To legally avoid duties, the only way I know of is to purchase while you are physically in the US and then use your duty-free exemption. I "think" it is C$ 800 if you are out of Canada for 7 days.

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US Postal Service. There's no guarantee you'll avoid taxes completely, but Fedex and UPS Guarantee you'll pay, and they'll add their exorbitant brokerage fee.

If you live close to the border, I find the border guards don't want to deal with it, so no matter what I've purchased I only get directed inside to pay taxes maybe 1 in 5 times (and I always declare everything).

Thank you - In the past, USPS had been a bit more flexible with this. Sounds like this is still the case.

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

I believe if the product is made in USA you can avoid duties under NAFTA and the $ exemption doesn't apply. I have a bunch of friends that get stuff sent to post office boxes near the border and then they take their chances... If they had to pay duties frequently I don't think they would drive the ~2 HR round trip.

We use the USPS, the value of the item is important, but more important is where it is manufactured and what the weight / size is.

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Maybe he could ship it to Toledo or somewhere in New York on Amtrak and you could go pick it up from there

What is the product?

Ship it to CBIUSA and spend a couple days in the US, pick it up in Niagara Falls.

If you're feeling lucky, go over the border to do a cycling trip around the Falls area with an old junker, donate it and come back with the new one that was shipped to the above.

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

I would tell the person shipping the wheels to declare the value as low as you feel comfortable.

I have expensive shipments shipped from Taiwan to me in the USA all the time via Express Mail. The declared value is typically a few hundred dollars so I won't have to pay any duty.

Talk real nicely to the supplier and ask them to write "warranty" on the shipping label.

That is smart!

A warranty return is no duty/tax.

Steve,

As others have mentioned go USPS --->Canada Post.

if that is not available then "some" U.S. suppliers may (or may not) cut off retail tags and say "warranty" or "sapmle"

I just got dinged for 23$ dollars but have no issue as the order was over 1100$ U.S.

...this is just silly after 30+ years of free trade ;-)

Maurice

... But it's fraud.

I think the earlier poster had it right on the NAFTA Exemption: I've successfully appealed duty charges to Canada Post on this basic. But you're still going to pay taxes.

When going USPS->Canada Post....I have never had extra or duty, perhaps dependent on the nature of our respective purchases.

IE I paid nothing extra.

Maurice

Gonna jump in with a related question
re: NAFTA Bike parts made overseas but purchased from the US (iirc) are not duty-exempt.
But, what about wheel that are assembled by a US wheel-builder, likely consisting of overseas parts ...
Do these fall under the NAFTA agreement?

8712.00.00 - Complete Bikes - 13%
8714.91.10 - Frame lugs, bottom bracket shells, forks, fork tubing sets, fork bearing assemblies, hydraulic shock absorbing cylinders, spring shock absorbers, rear pivots, cable stops, cable guides and back, chain and seat stays - 0%
8714.91.90 - Frames and forks and parts thereof, OTHER than the above - 5%
8714.92.00 - Wheel rims and spokes - 0%
8714.93.00 - Hubs, other than coaster braking hubs and hub brakes plus free-wheel sprocket wheels - 0%
8714.94.00 - Brakes, including coaster braking hubs and hub brakes plus parts thereof - 0%
8714.95.00 - Saddles - 0%
8714.96.00 - Pedals and crank-gear, and parts thereof (I'd put chainrings in here too) - 0%
8714.99.10 - Bicycle wheels (I'm assuming assembled) - 6.5%
8714.99.90 - OTHER bike parts - 0%

Maybe get them to list as wheel rims and spokes?

USPS is best option by far. I don't recall the last time I got dinged for a shipment.

Keep in mind Canada Post may go on strike soon.
Your package might be stuck in a triage warehouse.

But as for shipping, I agree with USPS as a fast and rather reliable source. Rare duties with them.

UPS always charges brokerage fees and it can be quite steep.

Having it shipped to a Kinek or UPS pick up store in the US (for $5-6 storage for 30 days or so) can be good as well if you are not too far from the border.
48 hours in the US gives you a 800$ exemption (per person in the car so make it a 2, 3 people trip if you can)

You can also bring back booze and smokes so it could be a great week-end (the smokes could be for a friend).

Also keep in mind warranty. You might have to ship it back and if they don't have Canada/US warranties it could be costly to have fixed.

Good luck.

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Only fools never change their minds and I'll never change my mind about that.

UPS only charges the recipient a brokerage fee if the package is shipped via Ground service.

If it is an air shipment, the brokerage fee is included as part of the shipping fee and is paid by the shipper.

Fleck, I recently used a service called http://crossborderpickups.ca/ with good results. They give you a US address you ship to, and then they clear it through customs and deliver the package to a warehouse in Mississauga (which I'm close to). Here's how it broke down for me.

Tririg purchase of Omega X Brake :cost to ship directly to Canada $51 American Funds or roughly $70 Canadian+potential handling fee, duty, brokerage fee. The brake was duty exempt.

With service: $10 American to get to the US border, 13% tax, (brokerage fee included), plus $9 Canadian Funds to ship to Mississauga. If you don't live close to Mississauga, they will also ship to your door but at a rate.

The only thing you have to be willing to accept is the fact you will pay 13% hst, but you skip the handling fee, and brokerage fee most companies charge. For me, it was worth not having to drive to the USA and cross the border to use the service. I would have spent more than $9 and taxes in gas to get there.

For what it's worth, in the past month I've had reasonably expensive products from MemoryC and Saris shipped from the US to Ontario without any special consideration and I didn't have to pay duty/taxes on either shipment. The Saris product was shipped Fedex, and I can't remember how the MemoryC shipment got to me but I think it was USPS. One shipment was less that $1000 and the other was more than $1000.

Greg