We've had several local folks also order from UK, no hassle at all, and on some of the products, cost (including shipping) can be significantly lower.
From the desk of a customs broker
- Thread starter Marie13
- Start date
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outofofficebrb
HARRO HUNNAYYY
More so for others than Marie but I have a link to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule at all times and look at it if I am ever considering ordering from overseas. 
I like to pay attention to the special column...as in...exempt, free, etc. Canada and Australia are commonly exempt/free for the items that I like to generally buy.
Harmonized Tariff Schedule PDFs
The search function Harmonized Tariff Schedule Search is good for helping you narrow down which chapter the things you're looking for might be in if you're not sure.
I like to pay attention to the special column...as in...exempt, free, etc. Canada and Australia are commonly exempt/free for the items that I like to generally buy. Harmonized Tariff Schedule PDFs
The search function Harmonized Tariff Schedule Search is good for helping you narrow down which chapter the things you're looking for might be in if you're not sure.
Rickk
Contributor
Most of the importing I have done has been by a courier into either Canada, the Philippines or PNG. The couriers are all bonded customs brokers, they add a fee and do all the customs clearances for you and collect it COD.
Amazon will ship with prepaid customs and duties based on an estimate and adjust afterwards. I have had several adjustments less than 5 cents, once or twice for $0.01.
Just take a good look at the fees and exchange rates and it will often be in your favour.
Canada Post will also act as customs broker for you on stuff coming into Canada, not sure if USPS does this as well but would assume so, Canada Post broker fee is often a fraction of the courier fees.
I see nothing wrong with shopping for the best deal. If a local dive shop says that they need the higher cost of equipment to offset the cost of air fills, I simply say charge what air fills cost and get competitive with mail order and we will all be better off.
What is really happening is that the low volume diver who buys all new equipment is subsidizing the more experienced diver who dives on older equipment and gets cheaper air fills.
And as others have said, never lie to customs and immigration agents, you do not have the normal rights that you have once you get past them as the immigration and customs areas operate under seperate3 rules as they are not technically part of the country. They do not need any warrant or real reason to strip your car down to the component parts to search it and leave you to reassemble it before you go on your way if they find nothing or will confiscate it if they find as much as an extremely minor infrtactio0n. You won't need the vehicle to drive away either as they will provide transportation to your new home.
They have a lot of teeth and will use them if you lie to them. Far better to be honest , pay the fees required and go on your way.
Amazon will ship with prepaid customs and duties based on an estimate and adjust afterwards. I have had several adjustments less than 5 cents, once or twice for $0.01.
Just take a good look at the fees and exchange rates and it will often be in your favour.
Canada Post will also act as customs broker for you on stuff coming into Canada, not sure if USPS does this as well but would assume so, Canada Post broker fee is often a fraction of the courier fees.
I see nothing wrong with shopping for the best deal. If a local dive shop says that they need the higher cost of equipment to offset the cost of air fills, I simply say charge what air fills cost and get competitive with mail order and we will all be better off.
What is really happening is that the low volume diver who buys all new equipment is subsidizing the more experienced diver who dives on older equipment and gets cheaper air fills.
And as others have said, never lie to customs and immigration agents, you do not have the normal rights that you have once you get past them as the immigration and customs areas operate under seperate3 rules as they are not technically part of the country. They do not need any warrant or real reason to strip your car down to the component parts to search it and leave you to reassemble it before you go on your way if they find nothing or will confiscate it if they find as much as an extremely minor infrtactio0n. You won't need the vehicle to drive away either as they will provide transportation to your new home.
They have a lot of teeth and will use them if you lie to them. Far better to be honest , pay the fees required and go on your way.
Not a customs question, but one I'm sure you know the answer too
Airfreight: What are the pallet sizes I can use? Ideally I want to move 6m lengths, but can alter this to 3m although shorter lengths add material cost and time on site
Also what are the general pallet weight restrictions?
Airfreight: What are the pallet sizes I can use? Ideally I want to move 6m lengths, but can alter this to 3m although shorter lengths add material cost and time on site
Also what are the general pallet weight restrictions?
OP
You don't want to move air freight right now. The cost is through the roof. Last week (right before I was laid off), I got a quote from China to CLE that was $10/kg and would take 7-8 days to get there. Before the plague, cost would have been about $3/kg and transit time would have been about 3-4 days.
In the US, some passenger flights are being operated as cargo. I've been told that smaller cargo is going in overhead bins. The airlines that operate freighters are way overbooked. Even if you can get space, your shipment is likely to get bumped several days. I had shipments get delayed more than a week.
Standard pallet size in the US is 48" x 40" x 60". For metric, I remember correctly, it's something like 100 x 80 x 120 cm.
Weight doesn't really matter. Depending on destination country regulations, you might have to use plastic pallets instead of wood. When I had cargo coming out of Bahrain, the cargo had to go on plastic pallets.
Your best bet to move cargo right now is LCL (less than container load) ocean.
I know - Customer faffed with collection and is now quite literally paying the price and the airlines are gouging
Thx for pallet size I remember from before, you need to be careful how you pack as a longer pallet gets a surcharge. Normally we send by Sea in dedicated container even if not full as quite cheap. Although once I did charter a whole freighter aircraft which was interesting...
Later this year, unless they delay the order, I've got a consignment of 62 x 40' containers - it'll be a logistical nightmare, since the containers need to arrive in the right order for the build sequence - there physically won't be room for them all at once. And you just know that however you pack, the one with the critical bits in will arrive last or get lost
Seriously not looking forward to that one
OP
Oh, I had that issue. Shipper/manufacturer had delays, importer couldn't deal with transit time via ocean, and elected to ship. They essentially got raped by the airlines.
Empty containers are a major problem right now. They're all stuck in China because of no goods shipping. I had a shipment a few weeks back out of Bahrain, where we had to go with a more expensive ocean carrier because they had empties available.
OP
Freighter charters are through the roof. Right before CNY, it would have cost about $300K to charter one to the US. After CNY and the plague? $800K.
I don't know what they're running between Europe and North America.
I don't know what they're running between Europe and North America.
Ok, a question from me on international e-commerce websites, not strictly customs related but you might be able to help.
I wanted to purchase a product from a U.S website (NE) and ship it to my home country. The checkout charges were showing a U.S sales tax or VAT levied. I asked their customer care to remove the charges as the goods were being sold and shipped Internationally and an international customer should not be subject to U.S taxation. However if the company was registered within my Country they could charge me the local GST levied nationally provided their registration number was mentioned on the Bill. NE refused saying this was an automated charge applied and it could not be rolled back. So I cancelled my order or rather emptied my cart and dropped it.
What do you have to say on this? Was I right or not?
Thanks
P
I wanted to purchase a product from a U.S website (NE) and ship it to my home country. The checkout charges were showing a U.S sales tax or VAT levied. I asked their customer care to remove the charges as the goods were being sold and shipped Internationally and an international customer should not be subject to U.S taxation. However if the company was registered within my Country they could charge me the local GST levied nationally provided their registration number was mentioned on the Bill. NE refused saying this was an automated charge applied and it could not be rolled back. So I cancelled my order or rather emptied my cart and dropped it.
What do you have to say on this? Was I right or not?
Thanks
P
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