22 replies to this topic

[vg19]

Hey,

I ordered 2 tubes of BP from Dan's site about 2 months back and wasnt hit with any custom fees. Just wondering, what is the max we Canadians can order without having to pay duty fees?

Thanks

[Beauty Bot]

there isn't really a set amount..... usually they ignore stuff under $20 though.

Sometimes they just open it for the hell of it..... and sometimes expensive stuff isn't opened at all. It's really hit and miss.

If a company will put samples, or a very low dollar amount like $10 it's great...... but most will not do that.

[Dan007]

I ordered 2 in the past and wasn't charged any customs as well. I've ordered 3 this time so I'll keep you guys up to date with what happens.

[urban_squirrel]

Has anyone ordered a large quantity of DKR products? My friend and I are thinking of ordering two starter kits (one for each of us) in the same order so that we can split the shipping costs. I'm just worried that this amount of product would land us with some customs fees.

[kangin]

Okay..I just ordered a starter kit, 2 more BP tubes and another moisturizer bottle. That's 7 items priced at $91.68

Do you guys think I'll have to pay the duty fees? Does anyone actually know what our limit is, cause that'd help a lot.

[greentea101]

i hate custom it cost me shipping 21$ and custom at 24$ for a starter kit

[bwendan]

my last order came to like $93 which included $21 in shipping and then after it came through customs i had to pay another $40! i live in the vancouver area and it seems like more often then not your order will get checked at customs unless its like under $20..oh how i hate customs..

[greentea101]

the best wayy not to pay for custom, is too order something under 50$ shipping included.... for exemple: 1 bp is 8,50 ------> buy 3 of those and its gonna be 25,50$ + shipping 9$ = 34,50$............. u wont have to pay for custom

[levitibus]

try to get the company or whatever to mark the value of the item lower and as a gift

also i've ordered plenty of stuff and noticed fedex and ups you will get raped with customs try to go with usps if you can, it's not as much as fed ex or ups.

[SuperFly]

I usually order 4 tubes of BP, and never have to pay customs. Once I ordered 4 tubes of BP + cleanser and had to pay $19 in customs. I think it's safe to say that staying below $50 is the best way to avoid customs.

[joehan]

Anyone try ordering

16 oz. 2.5% Benzoyl Peroxide Gel from toronto?

which shipping method did you use? Did you get hit by customs?

Thanks!

[greentea101]

Anyone try ordering

16 oz. 2.5% Benzoyl Peroxide Gel from toronto?

which shipping method did you use? Did you get hit by customs?

Thanks!

I also want to kno please someone reply quick because Im about to order new bottles...

Im thinking going with 2 bottle of 8oz or 1 bottle of 16oz...

those 8oz bottle r cute and small.... and those 16oz r kinda huge

[tyrael]

^ Guys, if you live in Canada and you're ordering from within Canada, you're obviously not going to have to pay customs...


I just got raped by customs, and I tell you: I'm fucking sick of this crap.

I live in Calgary, AB, Canada.

I ordered a 16oz bottle of Dan's moisturizer and a 16oz bottle of his BP gel. (2 bottles total)

The total was $50.76 after taxes.

The "Port of Entry" was Vancouver, ...

and I had to pay $33.57 in import charges.

That's like 66% the price of the product; what kind of shit is this!?!?


For reference, I used UPS for shipping. I will not be using them again in the future, as this has happened far too often and I'm tired of being robbed basically for no reason.

I wouldn't mind paying it if I knew it would cost me this BEFORE I placed my order, but having this "SURPRISE, YOU HAVE TO PAY US!!!!" just slapped on in when some dick is having a shitty day or whatever is really getting on my nerves. It literally feels like I'm being robbed. I can't just go to someone and knock their door down either because it's CUSTOMS, so... yeah. I'm pissed and hopefully, by sharing this info, we can piece together a way of getting this stuff into Canada without having our wallets raped...

[bwendan]

^ Guys, if you live in Canada and you're ordering from within Canada, you're obviously not going to have to pay customs...


I just got raped by customs, and I tell you: I'm fucking sick of this crap.

I live in Calgary, AB, Canada.

I ordered a 16oz bottle of Dan's moisturizer and a 16oz bottle of his BP gel. (2 bottles total)

The total was $50.76 after taxes.

The "Port of Entry" was Vancouver, ...

and I had to pay $33.57 in import charges.

That's like 66% the price of the product; what kind of shit is this!?!?


For reference, I used UPS for shipping. I will not be using them again in the future, as this has happened far too often and I'm tired of being robbed basically for no reason.

I wouldn't mind paying it if I knew it would cost me this BEFORE I placed my order, but having this "SURPRISE, YOU HAVE TO PAY US!!!!" just slapped on in when some dick is having a shitty day or whatever is really getting on my nerves. It literally feels like I'm being robbed. I can't just go to someone and knock their door down either because it's CUSTOMS, so... yeah. I'm pissed and hopefully, by sharing this info, we can piece together a way of getting this stuff into Canada without having our wallets raped...

I agree. I live in the Vancouver area

Last time I ordered Dan's stuff my order came to $54.80 and I also used UPS and then I had to pay them $22 in import charges. Its crap.

[Icelight]

Here's a pro-tip for you folks: Most the charges that UPS/Fedex charge are "brokerage fees". They charge this fee because they "filled out" the paperwork for you at customs, saving you the time it would take to clear your package yourself.

If they deliver it and want to charge you horribly large amounts (that go above and beyond the $5 + taxes fee that may occur if it was shipped via USPS --> Canada Post) just tell them you will clear the package yourself. If they're not having a bad day they will most likely agree without arguing and give you instructions on how to do it if you ask.

Yes, it will take a bit of extra work on your part. When I do this I have to:

a) Go to the UPS distribution centre where my package is being held and get a form.
b) Go to the customs office and explain what is in the package (sometimes they don't bother to ask this) and fill out a short form, followed by paying GST/PST on the marked value.
c) Return to the UPS distribution centre and drop off the stamped form and pick up my package.

It really depends on how far away these two places would be for you, and if you figure your time is worth spending the money on the brokerage fee or not. If you want to skip a step you should be able to call your UPS before your package even arrives and tell them you will clear it yourself. Then just keep an eye on your tracking number and head on down there when it reaches your city.

[IanC]

I think it is important to remember that there are three parts to these charges. Depending on your shipping choice, there may even be a fourth.

Canada Customs Processing Fee: $5 to $8 depending on method of shipment. If they look at the package, they will charge you. Lower value packages shipped via postal mail may skip this -- the volume of cross boarder mail is sometimes more than they can physically handle so low cost items are bypassed. If you ship via a courier company, you are $100% guaranteed of this charge.

GST: Like just about everything else - you bought it, you pay GST. And they'll even charge you GST on the shipping, just like they would for something shipped within Canada. The same caveats as as above apply. If they don't look at the package, they won't charge GST. You will get charged it by a courier.

Duty: Since the product is manufactured in the USA, and NAFTA is in effect, and I doubt there is any duty on the Acne.org products. Some products from non-NAFTA countries could have duties applied.

Brokerage Fees: If you ship by mail, you don't pay this. If you ship using a courier, you can expect to see this added to your bill. It tends to be a fairly significant charge, in the $25 to $30 range. As Icelight said above, you can bypass this by clearing the package yourself. It is best if you tell the shipper to add a note that "consignee will process through customs" when the courier picks it up.

Companies in the US like to ship via UPS ground. It is often less expensive, more convenient, and faster than mail. But when UPS shipments come across a border, their prices just skyrocket.

The "Next Day" couriers (FedEx etc), see much less of a crossboarder upcharge. But then again they're expensive to begin with.

The moral of the story is -- ship by mail. If it is a smaller order, it may bypass customs altogether. A larger order gets a peek by Canada Border Services. Even if they look at it, the cost will only be the processing fee, and GST. You lived with your acne up till now -- a few more days may test your patience, but won't kill you.

[bwendan]

i think someone said this before, but I've also found that if my order is under $50, then I won't get hit with customs. My last order was in the $44-$47 range and I didn't get charged anything

[AnthonyM]

When i ordered UPS charged me a13 fee at my door they always do that...

[514]

Canada Customs Processing Fee: $5 to $8 depending on method of shipment. If they look at the package, they will charge you. Lower value packages shipped via postal mail may skip this -- the volume of cross boarder mail is sometimes more than they can physically handle so low cost items are bypassed. If you ship via a courier company, you are $100% guaranteed of this charge.

GST: Like just about everything else - you bought it, you pay GST. And they'll even charge you GST on the shipping, just like they would for something shipped within Canada. The same caveats as as above apply. If they don't look at the package, they won't charge GST. You will get charged it by a courier.

Duty: Since the product is manufactured in the USA, and NAFTA is in effect, and I doubt there is any duty on the Acne.org products. Some products from non-NAFTA countries could have duties applied.

Brokerage Fees: If you ship by mail, you don't pay this. If you ship using a courier, you can expect to see this added to your bill. It tends to be a fairly significant charge, in the $25 to $30 range. As Icelight said above, you can bypass this by clearing the package yourself. It is best if you tell the shipper to add a note that "consignee will process through customs" when the courier picks it up.

You said it best! There are no duties on Acne.org products as they are manufactured in the good ol' US of A, and are, thus, covered under NAFTA!

What you do pay, if you ship by UPS is a BS hidden shipping fee called a "brokerage fee". This is not duty. It is a shipping charge. They add it to your bill because they have the hassle of processing it through customs. But, if they know it is an international shipment (which they do - it's even called UPS WORLDWIDE saver), why don't they include it in the original fee? I have no clue! To trick you? This could be easily added when the original shipping cost is calculated (so you know the true cost of shipping) but it isn't. Instead, they hit you up with Cash On Delivery. And you even have to pay a fee for that!

This happened to me. I heard horror stories about the "duties" in this forum but I decided to go ahead and order anyway because I am like "why would there be duties? This is covered by NAFTA?" But it's not duties. It's BS.

Moral of the story (and I want to make this abundantly clear to Canadian residents):
DO NOT SHIP VIA UPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't blame the store for this, but, I think, seeing the BS that UPS puts us through, they should do us a favour and NOT even offer it as a shipping option for shipping to Soviet Kanuckistan!

If you ship by mail (and I believe the other three options are mail), you should only pay aboot $8 (if that) for the Canada Customs Processing Fee plus the sales tax.
( ).

I called UPS after I got my shipment and they said they wouldn't have charged the "brokerage fee" if I had shipped via UPS Expedited. This is not offered from the Acne.org store, though.

UPS is BS! If any of y'all who run the store are reading this, please remove UPS from the options for shipping to Canada. Anyone who uses them will likely put up with a lot of BS like this. UPS, by being your shipper, is like your business partner, and if your business partner is screwing over your clients, you should stop doing business with them!

And it isn't even that quick. When I ordered my package, I tracked it and saw that it moved rather quickly to Dorval (Montreal) and I was like "sweet! It will be here soon!" cause I lived in Ottawa at the time, but then, the next day, I saw, "internal processing" or something like that, and then it stayed in Dorval for a few days until it was shipped back to Ohio and then to Hamilton before finally making its way to my house. wtf? All in all, it took over a week!

Now, I don't buy many products online from The Best Country In The World (USA) but I bought a few iPods from the Apple Store Canada and even though it says it's the Apple store Canada, all their products are shipped from California. But the shipping (via Fedex) is always free and I never get any COD requests for "Brokerage fees" or hwhat-not. So, my credit card is only charged for the price listed on the website (in CAD) plus sales tax. They seem to have this system working well... Perhaps the acne.org store can learn from them and set up a "Canada Store" like this, where everything is included.

Until then, just remember:
DO NOT SHIP VIA UPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Dan007]

I've ordered a few times always keeping the price around $40-50. Never had to pay customs, always used "First class mail international" shipping.