Canadian Duties on Scuba Gear

Shade · Nov 8, 2006

Does anyone know what if anything the duties might be on scuba gear shipped to Canada from the US?

I'm looking at sherwood gear packages from scubatoys. I have been told Sherwood gear is manufactured in the US.

I assume if it if manufactured in the US there would no duties, just the canadian sales taxes and brokerage fees. But I'm no free trade expert and am not sure where to even go look to find out. Tried the government website...but I can't heads or tails out of what I find there.

I'd appreciate hearing from some folks who have been down this path before.

Or at least hearing from an American trebuchet enthusiast who would be willing to work with Joe and Larry to coordinate an elaborate smuggling operation and launch my delivery over the US/CAnada border in the dead of night.

http://www.globalspec.com/trebuchet/

dmblack58 · Nov 8, 2006

I'm looking forward to hear what others have to say on this.

According to the Canada Revenue Agency scuba gear is NAFTA exempt as long as it meets the country of origin requirements (i.e. primarily US made). You will have to pay PST and GST on your purchases at the border when you declare them.

Be careful who you use to ship your stuff to you. UPS, from what I've heard, charges excessive brokerage fees. I know some people that buy stuff from the US actually go across the border into the US and pick up their shipment at a UPS store and then take it across the border themselves.

I'm not trying to hijack the thread but have you spoken to some of the local dive shops in your area about what kind of gear they suggest for the local diving you are going to be doing and where you want to go (stay rec or eventually move to tech)?

Good luck

bwerb · Nov 8, 2006

Do not ship UPS to Canada...ever!

Just had a $32 Goodman handle arrive with a $15 shipping charge, a $17.00 brokerage fee plus the GST, PST.

It was not available anywhere locally in the time window I had. If it had shipped USPS it would have been about $20 less.

When ever I've declared scuba gear at the border, they have had to look-up each item individually but it has always worked-out to be completely duty free.

annasea · Nov 8, 2006

I'd call Customs directly to speak to a live person. (I've done this before and they've generally been quite helpful.) Try dialing 1.800.461.9999 and let us know what happens once the gear is shipped.

johnny_bravo · Nov 8, 2006

Will second not using UPS to ship to Canada. I had a pair of Henderson gloves that almost doubled in price with brokerage fees!

Other items shipped thru USPS have arrived with no such fees.

Cheers.

-J.-

wedivebc · Nov 8, 2006

dmblack58:
I'm not trying to hijack the thread but have you spoken to some of the local dive shops in your area about what kind of gear they suggest for the local diving you are going to be doing and where you want to go (stay rec or eventually move to tech)?

Good luck

Hey there is some great advice, go into the dive shop and see what they suggest your best choice for gear is then get it on the internet.

dmblack58 · Nov 8, 2006

wedivebc:
Hey there is some great advice, go into the dive shop and see what they suggest your best choice for gear is then get it on the internet.

Hold on a minute.

I'm not suggesting Shade just use the dive shop for their knowledge and then going to buy it online. I am suggesting Shade go talk to a few of the local dive shops to see what kind of packages they might be able to put together. They may be able to put him/her into something as good or better for the local diving he/she will be doing for a reasonable price.

You said it best a couple of weeks ago when you posted this

wedivebc:
"I think if the LDS can come within $50 of scubatoys you should buy locally. That extra $50 will soon pay for itself when it comes time for service warranty or just good kharma. Support your LDS whenever you can.

CUunderH2O · Nov 8, 2006

There should be no duty on sporting equipment. I've ordered stuff from LP a few times, never been charged duty. However, you will have to pay GST and PST. LP used to ship UPS Expedited to Canada (apparently now they use FedEx). The shipping fees (yes, they were high) were all included in the shipping cost presented at time of payment, so no surprises upon delivery. Only thing I had to do was pay the taxes when the package arrived. And yes, buying a duplicate mask for 27.99 US plus UPS shipping and taxes is still cheaper than paying 120 CDN plus tax in Canada for the same mask.

wedivebc · Nov 8, 2006

dmblack58:
Hold on a minute.

I'm not suggesting Shade just use the dive shop for their knowledge and then going to buy it online. I am suggesting Shade go talk to a few of the local dive shops to see what kind of packages they might be able to put together. They may be able to put him/her into something as good or better for the local diving he/she will be doing for a reasonable price.

You said it best a couple of weeks ago when you posted this

Thank you for clarifying that. Sorry, I certainly interpreted your post differently.
People seem to forget when they see prices in Canada that shops have to pay shipping and duty as well and what seems like a bargain online can end up costing close to what the retail is after the smoke has cleared.

bwerb · Nov 8, 2006

Dave, aren't Canadian shops also hampered by an additional level of distribution...that is don't shops here tend to buy from an "authorized distributor" instead of factory direct for a number of lines?

Canadian Duties on Scuba Gear

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Shade

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