lgn1 - 11:57 am on May 6, 2009 (gmt 0)

It's not really the Customs charge that upset Canadians, its the brokerage fees.

The brokerage firms are required to collect duties and sales tax on orders imported into canada, over the exemption limit. The exemption limit has not been raised since the dark ages and stands at $20.

So if a Canadian orders from the States an item worth $25 dollars, they end up paying an extra $20 in brokerage to collect $1 or $2 in provincial taxes (duty is ususally $0).

The American limit is $200, which also makes it worthwhile to do split shipments to customers in the USA (keeping the cost of the products in each particular parcel below $200, and sending them out two days apart), to avoid any duty charges. [This is kind of a grey area with customs, but it does not happen to often, so we are confortable with it]

As an Canadian etailer, I love this arrangement as it allows me to comepete in the US market, and helps reduce American competition (actually, it mostly eliminates it) in the Canadian Market.

However I wonder, why the NAFTA powers that be in the USA, has not pushed Canada to revised the exemption limit to a reasonable value like a $100 or $200 dollars. I'm not complaining however.