There's a lot of Canadians on this forum so I figured some of them must have bought parts from the US from time to time. I want to order some aftermarket armrests for my 931B. I found a pair for $65 on ebay and it mentions $35 shipping to Canada. Is it easiest to set up a Paypal account and order this way or is there better options? I don't want a bunch of surprise charges. The vendor thought the postal service doesn't charge import fee's but ebay does. Hoping someone from Canada can walk me through the best/least expensive way to do this.
I sell a fair bit of small parts into Canada, some on Ebay. Paypal is okay, for a buyer you have more protection I think using a regular credit card, just my opinion. The exchange rate has really slowed down the buying from your side of the border, those $65 armrests will be what, $85 in Loonies?
I know the Canadian dollar isn't the best but I'm sure trying to find armrests in Canada will be a lot more expensive.
How has customs been for you guys shipping across the border. I have a Canadian friend that lives 40 miles from the border. He keeps a U.S. post box at the border town on the U.S.A. side and has made arraignments with folks there to accept delivery of bigger items for him. He says it can save 10 days on shipping if he hauls his purchases across the border instead of his delivery laying around waiting for customs to clear it. Most of his stuff is parts.
I sell a ton of stuff to a company in BC just across the border, they pick up in Sumas Washington at a company called.. wait for it... Ship Happens, all they do is receive parcels and freight headed North, and ship out stuff headed South. Makes it a lot easier for me I can tell you. Typically customs preclears and there's little to no delay, but if there's a holdup on one shipment in a truckload, the whole truckload can be held up for days until it's sorted.
With the current exchange rate buying from USA is not too attractive unless you really need it and can't find a source here. When I do buy from USA I use paypal usually. There is no more "duty" on stuff made in the US but you may have to pay brokerage fees when your stuff crosses the border. This is basically a fee the company charges to pay GST, PST or HST on your behalf, then collect it from you on delivery. Watch the shipping method. For small stuff the US/Canadian post office is the cheapest. Often no brokerage fee is charged. On bigger stuff watch out for UPS they charge outrageous brokerage fees. Some of the courier companies are more reasonable. For stuff that has to ship motor freight, you will need to create a brokerage account with a customs broker.
How do you think 2 armrests would ship? I'm also wondering if shipping is charged on delivery or paid up front?
Priority mail would probably be best, shipping is always paid up front in my experience.
Do you know if the duty free is in both directions. A few years ago I bought a used wheel for one of my Unimogs in Canada. When they shipped it UPS they put it in a box. Because UPS has the automatic $500 insurance sticker on their label, Customs valued it at the $500 insured value and grabbed my $150 wheel and held it until I sent them $50 duty plus processing fees. Took two more weeks before I got it.
I get a lot of stuff on eBay sent up here from the States. The biggest thing is NEVER use UPS. They charge a horrific fee to broker items crossing the border that no one else charges. The UPS broker fee is usually equal to the value of the item. USPS works about the best. No extra fees and no hassles. It's very hit & miss at our end when your package arrives. At most you'll be asked to pay the GST/PST on the item. 9 times out of 10 you won't even be asked for that.
Thanks, I'm in Edmonton so I'll get it sent USPS.