Duty/customs in Canada when ordering from Pinball Resource
LRP
I was wondering if anyone has ever had any problems with customs/
duty when getting an order from PBR into Canada via mail? In the
email I received from PBR, it suggests talking to the post office
about this; I'm just not 100% sure what to ask, as I've never had to
pay duty/customs fees when receiving merchandise from the US. If it's
just a walk-up-and-pay thing, then I'll place my order; otherwise, I
might have to do a bit more investigative work. Any advice/help would
be greatly appreciated.
Luke
Malibu SS
handling charge, and that is all.......no duty.I order from PBR all
the time and live in Canada and have never had any problems with the
mail service or PBR
Rick
Pinballace
For us shipping to Canada is horrible. It seems customs can hold up
the shipment for days. We can ship to Australia and Canada on the
same day using priority mail, the one going to Oz will get there in
3-5 days while the Canada shipment can somtimes take 3-4 weeks.
Jeph
>
> I was wondering if anyone has ever had any problems with customs/
> be greatly appreciated.
>
> Luke
Hi Luke,
I had an order ship via USPS and didn't have to pay any additional
customs.
Shipping was ~$30 on a ~$200 order.
If you ship with UPS you'll have to pay quite a bit of extra when it
gets to your door.
~$5 fees + 15% more in duties. But I find this is never consistant.
I advise staying away from UPS.
Jeph
Chaz
Jeph, you're right USPS you don't pay anything extra U.P.S. you do.
Chaz.
Arcade Novelties
If you live in or near Toronto, you can order from PBR through
Starburst/Playdium. No money orders to send or shipping charges, you
can just pay by Visa and pick up from their store.
Adam Becker
bothered to deal with the US money order.
How does that work, do you order directly from PBR or do you put it in
with Starburst and pay their inflated prices?
LRP
total cost so I can go get a money order.
OTTOgd
> Starburst/Playdium. No money orders to send or shipping charges, you
> can just pay by Visa and pick up from their store.
>
> Davehttp://www.arcadenovelties.com
I'd like to hear more about this too!
I recently received a $200 order from PBR and paid close to $40 US for
delivery. This was my 4th order with them and have yet to pay anything
extra. Darnit - jinxed it now.
Kev
(Brampton, Ontario, Canada)
Arcade Novelties
Call or email the parts manager (his name is Dave) with your order.
He'll send/give you a quote and then you confirm. Once a month they do
a bulk order with PBR so if you just missed one, you may have to wait
3 -4 weeks to get your stuff. The only thing is that you need all the
part numbers when you place your order. Sometimes I email Steve at PBR
to get all the correct info but then I'll place my order through
Starburst.
This is how I order all my PBR stuff. It's just way easier and I
usually find that they charge the same as if you ordered from PBR
directly (I'm guessing they get some sort of volume discount).
Daniel Tonks
For those who care, here are UPS Ground brokerage charges when shipping from
the USA to Canada for easy reference.
Value of Shipment (converted to Canadian), Brokerage Charge
$0 - $20, Free
$20 - $40, $7.00
$40 - $100, $19.45
$100 - $200, $29.00
$200 - $350, $42.95
$350 - $500, $48.25
$500 - $750, $54.85
$750 - $1000, $61.40
$1000 - $1250, $67.95
$1250 - $1600, $72.25
$1600 - $5000, $76.20
Each additional $1000, $5.90
They also charge tax on brokerage.
Note that only UPS Ground charges these fees, any UPS air service (including
3-day) includes brokerage fees. So take that into account when pricing your
shipping - it is often actually cheaper to ship by air, and you'll get it
faster.
Extra stuff they will charge you on for clearance (even air):
Bond Fee - 2.7% of duties and taxes, minimum $5.85, if they collect COD at
the door.
COD Fee - $4.25, for collecting their money at the door.
You can avoid both Bond and COD fees by calling UPS and putting a credit
card number down on your shipment before it clears customs. If you ship to a
business name they will typically call you in advance to ask if you want to
use another brokerage firm (businesses often contact all clearance out to a
single firm - you could set up an account with one if you really wanted), at
which point you can opt to pre-pay UPS brokerage and avoid those extra
charges. Note that they VERY RARELY call if you ship to a personal name, and
usually just show up at your door with a huge COD bill (so be pre-emptive
and call them).
USPS (postal service) is always the better way to go for ground shipments,
with a flat $5 to $8 brokerage charge (sometimes they don't even charge).
However Air Mail is generally much more expensive than the lowest UPS Air
offerings, so if you need it faster you can use UPS safely if you know what
you're doing. I have also noted that UPS is more likely to charge duty on
items that should have duty, than Canada Post (I don't think I've ever been
charged duty on anything from them).
- Dan
LRP
everyone know what fees I incur after I receive my package.
Luke