How you to determine ahead of time if you'll get hit customs in Canada

[Zeal]

Fun fact for Canadians that are wondering if they'll be dinged customs or not -- I just compared a couple tracking numbers where I was hit with customs, and other big ticket items ($200+) that went by without a sweat.

If your tracking shows:
"International item released from Customs for processing by Canada Post" = You just got hit by customs

If it shows:
"Item was released by Customs and is now with Canada Post for processing" = No customs (You'll usually see this message for Priority Mail)

or

"Item has arrived in Canada and was sent for further processing" --> Item processed = No customs (You'll usually see this for First Class Mail)

And now you know. 

[berserkfan]

You have seriously confused me. The bureaucratese all sounds the same, yet the financial repercussions are very substantial.

[HipsterPunks]

I have shipped alot of stuff to Canada and always mark it $5 gift, am i going to eventually get into any kind of issues doing this?

[Zeal]

You have seriously confused me. The bureaucratese all sounds the same, yet the financial repercussions are very substantial.

Indeed, it does look very similar. But those exact words were the difference between getting dinged customs, and not.

I have shipped alot of stuff to Canada and always mark it $5 gift, am i going to eventually get into any kind of issues doing this?

Honestly, if you're not an incorporated business/shipping hundreds of packages a day, you probably wouldn't get in trouble. Lots of parcels enter Canada everyday, customs just likes to pick on items in the $200+ range (and audio related items). Technically, we're supposed to be taxed for anything over $20CAD, but lots of items still pass through. If you want to be on the "safe" side, $5 "merchandise" will still be fine and all.

When I mentioned big ticketed items ($200+), I meant those were the declared values on the top of the package.