Shipping used bicycle parts to Canada
 

I didn't know where else to post this question, so I'm just going to stick it here.

Someone from Canada wants to buy some used parts from me. What are the duty/customs/whatever rules that I need to be aware of?

Thanks, and Happy New Year!

Whatever you do, *don't* use UPS to ship from US to Canada.
Believe it or not, I was first warned about this by my local *UPS* Store.
I've read horror stories elsewhere since then.

Yeah, from the US, USPS is the best option, the duties are the same, but Canada Post's fees, are a lot less.

As far as your responsibilities are concerned, just write out the customs declaration accurately, don't try to slide anything by. The actual duties and whatnot are the responsibility of the recipient, unless you choose to use a courier, and state that you are to pay the fees etc.

If it is from the states, and the value is under, I think it's $20, there are no duties.

For brokerage, Canada post/USPS is $8, UPS can be $50.

http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/trade-com...-t2011-eng.pdf
Use the harmonized tariff codes if you can, most bicycle parts are duty free. 8714.91.10.00.

Look around that pdf.

Ok, so there will be an $8 brokerage fee for the buyer. The item in question is a crankset... according to the pdf, there is no tariff (8714.96.00.00). That means shipping for a $45 part will be ~$12 + $8 brokerage. Ouch.

Plus GST, PST or HST tax on declared goods value depending on province. Denote the currency used by you on the commercial invoice, though it doesn't matter much is usd since both dollars are at par.

Which is why, when I lived in Canada, I only bought things from the US when they were significantly less than what I could get them in Canada. By the time you added exchange and shipping and everything ... it often wasn't worth it.

For bicycle parts - it is nearly always worth it...provided you can wait. The distributors, qbp, cycles lambert and norco have the market artificially sealed. You should have seen them howl when MEC annouced a deal with one of THEIR suppliers (raceface).

Just ship it USPS 1st Class International, fill out that customs form at the post office, and declare the value as $20 or something.

The previous replies are accurate. There are duties (probably zero as researched by electrik), sales taxes (HST), and a brokerage charge levied by the carrier to process paperwork, where postal mail is the only reasonable choice.

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MEC is really increasing their offerings of bicycle parts. The Toronto in-store selection is much larger than can be found on the website. I specifically recall seeing a line of MEC-branded bars (both drop and various flats) and threadless stems that are not currently showing on the website.