Canadian tariffs, duties, etc?

I have only purchased one piece of audio gear from a Canadian seller, that being a CJ preamp. The seller sent it marked as "gift" and no duties were charged. After reading some of the forums I assume this wasn't legal but also assume that it must happen all of the time. I was sort of miffed when he offhandedly remarked "I hope you don't have to pay any duties on this". I think he damn well should have brought it to my attention before we hashed out the shipping details.

I sold a nice cd player to a gentleman in Canada, back in November, a fellow member here in Audiogon. I used FedEx ground. If the buyer does not pay these fees the shipper is responsible. I just got a bill yesterday, for almost $60.00. I sold at a very reasonable price of $175.00. The unit was in beautiful condition. The buyer wrote commenting on how nice the unit was and thanked me. I wrote the buyer yesterday afternoon. Nothing back yet. He seemed very sincere when conversing thru email during the purchase. I am not going to get upset yet. Hoping this is just a mix-up somewhere, but if not I am going to be pissed. Something will be done at that point.

Good luck!!

Actually, I'm a bit of an expert on shipping from the US to Canada having dealt with hundreds of shipments over the years. Some of the posts in this link are accurate, others are patent nonsense.

The short version:
Post Office - slow, hard on packages, poor tracking, cheapest brokerage fees.
FEDEX Express- the best. Fast, reliable, great tracking, no brokerage fees but VERY expensive.
FEDEX Ground - next best. As above but cheaper and slower. Minimal brokerage fees.
UPS- cheap up front. Expensive at the door. Reliable. Good tracking. Ridiculous, bordering on usurious brokerage fees. Class action lawsuit, anyone? Definitely your least cost effective choice.

All carriers charge Federal and Provincial taxes or duties as required. The Post Office is the least efficient tax collector. I have had packages worth $500 US arrive at the door - no charge, due, I suppose, to inefficient data control.

AS for our US friend's assertion that the shipper MUST warn buyers of duties and taxes - this is absurd! It is incumbent on the buyer to know the laws in his home country. A shipper can't be expected to know the regulations in Zimbabwe or Sri Lanka!

I agree with Peebus statements, having had quite a few Canada-US transactions.

People in canada know that they will be charged a brokerage fee, 7% GST, 7% PST, and duties at the border if the product is not canadian made.

why is it that US citizens are not aware of the fees they will be charged, brokerage fees and duties if the product is not made in either canada or the US

My 2 cents

This is the opposite scenario (Candian seller, U.S. buyer), but I recently purchased a piece of equipment from a Canadian seller who shipped the item to me in the U.S. from Canada via UPS. It got held up for about a week in U.S. customs. Although the seller carefully packed the items, U.S. customs no doubt didn't use the same care when when opening, inspecting, and repacking the item. Based on this and my other experience with U.S./Canadian tranactions I'm going to pass on further such opportunities. Politically, I like to think of Canadians as brothers and sisters, but the costs and hassles associated with the practicalities of shipping equipment across the boarder seem to provide more downsides and risks than upsides. If you don't mind delays, extra duty costs, and mediocre handling of your equipment maybe it's worth the effort. To me, it's the issue of non-audio people inspecting and repacking pristine and delicate equipment that was carefully packed that pushes it over the edge. I'm going to avoid it in the future.