Hi guys. I am looking to get a new 100 AXA quick change tool post and I have my eye on one from Enco in the US. Has anyone here bought from them or the little machine Shop. I was wondering what kind of extra cost there is such as duty, shipping, etc. If anyone has any info they could give me I would appreciate it very much. Thanks. Fred....

I have found with the exchange basically at par it is cheaper to buy from the US

If you live close to the border, you can have it shipped to a UPS store on the US side.. I purchase many Jeep parts and have them addressed to the UPS store with my name and phone number. Just make sure you have your receipt and when you cross the border you pay tax and thats it. They will call you when it arrives. $5 to $15 holding fee depending on the size. I've saved $120 on shipping alone for 1 package by shipping to the US which makes it worth the 1.5 hour drive.

I purchased some bearings from Little machine Shop and was very happy with them.
The bearings were $20 shipping and handling was $10.75
Items came fast with no duty or other fees being charged. I may just have been lucky with that.

George

Thanks for the replies guys. I figure that we are pretty much at par and the taxes of coarse. Shipping I dont think would be to bad as it is only 12 pounds but I wonder if they will nail me for brokerage fees. I might have to call Canada customs to see if they apply. Enco has the AXA 100 quick change with 5 holders on sale for around $88.00 and it is a Phase 11. "VERY CHEEP" so i figure if i can get it for a couple hundred i am still ahead of the game... Thanks guys... Fred...

If you have something sent by courier, UPS, Fedex, etc., you will pay a brokerage fee that will be anywhere up to $100.00 in addition to taxes; rarely is there any duty. If it is sent by the postal service you will still pay the tax but probably no brokerage fee.

CanPost charge GST & PST and $5.00 processing fee. That is IF they happen to pick it out for assessment, Do not have the sender declare it as "Gift" it red flags it at customs, 50% of my USPS shipments go through free.
Al.

UPS just charged me over $25 in brokerage fees for a $36 value parcel, duty fees were $1.29, taxes $4.50 plus about $19 in different fees: prepayment of duty fees etc, etc...

Next shipments will come in CanPost!!

Best regards

Bruno

Watch where you buy and it is OK.
Travers stuff (supposedly) lands at your door free.
KBC Tools has a bunch of Canadian stores.
Misumi USA has a special Canadian shipping policy with $4.95 USD fixed brokerage rate.
Myself and a few others who can still buy McMaster Carr pay no brokerage.

I am sure there are a few others.

As stated above, have stuff shipped USPS/Canada Post when crossing the border. The initial shipping fee will be a little higher than UPS/Fedex, but you won't get mugged with the brokerage fee.

Shipping brokerage fees are such a massive scam. Bruno's story is a prime example. You can't calculate them beforehand. Parcel value doesn't seem to be a reliable indicator of what they will be either. I've seen someone charged $90 brokerage on a $220 parcel! All for what, some guy to ask one question and sign a sheet in a couple of places? To hell with that crap.

Serge

Well LpGibson has his answer but throwing in my $.02 anyway :)

UPS to Canada: Too many bad stories about Canadian delivery gouging. Never tried it.

Post office delivery to Canada: This is my first choice for small items and even some larger items. Maybe it's luck of the draw but these have usually been arriving with no charges. Not even the taxes. This includes a couple of purchases in excess of $200. ymmv.

Using a parcel service American side: I'm in an unusual location here. A round trip can usually be completed in 30 minutes. There are real shipping savings to be had. The downside is the fees due at the border. This is a little used port and the customs people have plenty of time for paper work. Typically on a product not covered under FTA 6.5% duty has been applied in addition to the taxes. Seeing as the country of manufacture is often China, the customs officers are possibly cutting me a break at 6.5%. With some sellers US shipping is the only option offered.

I'm in an unusual location here. A round trip can usually be completed in 30 minutes. There are real shipping savings to be had. The downside is the fees due at the border. This is a little used port and the customs people have plenty of time for paper work. .

What you want to do is prepare a B3 before you make the trip to customs, I am sure the duty officer will welcome it.
The CRA has a fillable B3 on their web site, and also the Commodity code PDF manual is there, they have made it in to one now for all codes, so it is a bit cumbersome to wade through, but if you are importing tool/electrical/machinery etc, just use the Adobe search in class 8400 or 8500, most items will be in this section and you can pick one which has no duty. ;)
If USPS, get the sender to put an invoice on the outside with the commodity code you selected, if customs check it, they will use this number, rather than look it up.
Al.

I recently got a shipment from the US, value $46.00, via UPS. Thats the
only way I could get it. I knew UPS would try to rip me off like usual but
I needed those particular items and could not get them here.
When UPS delivered the parcel I was not home but they left it at my
apartment door with a note saying I owed them $32.00 for a customs fee.
Luckily the parcel was not stolen. Now UPS wants the $32.00 but hell will
freeze over before they will get it.
2 years ago I had a mini mill and mini lathe shipped to a washington state
address and my boss picked them up for me and brought them across the
border paying only GST, nothing else.

Al

Those Revenue Canada sites give me a headache but maybe with you're tip I can muddle through the mentioned pdf. If this works I'm in your debt. Thanks.

salzburg

There's a American member here who will redirect parcels, combine shipping, etc. Might be worth checking out next time a "UPS only" situation arises. Besides, you could be on UPS's "problem customer" list ;) Wear it like the Badge of Honor it surely is :)

Another little known fact is that you can claim a claw-back from revenue Canada if you feel that UPS has used the wrong commodity number and you have paid a chunk of excise tax, which can be 6.5 ~9.5%.
I normally clear my own UPS ground shipments, but in the case of express shipments from the US, the brokerage is covered, and carried out by UPS in the price of shipping.
The down side is, like ground cleared shipments, they do not always get the commodity number right.
Imagine some guy in UPS brokerage trying to decide what a 'Mitsubishi Servo Encoder ' comes under.
When it runs to imports valued at a few $k, the excise tax mounts up.
I will submit a B2, which like the B3 and is fillable off the CRA site.
UPS will send you a copy of the B3 they used to import, and with that in hand, you use it to make up the B2, in order to get your refund.
This can also apply to USPS/CanPost shipments that CRA clear themselves.
I have been doing this for a number of years, and believe me, you learn all the wrinkles. :D
Al.

I am new to this website, but have bought a lot of items on Ebay. This includes a 12 X 20 X 2 inch CNC. After being stung by UPS a couple of times I always specify USPS. Sometimes tax is added (plus $5 handling) but not usually for small items.

Caution: My opinion is that Canada post throws all parcels into and out of their trucks. My CNC suffered damage because it was not packaged for this abuse (2 bent 1/4 " leadscrews).

I paid $8 brokerage on my last parcel up from the states (through mail). It would have been WAY more any other way.