Re: NewEgg in Canada now? :)

On Tue, Dec 16, 2008 at 09:52:08AM -0600, Gerald J T Harrison wrote:
> Remember the treshhold is $20 Canadian funds
> not US funds..

Is that true and official? If so, that must have changed in recent years.
I only know of the $20 gift exemption, that only applies to items an
individial (not a company) declares as a gift with a value less than $20.
In practice, Canada Post doesnt' bother with small value stuff (even $25
will get past). When you do pay, it's usually just GST on the value of
the goods plus a COD fee (plus GST of course) to collect it. I can't
recall if they charge a separate brokerage fee but if they do, it's on
the order of a couple dollars. Much different from the $40 or so UPS
charges.

UPS ground charges brokerage fees, next-day or second-day air includes
brokerage fees. If you scour the UPS web site for details, you'll find
that UPS second-day air is cheaper than ground if you include brokerage.
It's still more expensive than any other international courier service.

Customs can over-rule the declared value if they don't believe it or if
they are particularly cranky the day your package goes through. I'm not
sure if customs even looks at the stuff that comes through on UPS. If
their tracking system is any indication, items clear Canada Customs
some while they are in Kentucky, before landing in Winnipeg which no
longer has facilities for clearing parcels. UPS might be desirable if
the real value is much greater than the declared value.
Received on Tue Dec 16 10:15:06 2008