Problems with shipping to Canada


I checked the Forums but this topic doesn't seem to have been addressed before so potential shippers to Canada take heed. In June I shipped an item to Canada by FEDEX where the buyer had agreed to pay shipping and be responsible for paying the import duties. However FEDEX has been unable to collect the fees from the buyer and have informed me that as shipper I am ultimately responsible for payment. Luckily the amount I'm out of pocket is not large ($120) but I just wanted Agoner's to be aware of this possible pitfall especially if shipping high-value items
jaynewt
Yup... this happened to my friend who ebays alot..
USPS or nothing for Canadians.

It has been easier for me to ship internationally than to Canada.

Make Sure you leave Negative Feedback stating having to pay his customs import taxes.
I had the same thing happen (I can tell we both received the same form letter). In my case I sent an email to the buyer (this happened 4 months after the sale) reminding him he agreed to pay these fees. Fortunately for me, he had already paid them (ie 3 days before he received my email), and I never heard again from FEDEX.

My policy now is the same as Cytocycle's - USPS or nothing.
Yes, I filed a dispute with Audiogon and they suspended the members account and encouraged me to leave negative feedback, which I have. I was a bit annoyed at FEDEX for not making this clear when I shipped although I do understand and sympathize with their policy. In any case I've now learnt my lesson, if I can't find a buyer in the US then no sale!
On every FedEx international waybill there is a box to be checked as to who is responsible for duties and taxes. It is on the right side of the form. Next time make sure you check "recipient" and you shouldn't have to pay.
I completed a deal with a nice guy in Canada a few months ago, but I won't ship to Canada again despite the positive experience. The shipping hassle was too much.

Originally, the plan was for me to send the package FEDEX Ground from Los Angeles to Quebec. Lucky for me, FEDEX seemed incapable or more so, unwilling to acommodate me.

I went to a major FEDEX hub near my house and they said I needed to open a separate FEDEX Ground account since my regular FEDEX account wouldn't get the job done. Apparently, these are two separate and distinct arms which don't like deaking with each other. This depot also told me that the person in charge of Ground shipments wasn't there and they couldn't handle it immediately.

I went home and tried to find contact info on the FEDEX website, but I'll be damned if they want anyone to contact them. It's hard as hell to find contact info on the FEDEX website. Almost as bad as Ebay.

When I finally found a number and got someone on the phone, they recommended two places where I could ship FEDEX Ground. At one place it was required that all forms already be printed out before arriving there since they were a business oriented depot. So no dice. The second place the lady on the line recommended to me was the very place I had just returned from! After I told her they weren't readily set up to handle FEDEX Ground shipments there was a long silent pause on her end of the line, followed by, "really?"

The lady said she could prepare the forms for me and FAX them to me, but I don't own a FAX machine. Then she offered to FAX them to the place I had just been, but that would do no good since the lady at the FEDEX depot told me the person handling Ground shipments wasn't there and they didn't know when she would be in.

When I contacted the buyer in Canada he researched his e-mail and found that when encountering difficulty with sales from the US he always resorted to USPS. Only thing is, USPS doesn't offer ground service from LA to Quebec. Only air or by SHIP! And no tracking info was available for purchase for SHIP. Only via air! I had a choice between $28 for ocean service or almost $100 for air, and since the guy had already sent payment via PayPal, I decided to risk sending him the box by pirate ship. USPS told me shipment would take 4-6 weeks.

When I contacted the seller, he wasn't surprised at all, and not unsatisfied with the 4-6 week expectation. He said shipments from the US typically took 3-4 weeks. So I waved goodbye as my package went off to Quebec via Louis & Clark barge and hoped for the best.

Three weeks later, I received an e-mail that the package arrived safely. I really lucked out on this deal, and if it wasn't for this nice buyer things could have been a real mess.

It's easy to get things from Canada into the US, but just plain epic going the other way. That and in order to avoid monstrous import "doodies", one can't place a declared value higher than $100 on the item or our friends north of the border will get a giant North American pine cone up the yin/yang.

No more for me.