Is it worth shipping a watch to Canada? I read about duty fees and taxes and it almost doesn't seem worth it. What is the best way to ship to Toronto? any opinions on this? I have searched WUS and OF and still am not sure if I should sell to a Canadian buyer.

 

Only speaking from personal experience, from the UK to Canada not a problem. Taxes etc. are all down to the buyer as it is to all other countries as far as I am aware.

 

Not sure about the accuracy of this site http://www.dutycalculator.com but it shows a 5% duty and another 13% HTS fee (depending destination in Canada) for mechanical watches; from most likely a declared value?? Are watches more expensive in Canada from prices in the US? If so, maybe the duty fee is worth in such case. But then the real question is, how bad the buyer wants it?

 

Duties and taxes are charged by the customs of the destination country to the customer, not by US Customs. There's no duty on almost anything shipping from the US to Canada, btw.

Best way to ship to Canada depends on what the customer wants: fastest or least expensive. It makes no difference to the seller. The seller will have to fill out a customs declaration form compared to none when shipping domestically in the US.

 

Ship it if they pay thats all you need to do. Duty is for the buyer and their country to play with. (90% of buyers are aware of Duty buying from you so if they want to buy let them)

Two things to remember
1 Its up to any importer to know all country and local laws prior to importing
And
2 Minute you tell porky pies about price you go into their countries Customs Data base as a porky pie teller................. Something to think about

 

This is correct. About 18% total duty + taxes on watches imported into Canada. If you ship by private courier (UPS - god forbid, FedEx, DHL, etc), they will charge the buyer more for brokerage fees. You cannot insure the item for the whole value unless you use ParcelPro. While the USPS and private companies will take your money for insurance, the item will not be insured for more than a few hundred if you read the fine print.

 

I have purchased a few expensive watches from the US.
They were send via USPS, with no insurance.
I paid no duty, tax or brokerage.
However, All the risk was on me. If anything happened, I was aware that I would be left holding the bag.
Such is the risk of doing business across an unfriendly border.

 

I find the duty is rarely charged if the watch comes through the postal system, but taxes are charged more often. The amount of taxes varies by province, so if your buyer is in Alberta, the tax is only 5% GST, but Ontario it's 13% HST, and Nova Scotia is the highest I think at 15%.

 

Maybe is time for a GTG at the Niagara Falls for buyer and seller!