Canadian Shipping

octane

octane

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I'm gonna vent here, worst that can happen is that someone actually gets it...

In the past I ordered a couple of gallons of stuff, to get an email saying that an extra 60$ was to be added over the 50$ I aleady paid for shipping... so right off the bat I learned that shipping to Canada with AG was a pain...

then I reallized that the declared value of the items (what I have to pay taxes on when it crosses the border) is not the price I paid, but the regular price... I paid over 75$ in tax on money I didn't even spend! If an order is 100 on sale, but without the sale would be 150, I have to pay taxes on 150, because they declare the value at 150! the reason I was given for this is because of the insurance... nonsense!

well the last straw for me, on my last order I got the email about my order being overweight... 2* 64 once bottles and a 20once bottle are now considered oversize, a bit over a gallon is almost 80$ to ship.... when I answered back that the price was steep, I was told that I should try to by the stuff locally!

I got 2 gallons of liquids from Texas to Ottawa for 35$ a few months ago with USPS, why would I want to pay more than double for half the weight...

at no moment was anybody lacking respect towards me, but I'm really dissapointed I bought a gift certificate for this order, and now I have to cancel the order because of the outrageaous shipping charges to Canada, it's not like I'm half way around the world!

/end vent
 
octane said:
I'm gonna vent here, worst that can happen is that someone actually gets it...

In the past I ordered a couple of gallons of stuff, to get an email saying that an extra 60$ was to be added over the 50$ I aleady paid for shipping... so right off the bat I learned that shipping to Canada with AG was a pain...

then I reallized that the declared value of the items (what I have to pay taxes on when it crosses the border) is not the price I paid, but the regular price... I paid over 75$ in tax on money I didn't even spend! If an order is 100 on sale, but without the sale would be 150, I have to pay taxes on 150, because they declare the value at 150! the reason I was given for this is because of the insurance... nonsense!

well the last straw for me, on my last order I got the email about my order being overweight... 2* 64 once bottles and a 20once bottle are now considered oversize, a bit over a gallon is almost 80$ to ship.... when I answered back that the price was steep, I was told that I should try to by the stuff locally!

I got 2 gallons of liquids from Texas to Ottawa for 35$ a few months ago with USPS, why would I want to pay more than double for half the weight...

at no moment was anybody lacking respect towards me, but I'm really dissapointed I bought a gift certificate for this order, and now I have to cancel the order because of the outrageaous shipping charges to Canada, it's not like I'm half way around the world!

/end vent
Click to expand...


Move to the USA or do business with Canadian companies, problem solved.

And insurance, taxes and duties are you problem, send a message to your government.
 
Anytime you ship anything heavy to Canada it's going to cost both you and us! If you need gallons or anything heavy I would really suggest ordering from Chris at eShine. He is amazing to deal with and you wont have customs fees.

eShine Canada
 
custmsprty said:
Move to the USA or do business with Canadian companies, problem solved.

And insurance, taxes and duties are you problem, send a message to your government.
Click to expand...

Yeah thanks :rolleyes:

declaring a higher value on a package so their insurance refunds more if the package is lost IMO is not my problem, but I end up paying for it...
 
octane said:
then I reallized that the declared value of the items (what I have to pay taxes on when it crosses the border) is not the price I paid, but the regular price... I paid over 75$ in tax on money I didn't even spend! If an order is 100 on sale, but without the sale would be 150, I have to pay taxes on 150, because they declare the value at 150! the reason I was given for this is because of the insurance... nonsense!
Click to expand...

There is something flawed there. My understanding is that declared value is always supposed to be based on your invoice. Your invoice should show what you actually paid for the items.

I've heard of some US businesses that as a courtesy will sometimes enclose an invoice that's lower than the actual paid amount (shhh... technically they're not supposed to) hoping to save their Canadian customers a bit of money on the back end. But I've never heard of a vendor doing the opposite and actually inflating the value of an invoice resulting in higher declared value and hence higher duties and taxes owed. That's crazy.

I'd be having a chat with AG customer service about that.

(I have a shipment myself on the way right now. I hope they didn't do that to mine as well.)
 
Meghan said:
Anytime you ship anything heavy to Canada it's going to cost both you and us! If you need gallons or anything heavy I would really suggest ordering from Chris at eShine. He is amazing to deal with and you wont have customs fees.

eShine Canada
Click to expand...

well I beg to differ, I buy a lot from the US, and heavy is not a problem, paid 55$ to ship a 48lbs package not long ago with Fedex, including a 7$ customs charge!

eshine... when they actually have stock, and they don't make multiple mistakes on a single order...
 
Inzane said:
There is something flawed there. My understanding is that declared value is always supposed to be based on your invoice. Your invoice should show what you actually paid for the items.

I've heard of some US businesses that as a courtesy will sometimes enclose an invoice that's lower than the actual paid amount (shhh... technically they're not supposed to) hoping to save their Canadian customers a bit of money on the back end. But I've never heard of a vendor doing the opposite and actually inflating the value of an invoice resulting in higher declared value and hence higher duties and taxes owed. That's crazy.

I'd be having a chat with AG customer service about that.

(I have a shipment myself on the way right now. I hope they didn't do that to mine as well.)
Click to expand...
I was told it's the way they do it, and always been like that, did you use a 10% rebate code?
 
Inzane said:
"Declared value" is provided by the seller, not made up by the customs officers (government).
Click to expand...

I completely understand that, but taxes and duties are assessed by the government and part of the cost of buying products internationally.

And to falsify customs documents is to say the least illegal and not worth jeopardizing their company over.

At the end of the day, we all have the option not to purchase products internationally if we don't want to pay the shipping and taxes.

Heck, Meghan was nice enough to refer a Canadian company to purchase detailing products from. Though the pricing may be higher for some of the products you dont' have international shipping or customs duties, problem solved.
 
octane said:
I was told it's the way they do it, and always been like that,
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My current order in transit is only my 2nd order with AG to date.

My first was a couple months back during the July 4th deal. I honestly don't recall what was shown for declared value. I'd have to look.
 
custmsprty said:
I completely understand that, but taxes and duties are assessed by the government and part of the cost of buying products internationally.
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Yes, and generally speaking we totally accept that. However we expect to pay 6% duty, 5% gst, and x% (PST) on the paid amount of goods bought, not some hypothetical higher number that has nothing to do with Canada.
 
custmsprty said:
And to falsify customs documents is to say the least illegal and not worth jeopardizing their company over.
Click to expand...

Nobody is asking AG to submit declared values lower than paid. But technically speaking, submitting declared values HIGHER than actual paid is also "false".
 
Inzane said:
Nobody is asking AG to submit declared values lower than paid. But technically speaking, submitting declared values HIGHER than actual paid is also "false".
Click to expand...
No you were just stating what others have done for you, subliminal message in there.
 
Still waiting on an answer as to why I always get cheaper shipping for heavier bulkier item, except here... Eshine ships free to the usa... so why would AG ship for 50% more than other retailers?

On ebay I can order a set of headlamps for my car, a huge 35lbs / 4cubic feet box for 55$... and yet 12 lbs for about 80$ common!
 
Ok just to clear this up, first we will not falsify customs documents to say gift or anything less than the package is, it's not ethical and we will only do it if it is for a replacement order or damaged in transit where you already had to pay it once.

Second I would like to post for all of our Canada members how we get our quotes, this will help you before you order, you can get a quote to see what you might be looking at in fees.

So I am going to use the OP order as an example as this will also help with with his concerns on his fees.

For Canada.... go to www.usps.com, click on calculate a price, select Canada, enter the value (yours $143.16), select package size (yours is Large Package, any dimension over 12inches), put in the weight (yours 19 lbs.), click continue, put in the box size (yours 28x13x13), click continue, click on PRIORITY MAIL INTERNATIONAL OPTIONS, you will see there the amount of time in transit and the cost to ship your package. You will notice a $3 difference I believe that is for insurance if I remember correctly.
Now I am not in charge of international shipping so I had to get some help with his but hopefully I did ok explaining it.
 
octane said:
Still waiting on an answer as to why I always get cheaper shipping for heavier bulkier item, except here... Eshine ships free to the usa... so why would AG ship for 50% more than other retailers?

On ebay I can order a set of headlamps for my car, a huge 35lbs / 4cubic feet box for 55$... and yet 12 lbs for about 80$ common!
Click to expand...

Your answer is in my last post, you can plug in any info and get a quote at USPS.com
 
octane said:
Still waiting on an answer as to why I always get cheaper shipping for heavier bulkier item, except here...
Click to expand...

If you can get exact box dimensions and shipping weight, that would enable you to go to the shipping company's website (in this case, USPS) and run the shipping estimate calcs yourself to check.

* edit * I was typing this before seeing Meghan's reply above.
 
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Looks like about $72.00 with usps priority mail international and 6-10 business days if your lucky. And oh by the way, have you ever tried to contact our US postal service when something gets lost or damaged? Good luck with that. And here's another note, once the package has left the shippers dock it's between you and the usps not the shipping company, you have to resolve the issues for damage or loss yourself. All they have to do is show proof of shipment/ ie tracking info. I'll stick with AG and UPS.
 
^^ I'm sure UPS is a great option for those living the US. But I imagine the reason AG uses USPS for shipments to Canada is they know as do we that it is usually the cheaper way by far.

UPS, and Fedex (and likely all the private courier businesses) charge insane fees on top of the front end shipping cost, and the required duty & taxes already owing at the back end.

As stated by you and other US forum members, "not your problem", it's ours. We get that. ;)
 
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