- Joined
- Jul 27, 2005
- Messages
- 322
Just thought I'd relate my recent international knife-buying transaction, to balance all the horror stories I've read about. It was a good experience, so I hope that this info will help others decide about international selling and buying.
I rarely order stuff by mail, and even more rarely from out of the country, because of lots of stories of Canada Customs hassles and lengthy backlogs. In fact, a couple of years ago, I ordered a fishing rod from a private individual in Oregon, that took a month to move through Canada Customs. But I received these knives quite quickly, and the seller received his payment without a problem. Here are the details:
I'm in B.C. (British Columbia), Canada, and just bought some knives from a forum member in Maryland, USA.
I bought an international postal money order for the amount of the transaction, in US$, that Canada Post charged me CAN$4.95 for. (These money orders can be cashed at a US post office for no charge.) I mailed it to the seller via Canada Post Expresspost, which cost me CAN$10.45 postage. It took 11 days to get to the seller. That was a minor concern to me, since Canada Post's target delivery for Expresspost is "3 to 5 business days between major points", but no big deal, since there was a weekend there, plus my town and the seller's town are probably not considered "major points." (Who wants to live in a "major point", anyway?
)
The seller then mailed me the 3 knives in a large, bubble-lined envelope, via USPS Global Priority Mail, that cost him US$8.50 postage. In two weeks, a Canada Post letter carrier handed me the package, and collected from me CAN$12, plus my signature. It had a Canada Customs Import Form stuck on it, showing the charge details as $3.50 GST (federal Canadian sales tax), plus $3.50 PST (provincial B.C. sales tax), plus $5.00 handling fee (which I guess goes to Canada Customs and/or Canada Post). The Customs form also indicated that the package was opened. (Yes, there were fingerprints on my beautiful new blades! Dorks!)
That's it. Not bad, I figured, and unless I was just lucky, Canada Customs seems to be speedier now, than a year ago. I hope these details of costs and timing help others in the same boat!
I rarely order stuff by mail, and even more rarely from out of the country, because of lots of stories of Canada Customs hassles and lengthy backlogs. In fact, a couple of years ago, I ordered a fishing rod from a private individual in Oregon, that took a month to move through Canada Customs. But I received these knives quite quickly, and the seller received his payment without a problem. Here are the details:
I'm in B.C. (British Columbia), Canada, and just bought some knives from a forum member in Maryland, USA.
I bought an international postal money order for the amount of the transaction, in US$, that Canada Post charged me CAN$4.95 for. (These money orders can be cashed at a US post office for no charge.) I mailed it to the seller via Canada Post Expresspost, which cost me CAN$10.45 postage. It took 11 days to get to the seller. That was a minor concern to me, since Canada Post's target delivery for Expresspost is "3 to 5 business days between major points", but no big deal, since there was a weekend there, plus my town and the seller's town are probably not considered "major points." (Who wants to live in a "major point", anyway?
)The seller then mailed me the 3 knives in a large, bubble-lined envelope, via USPS Global Priority Mail, that cost him US$8.50 postage. In two weeks, a Canada Post letter carrier handed me the package, and collected from me CAN$12, plus my signature. It had a Canada Customs Import Form stuck on it, showing the charge details as $3.50 GST (federal Canadian sales tax), plus $3.50 PST (provincial B.C. sales tax), plus $5.00 handling fee (which I guess goes to Canada Customs and/or Canada Post). The Customs form also indicated that the package was opened. (Yes, there were fingerprints on my beautiful new blades! Dorks!)
That's it. Not bad, I figured, and unless I was just lucky, Canada Customs seems to be speedier now, than a year ago. I hope these details of costs and timing help others in the same boat!