import duty sending used gear from Canada to USA

I have bought several items here and from Canuckaudiomart.
One was a Simaudio integrated (made in Canada) another was Emotiva amp made in USA. One was shipped from Montreal the other Alberta. Both came via FEDEX no extra fees or duty. Just like buying from a USA seller as far as I could tell. Received both in three or four days.
Hope this helps.

You have to be really careful. I forget what the rules are because its been so long since I've bought or sold anything from Canada. But the reason I stopped in the first place was due to all this confusion with duty fees. Not only that, people try and trick you. If you are a buyer, the seller may claim there are no fees only to find out there are, and if you want the item, you have to pay. Once you pay someone, they don't really care because they already have the money.

Another bad experience I had was with Classe. I had a warranty issue and it had to go back to Canada for repair. Instead of sending the unit directly to Classe in Canada, they had me ship it to someone in upstate NY who put in their car and drove it in to Canada. That was OK. The problem was when they shipped it back to me. It was help up for over 3 months some place in Canada. When I finely got it back, the box was all torn up and had bright red stickers all over it.

I'm not saying something like this is definitely going to happen to you, but just be careful. For all I know, I could have been at fault somehow and just didn't know what I was doing.

The customs regulations are ridiculously complicated but at its simplest the issue is where the item was originally manufactured.

If the item was manufactured in a country that is a member of NAFTA (North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement, Canada, Mexico, etc.) the heavy customs duties don't apply. But if it were manufactured somewhere else, shipped to Canada and then brought into the U.S. the duties will be the same as if it were shipped directly from the country of origin to the U.S.

I learned this the hard way when buying a pair of ProAc speakers - English made - from a seller in British Columbia and having to spend an hour and considerable money at the border in order to drive them back into the U.S.

I purchased 2 items from Canada. In both cases, the seller drove them into the US and shipped them. Great sellers. I remember one said that there was a large FedEx store just across the border in the US, because so many people shipped to the US, especially for eBay. Other than that, I have been pretty careful not to get items from Canada, just in case.

Sfar's comments are important. US/Canadian made products should not be an issue, although they may be held up. Anything else may be a problem.