Best way to ship keyboards from USA -> Canada

[metalliqaz]

I just got quotes for shipping a keyboard to Canada, and USPS, UPS, FedEx were all pretty close in price, with USPS being 4 bucks more than the other two.  However, I've read online that actually USPS is cheapest because it doesn't incur fees.

Declared value is $120.  Any GH'ers with experience, please let me know.  Thanks!

[Zeal]

USPS First Class will track all the way to delivery into Canada, as long as it's not being sent as "lettermail". High chances the parcel isn't going to incur any additional taxes upon delivery.

All other couriers will charge a ~$10-20 COD+brokerage fee if you sent the same parcel, plus applicable taxes (5%-15%, depending on province) ontop of the declared value exchanged into CAD.

ie: shipping via FedEx
$120 USD = $154 CAD, per today's rate.
Assuming it's a keyboard, and not parts, being sent to BC.
0% duty is applied for computer keyboards.
5% + 7% federal and provincial taxes are applied, as a keyboard is not parts.
$154*0.05=$7.77
$154*0.07=$10.78
FedEx charges a $10 "ROD fee",
5% GST on the $10 = $0.50

Total payable at door to accept package: $29.05CAD

The above is assuming air shipment. Ground shipments usually incur a higher brokerage fee as there's an eco fee tacked on and other charges. I don't import via ground, so not much experience there. UPS usually has higher fees than FedEx.

[metalliqaz]

USPS First Class will track all the way to delivery into Canada, as long as it's not being sent as "lettermail". High chances the parcel isn't going to incur any additional taxes upon delivery.

All other couriers will charge a ~$10-20 COD+brokerage fee if you sent the same parcel, plus applicable taxes (5%-15%, depending on province) ontop of the declared value exchanged into CAD.

ie: shipping via FedEx
$120 USD = $154 CAD, per today's rate.
Assuming it's a keyboard, and not parts, being sent to BC.
0% duty is applied for computer keyboards.
5% + 7% federal and provincial taxes are applied, as a keyboard is not parts.
$154*0.05=$7.77
$154*0.07=$10.78
FedEx charges a $10 "ROD fee",
5% GST on the $10 = $0.50

Total payable at door to accept package: $29.05CAD

The above is assuming air shipment. Ground shipments usually incur a higher brokerage fee as there's an eco fee tacked on and other charges. I don't import via ground, so not much experience there. UPS usually has higher fees than FedEx.

Very informative, thank you!  I will ship USPS

[Halverson]

 As a Canadian, always usps option even if it costs a bit more for me. And if possible, I try to keep declaration under $100.

It’s such a terrible feeling paying a “handling” fee to couriers.

[metalliqaz]

As a Canadian, always usps option even if it costs a bit more for me. And if possible, I try to keep declaration under $100.

It’s such a terrible feeling paying a “handling” fee to couriers.

So, a declared value of $120 would have additional fees over a declared value of $100?

[Zeal]

As a Canadian, always usps option even if it costs a bit more for me. And if possible, I try to keep declaration under $100.

It’s such a terrible feeling paying a “handling” fee to couriers.

So, a declared value of $120 would have additional fees over a declared value of $100?

When shipped via USPS, items that are transferred over the border for processing are randomly selected by the Canadian Border Service Agency (CBSA) to collect tax/duties/handling fees. They tend to pick high price tag items and boxes with logos on the tape/box. A $120 item will obviously be assessed more tax than a $100 item. It's mostly random whether an item will have additional taxes collected at the door or not as the agents don't have time to scrutinize each box that comes in.

With couriers, all items delivered from outside of Canada will always be assessed duties and tax when the item has a value over $20CAD.

[metalliqaz]

Thanks my Canadian dudes

Sent from my HTC6545LVW using Tapatalk

[Halverson]

As a Canadian, always usps option even if it costs a bit more for me. And if possible, I try to keep declaration under $100.

It’s such a terrible feeling paying a “handling” fee to couriers.

So, a declared value of $120 would have additional fees over a declared value of $100?

When shipped via USPS, items that are transferred over the border for processing are randomly selected by the Canadian Border Service Agency (CBSA) to collect tax/duties/handling fees. They tend to pick high price tag items and boxes with logos on the tape/box. A $120 item will obviously be assessed more tax than a $100 item. It's mostly random whether an item will have additional taxes collected at the door or not as the agents don't have time to scrutinize each box that comes in.

With couriers, all items delivered from outside of Canada will always be assessed duties and tax when the item has a value over $20CAD.

Zeal is correct. The reason I said $100 is that I find over $100 I tend to get custom fees more than things under. The higher the value the more likely you’ll pay fees I believe.