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I have a question for all of you who have ever shipped to Canada. I have a commission to send and want to know what my best option is for mailing. I’d like to include a tracking number that actually will work. I wasn’t sure if the US Postal Service has a tracking number that will work cross border or not. My options are USPS, UPS or FedEx. I’m exploring my options on cost and ability to use a tracking number, since the forum member I am shipping to has issues with their post or mail getting sent back to the post office, hence the desire to have a tracking number.
Input is greatly appreciated. 🙂 The only time I’ve shipped to CA a package was for the swap, but I don’t recall getting a tracking number.
Use USPS, everyone else charges wayyyyy to much for duty and brokerage fees, like 5 times what USPS charges. It wont affect you but it will the person you are sending too.
ruffian wrote:Use USPS, everyone else charges wayyyyy to much for duty and brokerage fees, like 5 times what USPS charges. It wont affect you but it will the person you are sending too.
actually it could effect her too.. I had one that I sent by fedex to a forum member and no it didn’t cost a lot more to send it to Canada, but the person that got it did not pay the customs duties on it…. ever.. and so fedex billed me for them.. and guess who ended up having to pay them..
yeah.. send it by the post office because if the person doesn’t want to pay the duties.. then they ususally don’t get the package.. or it gets sent back…
even if you can’t track it while it’s enroute… that’s fine you’ll still know whether they got it or not..
ruffian wrote:Use USPS, everyone else charges wayyyyy to much for duty and brokerage fees, like 5 times what USPS charges. It wont affect you but it will the person you are sending too.
Ooooh. VERY good to know. Yeah, I’m already listing the value well below, to try and avoid (or at least lessen) any custom fees.
With that info, I guess my question would be, if the tracking number one gets from USPS would show anything once the item crosses the northern border? :shrug:
No the tracking number would be no good once it crosses the border. I’d get delivery confirmation. Then the person would have to sign to get it.
frozendragon wrote:actually it could effect her too.. I had one that I sent by fedex to a forum member and no it didn’t cost a lot more to send it to Canada, but the person that got it did not pay the customs duties on it…. ever.. and so fedex billed me for them.. and guess who ended up having to pay them..
yeah.. send it by the post office because if the person doesn’t want to pay the duties.. then they ususally don’t get the package.. or it gets sent back…
even if you can’t track it while it’s enroute… that’s fine you’ll still know whether they got it or not..
Thanks for the info Frozen!
Okay I wish I had done this when I tried to send a package across the border. That went so spectacularly to heck in a handbasket I still regret not doing it all myself. (My dad was the one who made the trip to the USPS, not me.) *sigh*
I’ve sent a few up there. I always use USPS. AND if you want to save the other person a little money, you can usually mark it as a “gift” or for the least value it holds. I just sent Medley her wolf, and marked him for the cost of the sculpt and that he was a gift, cuz technically he is… 😉 (Swaps are great! I love them! Although I am out of them for the time being…No Griffs left in the store. :cry:)
The larger customs forms are a pain in the butt, but the little green ones for smaller packages are great! 🙂I didn’t know they could bill you for customs the other party is supposed to pay, thanks for the info Frozen!
Yes, please don’t send things by UPS. They basically hold your package for ransom until you pay their “brokerage fee”. Which always turns out to be at least double what customs would have charged, if they charge at all.
My worse shipping experience was sending something to Canada through UPS, it was marked a gift (and, in fact, was a birthday gift) with a $90 declared value, and customs and brokerage fees tacked on a $55 COD (which I paid because no one should pay for their own birthday gift). Ugh, I feel for you Canadians.
Maybe ask the buyer what method they prefer and tell them the pros and cons of each?
I think that’s insane..
but did you know that the long white form from the post office, if you send it priority mail.. which gets there’s relatively fast, comes with automatic insurance for a certain amount.. so even if you declare a lower value, it’s still covered on insurance..
the person at the post office is supposed to print out a tiny reciept that shows how much.. but they usually don’t because they don’t want you to know about that automatic insurance..
and that works for all international, not just Canada.. I have to send stuff to Spain quite often.. so I’ve had to learn to get around the stuff the post office does… hehe
Honestly, I’ve only had problems with one package sent through USPS, and that was because the guy apparently was out of depth with packages going to Canada :nea: Windstone ships with USPS and we pay duties that are equivalent to the sales taxes. UPS does charge an arm and a leg for their brokerage fee (whatever that is) and we had to pay Fedex one too once, but that was reasonable.
So, I’m saying what everyone else said, really…
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http://www.sarahjestin.com/feedbacklists.htmsiberakh1 wrote:I have a question for all of you who have ever shipped to Canada.
With Priority mail, you can track the customs form number at the USPS website here. The form is supposed to get scanned when leaving the USA, when it clears Customs, and when it gets delivered. This applies to other countries too, but less reliably than with Canada.
If you want to be really sure, though, use Express Mail. That is less likely to go astray, is more likely to be scanned, and carries $100.00 of insurance, not just the free “indemnity” of International Priority mail. However, you can add additional insurance to either.
I’ve used International Priority and International Express to Canada lots of times. I’ve not had anyone complain about excessive fees, but I understand there MAY be a $5.00 (or is it now $8.00?) broker fee added if there is tax due, and that this is more likely to be assessed on Express than Priority.
This is still WAY cheaper than the fees that would definitely be assessed on a package sent by UPS.
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