# Extra costs to buy U.S. pedals online?



## AsatSpecial (Jul 12, 2010)

Can someone give me a ballpark-ish idea of how much extra (import tax, shipping, etc.) it would cost to buy an $250 American-made pedal and ship it to Canada? I've bought guitars and pickups online from the U.S., but never pedals. Cheers.


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## jbealsmusic (Feb 12, 2014)

No different than any small product. Depends where it is made and how it is shipped.

USPS = Gets handed off to Canada Post at the border. It's a toss up whether they'll hit you with their $9.95 handling fee and the taxes or not. Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you don't. If the pedal was made somewhere where tariffs apply, it's also a toss up as to whether you'll get hit with those. But, through CP, they only charge the exact amount.

Any other carrier? Don't do it (unless you have your own broker, or can do your own import paperwork). You'll get crushed with all sorts of weird unexpected fees when it arrives at your door. If there are customs tariffs? Expect to pay at least 50% more for your product than you wanted to pay.

Hope that helps!


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## zdogma (Mar 21, 2006)

For example, I ordered my alter ego 2 at pro guitar shop, it was a great deal at 99 bucks. After shipping, hst and brokerage, in cad it was about 185 cad. Still cheaper than long and mcquade, but not a screaming deal. So base price, add shipping, convert to cad, add 5 for brokerage and then hst.


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## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

This was a couple of years ago now, but our dollar sucked then too.
I paid $330 CD for a $250 US pedal all in. It might be a bit more now.

Coversion shows that it's over $330 CD just for the pedal now, another $20 or so through USPS.


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## AsatSpecial (Jul 12, 2010)

Excellent info, thanks all.


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## limelight65 (Jun 2, 2014)

support your local independent or we will lose those guys . while L and M have their place , the independents are the guys with typically more knowledge and better customer service . they can all use our support


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## Smylight (Jun 28, 2016)

Try Electric Mojo in Montréal. Low prices are in Can$ and usually include shipping. Great service, very fast shipping, no surprises. They are usually a better deal than US sellers. Ask for Charles, he's super helpful. Tell him I sent you. I might get an even better deal someday with all the business I'm throwing at him! ;-)


Pierre


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## BSTheTech (Sep 30, 2015)

Exchange + Prov/Fed Tax + Brokerage + Shipping = Cost
Each border guard computes it differently (Some charge tax on shipping etc).
If you can't broker it yourself then USpost/Canada Post is cheapest (about $8.00).

You're over $400 cad with all the fees. YMMV

Try and find it used.


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## Hammerhands (Dec 19, 2016)

If you're willing to drive to the boarder, you can use a parcel pickup service like this one. One advantage being that you can usually get free shipping in the U.S., then it's just taxes and customs.

Montana Shipping Outlet... Your U.S. shipping address


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## starcentral (Mar 2, 2017)

AsatSpecial said:


> Can someone give me a ballpark-ish idea of how much extra (import tax, shipping, etc.) it would cost to buy an $250 American-made pedal and ship it to Canada? I've bought guitars and pickups online from the U.S., but never pedals. Cheers.


Shipping from USA to Canada seems to be around $35 USD from most ebay sellers. Then, there is going to be at least HST on the value of the item… some sellers will declare lower value, or you can ask them too, so that you only pay HST on the lower amount.

I kind of don't think it's worth buying from US and paying the exchange rate, high shipping price and then taxes on it, and possibly small handling/broker charge if they ship with USPS (United States Postal Service) --- BE WARNED that there are big brokerage charges if they use FedEx or UPS.


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## Smylight (Jun 28, 2016)

FedEx and UPS are extremely greedy. I once had to pay over 20$ in brokerage fees to UPS (on top of TPS/TVQ) for a 24$ battery. And how about nearly 300$ on a 1400$ guitar? At all times, use USPS and avoid using any other carrier.


Pierre


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## BSTheTech (Sep 30, 2015)

UPS horror stories;

I sent a radio to the US for warranty service. No money exchanged hands. The company would only ship back via UPS. UPS wanted $80 brokerage. Eventually got them down to $30 but it took several calls up the food chain before they'd release my radio. They argued the brokerage fee is based in the declared value. Food for thought.


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## Tone Chaser (Mar 2, 2014)

I received a couple of sets of Mesa 6L6 tubes directly from Mesa, clearly marked warranty.

They were sent USPS to Canada. They were held up in Toronto for a couple of extra days, and I had to pay $26 for HST and handling.

I will go back to shipping anything, even if it is warranty, to my USA address.


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## starcentral (Mar 2, 2017)

I've used Kinek (gives you US postal address) before for real expensive items I'd go pickup and drive back, fees range on the pickup point in USA. You can use their site to shop around prices. The fee per shipment will typically be $5 to $15. Damn well worth it.


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## Tarbender (Apr 7, 2006)

Smylight said:


> Try Electric Mojo in Montréal. Low prices are in Can$ and usually include shipping. Great service, very fast shipping, no surprises. They are usually a better deal than US sellers. Ask for Charles, he's super helpful...


Totally agree. I've bought a couple of pedals from Electric Mojo. Prices were extremely competitive with U.S. suppliers but when you add on shipping and any other possible charges from the U.S it was a no brainer to buy from Electric Mojo, plus a great return policy.


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## Boogieman (Apr 6, 2009)

Smylight said:


> FedEx and UPS are extremely greedy. I once had to pay over 20$ in brokerage fees to UPS (on top of TPS/TVQ) for a 24$ battery. And how about nearly 300$ on a 1400$ guitar? At all times, use USPS and avoid using any other carrier.
> 
> 
> Pierre


Many years ago, I got hit by UPS with a $200 brokerage fee on a $600 guitar. Similar things happened with FedEx, but the fee was not as outrageous as UPS. 

From then on, whether I am buying something new or used from the US, if the seller would not ship via USPS, then there is no deal.


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## Smylight (Jun 28, 2016)

Way to go.


Pierre


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## Guest (Mar 12, 2017)

You can use reship.com if the USA company won't ship to Canada. You can get a USA PayPal account with your USA address if they won't take Canadian payments. I have transfered money from my Canadian PayPal to my US PayPal account. The one hitch is without a US bank account you cannot verify the US PayPal account, if the seller required the PayPal account to be verified.

USPS and all shippers have gone up in price. I bought a pump from a USA location for $60 USD. They only shipped with Fedex, so I used Reship. The company shipped to reship for free. Reship charged me the $5 fee and the USPS shipping was $42 USD. The total was almost $150 CAD to get it here. The only saving grace was we didn't get any fees or HST added to the total. $60 USD = $150 CAD + 13% HST


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