Importation queries and costs comes up a lot. There is a class action suit going on right now in Canada against UPS. "Brokerage" fees is the challenge. Very few, American vendors of any product, let alone rod stuff, are aware that UPS tacks on a (hidden) substantial fee to clear the freight through our border bandits, cleverly disguised as Revenue Canada, Customs and Immigration. (dark humour, no offense aganst them intended)
Fedex, and the rest, all charge this "brokerage" fee as well.
This is why more and more US vendors won't take Canadian credit cards, and insist on a cashier's check, or a money order. Credit card companies have the ability to zip in, and reverse charges, if the client refuses to take the shipment at delivery, because of the 5 o'clock surprise: the "brokerage" fee.
American companies have overhead, and staffing issues, and love it when "Brown" or the other carriers come to the door, and take the shipment away.
USPS sends the parcel in the mails, which is intercepted by the border bandits, who figure out the taxes owing, and release the parcel back into the postal stream. Canada Post charges 5.00 **CAD** to collect the taxes owing, when the parcel is picked up at the post office.
The "Brokerage" fee from the private carriers is usually about 30 **USA** dollars to collect these taxes, on *top* of the high freight rate.
With the new "web" economy kicking in, and more and more folks using the web, American firms are not about to turn down the money, regardless of source, and are beginning to use the USPS more and more.
The simple importation guide for Can-AM trade is: just double the number for the USA goods. If it's 100 USA dollars, plan on 200 Canadian. It usually comes in at about 1.6 or 1.8 (sometimes less), so double is decent planning/budget number.
If a Canadian company meets or beats the double figure, that's a no-brainer.
They've already paid the freight, the taxes, added the profit, and are ready to go cha-ching.




Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/11/2007 02:47PM by Ken Driedger.

I refuse to deal with any US company that insists on shipping via UPS just because of their unreasonable charges. They charge double what FedEx charges & 5 to 10 times as much as CPOST. When I order out of the US my preferred shipping method is USPS air parcel.
So if you are a retailer that want's Canadian bussiness think about changing shipping companies.
my .02

Regards
Dave

Fishing is Life the rest is just Details

We have the same border bandits down here in Australia and all the problems you describe, the difficulty is all the airfeighters cut their margin to the bone then make up the difference with a variety of fixed fees.
Fedex Austraila where renounced a few years back for charging unwarranted fee whereas UPS tended to just absorb them, either way their out to make money I guess.

Thankfully the Government has slowly moved to a system where a private individual can do his own clearance at a reasonable easily and get some equity between the postal and air services .
Regards Charlie

All orders that I make to the US I request using the postal system. I got burned by FED EX for a 75 dollar charge once but never again.

Just wondering how many Canadian rodbuilders there are?

Rolly Beenen
Rovic Custom Rods

Good post, Ken. I too am from north of the border, in stormy BC. I deal with four companies (three which are sponsors) in the US that fortunately for me, all ship via USPS. About 20 years ago I got nailed with a UPS shipment with the brokerage fees, etc. I vowed at that time to avoid that type of shipping method at all cost. As such, I have had to pass up on what I figured were good deals as the vendors were not willing to ship USPS.

Brian Clark

Keep in mind that the USPS does not deliver in Canada. They simply hand over mail and parcels to the Canadian postal system who is then in charge of routing and delivering them there. The reason I stopped mailing RodMaker Magazine to Canada was because less than 50% of the magazines mailed ever reached their destination.

..................

I have been suprised by UPS brokerage fees ,and had to drive 50 miles to pick up package as well as they stopped short of where I live.Never again.As far as lost stuff in mail,I,m 52 and can,t remember ever not receiving something shipped by mail,slow some times,but never lost.Us @#$%& quite a bit to,from US and overseas,no problems yet,touch wood. Those mag covers with great pics on front must have been to tempting. Daryl

The problem for most rod building supply dealers, is that if they use the USPS/Canadian postal route, and the shipment goes missing, they will have a heck of a time ever recovering their money (and I doubt you're going to want to pay for a missing shipment). The USPS will blame the Canadian postal folks, the Canadian postal folks will blame the USPS. In short, the dealer won't have a chance of getting any sort of settlement for at least 6 months, and even then he's most likely going to get nothing.

This is why many dealers won't ship into Canada by postal means. It's exactly why I won't do it.

..................

The best method for delivery, using USPS is Global Priority, which their are "Length Restrictions" on tubes. Other small packages, such as boxes go thru with Global Priority, fairly well. if we try and ship loner tubes, we have to use Airmail Parcel and that is where the problem occurs. Airmail Parcel with longer tubes is a "Nightmare". As Tom stated, loss or claims take forever and we just cannot afford the risk. We have a new policy, if a Canadian customer wants to have something shipped, such as a long tube, it is at their risk. If the package is lost or damaged, it is their. We just simply cannot afford to takes the looses that occur with the long tubes. As I stated, small packages shipped Global Priority seem to be going thru fine, but not Airmail Parcel tubes with any length. We will ship USPS, but the customer has to release us from all liabilities of the package/tube, if going by Airmail Parcel. We just cannot afford to take the risk of loss on Airmail Parcel. I know some of you say that you never have a problem, but when we were shipping lots of packages into Canada by Airmail Parcel, we had problems and it was as Tom stated, trying to recover the insurance claim. We gladly ship small packages Global Priority or Airmail Parcel at your own risk.

Bob McKamey -- Custom Tackle Supply