Question about Shipping to Canada

[jaybird]

I had a buyer from Canada ask that I send his package & mark the customs form as a gift.

I have questions about how ethical that is & wanted to get others thoughts on it before shipping.

Should I lie or should I risk pissing off the buyer by not marking it as a gift?

[sisko]

Personally, I won't mark any of my shipments as "gift" unless they actually are.

It doesn't seem right of him to ask (tell) you to lie either.

Sue me. I have morals.

[jonjandran]

Maybe he got it as a gift to himself or someone else.

[dave2236]

Gift $10.....good to go


Just so you know they will have to pay about 15% customs fees when they pick up the package....PLUS some packages will be held in customs for up to a month if it is merchandise

[jaybird]

Just so you know they will have to pay about 15% customs fees when they pick up the package....PLUS some packages will be held in customs for up to a month if it is merchandise

I'm not up on my Canadian politics...what do those custom fees go towards? There has to be a good reason they charge so much - hopefully that money goes to fund some worthwhile government program.

[Darth Sensei]

I had a buyer from Canada ask that I send his package & mark the customs form as a gift.

I have questions about how ethical that is & wanted to get others thoughts on it before shipping.

Should I lie or should I risk pissing off the buyer by not marking it as a gift?

I had a seller in the Netherlands who offered to do that for me. It saved me some money.

I'm not one to worry about morality when it comes to taxes.

However, if I'm not mistaken, the package can only be insured for a certain amount if it's sent as a gift. This could cause a problem for you if it's damaged.

[sniperCCJVQ]

I did up to 100 trades and sale, and always marked "gift", never had problem.

[BigBoogie]

if you wanted to buy something from Canada, and all the guy had to do was mark gift and save you from paying an extra 15%, would you want him to do it?

[16-bit]

I'm not up on my Canadian politics...what do those custom fees go towards? There has to be a good reason they charge so much - hopefully that money goes to fund some worthwhile government program.

They have a National Health Care plan, which costs the government quite a bit.

[rick weis]

funny this topic would come up i know a friend in canada who is having that same problem right now on a 400.00 item and the seller will NOT mark it as a gift. i even asked the seller to ship it to me then i would ship it to my friend. he would NOT... so my friend will pay what 60$ because the seller is an a**hole! (oops, i did not mean a**hole i meant seller has morels)

Take care,

Rick

[CRaCKeRJaCK1980]

Yes, sending as a gift makes if very nice for us. Saves us alot of money. You are not going to get into trouble either. If they ever ask just say it was a prize on a contest from a webpage or something. And the Health Care plan, baaa!!

[Darth Sensei]

I had a buyer from Canada ask that I send his package & mark the customs form as a gift.

I have questions about how ethical that is & wanted to get others thoughts on it before shipping.

Should I lie or should I risk pissing off the buyer by not marking it as a gift?

Incidentally, since a few people seem to have morals in regards to taxes on here, can I assume that those same people voluntarily pay the sales taxes for their state? Just because you buy something online and the seller doesn't charge you the sales tax, doesn't mean you're not supposed to voluntarily claim it and pay it. Sales tax is 6% in Michigan, and you can bet your ass that I don't pay it.

[leonk]

There are a lot of benefits about living in Canada.. free health care, almost free education (whem comparing costs to the US) but all this costs $$$ and the government sometimes overdoes it.

For example.. when you buy a new item in Canada, you pay 15% tax (except on groceries). Yet when you buy used items, you don't.

But for some reson, ANY item that crosses the border, and costs more than 15$, has to be taxed! Even if it's a used item!

Further more, companies like FedEx and UPS capitolize on this fact. For example, if you ship an item with UPS to Canada, and mark the item value at 150$US, FedEx will do the following:

- Convert to CDN$ value at "their high rate"
- Tax you 15% on it
- Charge you "Brokrage fee" - which for this package with me ~60$

So to pick up your 150$ video game system, I would pay ~80-90$ in TAX! (Why bother buying in the first place!?)

That's why a lot of canadians ask for USPS shipping only.. with USPS, the brokrage fees are fixed at 5$.

[CRaCKeRJaCK1980]

Free health care??????
Its cheap, but its not free, it costs $125 every three months
I know that because I have to pay it, as its not covered in my benefit plan at work.
And the 15% tax on everything? In alberta we only have GST which is 7%. I know Saskatchewan is 15% because of the provincial tax also.
Ya, UPS, I got screwed on a dreamcast because of them. Got a dreamcast for $50 US, came with a pile of controllers and games. When it crossed the border there was another 40 or 50 bucks added on. I was pretty choked. Oh well.

[sisko]

If you live in Canada and buy items from the US, you should be expecting the customs fee then. You're not getting screwed because you knew that when you bought it in the first place. x_x If you don't want to pay the customs fees, just don't buy the product.

As for sales taxes...those only apply to official business with a license, and when the buyer and seller are located in the same state. You don't expect to pay sales tax at a yard sale do you? This is almost the same exact thing.

As for having someone send you another guy's package to you so you can then send it to a third person? Would you honestly do that? I know I wouldn't. It's way too easy for the buyer to claim fraud and steal product.

[jaybird]

I have to agree with sisko. I see items listed in Japan that I'd love to buy all the time. I stay away from them because I know the shipping will be costly.

Canadian buyers shouldn't ask U.S. sellers to lie for them. If I sent a package to Canada & filled out the value on the form as $400 & handed it to the clerk with the gift box checked, I'd feel like a fool. Who would be sending a gift valued at $400???

I know if I had to pay a 15% premium for something I bought from say New York - I'd stay the hell away from buying from there. If I did buy from there - I'd consider the 15% extra before I bid.

[Arkan]

hi !
i'm a canadian ebays and i alway ask to receive item as a gift when no insurance is taken, why ?
Because 10% of the time i will pay 15-25% of the items value when receive it


I NO LONGER ACCEPT UPS FROM USA, why ?
because ALL THE TIME i have to pay 15-25% of the item value + $20 broker fee


so if a canadian ebay ask to receive is item as gift, thanks to accept !

[Mr-E_MaN]

I don't tell people to send packages as a gift, but I hope they do send it as a gift and with a lower value claimed. If it is sent as a 400 dollar gift, you might get charged the duty fees anyway. Also, the gift does not apply to businesses, if you recieve a 10 dollar gift from a business, you would have to pay duty on it as well.

I try to stick to Canada for all my purchases. If it is something bigger, I would get it shipped to the US, and them pick it up and bring it back to Canada... I live right on the border, so I can do this in 30 minues. It's usually cheaper as well... shipping is a lot less.

[sniperCCJVQ]

There are a lot of benefits about living in Canada..

Except Jean Chretien.

Yes we have free healt care and such but the taxes are a real pain in the ass.