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Ruby Mountain BearsI am sending a package off to Canada Monday, what is the fastest way to have it delivered that won't cost me a fortune and won't acrue a huge customs fee??? I want to make sure that it gets there in time for the Holidays!!!
Help!!
FASTEST delivery from US to Canada?? = Wagon train, or delivery on foot. I'm only half kidding, too. I can't believe how long it takes for stuff to cross our northern border sometimes, and I have plenty of Canadian friends who'll back me up in my assertion that Canada Post... isn't terribly efficient. I think the phrase my art card swapping friends use is actually, "Canada Post sucks." That's verbatim, by the way. I guess it has something to do with parcels getting held up at customs.
Other than my smarty pants reply, my best guess re: quickest delivery would be FedEx. They're super reliable and you can even choose somethign like 2 or 3 day air instead of overnight. There are a few options. Have fun paying for THAT, though. The cheapest I've even seen FedEx is around $20 and that's for feather-weight, super flat kinds of stuff.
I'm curious to read what serious answers other people might have for you, so I'll check back to see how this goes. Let us know! And good luck! And don't forget to address your package using ALL CAPS or, seriously, it might just be returned to you. I'm a trained teacher and I write like a kindergarten writing instructor, all big and loopy and round and legible, and I've had two enveloped returned to me stamped with something like, "Returned: Address not written in all caps." I kid you not.
Ruby Mountain BearsRight Shelli, this is exactly why I ask. I sent two packages before using US postal with tracking and it made it to Canada in a week according to the tracking, however it did not get delivered for an additional three weeks?? I have no idea where it was for the three weeks the tracking only goes until it is out of US hands soo.......it could have gone to australia and back in the three weeks it was absent.
If I send it Fedex, I want to make sure that the recipient does not have to pay customs fees. So If other have any expert advice. Please chime in!! Same thing for a package I need to send to UK, Thanks, guys
Taber, AlbertaI've had the same problems on both ends 
It took 3 weeks for express post to send a package into the States and it should of only taken 5 business days! also, I was waiting for a package from the US and they sent it to Germany! but I finally did get it. Lately I find air mail the best even though there isn't tracking, just hope and pray it gets there! and it can be held at customs on both ends for as long as they want. I find Canada and US both to be sluggish at times...........
I've only used USPS Express to Canada and UK and have not had any problems. What I know for sure is to never use UPS when sending anything to Canada...according to my Canadian collectors, UPS is the worst, and they always charge customs fees plus a little extra.
I don't know what you are sending or what the value is but it seems like recently Customs to the UK has not let anything slip by...probably because of the poor economy, they want all of their fees.
I never do this with my bears but when I send inexpensive gifts internationally they seem to arrive faster when I don't add insurance or tracking....but like Brenda said, you just hope that it arrives. You could check online to see what value the package has to be for Customs to start charging their fees...hopefully your package value is under that amount so that it won't be held up in Customs.
Good Luck
Kathy
Posts: 361Hi Kathy...I have had problems at both ends and in Europe. The most recent was a parcel I sent to Mindy...It was sent Express with a tracking # from Canada...it arrived in the US on time, was NOT stuck in customs...and then sat in Pennsylvania for 10 days. I was not impressed!
FedEx is so expensive...I would send it Priority Post and don't worry about it!
Nancy
Little Bear GuyHmmm well from Canada we always send things by UPS. The biggie is we always keep the value down around 100.00 and it usually flies right through , no customs or taxes. IF you go over that then yes UPS will charge you a brokerage fee for customs. There wouldn't be any duty because of NAFTA and Teddy bears are exempt. Even if you send it regular mail , if the value is high then the person in Canada is going to wind up paying taxes on the total value of the package. So either send it as a gift with a low dollar value or else someone is going to be paying for it. If you want to send it so it arrives before Christmas then yes use Fed X but again keep the value amount down.
hope this helps.
Shane
Ruby Mountain BearsI appreciate the Help!! Thanks a heap!!
Newelley.BearsI have to say that I agree with what Shelli said. You might be better off sending them by messenger pigeon. Quicker & more reliable! What doesn't take 2-3 months to get here, doesn't get here at all...For such a great country, we sure don't have our postal service at the top of it's game. I actually just found out that Australia Post won't even offer insurance on shipments to Canada anymore because it is SOOOOO unreliable.
Good Luck With Whatever You Decide,
Shelli is correct, it SUCKS. I would choose priority or express post and cross my fingers for the Canadian. I've paid higher rates to send parcels from British Columbia to Europe and they have arrived on time or in less than 7 days.
In considering a courier, both fed ex & UPS do impose brokerage fee to collect GST and Customs fees on ground deliveries to the end buyer. If wanting to use a courier the only way to avoid this is for a person to take their receipt from PayPal or eBay and pay fees at customs then presenting their customs reciept to the courier upon arrival to show proof of payment. An alternative would be to fudge the value of the bear if sending via ground courier service.
Couriers are however worse than our postal service for overcharging. UPS has charged me up to 48% to 50% of the original cost of item for brokerage fees, just for collecting the 5% tax that is due to customs. It's criminal. When the courier asks the sender for the value of the content and tells the truth the customer gets to pay as much as 50% of the items cost. A $98 peice of mohair cost me over $150 + $25 - $30 shipping expense.
Another thing to consider is niether UPS or FedEX deliver on weekends unless you are in the inner city core so it can be faster via postal, especially when you consider various holidays in a calendar month. The sad truth is that courier rates to Canada are more that double and triple what they are in the US. Canada's entire population is about 3 million people less than that of the state of California.
Canada post charges $5 to $8 to cover all air mail brokerage fees, so our customer sees no additional fees when sending by air mail service to customers, one reason postage is higher.
Added below is a link to a program most Canadian consumers recognize, it explains better than I can.
Little Bear GuyI have to agree with most of what you have said Kathleen, but I do know when I send bears to the US via UPS I at least know where they are and no package has ever been lost, it cost a little bit more but I know it will get there in days and not weeks. I sent out a medium sized envelope to someone on TT and it was around 9.00 and that was just normal mail. They told me it would take 4 weeks to get to it's destination (it took maybe a week) but then again I'm dealing with a contract service and not Canada Post directly so they don't really have a clue but that's what you get when you contract out work. I could have paid an exta 2-3 bucks via UPS and had it there in three days guaranteed.
I know shipping coming into Canada is very slow and expensive.
Kathleen I ordered mohair a couple of times from the US and I won't do that again. I either buy from Disco Joints which is about 15 mins from us or I buy what I need at the shows, it's just to expensive and by the time you add the duty and taxes onto it, even if you thought it was a deal it wasn't :crackup: :crackup: .
But other than the mail system I love Canada lol
big hugs
Shane
Angela's Bear GardenI do have one benefit, I live 15 minutes from the border! 
When I need to send a parcel, I take a shopping trip over, and ship in the US. In the past, if I've ordered anything in the US, I've had it shipped to friends over there, and pick it up when I have time.
The exchange rate on the Canadian dollar isn't very good right now, so it's better for me to buy here. I'm glad I haven't had trouble with the shippng. Sounds like a pain!
I have heard other artists say they use UPS and they are pleased because they get insurance and tracking, although it is pricey.
Hmm... good information Shane, I'll have to check out Disco Joints and see just what they have available, currently I need eyes and the little black onyx beads for small stuff. I certainly agree with you, I love Canada too but not our mail system or customs.
Thanks for the tip!
Baird'sBears
Ditto to all the criticisms of Canada Post--packages seem to fly once they reach the US border from here, and crawl once they enter Canada from elsewhere.
I've been sending by Xpresspost lately, and find it more efficient than other Canada Post services, with a 4 business day delivery guarantee. I also have an online account, which lets me buy postage and print out packing labels at home, then drop the package right into the outgoing bin.
The Moon Bear in my avatar is now on his way to Pennsylvania, so we'll see. . .
I have been using expedited parcel to the US with no problems. Does anyone know if the Americans get nipped for taxes like we do when parcels over a certain price limit enter the US?
Hugs
Gail :hug: :hug: :hug:
Hi Gail, nope, we don't get nixed for taxes unless is a REALLY huge amount. Hubby has ordered $2400 worth of stuff from Holland with no taxes....
Ruby Mountain BearsOkay I didn't ship it yesterday, ran out of time. I am leaving work today two hours early, and I decide to try the Global express and pay extra for 3 day delivery, No Insurance , send as a gift. and See what happens. It is a gift anyway sooo. Cross you fingers, I just don't want someone to have to pay for customs fees.
Little Bear GuyFingers crossed for you Kathy, actually it wouldn't be customs fee's they would be paying. It may be brokerage fee's if it's a courier. You should also mark on it that it is a teddy bear and is exempt from duties that way it will avoid going into customs. I can't remember the article number but customs would know, if you put the article number on it (from the North America Free Trade act) then it will have no duty on it.
Best of luck.
Shane
