US to Canada shipping - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Xtremexp
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 07, 2023, 04:14:51 pm
content: Hello all,What are the options to ship from US to canada? Some of the sellers only ship to US and I am looking an option if there are some companies provide US address and forward the packages to Canada?I found website likehttps://www.myus.com/I am not sure how these works. any recommendations is welcome.Thanks!

author: Stray Electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 07, 2023, 04:37:05 pm
content: How far are you from the border? When I was working in Canada I wasn't far from the border so I went down to NY and got a mail box there and had everything shipped to it. I drove down about once per week and collected everything. That was years ago so things may have changed.One group I was in years ago had a lot of complaints about shipping to Canada. It seems that most packages ended up in the hands of commercial customs "brokers" and they were constantly holding packages for ridiculous amounts of ransom.

author: macboy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 07, 2023, 05:58:04 pm
content: Other than epay's international shipping, I have never had stuff forwarded by a re-shipper. I live close enough to a border town that I have occasionally made use of a service provided by their local "The UPS Store". Basically, you have stuff shipped to them (using any courier, not only UPS). They hold stuff for you, charging about $5 per week per box, last time I checked. Obviously check the policy of any specific The UPS Store before just having stuff sent there randomly; I suspect not all offer this service. I haven't done this since what I now refer to as thebefore times, i.e. pre-2020.On crossing the border: I found that when going into USA, they are very familiar with people day-tripping in to pick up packages. Don't just say "picking up a package", that sounds like you are scoring something elicit in an alley, so be specific: "picking up online shopping at the UPS store", for example. When returning to Canada, same idea, and be honest with the value of the stuff. Bring paperwork with you to prove the value: invoices, receipts, etc.. For low value stuff <$100 or so, they often just wave you through, but for high value, you will pay HST/GST and possibly (but rarely) duty. If picking up uncommon things like test equipment, try to know the HS code ahead of time (e.g. oscilloscope is 903020) to expedite the process. The border agent will appreciate that. If you just show them an ebay invoice for one "HP 6973B good condition tested working!" then you'll be there a while as they struggle to look that up. Finally, they might search your car while you are inside taking care of business so make sure you aren't travelling with anything... dubious.I know you didn't specifically ask about cross border pick up, but maybe someone will find that useful.

author: Kosmic
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 07, 2023, 06:22:00 pm
content: If you are close to the border you can use Kinek (https://www.kinek.com/). 5$ per package and you have 30 days to collect.I have been using them quite extensively lately. I tend to accumulate packages and do the trip to collect them all at the same time.Thinking on getting in the NEXUS program now

author: coromonadalix
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 07, 2023, 06:37:28 pm
content: https://shipittous.com/?normally you create an account with them, they will create a shipping location, or sometimes an unit xxxxx at a given address, they ask what are the contents,they do the paperwork, and ask you a fee of X amount per package, and they can sometimes use a preferred carrierfrom Ebay Us to Canada Intelcom is now the main carrier and it's a @%!@%, they drop the packages anytime anywhere, i almost stopped buying on Ebay because of that,they force the Canadians to use Ebay Global shipping .... unless you find a seller not doing it (rare)

author: Kosmic
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 07, 2023, 07:20:34 pm
content: Quote from: coromonadalix on November 07, 2023, 06:37:28 pmI don't know it might be just me but I have the feeling all the good deals on ebay these days are US only.

author: coromonadalix
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 07, 2023, 07:48:22 pm
content: mmmm dependsWith the poor Canadian value, and the custom fees. sometimes it's far from a good deal .... and in Canada you wont find theses deals in huge quantitieseven buying from elsewhere sometimes it is loll or no, bought a few things from israel / pakistan etc ... and snatched very good deals,you have to be careful of how things are declared for the customs, you could end up with huge fee's (happened once)

author: thm_w
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 07, 2023, 10:38:49 pm
content: Since you are in Vancouver, you can either:- drive across the border as mentioned above- send toShippsy, they take it across the border, you pay the GST/PST + $8+, then pickup in RichmondThe downside with either of these is you have to pay Washington tax. So sometimes its easier just to ship it to Canada.

author: TheSteve
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 08, 2023, 01:27:43 am
content: I like 247parcel myself (if you're in the Vancouver area.)

author: jonpaul
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 08, 2023, 07:21:21 am
content: Due to paperwork, and taxes, we avoid any shipment to Canada or UKWe ask the customer or reciever to arrange.j

author: watchmaker
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 08, 2023, 01:41:15 pm
content: I have shipped a number of timepieces overseas. While not as bad as Italy, incoming Canadian customs can be a MAJOR PITA. I would avoid importing anything via post or such if at all possible. On repairs, they routinely try to assess fees based on insured value rather than the value added by the repair. I tell customers to keep all the export documentation and to talk in person with someone in the local office (we are talking $15k things that had $1K work). Same thing with UK.However, Italy will take what they want no matter how careful the owner is. I no longer take work from Italy because of this.Interestingly, there are NO customs on stuff imported into the US via POST! I remember the days when US citizens were limited to 2 duty free imports. SInce 2002, I have imported more than $20K worth of tools and supplies from Europe with no customs assessments. One was a $5k order for mainsprings. I remeber having to go to the clearing house one time to get something released.I even bought my camera from Henry's because of this. Then I had a nightmare when it needed to be exchanged.Here is what I was told by an acquaintance in the Office of Postal Inspector in Washington DC.After the World Trade Center II, (anyone remember WTC I?) Bush reorganized the cabinet and created Homeland Security. Duties were reassigned. No one was made responsible for assessing customs on items imported via POST. Even though I take advantage of this, I am actually a little annoyed. The US is losing serious justified revenue.OTOH, UPS and the other carriers love to take your money on imports. Whether they forward it on or not I do not know. The cynic in me sez no.So import into the US via Post.Regards,Dewey