Shipping between Canada and the States

It can be a little complicated. The importer/purchaser in Canada will be responsible for paying the federal Goods and Services Tax (7%), Provincial Sales Tax (anywhere from 0 in Alberta to 11% in Newfoundland), as well as customs duties (typically around 3% to 7%) on goods manufactured outside the USA or Canada. The tax and duties are calculated on the declared value of the item, but be careful about mis-declaring or under-valuing the goods, the importer could get slapped with a penalty. I recently bought some van den Hul cables from a UK-based on-line retailer, for which duties were 4%.

I'm not sure about goods shipped to one or the other country for service, but returning the item to the country of origin for servcice, such as the Blue Circle example above, should not entail any taxes or duties on trip to Canada. Going back the USA, it would likely mean taxes and any duties on the value of the service or modification.

For small items you cant beat the US post office. 4 day delivery from New Orleans to Quebec cost me $5 for a small package. Had to fill out 1 small form that list contents and value. Nothing to it.

Bill

I had my cd player and preamp held by the FDA for a few days.coming from canada

I shipped audio goods from the US to Canada, things to know. Taxes 14.5% on new or used, some small duties may apply, then if your clear your own package you will save, again if you clear your own package you will save on shipping from the UPS/ Fed/Ex office to your home. All these cost add up. I cleared all my own from US to Vancouver. Taxes is the killer on most deals. Plus the manufactures are getting very sticky with warranty on grey audio gear. I now live in London UK try 17% tax,(some duties) I still clear all my own gear. Try Bax Global Courier, very inexpensive. Good Luck !

I think much of it is predicated on the declared value of items entering Canada and whether they are declared as a gift, a sale or for service. I've heard of exorbitant fees in some cases being tacked on to shipments to Canada. I shipped some small items to an Audiogon member in Canada and was advised to put a very low value on the items to avoid excessive fees.

Thanks Sugarbrie. Since I like the BC21 and the 6SN7 tubes it uses, Gilbert and Kevin Allen have recommended some nice upgrades for my unit. I'm considering the power supply upgrade, Shallco stepped attenuator and other little custom goodies. I may be sending it to Innerkip soon and I appreciate your advice. Gilbert did say there were specific steps to take to minimize the cost.

Also, be careful having CD players shipped in from Canada. I had my Copland player seized for a few days until they verified that it's laser had been ok'd for the US by, I believe it was BATF. Good luck!

There should be no import duties and any US manufactured goods going to Canada, and the same from Canada to the US.
Now if you are sending other foreign made gear, there possibly could be a duty. It will depend on the trade deal between the country of manufacture and the destination country.

There will very likely be a broker fee both ways if you ship UPS or Fedex.

Gunbei.....Gilbert or Angela will give you the name of the broker who handles Blue Circle exports to put on your shipping documents. It helps speed things up for the goods to be forwarded through the broker Blue Circle uses.

Hey Phil, going from Canada to the US is much easier than from the US to Canada. There are import duties imposed by Canada wihch can hike the price of a sale. I plan on sending my Blue Circle gear to Canada for some mods, but need to get instructions from Gilbert Yeung on what to fill out and how best to send everything. Check out these threads:

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?aamps&1047541447&read&keyw&zzcanada

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?ymisc&1040425296&read&keyw&zzcanada

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?aamps&1034360019&read&keyw&zzcanada

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?aamps&1023971183&read&keyw&zzcanada

Good luck.

My understanding and experience is that USPS is best as UPS always uses a broker and charges often around $50 per transaction. I've paid this before with speakers coming from Canada.