Buying in US shipping to Canada without paying duty and tax

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ivivi

ivivi

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Dec 3, 2008
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#1
Hi everyone

I live in Canada but the stocks in here can't compare with US also the price here is much expensive than US. So I want to order some stuff from US and ask them to sent to me but I am afraid that I have to pay the duty and tax. Has anyone order in the US and ship to Canada without charging duty and tax pls share your experience.

Thank you ladies
 
#3
If you live near the border you are better off getting a post office box at the UPS store and getting your purchases sent there. If you claim the items when you come back you only pay the 13% sales tax for your province.
 
#5
pellarin22 said:
If you live near the border you are better off getting a post office box at the UPS store and getting your purchases sent there. If you claim the items when you come back you only pay the 13% sales tax for your province.
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Have you done it ? I heard Chanel will not send to PO Boxes....

Plus, the duties are random, Ive never paid any duties before and right before Christmas, I bought an Alexander Wang dress and ended paying almost 200$ duties fee on it. Ouch.
 
#6
Miss Luana said:
Have you done it ? I heard Chanel will not send to PO Boxes....

Plus, the duties are random, Ive never paid any duties before and right before Christmas, I bought an Alexander Wang dress and ended paying almost 200$ duties fee on it. Ouch.
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Wah!! That's a lot. Did u ask the store send to u.
 
#7
pellarin22 said:
If you live near the border you are better off getting a post office box at the UPS store and getting your purchases sent there. If you claim the items when you come back you only pay the 13% sales tax for your province.
Click to expand...

Well I used to do that but now I have small baby, she is just too small for long drive. Otherwise my hb will be mad.
 
#8
Yes your right, Chanel will not ship to PO BOX addesses. I can tell you pesonally from experience, I already bought 5 Chanel bags from the US. The first two Chanel purchases was not worth it. Well I love my bags but I had to pay a little over $500 for duties and taxes each!!! I was not happy! I got the bag on sale and in the end it didn't turn out to be a discount. Anyway I found SA from the boutique who shipped my purchases declaring below value so I paid very cheap duties and taxes, about 40-50 dollars. That's dirt cheap compared to hundeds.
Hope I don't get in trouble for saying that, or get the SA in trouble. I know a lot of ppl thinks that shouldn't be done but I find its the same thing as ppl trying to getting around paying the taxes.

Paying about 500$ on a 2g bag hurts! Imagine the duties and taxes on the recent price increase! Ouchhhh!

I hope that helps! Sorry for the long post. And I don't mean to offend anyone, just trying to help a tpfer!
 
#9
Thank you "coco pasion". I have thought of that but not everyone willing do that. U r so lucky that your SA willing to do that. $500 for duty and tax is just way too much. Anyway thank you for sharing your experience with us and I am sure tpfers will not getting those lovely SA into trouble
 
#11
Also too that if you package gets opened by customs and see the price tag of the purse and it does not match the value - you can get in trouble as well. I know none of the SA's won't do this in Vegas - lie about the value - it's just too much high risk for them.
 
#12
There's no way to avoid duty & tax if you purchased directly from the boutique or dept. stores. SA has to list the value of the item, plus the package will be sent through the company - Fedex or UPS will automatically charge the duty & tax on behalf of Cdn Custom.

If you go on to the Canada Border Services Agency (http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/) - under publications - Customs Tariff, you will find out how much duty will be charged based on where the product is made in & what kind of material the product is made of.
i.e. Chanel bags are all made in France or Italy, thus duty will be charged for sure.
Wallets will be 8.5% & bags will be 11% based on the value of the item

After the duty, you will have to pay additional GST&PST or HST.

The only way to avoid duty & tax is only if you get to travel to the US for over 7 days.
i.e. My family of 4 spent 10 days in the US & we in total have $3000 exemption ($750x4). & I purchased a $3000 Chanel bag & no duty & tax was charged. However, we drove back (not flying), thus the custom officers are less picky than those from the airport. Usually, $750 exemption is only for purchased made by each person.

Another way to avoid duty & taxes is having a non-Canadian friend to visit you & bring the bag for you. I tried once but it's too troublesome as it went through so many people & took so long to get my package.

If you are not buying directly from boutique or dept. stores, then you can try asking to lower the value. But I won't suggest that as you'll lose the insurance coverage in case the package is missing. Also, open box by Cdn custom is very common too! Even with USPS.

Sometimes, if you can get the one you love here in Canada, you better off to buy local. Unless they don't carry the one you really want, then nor matter what price you may gonna get to pay the one you love! Good Luck!
 
#13
Also, does the province you live has any boutique (Vancouver/Toronto)? If no, you may get to benefit with paying just the GST (5%) + shipping. However, this will only good until HST comes in. Only the boutique does this, not HRs.
 
#15
Yes you have to risk the lost of insurance coverage on the purchase. I got my bags before the price increased so it was worth it then. But now it wouldn't be much cheaper if you got it in the US. Especially with the shipping and taxes/duties that still needs to be paid. The other thing is if you want to return the bag it will not be cheaper in the end. I think that the price in Canada and US is not much different now with all that in consideration. Its just that we have very limited stocks.
And with first Chanel purchases I highly recommend visiting Chanel boutique personally, it should be an experience you get personally.
 
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