Anyone have advice on how to do this economically. FedEx wants over $40 PLUS broker fees for a 3 pound package.

I'd just check regular mail, nothing fancy.
:-)

Rwgular mail. dont claim insurance or the rwciever has to pay a fee.aold a kite to a guy on canada and he had to pay 300$ in fees

Try UPS, make sure also your not doing expedited, express etc..

And whay Fly and Mark said too.

never UPS or Fed Ex you will get hit with stupid broker fees that will make the transaction not worth it always USPS

Yes,

USPS is the way to go! May get a $5 fee + any duty tax they may decide to charge. (Checking the gift box on the form helps if it's a private sale too)


I am about 50 - 50 on paying any fees at all when shipped this way.

Ron

Quote:

Originally posted by lamrith Try UPS, make sure also your not doing expedited, express etc.. And whay Fly and Mark said too.

NO NO NOT UPS or FEDEX ! They will charge broker fees and undo taxes.

USPS is the way to go. As mentioned check with seller about insuring / valuing. It often results in taxing. Always if the value is high. Value it at $200 or less. Best is to label it as a kite and check mark the gift column .

Actual shipping cost with USPS is not always the cheapest but avoiding the un-needed brokers and taxes is the big saving !

Never use UPS across the border from US to Canada. I had bad experience with them. Brokerage fees more then the value of the package!
An idea: have a mail box on the US side, and ship it there by USPS, pick it up from there.

$40 huh

NEVER use UPS Their brokerage fees are the worst in the industry.
Awindofchange shipped me a box this week via USPS for $38. Canada customs then hit me for another $41 for tax and duty. (We Canadians love paying taxes )

Try Purolator

I tried ups...won't do it again, too expensive.

USPS is hit and miss for me, i have been 50-50 as far as getting dinged with taxes. $200 mark for getting dinged? would make sense to me...Have been dinged when claimed the price was over, and didn't get dinged on something right around the $200 mark.

on this topic, has anyone had their kite stuff lost by USPS, or any shipping company for that matter?

What it is is our federal government. They want duty assessed on all incoming goods so that they can collect their 5% sales tax. Let's say we're talking a $100 value declared. If the package gets assessed at the border we Canadians are looking at the following:

USPS - Brokerage Fee: about $5 plus the assessed GST (the sales tax) at 5% = $10 due at the door.
UPS - Brokerage fee about $50 plus the assessed GST = $55 due at the door
Fedex - Brokerage Fee slides but is generally $20-$50 and up plus the GST = $25-55 due at the door.

USPS always wins out despite less than stellar tracking and long transit times. I still find regular surface mail from the US only takes 10 working days.


"thumbup" on the "gift" box and undervaluing. Requires trust between buyer and seller but we're family. I'd hate to have burned anyone here - you'd never survive it.

Quote:

Originally posted by macboy I'd hate to have burned anyone here - you'd never survive it.

Very true. I value my reputation here among my peers much more than my ebay rating. All these guys are family and I ride with bunches of them.

I bought a kite from AJ last spring. We were talking on the phone about it and I had made him an offer and instead of getting shipping info, he talked me down $50 AS THE SELLER. That's a reputation to be proud of and a small reason I'll never forget AJ.

USPS was a little less than $15.

Thanks for the advice, everyone.

Just bringing this to the top to remind everyone (and myself). I forgot a few details on an incoming kite and have officially lost my shirt on what started out as a fantastic deal. Between my costs incurred and costs the shipper graciously absorbed to begin with I could have bought brand new, RTF ripstop. So pissed about it.

Frickin' UPS.......

DON'T



EVER




ship UPS to Canada.






EVER.

As long as "declared" item value is LESS THAN $20CDN, then there is nothing to pay using UPS or FEDEX shipments
If more is declared then you start paying dearly !!
UPS fees
Fedex fees

USPS shipments are delivered in Canada by Canada Post and there will be nothing to pay if declared value is less than $60CDN and it is marked as GIFT.

If more then one has to pay HST (13% of the CDN $ value) and $8.50 handling fee.

The reason one does not pay brokerage fees on USPS shipments it is because they are already included in the price of the shipment

Customs statement about GIFTS

regular US POSTAL ... I have brought kites in from g00f (R1 8.3 RTF) $36US postage and Flyjump (scorp 16 RTF $56US postage) no issues at all .... marked as gifts ... no extra fees at all .... sent stuff back the other way using canada post and no issue there either.

When shipping to Canada it is always a good idea to go postal on the package...

I have been recieving packages via USPS for quite some time now, no dramas or extra fees.