Shipping knives to Canada

T

thombrogan

Joined
Nov 16, 2002
Messages
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Has anyone here shipped folding knives, such as axis-locked Benchmades, to Canada? If so, what has been your experience?

Many thanks in advance!
 
Don't ship UPS Ground if you want to avoid ridiculous "brokerage" charges.
 
usps global express, most fit in a medium package(6usd, 5-7 business days).

just got a package up here today, spyderco kiwi, shipped the 10th, air mail usps, from CT.
 
i have had the odd knife sent up from the US. I always specify regular mail. On the other hand, for an interesting alternative view there is a thread on rec.knives right know about a guy who had a CKRT M16 folder seized at the border. The customs claim was that the knife was too loose, and therefore could be flipped open.
 
I've done some trades with members of BF in Canada and it's been super easy.

Tell the post office you want to ship Air Mail but not Global Express and it'll cost you less than $5 for a folder in a little box or envelope.

You have to state the item as a GIFT and describe it as "cutlery".
Also, you should declare the value at about $20 or else the person receiving it will have to pay a HUGE import tax.

Also, I've heard horror stories about Canada's knife laws. I know a guy in Canada that's having a heck of a time because someone sent him a CRKT M16 with the Carson "flipper" and the "flipper" caused it to get REJECTED by customs because somehow it was against the law by customs' interpretation. He's currently appealing that decision but is having a heck of a hard time getting his knife.

I've traded with members in Canada a few times and haven't had a problem at all. But, you should expect that you'll receive their knife about a week faster than they'll receive yours.

From my 3 or 4 experiences, I've received knives in about 6 days shipped from Canada and my trading partners have received knives from me in about 14.
 
hey.. y'all are talking about me :) thanks fulloflead for telling me about this thread

yah i had an M16 confiscated by customs, but not because of the flipper... it was because the pivot was too loose and the knife was able to be opened via centrifugal force. It was carbon fiber M16 so it didn't even have a flipper. I filed an appeal and got an offical looking document back stating that the knife was 'flickable' and therefore illegal.

I have learned from this and have decided to make sure pivots are tight before having items shipped. Also like Fulloflead said, Gift and about $20 is nice too. For items that are returned from makers or manufacturers its good to declare it full value and state that it is a warranty return and not subject to taxes.

I have had probably almost a couple hundred knives shipped over here from the US.. most of the stuff i order comes from there. I've lost 2 packages that I can remember... and one was in a global priorty mailer that was ripped open and the contents were missing. Otherwise most of my shipments go well. I do other business on the internet as well and probably have about 600 or more transactions back and forth from the US and such.. i do ebay a lot... i think i've lost maybe 5 packages... not including a series of DVDs i sent that were stolen from the Post Office when they had a new substitute worker there from another PO.

The best luck I've had is with sending Global Priority to Canada. Its got tracking (even tho they say they don't) and its cheap.
 
Dude! Glad you joined the party!:)

Thanks for correcting me on the "flipper" issue. I want the facts to be right. I should have told you about the thread before I started slapping the keyboard!:o

In any case, Corwin is one of my favorite knife people and traders and he knows all about making smooth trades across our northern border.

Now that he's here you won't need me on this thread anymore. Later!
 
Knowingly false declarations are probably a felony, everything connected with customs and postal tends to be. There mostly isn't any duty, remember free trade, there are taxes, but since the GST isn't harmonized, you sometimes get away without paying even the level of tax you do every day you buy stuff localy.

If you make a false declaration going into the US, you can find yourself without entry rights, in a flash. Not sure why it should be different doing the same thing through the mail. Never heard of anyone nabed for it, yet.

Also, look at places like swords.ca, and knifezone.ca. Haven't dealt with either, but the price and sellection isn't all that bad. Nobody has everthing, so sooner or later your going direct.
 
Also, relative to UPS. Don't use them, and never forget to ask a US supplier who they use, because there are those like amazon that won't send stuff any other way (at least last time I tried).

However, in fairness to UPS, it isn't them that have ridiculous brokerage charges, it's the posties and the customs plods who are benefiting from regulatory subsidy. They set the rules, don't abide by them themselves, and stuff their channel. But there isn't any point in fighting the flow.
 
Actually I called Customs Canada regarding the declared value on items that are sent in. It is not the same as False declaration when you carry the item across the border. Often this is because The sender may not realize the full value or may often put the value that the item was Sold for or is selling the item to a relative for a lower value that Customs feels that it is worth.

For example, I buy an item on ebay for $10... The sender marks it as a $10 item and ships it to me. Customs opens the package, and sees that it is in fact worth $100 according to their valueing system (which is actually on the low side).. They will remark it as $100 value and send it to you and charge you taxes. The person sending the item has not committed a crime, nor have I... nor will customs lower the declared value to $10 just because that is what i paid.

I can either show proof that the item has left the country, and claim my money back, prove that the item is in fact not worth what they said its worth (knock off knife, broken hard drive, etc etc) or I can just accept it and not try and get my money back. Usually i just pay it.. on a couple occasions I have filed for my money back and have gotten it no problems.

But back to the point at hand, it is not illegal according to them, the lady whom i spoke to said that People declare things wrong all the time.. it happens, and some times they get through, sometimes they don't... some times they get charged more than they should have.. it's your responsibility to make right if you've been undercharged or overcharged.
 
So full of, cutting to the chase, you don't disagree that it's illegal to make false cutoms declarations, or to conspire to evade taxes. You just have a big problem with people who say it is. I wonder why. I'm still trying to figure out the relevance of your gun show example to an online forum where the exchange of information is the point.

Corwin, it may not be illegal to receive a false valuation, unknowingly, but that isn't what i'm talking about here, though your example is interesting. The fun part is when the dealer thinking real hard about it, puts a valuation on the package, and then encloses a CC slip with phone order writen accross it, and a nice big price. Hey, I'd be tempted to say that knife had a loose pivot myself.
 
Originally posted by corwin99
....that Customs feels that it is worth.....
Click to expand...

Exactly. And that also applies to the "legality" of knives.

Everyone is fond of saying something like "Well, THE LAW says that this knife is NOT illegal here, so I am going to bring it in......etc."

I have said this a hundred times here and I will say it another hundred times, if necessary:

"The law" is whatever the uniformed Customs officer/supervisor standing there playing with your knife _SAYS_ it is. You could have a complete printed copy of the Criminal Code in your back pocket and chances are it wouldn't sway that "highly trained" (6 weeks?) civil servant's final decision one bit. The attitude is "I think it's illegal, and if YOU don't then work it out with an appeal! Who's next?"

Been there, done that, declared full value and country of origin on the T-shirt.
 
Cockroachfarm knows whereof he speaks. You don't want to have to get a lawyer involved to apply the law over unwilling police or customs agents. It can be done, but it isn't usually pleasant. Besides, who wants to deal with lawyers?
 
Hey,

I've ordered the following folders from the States...

CRKT M16LE -- from Knifecenter.com
BM 555 -- from Knifecenter.com
BM 805 -- from Knifecenter.com
BM 732D2BT -- from NewGraham.com
AM SERE2K -- from NewGraham.com

I haven't had any problems with any of these (except those damn brokerage fees :barf: ). I did ask Mike at NewGraham to tighten the AXIS on the 732, which he did. When I got it, it took two hands to pry open :D Needless to say there wasn't any way a customs official was going to "flick" it open.

My 3 AXIS locks and a Carson-equipped flipper knife made it through no problem, and the SERE was a non-issue as well.

Those are my experiences, hope it helps.


Regards,

Shaun.
 
Originally posted by Protactical
So full of, cutting to the chase, you don't disagree that it's illegal to make false cutoms declarations, or to conspire to evade taxes. You just have a big problem with people who say it is. I wonder why. I'm still trying to figure out the relevance of your gun show example to an online forum where the exchange of information is the point.
Click to expand...

Never mind. I was drunk and you hit a nerve. I'll take the post down.
 
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