I recently sold a sold of mint condition Mugen Lowdowns to a H-T member in Toronto. We agreed on a sale price which included shipping to Canada.

I pack the dampers (very meticulously - as usual ) and go to the post office.



Originally planned on sending them parcel post (surface), but was informed by the clerk that it would take "4-6 weeks" (to Canada??!), so I decided to send them via AIR parcel at my own expense (an additional 35 bucks or so). Didn't feel right making the guy wait that long for some pricey Mugen bling...

Anyhow, I sent the package out on 10/26 via air parcel. Should have taken 7-10 days according to the post office. Package did not arrive until 11/19. Here is the reason why...

http://www.canadapost.ca/busin...=1026

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Ottawa - Canada Post today announced a serious delay in the delivery of incoming international mail due to a backlog at the Canadian Border Services Agency in Vancouver.

“Parcels coming into Canada are taking up to five weeks to clear Customs”, said Cal Hart, senior vice-president, Marketing and Product Management for Canada Post.

"Since August 2002, mail has been subjected to backlogs at the Customs centre in Vancouver and today more than 150,000 packages (45 tractor-trailer loads) are waiting for Customs clearance in the Vancouver Mail Processing Plant."
</TD></TR></TABLE>

So the next time you want to bitch about how inept OUR postal service is, just be grateful you don't live in Canada

Shane, who's very glad (and relieved) that the Mugen dampers arrived to the buyer safe and sound (albiet late):

 

Seems I've heard similar issues when importing JDM stuff.

Customs is backlogged and things are taking quite a bit longer than used to be expected.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 1GreyTeg &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Seems I've heard similar issues when importing JDM stuff.

Customs is backlogged and things are taking quite a bit longer than used to be expected.

</TD></TR></TABLE>

Anton, there is a backlog in US ports (such as Long Beach) but nothing like what's happening in Canada; I had a containerload shipment of tools that came through Long Beach about 6 wks ago had to wait in queue to get X-rayed by US Customs. Took an extra 6 days from the norm.

 

scamma!

 

Thanks for the Mugens Shane. You did a great job packing them up.
Kinda got worried after the third week.. on the fourth week I thought they were lost. But I'm glad they arrived in once piece. They are in excellent condition.

Shane is a great guy to work with and replies to messages fast. He seems to be on H-T 24/7 .. lol..

 

i have a few buyers that insist on tracking numbers when im shipping to canada from the states and often they freak out when packages dont arrive within a week.

 

The USPS isn't all that bad pretty damn good if you ask me. CanadaPost has always been notoriously crappy.

 

I'm from Canada and I order stuff from the US all the time without a problem. However it's always Fedex'd or UPS'd.

With the way the dollar has been, chit is WAY cheaper in the US; even with the exchange and shipping.

 

Lol this thread is 3 years old

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by rodneyk &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Lol this thread is 3 years old</TD></TR></TABLE>

You should have your vision screened.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by rodneyk &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Lol this thread is 3 years old</TD></TR></TABLE>

How did you change your registration date on h-t?

Because you sure are acting like a NooB!!!

 

It's mainly because they've closed some customs processing buildings.

All stuff coming from the states now gets routed to Toronto or Vancouver.

I found this through Google:

Serious Delay in Delivery of International Mail
Dateline: 10/19/04

There is a long delay in the delivery of international mail in Canada due to a backlog in clearing Canada Customs in Vancouver, according to Canada Post. Parcels are currently taking about five weeks to get through Customs.

The Customs centre in Vancouver has more than 150,000 packages waiting to be processed. The backlog is putting a strain on equipment, tying up warehouse space, and generating about 160 complaint calls a day to Canada Post.

The Vancouver Customs clearing centre has been experiencing backlogs since August 2002.

There used to be five Customs clearing centres for mail coming into Canada - in Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto and Montreal. Early in 2004 the U.S. Postal Service stopped shipping to the Calgary and Winnipeg Customs centres because of a difficulty with flights. The Canada Border Services Agency closed the Winnipeg and Calgary Customs centres this spring, leaving only three Customs clearing centres.

The Canada Border Services Agency has told Canada Post that the backlog will be cleared in a month.

 

Umm, I ordered stuff from Canada and it was 3.5 weeks so far and I haven't gotten the parts yet. So postal service sucks both ways.

 

ok heres the deal....i work for ups
the canadian division of ups is on strike right now, thats what the delay is. but there are already settlement negotiations being made. everything should, with some luck be back to normal shortly.

as for usps.....in plain old english = blows
you get no tracking number, its a dollar less than ups, and date of delivery is not guaranteed.
with ups, you get free tracking information, guarnateed ship date, and $100 free insurance....

jsut thought id give a heads up

 

also dont forget to say they are a "gift" or the buyer will pay import taxes on items.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by cxSHOE &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">also dont forget to say they are a "gift" or the buyer will pay import taxes on items.</TD></TR></TABLE>
how about big items like wheels/tires/suspension?
import taxes is a big big issue to canada buyers
i only let them sent as "gift" when i buy small stuffs like oilcap etc..

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MaskedDC4 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
how about big items like wheels/tires/suspension?
import taxes is a big big issue to canada buyers
i only let them sent as "gift" when i buy small stuffs like oilcap etc..</TD></TR></TABLE>

well i can only speak for my experience and i got charged $35 buck for two wheels in taxes. but as long as the sender states that they are gifts then they can not apply tax to the items. but who knows.??? i never bought from canada again..

 

as far as security goes, they have it the wrong way around, they should be worried about bombs/drugs getting sent from canada to US, not US to canada.

usps is pretty horible with most stuff thought.

I have to deal with their **** on a frequent basis.

worst case ive heard of when I was waiting in line at a branch.

Some lady sent about 2k usd worth of merchandise to aussie land or europe, i cant remember. something stupid happended, and the usps held onto it for 4-5 months. They never informed her that they still had it, they just did nothing for the most part. she is out of the 200 or so dollars for shipping, the cost of the merchandise, and she had to rebuy the stuff for the person she sold it to. that might not be the whole situation, but close enough. and oh, she had to pay a fee to get the box back because of something.

 

Heard this on the news at couple weeks ago. Some guy needed medicine in Nova Scotia and it was still in Vancouver. I have lots of stuff coming from the states and its taking forever. Don't bother sending priority either its gone up like 5x........

 

Marking items as gift only works on small items now. Canada customs charges taxes on pratically EVERYTHING now over $60 regardless of whether it's marked gift or not. Definitely marking it as gift helps but I find it works like this now:

Declared Value: $300
Less Gift: $-60
Taxable Amount: $240 x 15% in Ontario
USPS Duty Charge (Fixed): $5

Don't ship UPS or Fed Ex into Canada Because their Duty Charge is some percentage of the declared value or something like that.. you get charged up the ying yang in duties on top of the already insane sales taxes on the declared amount.

 

I just had to wait 7 weeks for a wideband kit from Australia. I received it the same day I received the insurance papers to declare it missing.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">How did you change your registration date on h-t?

Because you sure are acting like a NooB!!!</TD></TR></TABLE>

oh **** my bad my bad

 

Like he said, Don't ship via UPS, Brown takes a huge percentage, and brokerage fees are crazy. However Canadapost is so slow, so slow. I guess that's how things are run if the Gov't runs it. On the upside, you basically only have to pay taxes. Ohh, you are so lucky that they didn't seize the package, Canadapost doesn't like it when people send shocks, they say they can blow up during shipment, or some BS. I had ordered a can oh spray, and they sent it through canadapost. It arrives at my city before it was siezed, how dumb is that!!! All I got was a pamphlet on what not to send. Shocks was on the list, so becareful, wouldn't want a set of mugens going to waste.

 

the price i see on the kingmotorsports website, once here in quebec is +105% with shipping, brokerage fees and taxes at UPS.. imagine that, they are already outrageously expensive! Nice shocks even if the post is old the mailing problem is still valid!

 

i had sold some injectors to some guy in canada a while ago.
i didn't know it took so long. it was like 4 weeks.
he though i scammed him
but he got them, and everything was cool.