What is the deal with shipping to Canada?

[steve dunham]

Originally Posted by Carol H

LOL I was scratching my head on that as well.... must have been some pretty darn good home brew!

My wife's Aunt lived most of her life in Minnesota until moving to Northern California. She is 82 years old and likes the fruit wines that are made in Wisconsin and Michigan so at Christmas time we send her a bottle. I do not drink so I can not tell you what is special about the wine but she likes and enjoys it and that is all that matters to us .

[Roy in TO]

Originally Posted by Michael Pupeza

...
Usually, for gifts under, or around $50 CDN, no Customs Duties are applied and the package goes right through to the recipient.

.... The Canadian Customs will then, often, intercept the package and assess Duties and/or HST (Harmonized Sales Tax - ie. Fed and Prov taxes= 13%) + a $5 'Handling Fee'.

It is gifts under $60 CDN and the fees are now up to $9.95 to collect the tax.
Canada Post - Customs handling fee changes

[Michael Pupeza]

Roy;
You know when NAFTA came in, I thought that the Canada Customs would be scaled back and the employees would be cut back and basically ignore most postal traffic from the USA. Was I naive! I now spend my winters in FL and buy most of the stuff I need for my hobbies here during the winter. USA residents have it so nice to buy stuff - prices online are usually half, delivery is fast, cheap and, in many cases free, and the selection is limitless. As you are aware, many businesses in USA refuse to ship to or deal with Canadian residents, or will only ship UPS which often garners ridiculous charges. It burns my butt!
However, I save up my wants and buy in Winter. I now have a Dometic Fridge Vent, bathroom door latch, some LEDs and a few other parts for the Bigfoot coming home with me, plus hobby stuff for Ham Radio and Astronomy, which are almost impossible to buy in the GWN, especially from Penetanguishene!
Now the Custom Handling charge is upped! Bummer!
Mike .....>

Originally Posted by Roy in TO

It is gifts under $60 CDN and the fees are now up to $9.95 to collect the tax.
Canada Post - Customs handling fee changes

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by Roy in TO

It is gifts under $60 CDN and the fees are now up to $9.95 to collect the tax.
Canada Post - Customs handling fee changes

Thats assuming the item was actually been assessed an import duties fee. Many items are actually duty free or at a very low rate of duty if they were made in the US or Mexico. For example most camera gear is duty free and where it was made doesnt seem to matter either. Go figure that one out! LOL