation... "When you ship something to Canada, you're essentially hiring someone (the shipping company) to represent you to bring goods across the border. The brokerage fees are usually a percentage of the shipment's value or a minimum fee. It's much like a handling fee and what a broker will do is fill in the appropriate paperwork, often just a single form stating the package's content and value, and send it and the appropriate duty and taxes to the government. When you ship something by air, there usually isn't a separate brokerage brokerage fee, it's included in the base charge. Shipping by air is generally more expensive."
Source: http://www.cbc.ca/streetcents/archives/guide/2002/17/s07_01.html

Brokerage Fees & Shipping Options

UPS - The Villain

UPS charges the highest brokerage fees in the industry - from what I have read. These fees are often 'hidden' to most customers, since they are not included in the item price or the shipping and are separate from the taxes (discussed below). For example, if I were to order a wakeboard for $325 USD from UPS, according to their brokerage fee schedule, I would have to pay $35.55 brokerage + $5.85 disbursement (minimum) + $4.25 fee for collecting brokerage charge. Add taxes, shipping and convert this order to Canadian funds and this order no longer looks like a deal. Apparently you can set it up to clear customs by yourself, but trying to figure out how is as easy as turning water to gold. If your order is shipped UPS when you were told it would be shipped with another company, you can refuse to accept the order & charges and it will be sent back to the retailer.
Source: http://www.ups.com/content/ca/en/shipping/cost/zones/customs_clearance.html

USPS

With USPS, "For all casual and commercial items valued under 1,200 Canadian dollars, Canada Post will collect the assessed duties and excise taxes and a handling fee of 5 Canadian dollars from the addressee." That's it! No more hidden charges. The brokerage fees and taxes will either be collected when the item is delivered to your door, or when you pick it up at your local post office - depending on the USPS shipping method selected.
Source: http://ircalc.usps.gov/Observations/Canada.htm

Fedex

Fedex charges brokerage fees based on the value of your order. Instead of paying the amount up front, Fedex will send you an invoice in the mail. The problem is that they don't list them on their site, so we contacted Fedex and got them to send us the list! Here it is (pdf).

Taxes

Each item entering the country will be charged GST (7%) and PST (Provincial tax - varies by province) based on the declared value.

Duties

Under NAFTA, items that are deemed manufactured in the US (and Mexico) are duty free. A duty (percentage) may be charged if the item is manufactured in another country.

The Bottom Line

Make sure you know what company will be used for shipping your order to Canada. If the retailer only uses UPS and you want to minimize your costs, try e-mailing them to see if they can ship using another company. If they won't, look elsewhere or be prepared to pay major fees.

| Privacy Policy | Add stokecity.ca to your Favorites |