FedEX collecting taxes and duties on behalf of Canada Custom

[backmarkerducati]

What I do, in order...

• Buy from sellers that collect the taxes etc. at purchase.
• If it is something smallish (tens of dollars to a couple hundred) and the above is not an option only buy if it ships local post to Canada Post (USPS, Royal Mail, etc.) (lowest extra fees).
• Before COVID, ship to FedEx depot in NFNY and go get it (higher cost items with expensive shipping)
• Large big dollar items...pre-clear customs fees myself prior to shipping but this is a PITA IMO, very rarely do this.

If I cannot do any of the above I pass, and usually pass on 4th point as well unless I really need it.

There are companies now that have a US address it gets shipped to and then they cheaply bulk ship it to a GTA depot for pick-up. Saves shipping costs but not so much on duty/taxes. Really replacing point three above as that is not possible during COVID.

BTW, I have ordered stuff via post from all over during COVID (second point above, Europe, China, US) that should have had duty and taxes added (I fully expected it!) and they all came with no extra charges. My guess is the system is trying to avoid the contact of collecting unless it is truly worth while.

 

[nyx]

I’ve avoided fedex/ups/etc but last
month some companies moved to them because of the delays in usps/Royal Mail without my knowledge (free ship advertised so no specified carriers ). Ended up paying about $20 for ups/Dhl brokerage service + taxes. Considering the government charges $11 for handling + same taxes, can’t complain the parcels arrived 48 hours after dispatch.

 

[Mad Mike]

When I had my sy business, I had to move a few hundred small value packages across the border at a time.

The US has a simplified way of doing this that minimizes costs for the govt and US consumer.

The US customs folks I used to work with called Canada Customs the ‘border mafia’. They told us a Canada Customs goal was to use the border to create jobs thru bureaucracy.