Canada / U.S. Relations

[Buddy Sanders]

Just as an aside,

What happened to the 'free' trade agreement?

I thought the 'purpose' was to allow the free transfer of goods and services?

There shouldn't be any 'duty', 'fees', or such, right?

In any event, I hope you get your rod at a decent price. I'd think that if you contacted a Canadian retailer, they might match the cost?

Good luck!

Buddy

[Eric D]

Sending commercial items across borders can be a hassle. Customs documents and brokerage fees can add up especially for a small retailer. I work for a mailing & shipping company that ships mail to Canada. We do a ton of customs paperwork to get material into Canada.

[Gringo]

Being "Down Under" I buy a lot of my gear from overseas and also trade a bit with eBay.

Occasionally somebody will "decline" to send something overseas even if all charges are prepaid, usually on the explanation that it is too time consuming to have to queue up to do a customs dec etc. Now I do them all the time, yet hey, it's their call so I guess I understand it.

Don't agree though. One seller once wanted to charge me an extra $15 to stand in the queue and post the stuff to Oz, and I agreed, but they still pulled out of the deal.

[Gnu Bee Flyer]

LF A guy wouldn't ship from Montana to Washington State that is just too funny. Its not as if the Mason dixon line goes thru Idaho.

[J Castwell]

ya got it reversed,,, they wouldn't ship from WA to MT.

[Fishmate]

I am a Canadian too and over the years have bought a lot of things from catalogues and over the Internet from the US. It seems to me to be a recurring frustration that the best deals that I read about aren't available to Canadians as those vendors won't ship to the Canada!!
I do have some words of advice to Canadians considering purchases from US sources. DO NOT EVER HAVE SOMETHING SENT TO YOU BY FEDEX. That company charges exorbitant brokerage and other fees that can amount to more than the cost of the item that you are purchasing. Have things sent by USPS which is in some way harmonized with Canada Post and can save you a lot of money and aggravation. For some reason if you have the item sent USPS air it is often not assessed for GST or PST (our wonderful Canadian taxes)which can again make for considerable savings. I recently purchased a pair of Patagonia breathable waders on sale in the US and they were posted via USPS air and with no additional taxes. I saved a bundle on that transaction, and I sent a thankyou via email to the vendor.

[Gigmaster]

As Jamie pointed out, the form for customs takes less than 2 minutes to fill out. The only other hassel is the delay in shipping by 1 or 2 weeks to clear customs. Items are always paid for before they are shipped so there is no risk. Last year I sold a rod on Ebay to a guy in Scotland. He emailed me to see if it was all right to bid. I told him if he would pay the shipping charge and be willing to wait it was no problem. He was the high bidder and we were both happy. I could not imagine turning away a customer because of shipping.

It takes 2 minutes on YOUR side of the border. On our side it a whole 'nother ball game.

Crossing the border into Canada is a very pleasant experience. Your Border people are so nice and courteous. But comming back into the US is a pain. Surly, threatening Border personnel, intimidating postures, harsh words... We charge money for people to come back into thier own country. They will most likely search your car. If you are lucky, maybe you won't get the rubber-glove treatment.

Shipping works the same way.

Do businesses in the USA understand that the U.S Postal Service will pickup their packages for free, as long as they are addressed, and have postage affixed.

If it is going outside the USA, all they have to do is fill out and affix the proper custom form.

IMM (International Mail Manuel) is very easy to understand, and a Window Clerk,or Customer Service Representative, can answer any question.

I think some businesses are just unaware of resources available, to realize they are turning down sales by their attitude.

[salmonguy]

Hi Everyone,

I am from Canada and I find that you will come across people who will not ship things to Canada, not sure why? I asked a guy on E-Bay one time if he would consider shipping a wading jacket to Canada, on the listing it had to US only, his reply was $40.00. When I said I was not shipping to the North Pole he sent me a dirty E-Mail. The jacket ended up going for a really cheap price. If I would of bid the price would have gone higher and the owner would have made more money on the deal. Just don't understand why someone would not want to make more money on the item they are selling. I purchase a lot of things of E-Bay because I can't get what I want locally. I also find that the USPS is a great way to ship stuff. I have bought a fly rod out of California and I've bought a fly line from New Hampshire and both were received in just a week and no extra charges. I have also bought items that get delayed because of customs and you usually know this when the delivery time is a little longer then norminal, but usually the custom charges are minimal, a few bucks. The only thing I ever got caught on was on a cheap pair of waders I bought as a backup and the person would only ship by UPS. It took over 2 weeks to get the item and when they delivered them it cost me twice what I paid for the waders in Import and Custom fees. So the moral to this story is never again will I use UPS.

My 2 cents worth,
Alan (salmonguy)

[PMD]

Shipping items to Canada has become a major hassle, leading to extra time and expense for the shipper. The excessive paperwork required in triplicate to clear customs makes the transaction so difficult that we have been forced to completely change the way our firm's products are shipped to Canada. It literally takes the office staff a good hour to get the documents in order for one shipment; documentation for six or eight shipments to domestic destinations can be prepared in the same amount of time. Consequently, we no longer ship small orders direct to our Canadian distributors. Most of them have set up a US destination point with a customs clearing house to receive smaller shipments. I can understand a small business not wanting to get involved in that beaurocratic nightmare. The NAFTA agreement eliminated much of the import duties imposed on goods transferred between the countries, but other paperwork requirements enacted serve to deter the development of further business. Most folks assume that the NAFTA agreement would make transfer of goods and services between the US and Canada as simple as it is between states in the US, but that's not the way in worked out! If you talk to one of the clearing house offices in Halifax you may find they have a US receiving address in Boston that the shop in Connecticut can send it to. The customs house can then send it on to you. It may cost you $25-$50 for this service, but with the extra discount available it might be worth it!