I would like to learn a little more about ordering parts from U.S. companies. They seem to have some wicked deals, but I am worried about the duty that is charged at the border. In the end it it really worth it?

Make sure you get things shipped via USPS, Canada Post will take over the shipping at the border and you pay a flat fee of $5. We will normally be charge PST and GST and maybe Duty. At times you may luck out and only get the $5 fee. Do not use UPS, FedEx or Purolator, any courier willl charge you outrageous brokerage fees that will limit the true value of the deal you are looking to get.

AMEN to that.

Don't ship UPS for sure. From experience they charge you a 30 dollar broker fee to get stuff over the border. A total scam, and definitely sucks when you only ordered a 5 dollar part! There is a class action lawsuit against UPS in B.C. over the way they're doing business with this broker fee.

I forget which online U.S. retailer it was, but to ship a $10 chain to Canada via UPS it costs $23.

I would like to order a set of wheels from the states. Has anyone had them shipped by USPS? Can you trust it for something like wheels? Are there any customs issues through private sales compared to a Fed Ex?

It doesn't matter if you buy from a shop or a private individual, you still will have to pay brokerage fees if you use UPS/FedEx. Like I said in my prior post USPS is the way to go when getting things across the border. Getting wheels ship is something I have no experience with. I've always bought my wheelsets at local shops. I never felt comfortable getting that shipped, but I'm sure it would be the same as with any part.

If you can, get the person shipping it to send it as a 'gift'. You won't pay brokerage fees or taxes as long as the item has a declared value of less than $60, I believe. Some smaller retailers might do this for you, but bigger online shops..forget about it.

-Erik

Agreed. Ship USPS/Canada Post. UPS and others will ding you good on a brokerage free.

UPS is a total scam.

My parents shipped my law degree and my bar admission certificate up to me from the states (my dad's an interior designer and had it framed for me as a graduation gift). On the customs declaration, he wrote "diplomas." UPS shows up at my door forever and a week after my dad sent it and the delivery dude says "there's cash due on this - $45." My response: "but it's my diploma and my dad already paid a fortune to send this with your company." The delivery guy says sorry, but you have to pay. It's a brokerage fee. I'm thinking, WTF do I care what it is, I'm not paying to get my own stuff from you.

So I told him to get off my property. I then called UPS and asked how in the world they could construe duty being due on something of mine that my parents literally took down off a wall in my familial home and sent to me at my new residence. UPS' response? "Well, how were we supposed to know you weren't ordering 'diplomas' for a graduation ceremony at your school? Duty would be due on that purchase." It got ugly at that point, and both the UPS rep and I said things we probably shouldn't have. In the end, they redelivered my stuff and ate the brokerage fee...probably just to get me to leave them alone.

ANYWAY, moral of the story is avoid UPS like the plague.

Agreed. UPS is a complete scam, and FedEx is no better. However, it's hard to find retailers that ship USPS (Pricepoint, Nashbar, Performancebike, JensonUSA do not). Anybody know of an online retailer who does use USPS/CanadaPost?

Fed Ex ships two ways. If you ship Fed EX International, you will pay an upfront shipping charge that covers brokerage fees at the border. You will still have to pay GST PST and duty. Less surprises after your parts have arrived, but still not cheap.
USPS/Can Post is still the best option if you want to order on line.
My opinion is that unless you can't get stuff here in Canada at a local store, it isn't worth buying online.

I have an address across the border in Watertown. I have everything shipped there, bicycles and sports suppliments. Since I'm in Kingston it's not much of a hassel. I made the mistake of having a book shipped via UPS. I had to pay a $45 fee. Never again.

I think Nashbar may have changed on this, as Canada Mail is one of their shipping options. What would be nice, is if a company like Nashbar started using a customs logistics company.

Here is what happens, they have say 40 orders on a given day for Canada, they package it up, with the eventual delivery labels and bills of lading (or waybills attached), copies for customs are removed, or a manifest is printed, detailing the descriptions and values for customs purposes. It's then palletized and placed in a special truck, container or trailer (I'll use container to refer to all three). This would go to a customs logistics company, which either sends the container on or cross-docks the pallets to another container destined for customs, the idea is that the entire container is processed as a single unit for customs purposes, so only one brokerage needs to be done (customs uses the manifest to determine customs and duties, if any). The container then crosses the border, where it is delivered to the delivery carrier, who unloads the container, breaks down the pallets, and sends the items through their normal delivery system to be delivered to the final customer. Of the major couriers, UPS, FedEx and Purolator all offer this service, and sometimes it's not that expensive. In fact some carriers, who offer the service, might use it as an incentive to get extra business. I am actually surprised that their FedEx sales person hasn't tried it.....

Nashbar ships by USPS and JensonUSA ships by UPS Worldwide Express which include the brokerage fee, thus the higher rate, you still have to pay for tax though

https://www.ups.com/content/ca/en/shi...clearance.html

UPS and Fedex are total scams.

I once had a shipment from the US via UPS and I had some COD charges (read brokerage fees). I had enough money lying around to pay exact change in chash. Three months later, I got a letter from a collection agency for some unknown charge. I called the collection agency and they wouldn't tell me what the charge was for unless I surrendered personal information. When I called UPS, I asked why they wouldn't send a bill to me before sending to colleciton. Well, they didn't have an answer for that.
They eventually told me what the charge was for and I told them that I paid the fee by cash. In the end, I lost and had to pay UPS since I had no proof that I had paid the bill already. It was obvious to me that that the courier had pocketed the cash and didn't report that I paid the fee. -+It was either that or get a black mark on my credit rating.

With Fedex once, I had a package delivered with no COD fees at all. Two months later, I received a bill for duty and brokerage fees that I didn't think I had to pay. When I phoned them, they told me that they don't charge COD fees with the type of service I received and would be subsequently billed for them. The item I bought cost about $60 CAD and had to pay $45 in brokerage/duty fees after the fact. The worst part is the item was very light and fit in a box smaller than a kleenex box.

Bottom line, only order from a company that uses USPS. I don't deviate from that.

^^ very true. I only ordered using Fed-ex once. The parts arrived less than one week later at my door. Nothing was said. Then a nice THICK bill arrived from them outlining the 'work' they did to get the parts across the border. The bill was for approx $90. This was for about a $140 US order

USPS or nothing. I'd sooner support my (sometimes) overpriced LBS than Fed-ex.

Really....
Assos F-13 S2 bib shorts;
$329+tax at LaBicletta in Toronto
$220 to my more door shipped via USPS/Can Post (includes all shipping/duty/gst/pst/brokerage fees.

4 Michelin Krylion Carbon road tires
$75 each ($300 total) at any LBS around here
$130 total to my more door shipped via USPS/Can Post (includes all shipping/duty/gst/pst/brokerage fees.

Buying stuff online is the way to go if you don't mind waiting...I'm sorry, but I can not spend $300 on tires when I can get them online for $130...I try and support the LBS's as best I can, but at times online just makes way more sense to my finances...

In the last 6 weeks I have probably saved close to $750 by buying things online...That is money I can then spend at the LBS...

any idea how to estimate the duty that is charged?

I have ordering things on ebay for about 3 years now and have yet to be charged any duty on anything....

thanks for the follow up. I am probably worrying needlessly, but I've been afraid to order much of anything online. Maybe I'll just start with something small and see how it goes.