Canadian Customs for Parcels?

[240SX92]

Not sure where to post this... Did some googling and couldn't find the answer I was looking for. I ordered some hockey jerseys from China, quite a few actually, and they've been stuck at customs for a week now. I phoned border info services and they said it's not on them now it's on Canada post brokers... But the lady also said that it should not take more then a day or two. Now at over a week i'm wondering why the hell they aren't coming yet? I read that if the declared value is lower then what they think it's worth that could take some time (as I got a ton of jerseys for super cheap this seems possible?). Anyone know anything about the situation? Anyone have similar problems? What's the deal on duty fees as well? Is that only on goods from the states?

Thanks

[AllGoNoShow]

Wait it out, you will never get a hold of someone who knows about your specific packages, just give up. Ive wasted countless days away trying to figure out where my shit is. A week isn't too bad, I have had things sit in customs for 3 weeks then clear with no problems.

Duty is due on anything that is not covered by the NAFTA (Made in USA or Mexico). If you avoid paying anything, you will end up with a bill in the mail later.

This is why you avoid using the post office, sure it should only take 5-10 days, but then shit sits in customs for 2-3 weeks and your package takes a month to make the delivery date, what a pain in the ass. Ship UPS, pay a little more, don't be a cheapass and get your shit on time :)

[240SX92]

Thanks for the info. I'm starting to find more and more people saying it's possible up to a few months from other forums. What a joke.

Yeah that's a good idea... I didn't know the person sending was using EMS/Canada post. Do you have any idea how much duty would be on a package worth around the 1,300 mark? Had a bunch of friends and family order a bulk jersey order... got something like 40+ NHL jerseys (fight straps and all) for 1,300$.

[AllGoNoShow]

Every good is different depending on what it is made of etc and I know absolutely nothing about hockey jerseys (don’t bash) but standard duty rate is 6% so $78 in duty. Don't forget your GST on that as well.

[bcylau]

duty for clothing is 17%

[240SX92]

So i'm looking at paying 250$+??

Jesus.

[psycoticclown]

Lol, I've had packages come in from US with DHL that literally sat in customs for 4 months. Ordered in October, didn't get til February. Seller ended up sending the package again.

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by 240SX92
Thanks for the info. I'm starting to find more and more people saying it's possible up to a few months from other forums. What a joke.


Yep, my torque converter sat in Canada Post customs for almost a month.

[Grogador]

Fabrics and textiles are the worst, even just into the USA. We always haul those in luggage because they take ages to clear customs, even using our brokers. Usually you can call the broker and find out if they need any additional documentation or if there's something wrong with the commercial invoice. Don't bother pestering them though, it's not up to them and it takes time.

[rage2]

Canada Post rocks. They always forget to charge customs, duty, GST. Their tracking system sucks though, I've had packages where I thought was stuck in customs for a week, only to show up at my door unexpectedly. The tracking went from "International item arrived in Canada and will be reviewed by Customs" straight to "Delivered". Bizarre.

[240SX92]

Hahaha I'm hoping that will happen as I'm out of country as of next week, and am home all day until then to hopefully accept them when they come

[AllGoNoShow]

17% on clothing??? F**K me!

[240SX92]

I had a buddy who used the same site and ordered 15 jerseys and said he never got charged any duties or custom fees. Maybe he used a different courier...

[rage2]

Originally posted by 240SX92
I had a buddy who used the same site and ordered 15 jerseys and said he never got charged any duties or custom fees. Maybe he used a different courier...
If you never got charged, then it was shipped EMS --> Canada Post. Like I said, Canada post employees are lazy or something because they rarely charge customs. It's a crapshoot, sometimes u get charged (and you have to pay COD) and sometimes, nothing. I think I've only been charged maybe 10% of the time.

Fedex, UPS will always charge Duty/Taxes, and brokerage if it's economy service which is killer.

Fedex and UPS sued Canada Post because they can get away with forgetting to charge duty/taxes, which is a pretty serious crime if anyone else tries to do it, which is a huge unfair competition advantage. Canada Post is a crown corporation, so they can't really get in trouble.

[rage2]

Oh ya, one other thing. The bigger and heavier the box, the longer it takes in customs when shipping via Canada Post. Doesn't seem to affect Fedex/UPS, so I think they have a different setup for customs.

[240SX92]

Thanks Rage. About 12 Jerseys in one box, 18 in another... those are the two waiting at customs... a third box has about 10 and is not at customs yet.

[Redwagon]

If you use UPS and it's not "UPS Worldwide Express Plus, UPS Worldwide Express, UPS Worldwide Express Saver, and UPS Worldwide Expedited Services" you will get charged broker fees on top of your customs and shipping charge.


Breakdown for the broker fees are here:

http://www.ups.com/content/ca/en/shipping/cost/zones/customs_clearance.html

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by rage2
Oh ya, one other thing. The bigger and heavier the box, the longer it takes in customs when shipping via Canada Post. Doesn't seem to affect Fedex/UPS, so I think they have a different setup for customs.

Yeah, at Fedex and UPS, they're in the middle of a flying shitstorm of people working in a hurry, and get a lot of dirty glares if they aren't doing it too.

Canada Post their in the middle of a bunch of unionized people moving like molasses and on coffee break, so why would they bother going fast? :rofl:

[240SX92]

My buddy who ordered 3 jerseys from the same site had his cleared in under a day. It's got to be because it's a large order. Probably checking for crack in it hahah