Canadian Customs

[FEZaid]

I also never got hit, I have ordered many times from BBTS, Amazon, HLJ, Ebay, and most recently Amiami.

[3rdStryk3]

If you shipped it through US Postal Service it's HST + $10 customs service charge (basically, what CBSA charges for inspecting your package). There is no "duty". Also, if it's declared as a gift, it is exempt if under $50. However, depending who is working they may let it through with out charging anything if it's over $50. You never know.

If it's through a courier (eg., UPS, Fedex), it is much higher. They're different for each company but it's basically the HST and whatever they want for brokerage (which is basically nothing but a scam).

[Darth Cylon]

I buy a lot things online from oversea. It depends on not only the value but also the shipping servies. In my personal experience, I've never been dinged for anything under $100 Cdn value.

Most of my toys orders from HLJ/Amiami never got dinged when shipped with SAL from Japan. The only time I got dinged by Custom for duty and Canada Post for "Handling Fee" was for MP-13, only because the declared value was higher.

When I buy clothes online, if the orders are under $100 CDN and shipped with regular postal service, I usually get away with duty. But if the sellers ship with courier like DHL/Fedex, then I usually got dinged. But the items' values are usually higher as well. But since I bought them at 50% off, they are still cheaper than buying in Canada...

I think it's just totally random, but fingers crossed.

[grumble22]

I'm currently 2/2 for not getting dinged. Guess I'm just lucky? One of the orders was over 100$ to. I'm in a more rural area in southern ontario, not sure if that could make any kind of difference.

[deagle7000]

Originally Posted by chroma23

one time i tried buying stuff from toyarena and asked them to declare as gift, still got dinged for taxes and fees. same thing with bbts

i think if customs sees that the sender puts on a formal shipping label like businesses do, or have a sender's address that appears like a business, they will charge you taxes and fees regardless

The tax exempt limit on a "gift" is $50. I've gotten a lot of packages from the US and Asia that were marked as $100 or more and never had to pay taxes on it. Not sure how they decide what is worth their time and what is not as most weren't marked as gifts. Only package I ever got hit on was a $50 Deadpool set from SDCC.

Originally Posted by 3rdStryk3

If you shipped it through US Postal Service it's HST + $10 customs service charge (basically, what CBSA charges for inspecting your package). There is no "duty". Also, if it's declared as a gift, it is exempt if under $50. However, depending who is working they may let it through with out charging anything if it's over $50. You never know.

If it's through a courier (eg., UPS, Fedex), it is much higher. They're different for each company but it's basically the HST and whatever they want for brokerage (which is basically nothing but a scam).

If you know the tricks you can avoid brokerage fees every time. You can "self-clear" your package with customs but it takes a couple of extra steps. I don't mind the $10 Canada Post charges but UPS and FedEx fees are out of control.

[Window]

UPS fees are 5$ compared to the 10$ canadapost charges....

[cybertronianbeast]

Originally Posted by chroma23

you didnt tell us your total value of the goods so i cant estimate the breakdown of the fees

My total BBTS order came to $232.44

Originally Posted by chroma23

if these costs bother you, consider not purchasing from bbts because their packages are almost guaranteed to be charged tax and customs fees. i stopped shopping from them for years and went for tfsource instead

I use to shop at TFsource exclusively, but they raside their shipping rates, and I switched to BBTS. Now in hindsight, I probably would have paid less from TFsource if their packages weren't flagged for customs fees, but I guess I'll never know.

Originally Posted by Shockwave 75

I've been ordering from BBTS for years and I've never gotten hit by customs fees.

You know they give "foreign" customers the choice to have their package marked as a "gift", right?

I had no idea of this, I will investigate immediately!

Thanks for all your help.

[CKWG]

They usually charge you $10 handling fee, plus 12% of the value declared, if use USPS Priority Mail. So $38 in this case makes sense.

[Bruticus82]

Originally Posted by cybertronianbeast

Is there any truth to the rumour that the Customs laws have changed, and anything deemed a "Children's Toy" is now exempt from customs charges?

I just wanted to jump in and clear this part up.

The following is generally applicable when shipping via couriers, shipping via regular mail is more likely to be completely overlooked by CBSA - they have bigger fish to fry than grandmothers buying porcelain kittens on the internet. That said when your box is stamped as coming from a big retailer, like BBTS, CBSA is more likely to take time to assess the proper amounts.

When you ship things across the border, there are typically three things you will pay:

1. Customs/Duties
2. GST/HST
3. Brokerage fees

The last one depends on the who is acting as your broker and doing the importing (UPS, DHL, etc.). They charge different rates, usually including a flat rate component, and a variable component depending on how much money they had to shell out for you at the border.

The second one is non-negotiable - if you're shipping to a residence, you'll be charged GST/HST (and applicable PST/QST if you're in the provinces that still have it). If the shipment is to a business, however, theoretically according to CBSA guidelines you should only get charged the 5% GST. Although with the HST, I have a feeling CBSA is not being as careful as they used to be with this.

The first one is customs/duties, this depends on the tariff classification, its' a number usually in the format ####.##.##.##. That number identifies what the goods are (toys, video projectors, shoes, etc.) and each tariff classification has different rates of duty, depending on the country of origin, applicable treaties (like NAFTA), etc. Absent any special rules, generally the tariff that applies most frequently is called the "Most Favoured Nation" or MFN rate.

Toys are classified somewhere under 9503.00.10 or 9503.00.90. Either way, the MFN rate is 0% for all of the classifications under those options except for "Wheeled toys designed to be ridden by children (for example, tricycles, scooters, pedal cars); dolls' carriages" which have a rate of 8% duty when imported.

So, if your items are being classified as toys, and you get charged money by customs, always check to see the breakdown of the three components, and most importantly what they classified your toys as, and make sure you agree with them.

[Jove]

Originally Posted by brr-icy

alright, where's the horseshoe? i'm at 100% getting hit

I, too, always get hit with the fees when I (used to) order from BBTS.