Ordering from Canada

[murrius]

I haven't been able to figure out duty. Sometime I get nailed, sometimes not. I'm proud of our government though for protecting Canada's thriving tea fields. If we let "foreign" tea flood the Canadian market, who would drink Our famous Yukon Oolong?

[Salsero]

Yukon Oolong

*** Chuckle, chortle, splutter ***

With such a great name, you really ought to come up with something to market using it!

[teaguru]

Yukon Oolong

Ah yes, the famous tea from Canada's Great White North. It is a delectable brew, with the light scent of polar bear, and a flavour reminiscent of the finest narwhal muktaaq. Some believe that the secret behind this magnificent tea is the caribou manure used to fertilize the young plants.

Those who enjoy the Yukon Oolong also favour the Pangnirtung Pekoe.

[snafu]

The tea industry of the post-global-warming age?

[teaguru]

The tea industry of the post-global-warming age?

Oh yes! All that melted glacier water and fresh arctic tea would make a fabulous cup!

[gingkoseto]

I like the way you guys describe the yukon oolong!

I heard a lot about mails to Canada too. My friends told me worse than the duty is, once a package is charged for duty, the "handling fee" is also charged, which is usually bigger cost than the duty itself. So they charge you money for the labor they have to take charging you money

[chamekke]

I like the way you guys describe the yukon oolong!

I heard a lot about mails to Canada too. My friends told me worse than the duty is, once a package is charged for duty, the "handling fee" is also charged, which is usually bigger cost than the duty itself. So they charge you money for the labor they have to take charging you money

That's only the case if an item is shipped via UPS. United Parcel Service has what they call "cross-border brokerage charges", and they are obscenely high. I could tell you some horror stories, but it sounds as though you've already heard some from your friends

Canada Post, on the other hand, charges a flat $5 processing fee on behalf of Customs, along with whatever taxes (usually nominal) are due. That's it.

Which is why I always ask for items to be sent via USPS and not UPS... and if a vendor will ship only via UPS, they lose me as a customer.

[teaguru]

That's only the case if an item is shipped via UPS. United Parcel Service has what they call "cross-border brokerage charges", and they are obscenely high. I could tell you some horror stories, but it sounds as though you've already heard some from your friends

Our company avoids UPS like the plague. Not only do they charge horrendous fees, but they’re also notoriously unreliable. Apparently they’ve lost many of our (very expensive) shipments. We now use FedEx for the vast majority of our shipments.

Shipping is pretty much what I do day in and day out everyday at work, whether it’s shipping within Canada, to the US, or internationally. And in my experience, if you’re doing a personal shipment (not shipping something business related) FedEx is the way to go if you want to get it there lightening quick and aren’t afraid to spend the big bucks, but otherwise stick with USPS or Canada Post. Both USPS and Canada Post are slow, but they’re dependable. They won’t lose your shipment, and it’s quite possible it’ll arrive in one piece too! Of course you may have to weight a week or three to get it. >_>

[gingkoseto]

That's only the case if an item is shipped via UPS. United Parcel Service has what they call "cross-border brokerage charges", and they are obscenely high. I could tell you some horror stories, but it sounds as though you've already heard some from your friends

Canada Post, on the other hand, charges a flat $5 processing fee on behalf of Customs, along with whatever taxes (usually nominal) are due. That's it.

Which is why I always ask for items to be sent via USPS and not UPS... and if a vendor will ship only via UPS, they lose me as a customer.

Ah! That's something important to keep in mind! Thanks!

Fedex mails get taxed too. Once my husband sent some used photography equipment to a friend in Canada, and both of them were charged duty + handling fee, my husband on US side charged by Fedex. It's still in appealing process now and I have no idea when it can be sorted out.

Well, I just read some other post about US custom breaking tea packages to search around. Being charged big money, or having tea damaged by custom, I can't tell which is worse!

[chamekke]

Depends what you mean by duty. Items coming into Canada are taxable, and so you may have to pay both GST (federal goods and services tax) and PST (provincial sales tax). We'd have to pay that on items purchased here at home, so I can't get too outraged about it. Actual duty is fairly rare - in fact, the only time I can remember paying duty per se was when I imported a fairly expensive Buddha statue from Nepal.

So, while I'm never very happy to pay surcharges, I can't get too upset about paying applicable taxes plus Canada Post's quite moderate $5 processing fee. I have no experience of FedEx, but surely no one can be worse than UPS and its notorious cross-border brokerage charge, a.k.a. "if you ever want to see your purchase, be prepared to pay more in fees to us than you actually paid for the item itself".

I also second teaguru's comment about UPS parcels going astray. I once spent a fascinating two weeks tracking, online, a parcel that was shipped to me from California. The box ran up and down the western seaboard three or four times (including an attempt to deliver to a "dead address" in Alaska - I guess they were hoping to find British Columbia there), with periodic revisits to the Minneapolis hub, before finally making its now rather bruised way to my door. Never again...

[ryux]

You tried to import a Buddha statue? ahaha that's pretty funny. I never met anyone else who tried to do that before.

I thought duty meant just GST and PST but I guess not. Personally, I'd rather pay fee and get my stuff (whether it's tea, chocolate, etc) rather than have it opened and "tested".

Other than slowness of USPS and Canada Post, I've never had problems with them (items always came and never damaged). I've had over 100 things shipped (mostly tea and chocolates from La Maison du Chocolat/Richarts) costing anywhere from $10-$200 and never had to pay tax or had it opened up by custom. I am so lucky!


I've heard many horror stories of DHL and UPS before and thankfully I've never had to use their services. I'd love to use Fedex all the time if I had the $$$$.