wayzel - 12:16 am on Mar 7, 2008 (gmt 0)

For lightweight products, my recommendation would be to use Fedex Express instead of Ground. Brokerage fees are already built in, and 3-Day Select is only marginally more expensive than Ground with the benefit of passing cost on to the customer at time of sale.

For heavier products, look into getting set up with a Canadian non-resident importer permit. If you are incorporated in the US you can get this without too much trouble. The benefit of that is you will know what the exact customs duties, VAT, and GST/HST fees will be before shipping. If your total sales into Canada are below a certain amount, you can even get a VAT refund each year.