Does anyone in the U.S. ship and sell to Canadians? I have a rep
interested in my line, however she lives in Canada…I know nothing
about the regulations or how price difference would affect sales. Any
knowledge on the subject would be very useful.
Thanks guys!!
Laura 
It is a lot more trouble that you would think. FedEx is very
reliable, but also expensive. The post office is cheap but very
unreliable for jewelry to Canada. Some Canadians get post boxes in
the US and drive down once in a while to beat the cost and hassles.
If you use the post office, use the customs declaration option where
you seal the paperwork in an attached pouch or envelope. Those green
customs declarations that put the contents and value where anyone
can read it may as well just say “steal me!”
If you find a better way, let me know. Canada is a goods market for
what I do, but shipping spoils it.
Stephen Walker
Laura,
I ship to Canada, all the time. It is tougher since 9/11. I use the
US Postal System, sending it priority registered mail and it gets
there with out vanishing. If you track it and it stops for about a
week, that is customs doing their thing.
Or you could take a vacation, Canada is a beautiful country full of
nice people.
Jerry
Laura
Your sales representative should be doing your investigation. She
should call the “Customs and Excise Division” of the Federal
Government. They are listed in her own telephone book from her city.
If you want to play ‘safe’ let your sales rep. know and tell her
clients that the money is in either American or Canadian funds. Make
darn sure all shipments are under the N.A.F.T.A agreement.
Any contents and shipments of jewellery should not be known to the
courier, lest parcels ‘might’ get lost!!! You don’t want that to
happen,eh?..Gerry!..p.s. I wish you tunz of luck
Some Phone Numbers: UNITED STATES
Canadian Embassy - Washington, D.C.
(202) 682 - 1740
For assistance and (market research, agent/distributor
searches, corporate matchmaking, etc.), for US companies entering new
markets
U.S. Commercial Service (CS)
CS Calgary(403) 265-2116
CS Halifax (902) 429-2482
CS Montreal(514) 398-0673
CS Ottawa (613) 238-4470 ext 219
CS Toronto(416) 595-5414
CD Vancouver (604) 985-3382
(source: http://www.mac.doc.gov/nafta/7403.htm)
Some Websites:
NAFTA Facts Document #7501:
http://www.mac.doc.gov/nafta/7501.htm
NAFTA Facts Document #7403:
http://www.mac.doc.gov/nafta/7403.htm
Department of Financehttp://www.fin.gc.ca/
Revenue Canada http://www.revcan.ca/
Kindest,
K. David Woolley
david.woolley@unb.ca
Being on the Receiving end, here in Canada I have the following
comments.
1- USPS Priority Mail is the way to go for smaller and lower value
items.
2- Use Fed-Ex not the UPS rip off service.
[Rant mode on]
Your Clients will appreciate it. Why Am I down on UPS? When I order a
5 dollar part and UPS charges me 50$+ for “Customs clearing” while by
mail the charge is fixed at 5$ and Fed-Ex the charge has varied from
free to a bit over 60$ depending on the work involved and the country
of origin. Don’t get me wrong I will gladly pay 60$ if the work
justifies it, however paying I consider paying 55$ to UPS for customs
clearing a 5$ power supply cord from Intel that was shipped from the
US with all necessary Documents is a total Rip off. Note this is not
an isolated case with them.
[Rant mode off]
3- Specify your clients are responsible for all Customs clearing
charges and duties.
4- Set a reasonable flat rate shipping rate using SUPS, and advise
clients that if they prefer using Fed-Ex they will be charged Actual
charges. Note I can easily check what the actual charge is from them
(Actually anyone can check what the full retail shipping price from
point A to B is, and I doubt you will qualify for Volume shipper
discounts). This is the method companies like Rio, Kingsly and other
reputable companies use. To cheat (and take advantage of their hard
won experience) look in the back of their catalog for pricing and
shipping policies they use. As one who has been the receiving end of
those policies, I can say I find them fair.
Just My 3 cents worth
Kay
Use Fed-Ex not the UPS rip off service.
I agree FedEx is the way to go; UPS customs charges are totally
ridiculous.
Ryan
Toronto
I just ran into a problem, in the past we only shipped to people in
the military, because they deserve a little extra effort, hey it’s a
hard job. The problem for me is standing in line at the Post Office
costs me money. Now our Postal System refuses to let us use the small
green customs form since we are selling the items, even for military
mail (no customs charges anyway it’s going in effect to the USA) The
larger form has 6 copies and you must list everything in the box. And
no you can’t just use generic terms, like “jewelers tools” I think
this was a change after the 1st of the year. Check with your local
Post Office, they may let it go, mine would not.
Tim…
Hi Tim,
Now our Postal System refuses to let us use the small green customs form since we are selling the items, even for military mail (no customs charges anyway it's going in effect to the USA) The larger form has 6 copies and you must list everything in the box.
This sounds like a local problem with the folks in your PO.
I ship to Canada & other countries all the time. I’ve not had any
problem using the little green customs forms.
One way to ‘beat the line’ at the PO is to do everything on line at
www.usps.com. All you need is a scale that will accurately weigh the
package. If you want you can also use some of the other mailing
services like www.stamps.com for domestic malings.
For domestic shipments, you can get FREE boxes from the PO. You can
order them in quantities of 25 on the usps.com site or get then in
smaller quantities by standing in line at the PO.
You should have seen the looks I got during the Christmas rush when
I walked in to the PO, past the long lines, placed my prepaid
packages on the counter & left.
Dave
no you can't just use generic terms, like "jewelers tools" I think this was a change after the 1st of the year. Check with your local Post Office, they may let it go, mine would not.
Strange, because I have received Shipments described exactially like
that from more than one shipper.
Kay
http://www.usps.com is great. I ship several auctions per week, and
hardly ever do I need to actually go to the Post Office. I bought a
USPS digital scale for aprox. 40-50$, and that is literally all it
takes. I can accurately calculate rates to domestic and international
destinations, pay for the postage with my Paypal account, print it on
plain printer paper, wrap the package, and let the postal lady that
comes to my door every single day pick it up and take it with her.
www.USPS.com is the greatest thing since sliced cheese, bread,
fingers, etc…
Ed in Kokomo
It is a lot more trouble that you would think. FedEx is very reliable, but also expensive. The post office is cheap but very unreliable for jewelry to Canada. Some Canadians get post boxes in the US and drive down once in a while to beat the cost and hassles.
And a lot of us will stop doing that soon too as the travel
regulations from Canada to the US are going to change (thanks George)
and we’ll all need to get our passports (end of 07 I think) just to
go get the mail in a community walking distance from the house.
Cheers,
Cynthia Ryder
(in an unusually warm and oddly not snow-covered area of NB, Canada)
Hello from Canada.
I ordered a microscope from the US not long ago. The supplier wanted
to send it via UPS and I said NO NO Never! Not UPS PLEASE! Mail it,
Fedex it. Anything but UPS. But they only knew how to use UPS so
that’s what they said they had to do.
They asked did I want it in a hurry? No, just send it by ordinary
surface freight, no special overnight high-speed deluxe service. So
they quoted me about $12 shipping charges, very reasonable I
thought… Along comes the microscope with about $50 extra
"brokerage" fees on top of the shipping cost for something on which
there is no duty. I hollered at UPS and they told me I could have
avoided the extra brokerage charge if it had gone by air instead of
ground! Go figure! I mean, you would think either it has to be
brokered across the border or not - no matter if it comes by camel,
truck, or air.
Here’s their dirty secret - They would have charged a whole lot more
for air than surface, so they get even with you for choosing the
cheaper surface route by adding in the phony “brokerage” only on the
surface stuff. They will extort the $ one way or another. It has
nothing to do with customs regulations or duties. The supplier was
good enough to split the brokerage charge with me because legally he
was obligated to tell me about it before he shipped the item - but
UPS had never told him about that so he didn’t know about it. They
just told him about the $12.00 shipping charges. UPS is nothing but
trouble and delays and things being held in their bonded warehouse
for days at a time for no good reason, even rush orders.
My wife is a mail-order junkie and has lots more experience with
this kind of stuff than I do She gets apoplectic at the mention of
UPS.
'nuff said.
Marty in Victoria
Hello Marty,
... UPS is nothing but trouble and delays and things being held in their bonded warehouse for days at a time for no good reason, even rush orders.
Just thought I’d chime in and second what you’ve said. Like your
wife I too did a lot of mail order and UPS (Canada) was the kiss of
death: botched deliveries, delays, endless bogus charges, surly
service people, mangled packages, etc etc etc. My bottom line
eventually because “if UPS is the only option then it’s not worth
ordering”.
Interestingly UPS in Europe is a stellar service that rivals Fedex
in all but price. Certainly it’s more expensive than equivalent UPS
services in Canada but they actually do a decent job without all the
underhanded shenanigans.
Cheers,
Trevor F.
in The City of Light
Visit TouchMetal.com at http://www.touchmetal.com