Seer
Member
I am trying to figure out what to put on the form for shipping to Canada, it asks for a detailed list and cost but everyone says mark it as a gift, valued less than $15.00 and ship it. Do I need to list each blank and pen?
Shipping to Canada
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MesquiteMan
Retired Head Moderator
I shop to Canada a lot. If I am shipping 20 pen blanks, I just put set of pen blanks with a quantity of 1. I used to list pen blanks and then show the total quantity but the weight thing does not work out.
On the rest of the form, I choose gift since they are not commercial samples and none of the other descriptions work any better. I used to put an artificially low value but that just did not seem ethical to me since it is a flat out lie so I am now putting the real value.
On the rest of the form, I choose gift since they are not commercial samples and none of the other descriptions work any better. I used to put an artificially low value but that just did not seem ethical to me since it is a flat out lie so I am now putting the real value.
Here are some of the "details listed on the custom forms" used by a number of US suppliers that I received pen kits, blanks, etc. over the past year...
1. pen/stylos (used to describe an order of 20 pen kits and several pen blanks)
2. pen kits (used to describe an order of 50 pen kits)
3. crafts (used to describe an order of 20 pen kits)
4. wood blanks, bushings, pen kits, tubes, refills (actual description of contents, but not the number of each item)
The description used by everyone isn't consistant and even changes when the same supplier is used (i.e., item #3 and #4 were the same supplier). The majority of the suppliers list the total cost.
Wade
1. pen/stylos (used to describe an order of 20 pen kits and several pen blanks)
2. pen kits (used to describe an order of 50 pen kits)
3. crafts (used to describe an order of 20 pen kits)
4. wood blanks, bushings, pen kits, tubes, refills (actual description of contents, but not the number of each item)
The description used by everyone isn't consistant and even changes when the same supplier is used (i.e., item #3 and #4 were the same supplier). The majority of the suppliers list the total cost.
Wade
TellicoTurning
Member
By law you're supposed to list the actual value of the items, to do otherwise is in fact a violation of both U.S. and Canadian law. The value as a gift item can be your costs rather than the retail value, unless it is a commercial sale, then the applicable value is the retail value.
Seer
Member
I used pen blanks 7 ea value of 3 dollars true value to me since I cut my own
!pen value $10.00 cost of kit and blank not selling since I am not selling it, it is a gift so I hope that is ok.
!pen value $10.00 cost of kit and blank not selling since I am not selling it, it is a gift so I hope that is ok.
wood-of-1kind
Member
Keep it simple guys (folks, gals, people, members etc.).
PEN BLANKS and the number that you are sending. I like the 'terminology' GIFT since it implies many things. Legalities, ethics, true value, barter are 'over the top' and really makes me wonder. You're not exporting/importing plutonium here. JMO and I'm sticking to it.
PEN BLANKS and the number that you are sending. I like the 'terminology' GIFT since it implies many things. Legalities, ethics, true value, barter are 'over the top' and really makes me wonder. You're not exporting/importing plutonium here. JMO and I'm sticking to it.
NewLondon88
Local Chapter Leader
What if you overpaid?
How do you figure the cost of pen blanks? What we turn into pens would
be thrown away by carpenters. Do you figure on the total retail value?
Which retailer? Some overcharge for blanks. What if you cut them yourself?
If you cut down a burl and made it into blanks, do you figure out your
total time, materials used to make a drying rack, electricity to dry them?
What if you got them in a pen swap? and what if you're giving them to
another swap partner? If you paid nothing and will get nothing? You can't
put down zero.
Let's face it .. we're talking about wood scraps that we can make use of.
ANY value we put down on that form could be successfully challenged.
wood-of-1kind
Member
Is it 'ethical' to charge $20 for 'worthless' wood?:wink: Oh yeah, the 'tax man' loves yah baby.
MesquiteMan
Retired Head Moderator
Peter, what exactly do you mean by your message above? Are you saying that I am not ethical because I cahrge what I do for my blanks?
MesquiteMan
Retired Head Moderator
NewLondon,
I guess it depends on if you are giving away the wood or selling the wood. If I ship a cactus blank to Canada and I only put the value at $5 but there is an invoice right in the darn box showing $20 for the blank, how to I explain that? If I put on the form that something is worth less than what I am charging for it, then I am basically telling my customer that I am overcharging them on the item.
I guess it depends on if you are giving away the wood or selling the wood. If I ship a cactus blank to Canada and I only put the value at $5 but there is an invoice right in the darn box showing $20 for the blank, how to I explain that? If I put on the form that something is worth less than what I am charging for it, then I am basically telling my customer that I am overcharging them on the item.
chrisk
Member
Dear colleagues,
You're arousing one of my biggest concerns of the moment. Because I personnaly annoyed some of the members-sellers here, please allow me to explain what we are coping with here in Europe.
I'm based in Brussels, Belgium. Recently, after becoming a member of this forum, I began to order from US suppliers (I ordered from the US in the past ten years essentially books and episodically some other items) for in Europe, either one can find low range products, or some of the pens available in the US but at +/- 150-200% most expensive.
The most affordable carrier is the USPS. And their service is one of the best. The trouble begins here in Belgium and after a recent postal privatization, it's even worse...
Some exemptions to the customs fee apply to imported goods. Either you import goods with a value of maximum $US 30 (+/- 22 Euros) or one friend or relative send you a gift with a maximum value of $US 60 (+/- 45 Euros). In those cases, the package is delivered as is (with an eventual checking).
For goods with a superior value, the customs costs are raised by a dedicated postal service (or courrier service).
More than the amounts above thus the fee is threefold: 1) administrative costs of 25 Euros (+/- $US 35); 2) the VAT (a European Tax like your States Tax - in Belgium 21%); 3) Entry fee (up to 12% depending of the nature of goods).
Sometimes, the postal service is overflowed and the parcel is delivered with a discounted cost of 11 Euros ($US15). The justification: "presentation at the customs". Meanwhile, at the customs website one can read a categoric denial. "The carrier collects that fee for himself"!!!
Imagine a flat rate box with 20 pen blanks at a value of $US60,50 + $US13,45 shipping cost. The worst screenplay: $US35 (administrative costs) + $US15,5 (21% VAT) + 0 (no entry fee). That means an initial cost almost twofold which is for us unaffordable.
But the trouble is manifold... For my last shipment from Craft Supplies USA, they stopped the package for more than 10 days. To justify that situation they falsely stated that the invoice was missing. As a consequence of my clamor, they finally... found the invoice. Two days later, they phoned to inform me about a global fee of 76,5 Euros (+/- $US102 for goods value of $US211 + shipping costs). I was furious for a shipment 2 months earlier with a value of $US260 generated a 78 Euros ($US 108) fee. They then reduced the fee to... 68 Euros ($US 94).
Meanwhile, they illegally charged an entry fee for the value of my shipment benefited of an entry fee exemption. I was about to file a complaint but changed my mind for different reasons too long to explain here.
Finally, my problem is not the payment of the tax but puzzling practices. A $US 35 fee for a $US 60 parcel or a $US450 package, etc.
Sorry for the babbling.
You're arousing one of my biggest concerns of the moment. Because I personnaly annoyed some of the members-sellers here, please allow me to explain what we are coping with here in Europe.
I'm based in Brussels, Belgium. Recently, after becoming a member of this forum, I began to order from US suppliers (I ordered from the US in the past ten years essentially books and episodically some other items) for in Europe, either one can find low range products, or some of the pens available in the US but at +/- 150-200% most expensive.
The most affordable carrier is the USPS. And their service is one of the best. The trouble begins here in Belgium and after a recent postal privatization, it's even worse...
Some exemptions to the customs fee apply to imported goods. Either you import goods with a value of maximum $US 30 (+/- 22 Euros) or one friend or relative send you a gift with a maximum value of $US 60 (+/- 45 Euros). In those cases, the package is delivered as is (with an eventual checking).
For goods with a superior value, the customs costs are raised by a dedicated postal service (or courrier service).
More than the amounts above thus the fee is threefold: 1) administrative costs of 25 Euros (+/- $US 35); 2) the VAT (a European Tax like your States Tax - in Belgium 21%); 3) Entry fee (up to 12% depending of the nature of goods).
Sometimes, the postal service is overflowed and the parcel is delivered with a discounted cost of 11 Euros ($US15). The justification: "presentation at the customs". Meanwhile, at the customs website one can read a categoric denial. "The carrier collects that fee for himself"!!!
Imagine a flat rate box with 20 pen blanks at a value of $US60,50 + $US13,45 shipping cost. The worst screenplay: $US35 (administrative costs) + $US15,5 (21% VAT) + 0 (no entry fee). That means an initial cost almost twofold which is for us unaffordable.
But the trouble is manifold... For my last shipment from Craft Supplies USA, they stopped the package for more than 10 days. To justify that situation they falsely stated that the invoice was missing. As a consequence of my clamor, they finally... found the invoice. Two days later, they phoned to inform me about a global fee of 76,5 Euros (+/- $US102 for goods value of $US211 + shipping costs). I was furious for a shipment 2 months earlier with a value of $US260 generated a 78 Euros ($US 108) fee. They then reduced the fee to... 68 Euros ($US 94).
Meanwhile, they illegally charged an entry fee for the value of my shipment benefited of an entry fee exemption. I was about to file a complaint but changed my mind for different reasons too long to explain here.
Finally, my problem is not the payment of the tax but puzzling practices. A $US 35 fee for a $US 60 parcel or a $US450 package, etc.
Sorry for the babbling.
Last edited:
Jgrden
Member
Sheesh, Chrisk. That would upset me to no end. How defeating. No way could you compete in pen sales when you have to account for the postal costs. Also, if you had a special order, there is no telling when you could deliver the product. Sounds like the Mexican Banks.
chrisk
Member
Impossible to compete indeed.
In the other hand, with the postal service, sometimes (kind of lottery but quite scarce for me) such envelope could pass through with no fee at all, which is impossible with any courrier service.
Anyway, I'm in the working for a customs clearance by myself which for now is not an open option.
In the other hand, with the postal service, sometimes (kind of lottery but quite scarce for me) such envelope could pass through with no fee at all, which is impossible with any courrier service.
Anyway, I'm in the working for a customs clearance by myself which for now is not an open option.
mywoodshopca
Member
I never realized so much work went into them until I start doing casting.. Plus the alumilite is not cheap!!
Heck, I ordered some last week $43. USD to ship to me and then our lovely customs nailed me for $49.57 for handling brokerage on them.
As far as reporting items..
Brass casings: Brass pen supplies
Blanks & Kits : Pen making supplies
Always marked as a gift.
Item value, usually a mixture between cost and price since I usually get insurance on them so they need a value to report for replacement.
Shipping to canada.. Please send USPS is possible. UPS WILL NAIL US FOR A HEAVY BROKERAGE FEE. They start off at $29 and go up from there along with the GST on the total amount reported AND SHIPPING!
In the past on ebay and stuff, I wouldnt bid if the shipping method only was UPS.. just not worth the headaches and the extra charges.
Heck, I ordered some last week $43. USD to ship to me and then our lovely customs nailed me for $49.57 for handling brokerage on them.
As far as reporting items..
Brass casings: Brass pen supplies
Blanks & Kits : Pen making supplies
Always marked as a gift.
Item value, usually a mixture between cost and price since I usually get insurance on them so they need a value to report for replacement.
Shipping to canada.. Please send USPS is possible. UPS WILL NAIL US FOR A HEAVY BROKERAGE FEE. They start off at $29 and go up from there along with the GST on the total amount reported AND SHIPPING!
In the past on ebay and stuff, I wouldnt bid if the shipping method only was UPS.. just not worth the headaches and the extra charges.
Daniel
Member
I list the items and the number of them but try to keep it as basic as I can. drill bits are drill bits even if they are 32 different sizes. this causes problems with en comes to the value though. I always enter the value as to what it cost me without shipping and all that. Due to how I get the things I ship this is usually low but honest. I have since learned that if customs opens the box they have a neat little book that lists what they think anything and everything is worth. So unless you have access to there nifty library don't sweat the value part anyway. if you come out low they tell the receiver so. If you came out high i don't think they do a thing. but for me there is no way to know what is in their list anyway.
I do not and will not intentionally undervalue packages though. that is just asking for trouble. the person at the other end may only get one or two packages a year from me, but I mail dozens of them. I don't want eyebrows getting raised over them.
I do not and will not intentionally undervalue packages though. that is just asking for trouble. the person at the other end may only get one or two packages a year from me, but I mail dozens of them. I don't want eyebrows getting raised over them.
chrisk
Member
@http://www.penturners.org/forum/member.php?u=6450mywoodshopca
For UPS and the other carriers, the same for us. For me too, the only option is USPS.
For the description of contents, I noted that CSUSA fills the customs declaration out meticulously like "turning point, center point, adapter...", the quantity, weight, value and country of origin.
As far as the real vs. declared value is concerned, once I asked a member here to fulfill 2 and eventually 3 envelopes with wood slab, in order to stay down the $US30 ceiling for customs exemption. He denied, considering my request too complicated. No problem for this. I understand.
Anyway, even when I stay down some ceilings, the customs postal service randomly applies the rules... For now on I don't have ethical problems!!! But some of my correspondents do!!! Maybe I'd have to stop turning pens??? This indeed will save my soul!
Jokiing apart, consider that, at the customs, some employees gave me the tools to contest and/or file for complaints against those harassments or even sometimes illegal practices.
By hoping that, with this in mind, some of you will ponder the ethical issue...
For UPS and the other carriers, the same for us. For me too, the only option is USPS.
For the description of contents, I noted that CSUSA fills the customs declaration out meticulously like "turning point, center point, adapter...", the quantity, weight, value and country of origin.
As far as the real vs. declared value is concerned, once I asked a member here to fulfill 2 and eventually 3 envelopes with wood slab, in order to stay down the $US30 ceiling for customs exemption. He denied, considering my request too complicated. No problem for this. I understand.
Anyway, even when I stay down some ceilings, the customs postal service randomly applies the rules... For now on I don't have ethical problems!!! But some of my correspondents do!!! Maybe I'd have to stop turning pens??? This indeed will save my soul!
Jokiing apart, consider that, at the customs, some employees gave me the tools to contest and/or file for complaints against those harassments or even sometimes illegal practices.
By hoping that, with this in mind, some of you will ponder the ethical issue...