Packing suggestions (was Re: PDP11 Redux, or Behind-The-Scenes Bull)

From: Lawrence Walker <lgwalker_at_mts.net>
Date: Mon Feb 25 02:02:19 2002

 Case in point. I bought some chips on Epay for US$7.50. With shipping
Around US$11. The shipper for whatever reason placed the value as US$50.
 Now usually I am not tagged by customs and it seems hit or miss.
 In this case they charged me CAN$5 handling and 15% on the US
value(approx CAN$80) CAN$12 . I was very aggravated. About double the
price of the merchandise value and shipping. For UPS it's much worse since
they charge a $15 customs handling fee plus PST&GST (15%) and in my
case the closest agent is 60K away unless I want to pay an outrageous drop-
off fee.

 Lawrence
>
> Jerome Fine replies:
>
> Just thought I might add a point or two.
>
> I don't know which customs shaved your cable, but I presume it was
> likely the US customs. I doubt that Canadian customs would be
> interested in a package going to the US, although it might have been
> opened and shaved in Canada - since very often it is more efficient
> to do the inspection at a few central points of origin rather than
> many points of destination. People are pre-cleared into the US
> as well.
>
 I've never heard any comments from people I've shipped to of problems with
US Customs and I've had repeat business from many. With free trade you
wouldn't imagine any import difficulties since Sales tax is collected by state
agencies.

> No comments on US customs since I have never dealt with
> them directly and have not heard any details from anyone to
> whom I sent a package.
>
> On Canadian customs:
>
> (a) While they obviously perform some useful work, they are also
> used as a welfare office. Since most shipments from the US to
> Canada are now duty free, the only tax collected is the GST
> (7% - Federal Goods and Services Tax - and in some provinces
> like Ontario now when the shipment is to a person, also the
> 8% PST or Provincial Sales Tax). However, there is a vast
> difference between how air and ground shipments are handled.
> With air shipments, the so-called "clearing" of a shipment charge
> is paid as part of the air freight. So if GST is charged - which
> is the ONLY reason that the shipment needs to be cleared -
> then ONLY the 7% GST is collected based on the ACTUAL
> value of the hardware NOT including shipping, handling and
> insurance. In the case of media - like floppy media - I have
> been advised in the past that the ACTUAL value of the media
> does NOT include any software which is contained on the media.
>
> (b) For ground shipments, the so-called "clearing" of a shipment
> is not included in the ground freight. In that case, the charge to
> "clear" is really just a collection charge and is needed ONLY
> when GST must be collected. In this case, in addition to
> the 7% GST, the cost of "clearing" (especially by UPS) can
> often be more than the difference between the air freight
> cost and the ground freight cost. SO BEWARE - if there
> is going to be a GST charged, then check to determine
> if ground freight is actually less expensive overall.
>
 Hmm. I tend to avoid Priority Post since it has been my perception that
these are tagged more often by Customs. Also packages that seem more
professionally packed like from a company.

> (c) Normally, GST is NOT collected if the total GST is less
> than $ Can 1.40 - which means that the actual value of the
> shipment is less than $ Can 20.00 or about $ US 12.00
> at current exchange rates. I don't know if in Ontario where
> PST is also collected if the $ Can 20.00 is still used when
> the total collected is $ Can 3.00 (7% GST and 8% PST).
> However, when neither GST nor PST is collected, then
> the shipment is rated as "low value" and does not need
> to be "cleared" since is put through under "courier remission"
> i.e. it costs too much for the Federal Government to collect
> less than $ Can 1.40
>
> (d) Either under air freight or ground freight (the latter does
> not matter much when it takes more than a couple of weeks
> in the first place), when a shipment is in "courier remission",
> it takes a full 24 hours LESS to pass through customs - so
> shipments from the US which have a value of less than $ US 12.00
> reach the customer a full one day sooner.
>
> (e) Just as a matter of interest, all GST collected from a company
> who receives a shipment from the US is refunded (always for
> a company selling more than $ Can 30,000 a year - and usually
> for most other small companies) when the company submits a
> GST tax return. Since collecting the GST in the first place is
> only weeks, on average, before the date when that same GST
> is refunded, for a company, there is NO net gain for the Federal
> government to collect the GST - other than having the money
> a few weeks sooner. I don't know what percentage of the GST
> collected from a company is refunded, but it is probably higher
> than 90% - so, as I said, Canadian customs is mostly a welfare
> office these days - since with interest rates so low, even collecting
> $ Can 700 on a $ 10,000 shipment to a company probably results
> in a net loss after the collection charges are considered since the
> $ Can 700 is refunded in a few weeks in most cases.
>
> Conclusion - if possible, keep the actual value of a shipment to
> Canada at about $ Can 18.00 or less.
>
> Does any of this happen in the reverse direction?
>

Lawrence

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Received on Mon Feb 25 2002 - 02:02:19 GMT