Canadas customs/duty

Yes.

I sold a Contax Circular Polarizing Filter to a chap up in the upper left hand corner somewhere (in case either gov't is eavesdropping). Asked me to label it "Gift", which I did.

Took 3 weeks instead of 3 days. Package was delivered, but obviously had been opened and reseald.

He had already paid me and I called him every other day to see if it arrived. He seemed unconcerned and was happy to receive the filter.

As to the charge, thing to do is to call Canada Customs or a Customs Broker and ask. I can't imagine it's a whole lotta bucks.

Bob (One Of Many Bobs)

"just how much Canada would charge him on a value of $450 USD?"

It depends on where in Canada he is, e.g. if he is in ON, he will be charged 15% (GST: 7% PST: 8%) of $450. Look here for more details (GST is 7%). I think they also charge Can$6 handling fee.

There probably won't be any 'duty' on used photo equipment (I haven't paid any on many purchases from US sellers), but the Canadian purchaser should expect to pay federal sales tax (GST-8%) on the declared value + shipping, and possibly provincial sales tax (PST-depends on province). If the item is sent by UPS, they will charge an exorbitant amount to handle customs and collect sales taxes. Do not ship by UPS to Canada! If it is sent USPS, Canada Post will deliver it and collect $10.00 for their tax collection services. The buyer is trying to dodge the sales taxes.

On the other hand, they charged me on many occations (and didn't on many others). It seems like it depends on the mood of the officer who is sitting there when your item goes through the custom ;-).

Jerry:

Skip the Boy Scout part - it's simply not worth it to you as a seller - he has everything to gain/save & you have nothing to gain beyond the sale & can only stand to lose.

As an example - I sold a used Nikkor lens to a guy in Switzerland & I claimed & insured the full amount & on the customs form put $780.USD - the Swiss customs people insisted to him that the lens was worth over 1400. & wanted a lot more for the duties/tax - I emailed him a copy of the receipt stating the sale price & only then did he get his lens without the extra fees. I could have bought a new lens here in the USA for about 950. - Problem is that prices vary wildly around the world.

I previously considered doing the gift or reduced price aspect for people & after this experience I will not be left holding the bag.

By the way - it does not matter what any country charges the recipient as it's not your problem. Otherwise let them buy it in their own country - of course for a higher price.

From my own experiences, it's random, but rarely do I have to pay duty. Only twice on about 10-15 packages coming from the USA.

The price you put on the little green custom tag doesn't really matter. I'm sure the officers who check the packages know it's always under estimated. I assume they use a generic value of the iten and charge 7.5% (fed tax) and 5$ for "handling". (Others mention 8% and 6$) Then again, it's better to under estimate than the opposite!

I'm sure they duty charge as many items of great value as possible, a brand new laptop for example, but a used lense, your buyer will propably get it "duty free".

Re: The Great White North and customs et al this is the definitive answer. Firstly there is no duty on camera equipment entering from the United States. This is because of NAFTA or the North America Free Trade Agreement. However the commie pinko government here still has to get its pound of flesh. There the logic they apply is that since it is a purchase (even though made in the the US) it is subject to GST (Goods and Services Tax of 7%). Depending on which province you live in there can be additional Provincial sales tax. In Ontario this is 8% and 0% if you live in Alberta. Lastly there is a the matter of processing fee for the aforementioned taxes. Canada Post tacks on an additional $5.00 and if received via UPS of FEDEX they add whatever the feel like for a processing fee. This should put the cap on the whole issue and let us all drink a beer (Canadian of course).

Whenever I take a piece of registered/tracked mail for Canada to the post office, I am told "are you sure that this is what you want? it'll be faster to send as regular mail because it won't be held up by customs".

In my experience, no matter what you decide to do about declared value, make sure the package is clearly labled "used camera lens" again make sure they know it's used this might make a big difference. Then send by U.S. mail don't use any of that UPS stuff as to my knowledge, which is by no means definitive, they always put somekind of fee on things coming in. And if you send it priority mail, Canada Post will deliver it to the door and leave it on the step - which can be un-desirable if you live in the city. Standard mail is the way to go.