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Home > Forum > Lavender Room > Canadians of the LR, help an Australian out (postage to Montreal)

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Canadians of the LR, help an Australian out (postage to Montreal)
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Amnesia
May 17, 22 20:08
Post #1 of 9 (373 views)
Canadians of the LR, I have a question about posting something from Australia to you all.
I sent a friend of mine a present and with COVID, despite paying international air express, it still took about 2 weeks to arrive.
However when the package was delivered they were charged an additional $15 for freight. It is a bit embarrassing sending someone a present only for them to have to pay money to receive it. It was not a duty/tax as such from what I can gather.
Is this normal? I am not used to the receiver also having to pay a fee to receive the package as such, but have no idea how the system works there. I was not sure if I did something wrong with the declaration or postage etc at this end, but it still cost $70 here to send it international air express.
I know its a trivial question with all that is going on in the world today, but it left me a little surprised and cautious about sending gifts like this.
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Re: Canadians of the LR, help an Australian out (postage to Montreal) [Amnesia] [ In reply to ]
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softrun
May 17, 22 21:04
Post #2 of 9 (355 views)
I live in BC and never had to pay anything when receiving a package. But, your package went to Quebec and there is always something special there, some BS that only they have.
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Re: Canadians of the LR, help an Australian out (postage to Montreal) [Amnesia] [ In reply to ]
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Big Endian
May 17, 22 21:06
Post #3 of 9 (355 views)
If you sent it via UPS then they typically charge a brokerage fee, payable by the receiver. Normally that fee is $25 CDN, plus any GST (VAT to the rest of the world) which is 5% of the declared value.
If you sent it via the regular post, with insurance for a given value, then a person receiving it in Canada will be charged 5% of the declared value (Maybe unless it’s declared as a gift -I forget the rules around that). Canada Post may also tack on $5 for their trouble in doing the customs clearance.
Less is more.
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Re: Canadians of the LR, help an Australian out (postage to Montreal) [Amnesia] [ In reply to ]
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spockman
May 18, 22 4:17
Post #4 of 9 (318 views)
I have received packages from our Australian international student (who has now bounced back for a visit to Canada) several times and have never been charged on arrival of the package. She always sent gifts. Don't know why you got charged and she did not. I would say what she sent us was valued at between 50-100 dollars each time. When she wakes up (it is 7 am here now) I will ask her if she got insurance and what she declared the items as.
They constantly try to escape from the darkness outside and within
Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good T.S. Eliot

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Re: Canadians of the LR, help an Australian out (postage to Montreal) [Amnesia] [ In reply to ]
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Amnesia
May 18, 22 7:02
Post #5 of 9 (305 views)
Thanks everyone, it was declared as a gift and about $150 value.
It was bulky and would not fit in a mail box.
I just feel like crap that someone had to pay to get their gift....was a new one for me....
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Re: Canadians of the LR, help an Australian out (postage to Montreal) [Amnesia] [ In reply to ]
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mauricemaher
May 18, 22 7:26
Post #6 of 9 (301 views)
Amnesia wrote:
Thanks everyone, it was declared as a gift and about $150 value.
It was bulky and would not fit in a mail box.
I just feel like crap that someone had to pay to get their gift....was a new one for me....

Typically….when I order stuff from overseas or USA I always go with the national carrier. So with Royal Mail (UK) or USPS etc and then it gets transferred to Canada post. I never have problems with “brokerage” or unexpected extra fees. With FedEx, DHL, purrolator etc I always have these weird unexpected extra fees/charges.

Maurice
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Re: Canadians of the LR, help an Australian out (postage to Montreal) [Amnesia] [ In reply to ]
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Big Endian
May 18, 22 9:17
Post #7 of 9 (283 views)
Amnesia wrote:
Thanks everyone, it was declared as a gift and about $150 value.
It was bulky and would not fit in a mail box.
I just feel like crap that someone had to pay to get their gift....was a new one for me....
https://www.canadapost-postescanada.ca/...-and-exemptions.page

From that page:
- even if it's a gift, if it's valued over $60 the recipient will pay duty/tax as applicable on the excess.
- Canada Post charges $9.95 per dutiable/taxable item for their trouble.

5% of $90 is $4.50; plus $9.95 gets you to $14.45.

It's hard to avoid, if you fairly value your shipments for insurance purposes. But, if you put an unrealistically low value on stuff then CBSA will put it in customs purgatory and notify the recipient; they then have to prove the value somehow and immediately pay any duty/tax owing, before they will release the package. That's happened to me when an eBay seller "helpfully" put an obviously low valuation on a package.
Less is more.
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Re: Canadians of the LR, help an Australian out (postage to Montreal) [Amnesia] [ In reply to ]
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spockman
May 18, 22 11:44
Post #8 of 9 (261 views)
Australian girl says she declared as a gift and in excess of 60 dollars sometimes. I think it may be the case that when they are busy if it is a small value item like less than a few hundred dollars they might not bother? Unfortunately your gift got charged. But the recipient got a 150 dollar gift and they only had to pay 15 dollars. I am happy to get that gift. Unless it is macrame or an ugly sweater.
They constantly try to escape from the darkness outside and within
Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good T.S. Eliot

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Re: Canadians of the LR, help an Australian out (postage to Montreal) [mauricemaher] [ In reply to ]
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spockman
May 18, 22 11:46
Post #9 of 9 (258 views)
My experience as well. Sometimes company sending doesn't deal with national carrier and I get stuck with the wonky excessive brokerage charges.
They constantly try to escape from the darkness outside and within
Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good T.S. Eliot

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