Need help on buying hardware from US to Canada

[Janet Reno]

Has anyone ever bought computer hardware from the US but live in Canada? I'm just wondering if there are any added costs other than the shipping of it and GST/PST(aka taxes). I've done google searches on this and the most I found was that you don't have to worry about duties/customs with computer goods, or any electronics for that matter? I'm not certain that's true though, so I'm attempting to find out the truth here!

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[imported_Kensai]

Customs for things that are worth over 65$ CAD on the customs form thingy.

 

[orakle]

Originally posted by: Kensai
Customs for things that are worth over 65$ CAD on the customs form thingy.

 

[xSauronx]

Originally posted by: Janet Reno
Has anyone ever bought computer hardware from the US but live in Canada? I'm just wondering if there are any added costs other than the shipping of it and GST/PST(aka taxes). I've done google searches on this and the most I found was that you don't have to worry about duties/customs with computer goods, or any electronics for that matter? I'm not certain that's true though, so I'm attempting to find out the truth here!

Any help would be appreciated.

i sold a hard drive in the fs/t forum once, and sent it priority....that night the guy asked me to mark it as a gift under $20 to get out of paying duties or whatever on it, well id already shipped it, and 3 days later when he got it, he said the duties on it would cost him as much as hed paid me for the drive almost :Q

dnno if that was true, seems extravagant beyond even the government to me, but i could be wrong

 

[Sureshot324]

If you can avoid it at all, don't do it. The customs fees are horrendous (only applies to new items). Buy from ncix.com or canadacomputers.com

 

[OffTopic1]

I once made the mistake purchasing my camera lens online from the US, because price was 30% less than what I can find locally. However, I ended up paying about 10% more than the local price because of the extortion duties/shipping.

The only way that you can make a saving is having a PO box on the American side of the border and drive across to pick it up with out declaring your purchase when coming back to Canada.

PS. There are Canadian computer stores that have very competitive price, such as NCIX.com, A-power.com, etc...

 

[TwinkleToes77]

Originally posted by: xSauronx

Originally posted by: Janet Reno
Has anyone ever bought computer hardware from the US but live in Canada? I'm just wondering if there are any added costs other than the shipping of it and GST/PST(aka taxes). I've done google searches on this and the most I found was that you don't have to worry about duties/customs with computer goods, or any electronics for that matter? I'm not certain that's true though, so I'm attempting to find out the truth here!

Any help would be appreciated.

i sold a hard drive in the fs/t forum once, and sent it priority....that night the guy asked me to mark it as a gift under $20 to get out of paying duties or whatever on it, well id already shipped it, and 3 days later when he got it, he said the duties on it would cost him as much as hed paid me for the drive almost :Q

dnno if that was true, seems extravagant beyond even the government to me, but i could be wrong

Depending on the price you sold it to him for, it's probably true. I have bought a few things from the states and asked that it be shipped with 'gift' marked on the item that I paid $20 for. She put the value at $50 and I wound up having to pay $18 duties on it when it came to my house.

 

[TwinAphex]

I bought a brand new bba x800xl and I didn't think of duties but when it got here it said it was a gift and it was worth or I paid 15 for it lol. I saved myself a cool 60 cdn dollars just in tax

 

[jeece]

Whatever you do, don't use UPS... :disgust: They charge you (the receiver) a brokerage fee, on top of the actual custom taxes... Those bastards charge you to calculate the custom fees!

Here's a good "guide" I found on Hardforum... I'll quote only Parabellum's post here:

Shipping to Canada is in no way a complicated matter. What is following might look intimidating, but it's really not, trust me.

Here's some fundamental guidelines on how to ship to Canada, based on numerous trades from US to Canada that my friend and I have done since a couple of years now.

Following those steps will firstly get the package to reache me much faster and secondly it will avoid myself to have to pay some taxes.


The simplified guidelines:

1- Declare package as a gift;
2- Don't declare the package more than actual value OR to a maximum value of 45$US;
3- Never use UPS (United Parcel Service). Use USPS instead;
4- Declare what's really in the box. "Computer stuff" would be fine for exemple.


The detailed guidelines (if you want to know the why's):

1- First things first, please declare the package as a gift to me when filling the forms at the post office. This is very important;

2- Do not declare more than the actual value of the package. Canadians are allowed up to 45$US without paying any taxes ONLY IF the package is declared as a gift. otherwise, I will have to pay taxes. So, if you declare the package as a value of 1000$, I will have to pay taxes on 955$ even if the package is declared as a gift. So, declare the value like 20$-25$US, it would be fine;

3- Please, avoid UPS at all cost (united parcel service - AKA "the brown"). Even if you do the first 2 steps correctly, the recipient (that would be me) will pay some crazy brokerage fees since UPS has their own brokerage center and they charge a premium amount for imported goods. Be it a gift or not;

4- Declare what is really in the box. Just say "computer stuff". I had a trade once where a guy sent me a box full of stuff (computer parts) and he declared that the package was 2 sweaters and a calculator... Yeah, but the box weighted 6 pounds.. Custom agents aren't that stupid. They opened up the box and saw that it was a false declaration... So, they have fixed their own "approximate value" of the hardware and charged taxes upon this value. That was most unpleasant.

You may find other useful infos in the original thread.

Hope that helps!

 

[yllus]

Always use USPS.

Marking items as 'defective' and thus with a cost estimate of $1 is a nice way to avoid custom fees/taxes.

 

[jeece]

It sure is fun to lower the package's value to save some taxes, but you're screwed if an insured item gets lost/damaged... I wouldn't like having a <20$ refund for a 200$ video card that didn't make it. Depending on the item, I sometimes ask the seller to write up the full value on the package.

 

[imported_Kensai]

Originally posted by: yllus
Always use USPS.

Marking items as 'defective' and thus with a cost estimate of $1 is a nice way to avoid custom fees/taxes.

I likey.

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: OffTopic

I once made the mistake purchasing my camera lens online from the US, because price was 30% less than what I can find locally. However, I ended up paying about 10% more than the local price because of the extortion duties/shipping.

The only way that you can make a saving is having a PO box on the American side of the border and drive across to pick it up with out declaring your purchase when coming back to Canada.

PS. There are Canadian computer stores that have very competitive price, such as NCIX.com, A-power.com, etc...

Yup, that's the best way. Only have to pay GST/PST(where applicable) if you bring it across yourself. As someone else stated, shipping companies often addon another charge for crossing the border. When it comes down to it, unless you find a killer deal(sometimes possible on just released products that are either unavailable or just in short supply), buy within Canada. After exchange and shipping costs are factored in the prices between the US/Canada are pretty much the same.

 

[Janet Reno]

Wow thanks for the info guys, this extremely helpful!

I was using NCIX and will buy most of my computer there, however I was really considering this RAM from monarchcomputers.com(and maybe an x800/850 video card hehe)

For example using http://www.xe.com
I was eyeing this 2-3-2/2GB of Patriot stuff which works to $288Canadian before all extra costs.
http://www.monarchcomputer.com/Merchant...=PROD&Store_Code=M&Product_Code=140291

I think I'll keep looking around here now though.