Date: Fri, 16 Jul 2004 08:32:20 -0400
Reply-To: The Bus Depot <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: The Bus Depot <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM>
Subject: Re: New Info for Canadian Vanagon Owners (& 02 sensor in Canada)
In-Reply-To: <40F701A9.15466.394CA47C@localhost>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
> > On a somewhat related issue, I have somewhat good news for the
> > Canadian contingent of the Vanagon list. We have reached a
> > distribution arrangement with a relatively large Canadian parts
> > supplier that will allow some Canadian orders placed with The Bus
> > Depot to actually ship directly to you from within Canada
> > rather than coming from the U.S.
> I have resisted ordering from US vendors for this reason,
> as I have seen the exorbitant (or extortionist...) brokerage/duty
> that can be applied for no apparent reason at times when I
> receive things at work. I've had many cases where the total
> fees exceed the value of the item!
This can largely depend on what carrier the shipper uses, the origin of
the parts, and how they are noted on the customs form.
Canadian import tarrifs on auto parts should never exceed the value of
the part, or even come close. According to
<http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/general/publications/tariff2004/ch87ne.pdf>
the import duty on most auto parts is 6%. As I understand it, it can
actually be lower in some cases, i.e. items that fall under NAFTA, and
(or so I've been told by some Canadian customers) parts for vehicles
that are 25 years old or older. We label our Vanagon parts as such on
the customs form since most can in fact be fitted to a Vanagon built in
late 1979 - 25 years ago.
What can cost you a small fortune are the brokerage fees. This occurs
when a shipping service is used that does not include the brokerage fee
(or customs handling fee) as part of the shipping charge. UPS's standard
ground service falls into that category. They will charge the brokerage
fee on a C.O.D. basis and it can be quite severe. What's more they will
not tell us or you how much it will be prior to delivery.
As a result, we avoid UPS ground service for Canadian orders. U.S. Mail
is the least expensive way to get goods to Canada, as the brokerage fees
are already included in the postal rate and are quite reasonable. This
is because brokerage is handled by the government instead of by a
private party, since the U.S. postal service is government owned. As I
understand it, a flat CDN $5 fee per package is charged on delivery for
customs handling in lieu of a brokerage fee. We only use UPS to ship to
Canada cases where there is no other choice, i.e. isolated dropshipped
items or items that are too big to go via Mail (which can often be
dropshipped right from within Canada now). If you are placing an order
you can email the items to us and we can confirm that none would have to
go UPS from the U.S., but instances where they would are quite rare.
U.S. Mail has several services available, ranging in delivery time from
a few days for express service up to 6 weeks for the cheapest service
(which we avoid). We usually try to use either Global Priority Mail or
Air Mail, depending on size, which is roughly a 7-10 day service.
So your import costs can vary tremendously depending on the carrier
used. A lot comes down to how much effort the retailer is making to ship
in a manner that will keep your costs down. If you buy from a company
that uses mail service they will not be horrendous. (Although you will
still save a good 6% on items that can be dropshipped from within
Canada.)
- Ron Salmon
The Bus Depot, Inc.
www.busdepot.com
(215) 234-VWVW
_____________________________________________
Toll-Free for Orders by PART # : 1-866-BUS-DEPOT
