shipping canopy from U.S. to Canada

[KindredSpirit 0]

I'm not sure if this belongs in Gear&Rigging but here it goes:
I am buying a canopy from someone in the U.S. and I was wondering what's the best way to send it.
Fed/Ex or UPS? What kind of packaging? Are there any concerns with customs at the border? etc. etc.
Any advice would be welcome.

"Kicking gravity's ass since 2003!"

[RMURRAY 1]

Quote

I'm not sure if this belongs in Gear&Rigging but here it goes:
I am buying a canopy from someone in the U.S. and I was wondering what's the best way to send it.
Fed/Ex or UPS? What kind of packaging? Are there any concerns with customs at the border? etc. etc.
Any advice would be welcome.

I use UPS ground. good price and never a problem. make sure the sender uses a good box which is not too small and put the canopy in a plastic bag with no holes in it. you can check that the canopy was not damaged in shipping easy. make sure they call the contents "parachute parts" and devalue to reduce tax.

rm

[Feeblemind 1]

You can also use Shipped for inspection or shipped for repair. Either of those statements may prevent taxes all together.

Fire Safety Tip: Don't fry bacon while naked

[justinb138 0]

Quote

I'm not sure if this belongs in Gear&Rigging but here it goes:
I am buying a canopy from someone in the U.S. and I was wondering what's the best way to send it.
Fed/Ex or UPS? What kind of packaging? Are there any concerns with customs at the border? etc. etc.
Any advice would be welcome.

I've had better experiences with Fed-Ex, especially with expensive stuff.

[Canuck 0]

Use US airmail. No extra brokerage or disbursment fees that way. Takes a little longer, but it's winter here anyway.

Canuck

[rbanfield 0]

Last I heard, Fedex international *ground* shipments require an account with Fedex. You may want to verify that your shipper has an account.

I hate UPS with a passion. They may be a little cheaper, but they are the only company I have received damaged items with, and they have done so multiple times.

With UPS, I have also had items that were "DELAYED DUE TO LATE TRAIN" for two days! When I called to ask when my package would be delivered they said they did not know and refused to give me any sort of estimate. I asked if I should call up fedex as I'm sure they would be able to give me a time to get a package from Jacksonville, FL to Tampa, FL.

In closing, I would like to remind you that UPS's trademark colors are brown and gold. When I drop a load in the toilet, I also see both brown and gold. So let me ask you, what can brown do for you?

[RMURRAY 1]

Quote

Last I heard, Fedex international *ground* shipments require an account with Fedex. You may want to verify that your shipper has an account.

I hate UPS with a passion. They may be a little cheaper, but they are the only company I have received damaged items with, and they have done so multiple times.

With UPS, I have also had items that were "DELAYED DUE TO LATE TRAIN" for two days! When I called to ask when my package would be delivered they said they did not know and refused to give me any sort of estimate. I asked if I should call up fedex as I'm sure they would be able to give me a time to get a package from Jacksonville, FL to Tampa, FL.

In closing, I would like to remind you that UPS's trademark colors are brown and gold. When I drop a load in the toilet, I also see both brown and gold. So let me ask you, what can brown do for you?

I sell stuff for friends and have shipped probably 50 items from Canada to the US. UPS ground has been excellent and is cheap. Inside Canada I use CANPAR. For Europe and down under TNT. I am sure FEDEX is good.

[174fps 1]

Quote

I sell stuff for friends and have shipped probably 50 items from Canada to the US. UPS ground has been excellent and is cheap. Inside Canada I use CANPAR. For Europe and down under TNT. I am sure FEDEX is good.

UPS Canada to US no problem
UPS US to Canada @%&#$$# they hit you with brokerage charges
Do not use UPS ground.

[imdskydiver 0]

UPS sucks ! If you are shipping 1 or 2 day service it will be stuck in customs for a day or two and there will be Brokerage charges and taxes .
Fedex will buy pass customs because they do their own work at the border ,( 1 & 2 day ) anything else is subject to the same terms as UPS. The price is more but it pretty well evens out in the end, If you do not plan to insure your canopy i would ship it USPS .

[pchapman 261]

Good advice so far.

I've used the postal services between the US and Canada quite successfully. But it's best for lower value items, due to insurance limits: Canada Post insures to $1000 Cdn only, and USPS to $675 US only (for Parcel Post which includes Global Airmail.)

The value for insurance purposes can of course be different than the value for customs, which may be $0 if "returned to owner after repair" etc. (Although technically even after a repair, I think one should be paying tax on the value of the repair services?)

[teason 0]

I ship with UPS.

The problem, however, is that they will screw the living shit out of you if you let them. They not only charge brokerage but also duty, even when it's from the US which is duty exempt!

Here's how you do it affordably.

Have the shipment marked "hold for pickup, reciever will broker shipment. They will call you to pick up the paperwork.

Next, go down to Canada Customs (UPS will tell you where it is) and fill out a B4 form. They are also downloadable on the internet. When you go down to customs, they will help you with the form. Keep a copy of the form for future reference.

There is a book at Canada customs that has all the tariff codes. For parachutes it is 8804.00.10.00.
For accesories it is 8804.00.20.00.
Both are duty exempt for goods origionating in the US.

For AADs origionating in europe it is a different code (I can't remember the exact code of the top of my head) If you find the code for a "Nav aid for other than an aircraft" it is duty exempt as well.





UPS WILL SCREW YOU IF YOU LET THEM DO IT! THEY CHARGE DUTY, BROKERAGE, GST&PST ON THE ITEM + GST& PST ON THE BROKERAGE THEY WILL SCREW YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you do it yourself you will have to pay PST & GST on the declared value only.

**Warning** Make sure you have some sort of proof of purchase price. Print out the webpage if you bought on ebay for example. If you buy from a company make sure you get a comercial invoice.

If you are buying something with an unrealistic value (gear for a buck) don't take the chance with Canada Customs. It's not worth it>

I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.

[murrays 0]

Quote

UPS Canada to US no problem
UPS US to Canada @%&#$$# they hit you with brokerage charges
Do not use UPS ground.

Exactly. I will never use UPS to receive anything from the US. US Postal Service is good for some things. For a canopy I would use Fedex Priority Air...brokerage is included in the price, the service is excellent.

Our business recently had three priority packages sent by UPS to Saskatoon from Calgary. ALL THREE were delivered to incorrect addresses. We had to go looking for them. In the hundreds of Fedex packages we have sent out only one has not been delivered correctly.

--
Murray

"No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

[riggerrob 558]

Agreed!
If you enjoy being raped - over brokerage fees and having packages arrive weeks late - then ship UPS Ground.
A couple of years ago, I ordered a bunch of freebies for a riggers' course, but was almost bankrupted by the brokerage fees.
Never again!
For smaller packages (value less than $1,000) I use Canada Post/United States Postal Service.

[Vectracide 0]

I have a way around all of these problems. PM me if you are interested.

------------------------------

Controlled and Deliberate.....

[teason 0]

This is a link to the B3 form.

It's all you'll ever need to avoid brokerage.
http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/E/pbg/cf/b3-3/b3-3-fill-04b.pdf
I love Shipping UPS and then depriving them of thier brokerage!

I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.

[pchapman 261]

Quote

For AADs origionating in europe it is a different code (I can't remember the exact code of the top of my head) If you find the code for a "Nav aid for other than an aircraft" it is duty exempt as well.

I'll expand on that one --

HTC 9014.20.8080 - AERONAUTICAL NAVIGATION APPLIANCE is the one that SSK uses for Cypreses.

The standard way to ship a Cypres from Canada to the US (& back) for maintenance is to do it UPS, using SSK's own account. They then bill you along with the maintenance at the end.

Details at www.cypres-usa.com under the headings:
"Freight Collect" Shipping to SSK from Canada
and
Good News for Our Canadian Customers!

When going into a shipping office, you have to say right away that it is going on the recipient's account, otherwise they have you fill out all the wrong forms, trying to set up your own UPS account, which isn't neeed.

You still need to know what to choose to insure the Cypres for.

And it still takes a lot of time to fill out all the paperwork.

I use that method since SSK recommends it (as a good compromise of security and cost), but I haven't compared it to other ways.