Originally Posted by
Anothercanuck
If you order online from a US retailer have it shipped to one of the many shipping point shops in Point Roberts such as TSB Shipping. You will get cheaper shipping costs, as Pt. Roberts is considered part of the lower 48, and when you bring your parts across you will be "clearing" the goods yourself and will avoid those charges. Often if your purchase is less than $100 they will wave you through. Drive south as if you're going to the ferries. It's not that far and the traffic and border line-up is not that bad on a Saturday.
Agreed. I used to ship to TSB, but found that the Point Roberts border guards were typically more stringent about sending me in to pay duty (as I suppose the majority of people going down there in a given day are doing the same thing with various PO boxes). I now have a box in Blaine (
www.mbistore.com), and find that the truck crossing & peace arch guards are much more lenient about duty. I've probably only had to pay two or three times in the past 4 years, and I often come back with several hundred dollars' worth of stuff (I declare every penny of it).