colinpeddle
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 p.2 #5 · Selling a lens $1200 to a member in Canada? | |
Some of you guys are foolish and treat Canadian's like we're the devil. The amount of times I've gotten flat out rude responses from people with the inquiry of "Will you ship this item to Canada" numbers in the hundreds. But I digress...
Here are some things I've learned having a) worked for CanadaPost b) personally gone through the shipping process from the USA to Canada on a number of occasions and c) bought a lot (mostly all) of items on here from USA members with no issue.
1) Get insurance, however you want to do it or put it on your home policy which will cover it during shipping If it's on your home policy or company policy if your photo business is inc. then you may be able to zero value the insurance on item shipping it to Canada when you use USPS, UPS, Fedex, Purolator whatever, doesn't matter. You can also then declare it for zero. Paying tax on a used item is 100% bullshit anyway. If I buy something from someone local on eBay used I don't pay tax like I would if I went to best buy. Anyway...
2) Ask the buyer do they know they're going to pay import tax. If they say "wat?" then do not ship to them as it's not worth the headache. If you ship with Fedex or Purolator and the importer (person you're selling to) declines to pay for the import tax at the door -- which they can -- or pays with a CC at the door and it doesn't approve, after a couple of months Fedex/Purolator put the shipper at responsibility for this cost. USPS/CanadaPost does not do this. It always stays with the importer.
3) Package and label the box clearly. This should apply to all mailings, USA or otherwise, but aside from the CanadaPost/USPS labels I always use arial font and huge font-size to make a 8x10" label for the box. I tape the shit out of it with GOOD packing tape. Make sure the return address is on the box in a couple places. A lot of times I'll use sharpie to mark the return address on the bottom, then tape over it with clear packing tape. Waterproof and scuff proof. Even if the shitty USPS/CP labels come off, it'll still get returned to you.
4) I hear the Canada Post NEVER attempt to deliver Express mail package. Instead they just notify, then their website shows delivery attempt had been made...experienced, twice.
This isn't true. Practices of Canada Posts deliveries can vary from town to town or region to region.
Example 1) In my province, Canada Post will not leave packages on door steps. It happens maybe 1% of the time, but as a regional rule they're not allowed though technically Canada Post allows it. In Calgary however, they do and it's the opposite (or at least used to be as of a year ago). Writing "Please Leave DoorKnocker If Undeliverable" on your package can help, but that's just some inside baseball knowledge and nothing in any CanadaPost manual.
Example 2) I used to live in another city about 15miles from here. This city had door to door parcel and mail delivery. If a package was "out for delivery" it was literally on a truck with a guy going door to door like UPS brown truck dropping off packages to peoples home. As I said above, where I lived if no one was home, they'd leave a door knocker and notification for the parcel to be picked up at the nearest post office. The city where I live now doesn't have this. When parcels come in, they go to my post office about 100 yards from my door step (suburbs) where I have a p.o box. I get my letter mail and also a notification I have a parcel at this facility. No attempt to deliver this parcel will be made to my door at all. It will show up on Canada Posts tracking as "out for deliver" and then "attempted delivery. notice card left indicating where parcel can be picked up". Then I'll sign for it, which is available for online viewing. Then it showed as Item successfully delivered.
Point is, even just 15miles away there's a whole other process for delivering parcels.
5) CanadaPost insurance covers loss only, not damage, so package your shit properly. If you're too afraid to throw your parcel down a set of 5 stairs at a decent roll like a slinky, then you're not ready to ship that package yet. Guys throw stuff to one another and sometimes they don't catch it. :-D
6) The customs valuation you guys on the U.S.A side do has NO impact on you. If you under declare the value of the lens then insure for twice as much, Canadian Border Services Agency (cbsa = customs) do not care. They'll just adjust the value if they see fit and charge the importer accordingly. USA customs do not handle outbound packages and if you're lying on the customs declaration form, no one is coming for you or anyone.
The valuation and the insurance cost CAN be two different values. Consider the replacement cost vs. the paid cost of the item on something such as a rare book. On eBay, the easiest place to replace the book should it be lost, it's worth $200 but you sell it on here and can only get $100 (shipping and pp incl). Now, pp takes their cut, $3.00 and shipping costs you $20.00, so the actual PAID value of the book is $77.00 BUT, if you HAD to replace it, it would likely cost you $200.00. The insured value of the package is $200 and the paid value, ie: the customs delcared value for the Canadian importing it is just $77.00.
Insurance on rare, collectable, valuables, jewelry, etc. is a whole other chapter in the CP manual but that just gives you a rough idea of how the customs declared value can differ from the insured value of the item.
if anyone has any questions let me know. There's a lot of other points but it's been a long day now and I can't think straight!
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