Brokerage fees and shipping the FM3 into Canada

naka2112

Inspired
Hi....Trying to figure out the total cost of getting an FM3 into Canada from the US

My estimates are as follows:
$999 US x 1.33 (current exc rate) = $1328 Cad
$1328 Cad x1.05 gst= $1395 Cad
$1395 Cad +$100 shipping (approx?) = $1495

So how much are the brokerage fees etc, approximately?

Can anyone who has bought in Canada help me estimate that figure?
 
$1583.83 CAD total shipped to my door in Saskatchewan in February. There are no brokerage fees. Total cost is what FAS bills you.
 
The final cost for me in CAD was $1,758. This was shipped to Ontario (just outside of Toronto) on March 24. I believe CAD was around $.69
 
The final cost for me in CAD was $1,758. This was shipped to Ontario (just outside of Toronto) on March 24. I believe CAD was around $.69
March too. The same cost for me, I'm located north of Toronto. It was a quick ship too.
 
Interesting there's no brokerage. I ordered a guitar once from CA to the US, not knowing about brokerage. The UPS delivery guy wanted $500 on the spot before he'd hand over the package or else it would get returned to sender. I was not a happy camper.
 
It totally depends on the shipping method used. A lot of US sellers don't know better or offer the option of reduced shipping rates. Unfortunately a lot of those don't include brokerage or only have brokerage included for low value items so you end up getting charged extra for UPS to do the customs clearance. Meanwhile a lot of the more expensive / faster shipping methods include brokerage and so you don't end up paying extra. Fractal Audio shipped my FM3 with UPS Worldwide Expedited, which as you can see from this chart: https://www.ups.com/ca/en/shipping/zones-and-rates/customs-clearance.page doesn't have any additional customs fees.

If they shipped via UPS standard, the rate for just the customs clearance would be ~$100, so that alone makes the difference in shipping price worth it.

Note that either way you still need to pay duty and Canadian taxes. Some shippers will include this directly in the shipping price and it will be paid for through the courier so you don't have to pay it when it arrives at your door, but many do not.

TL;DR: Don't use UPS standard to ship things to Canada otherwise you'll need to pay a bunch of additional fees.
 
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TL;DR: Don't use UPS standard to ship things to Canada otherwise you'll need to pay a bunch of additional fees.

Yup and they even go as far as to actually specifically drive it from the border to your delivery address and charge you extra for that as well. So you pay extra brokerage and additional delivery fee's + taxes on that. F'n crooks....

At least this happened to me when I ordered something from Carvin in 2014. a $400 USD "IEM system" ended up being around $850 CDN all said and done... I was pissed to say the least. Lessons learned....
 
Interesting there's no brokerage. I ordered a guitar once from CA to the US, not knowing about brokerage. The UPS delivery guy wanted $500 on the spot before he'd hand over the package or else it would get returned to sender. I was not a happy camper.

There was a class action lawsuit filed over UPS brokerage fees. I received four separate cheques from the legal firm handling the lawsuit for items I had purchased in the U.S. and were shipped via UPS, before I knew better.

My first experience, was with a piece of rack gear I purchased on eBay. I had asked the seller not to send it via UPS, but he did anyway and the brokerage fees were more than the item. The driver will not release the package to you until you pay the fees.

You might get your items faster via UPS, but the brokerage fees they charge are absolutely ridiculous. On a domestic UPS delivery, I was telling the driver the story above and he told me never to use them across the border for that very reason. Since then, I use USPS/Canada Post and depending on the declared value (usually $200 or less) and time of year, you may pay no extra fees. If you do, it's about 18% of the declared value for duty, customs and taxes.

If you buy directly from FAS, even though they use UPS, there are no extra fees, it's all factored in to their shipping price.
 
Any updates to this thread? I am getting close to getting an inviteI think, and am wondering how to estimate the cost.

My estimate is:

$999 US x 1.33 (current exc rate) = $1328 Cad
$1328 Cad x1.05 gst= $1395 Cad
$1395 Cad +$100 shipping (approx?) = $1495

I think with free trade it should be duty free....

So will it be 1500 to get it to Canada?
 
That sounds pretty close... assuming you are in Alberta. I am in Quebec, and I had to pay the provincial sales tax as well. There were no brokerage or other customs related fees for me.
 
Mine came up to 1755CAD if I remember correctly. But there won’t be any brokage fees so what you pay in the FAS site is all you will be paying at the end of checkout.
 
Any updates to this thread? I am getting close to getting an inviteI think, and am wondering how to estimate the cost.

My estimate is:

$999 US x 1.33 (current exc rate) = $1328 Cad
$1328 Cad x1.05 gst= $1395 Cad
$1395 Cad +$100 shipping (approx?) = $1495

I think with free trade it should be duty free....

So will it be 1500 to get it to Canada?

Looks right (if you are PST exempt).
 
Any updates to this thread? I am getting close to getting an inviteI think, and am wondering how to estimate the cost.

My estimate is:

$999 US x 1.33 (current exc rate) = $1328 Cad
$1328 Cad x1.05 gst= $1395 Cad
$1395 Cad +$100 shipping (approx?) = $1495

I think with free trade it should be duty free....

So will it be 1500 to get it to Canada?

Should be closer to $1,700 CAD.

($999.00 + $100.00 USD) x 1.36* = $1,494.64 CAD
*estimate, credit card companies always charge more than the daily exchange rate.

$1,494.64 CAD x HST = $1,688.94 ‘ish.
 
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