[Jason]

Can someone help explain to me what is all involved with purchasing parts from out of country (Buying in USA from Canada). Do you pay the current exchange rate? What kind of tariffs to you pay? How about taxes? Additional shipping costs? :blink:
I am trying to order some skid plates and a cherry bomb, take a look at this email from the company I'm trying to order from.

"Jason

With the shipping cost then you have 2 choices. You can either ship UPS
or USPS. The cost of only the shipping alone is:
USP $61.82
USPS $74.55

This would include the shipping for the a-arm guards, the skid plate,
the cherry bomb and the swing arm armor. I was able to find the swing
arm armor and so the shipping went up just a bit with adding this to the
order.

The cost of the order before shipping is $350.88 so you would just
choose which shipping method you would like and combine the two amounts.
I do not a way to change this to Canadian currency, I only know American
currency.

As for any additional fees then the shipping company and your country do
charge fees to ship to you, I am not able to tell you what these fees
would be. I am sure that you would be charged also the current exchange
rate.

For Canada orders you either have to email us the order information or
call in this information. I hope this makes more sense and please let me
know if there is anything else at this time."

So is the shipping cost what they listed or is it more? :huh:

Thanks for the help

 

[AJW]

Hi there.

First off, I don't understand what the problem is about exchange rates. Any price quoted from an american business is in american dollars. Most likely you're paying with a credit card. Simply give him your number and you'll automatically be charged in American dollars at that days exchange rate. (Our dollar is worth a lot right now so I would recommend buying everything from the US). In short, just pay like you would any other ordered purchase.

As far as what he is talking about the order information for canadian orders???? The only information he should need is what you're ordering, a credit card number and an address to send it to. Simple. Also tell him to send it UPS. I've never had any issues getting stuff from the US through them.

The only other fees you'll have to pay besides the shipping costs (which will be in american dollars) will be the brokerage fee. This will range from $20 - $50 dollars and I'm not really sure how they calculate it.

I got sand tires from california worth $250US and the fee was $20CAN, I ordered a $100US seat cover from IL or something and brokerage was $50CAN. Maybe how far away it's from has something to do with it. I don't know. Brokerage payment is required upon delivery so have some money in the house.

In short, getting stuff from the US right now is the way to go. Our dollar is high and their prices are low. I paid $194US in shipping to get my sand tires to Edmonton, AB from CA in 2 days and the total cost was STILL over $100CAN cheaper than I could get the tire/rim combo for locally (which they had to order in and would take weeks). It's really no different than getting stuff from within canada. You just have to pay a brokerage fee.

Sounds like the guy you're dealing with is kinda dumb too. If he's got any questions just tell him to talk directly to UPS about international shipping.

 

[Jason]

Is the brokerage fee sort of like a tariff charged by the government or is it a fee from the shipping company. Also, I have heard that you can avoid government fees/tariffs by shipping the item as a gift. I was told this by a friend when he ordered a pipe for my old Lt250r. The guy I'm dealing with is just confusing the hell out of me, I really don't know if he knows what he is talking about.

Thanks for the write up AJW.

 

[Wally]

ok I know it really is confusing the first time you order something from the states. I am from Ontario, Canada, and have been buying all my stuff my the states, for ALL my quads. Almost 100% of the time it is cheaper than buying it from Canada. I baught a set of brand new AC propegs for my ltr about a week ago. I had to pay the 209$(the price is US dollars on their site) and then you do the canadian exchange rate, which is the price of the product in US dollars X 1.15(approx.) when the nerfs got to my door(about 5 days from Cali) the UPS guy said that I owed him 65$. Im not really sure on how the calculate that price, but Im pretty sure its AROUND 30% of the price of the item your buying. If the guy your buying all those skids from is confusing you, I would just say screw him, and go to www.goldenwestcycle.com, order all your shit from him, he is AWESOME! very fast shipping and will tell you everything on the phone. Ok well if you have any more questions, just PM me because I have had quite a bit of experience with shipping to Canada.

 

[AJW]

As far as the gift thing is concerned, I used to think that it had some bearing on what duties were charged but I haven't been doing that. The brokerage fee is not charged by the shipping company, it's charged by the Canadian customs for the package crossing the border. You will have to pay the UPS guy the brokerage fees though.

And yes, the guy you're dealing with sounds like he has no idea what he's talking about.

 

[Dr.Gixxer]

If you are buying from the USA always get your stuff shipped via USPS....NOT UPS!!!! UPS is a scam when it comes to shipping across the border. The worst the USPS charges and it isn't really them it is Canada Post and they charge you $5 Brokerage and GST. Sometimes it may cost a little more to ship USPS to get a tracking # but you will not get nailed with the BS Brokerage that UPS charges. I have also had stuff shipped via FEDEX and Purolator and both of them also screw you around with Brokerage pretty much the same as UPS but not quite as bad.

 

[AL Elks]

You dan thank NAFTA for all of this!

 

[AJW]

If you are buying from the USA always get your stuff shipped via USPS....NOT UPS!!!! UPS is a scam when it comes to shipping across the border. The worst the USPS charges and it isn't really them it is Canada Post and they charge you $5 Brokerage and GST. Sometimes it may cost a little more to ship USPS to get a tracking # but you will not get nailed with the BS Brokerage that UPS charges. I have also had stuff shipped via FEDEX and Purolator and both of them also screw you around with Brokerage pretty much the same as UPS but not quite as bad.[/b]

Isn't brokerage a canadian customs processing fee? I don't think it's additional charges by the shipping company. Unless they add a percentage to the fee and rape the customer (that wouldn't surprise me).

 

[Dr.Gixxer]

Isn't brokerage a canadian customs processing fee? I don't think it's additional charges by the shipping company. Unless they add a percentage to the fee and rape the customer (that wouldn't surprise me).
[/b]

When I ship via USPS to here it comes to me via Canada Post which is also government and all I get charged is $5 Brokerage and tax of 6%.

When I get it shipped UPS there is never less then a $40 bill waiting for me when I pick up the package.