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My customs form simply listed "craft supplies" for an order of stamps and cardstock. Someone I asked here said they thought that duty was not charged on "raw materials" from the US. So, my supplies, even though they are US made finished goods were exempt because they were to be used to make finished goods (cards) here. I've never paid for stamps alone. I think it also depends on when your order hits customs. Mine arrived at 3 am and was rubber stamped in 3 minutes.
North American goods are duty free. What you are doing with them wouldn't matter. Unless the package obviously states the goods are made somewhere other than North America, Canada Customs (CBSA) invokes NAFTA automatically on casual importations from the US.
The next few statements are general and not aimed at the poster I quoted...(and also note, I am one of the people who find the shipping from PTI prohibitive)...
Many people confuse HST/PST/GST with duty. I think I would be accurate in stating that most personal shipments (not commercial shipment) coming into Canada from the US are only charged brokerage (either UPS/FedEx fee) or the Canada Post fee plus the provincial taxes and GST - not DUTY.
We'd have to pay the taxes anyway if we bought in Canada so I find it funny when a fellow Canadian isn't happy they had to pay tax on their purchase from the US.
Hi,
I was under the impression that goods made in the US (which PTI products are) are exempt from duty...? You would still have to pay PST/GST/HST, but on your order in the comments section you could ask PTI to state that all goods are made in the US.
I'm lucky enough to live fairly close to the border so I have my goods shipped there. Inconvenient but otherwise shipping is too much! Most of the time they wave me through; the only time I've paid tax was when I had a number of items (not just PTI) with a high dollar value. Even then I only paid GST/PST and no duty (I mentioned that they were US made).
nina
That is true. You shouldn't be paying duty on US manufactured goods.
Other companies I order from mark "US made rubber stamps" on the forms. Someone should pass this on to PTI (if in fact they are made in the US).
When i have ordered from PTI i've only ever had to pay the $5 handling fee and then the taxes. I've never paid duty and i've had several packages come across the border.
For my next order, I'll be sure to ask PTI to state they are "U.S. made".
I suppose I've confused PST/HST/Handling with Duty. :oops: It doesn't say "duty" so what I paid was PST/HST/Handling. It's still quite a bit though.
I was actually looking for a clear stamp manufacturer in Canada for creating my own stamps and believe it or not, there aren't any! :???:
Quote:
Originally Posted by felis44
Hi,
I was under the impression that goods made in the US (which PTI products are) are exempt from duty...? You would still have to pay PST/GST/HST, but on your order in the comments section you could ask PTI to state that all goods are made in the US.
I'm lucky enough to live fairly close to the border so I have my goods shipped there. Inconvenient but otherwise shipping is too much! Most of the time they wave me through; the only time I've paid tax was when I had a number of items (not just PTI) with a high dollar value. Even then I only paid GST/PST and no duty (I mentioned that they were US made).
nina
I recently bit the bullet and ordered over $200 worth of stuff from PTI and I knew I had to pay taxes when it crossed the border, but I wasn't counting on the $15 for duty plus a $5 handling fee. I ended up having to pay $57 to the post office before I could get my package.:( I recently placed another order (smaller) just to see if I'm going to get hit with duty again, if so I won't be ordering again. I'm guessing my package is going to have duty charges this time around too because its been sitting in customs the past 3 days :-(
I got the sample pack of their cardstock colors in 2009 and one corner was bent in spite of the cardboard protectors. All the sheets were damaged. I had opened the package so I couldn't return or exchange it. I was able to cut the sheets in half and at least use half the paper for card bases and the rest for scraps.
All my orders since of their paper has been in pristine condition. Just bad luck and I've learned to check before opening!
I recently bit the bullet and ordered over $200 worth of stuff from PTI and I knew I had to pay taxes when it crossed the border, but I wasn't counting on the $15 for duty plus a $5 handling fee. I ended up having to pay $57 to the post office before I could get my package.:( I recently placed another order (smaller) just to see if I'm going to get hit with duty again, if so I won't be ordering again. I'm guessing my package is going to have duty charges this time around too because its been sitting in customs the past 3 days :-(
My experience with ordering from PTI and other US online stores is that if the cost of your order is over $80 you run a greater chance of being charged with taxes. As for it sitting in customs for 3 days, it might just mean that they are backlogged, I have had parcels sit in customs for over a week and I didn't have to pay taxes when it arrived. The postal worker at our post office told me once that customs charging you with taxes is a hit or miss and usually one out of every 15 parcels get hit with taxes. It is the price we have to pay to order from US online stores. I personally will continue to order from PTI even if it means I have to pay extra in taxes, I think that there products are worth a little extra and the amount that I save ordering there cardstock compared to SU is worth it to me.
My experience with ordering from PTI and other US online stores is that if the cost of your order is over $80 you run a greater chance of being charged with taxes. As for it sitting in customs for 3 days, it might just mean that they are backlogged, I have had parcels sit in customs for over a week and I didn't have to pay taxes when it arrived. The postal worker at our post office told me once that customs charging you with taxes is a hit or miss and usually one out of every 15 parcels get hit with taxes. It is the price we have to pay to order from US online stores. I personally will continue to order from PTI even if it means I have to pay extra in taxes, I think that there products are worth a little extra and the amount that I save ordering there cardstock compared to SU is worth it to me.
Oh dear...I'm just new to PTI stuff and I never even thought of looking at their cardstock! What a great price! And here I've been paying an arm and a leg for all of the SU cardstock...yikes!:oops: Thanks for bringing that too my attention
Try Gina K Designs for cardstock. It's beautiful heavy weight and is much cheaper than SU papers. Their shipping to Canada is very cheap, fast and I've never had to pay any border taxes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kittykya
Oh dear...I'm just new to PTI stuff and I never even thought of looking at their cardstock! What a great price! And here I've been paying an arm and a leg for all of the SU cardstock...yikes!:oops: Thanks for bringing that too my attention
The post office claims that it's 'hit or miss' but I don't believe it. I've been charged those border taxes (outrageous as they are) every single time which is why I haven't ordered from PTI in a while. I don't know if they will ever change their international shipping policies but it would be nice. Talking to others, I seem to be the only one complaining and begging them to have more competitive shipping costs. :( Oddly enough, I've never had to pay border taxes on any other package coming from the U.S. and they are in similar-sized boxes or even bigger and I've been ordering a lot of stuff!
Quote:
Originally Posted by kittykya
I recently bit the bullet and ordered over $200 worth of stuff from PTI and I knew I had to pay taxes when it crossed the border, but I wasn't counting on the $15 for duty plus a $5 handling fee. I ended up having to pay $57 to the post office before I could get my package.:( I recently placed another order (smaller) just to see if I'm going to get hit with duty again, if so I won't be ordering again. I'm guessing my package is going to have duty charges this time around too because its been sitting in customs the past 3 days :-(
The post office claims that it's 'hit or miss' but I don't believe it. I've been charged those border taxes (outrageous as they are) every single time which is why I haven't ordered from PTI in a while. I don't know if they will ever change their international shipping policies but it would be nice. Talking to others, I seem to be the only one complaining and begging them to have more competitive shipping costs. :( Oddly enough, I've never had to pay border taxes on any other package coming from the U.S. and they are in similar-sized boxes or even bigger and I've been ordering a lot of stuff!
I've NEVER had to pay anything on packages from the US that come via regular USPS---we're talking hundreds of packages over the years (used to be on a US based design team and received packages bi-weekly).
However anytime I get something "Priority" USPS (trackable) I have been charged with taxes.
You're so lucky, Jennifer! The only time I've ever been charged is on PTI packages. Regular or Priority packages from other companies have never been charged.
2009 I ordered a TON of stuff from the US/Europe. PTI got hit EVERY time, no matter how small or large. Magnolia never. Other places were hit and miss. The tracking tends to get hit with the taxes more than any other delivery. $5 for a post office handling charge is relatively cheap. I had FedEx charge me $50 once. It was rediculous.
Love PTi too---Just wondering if there are people on this board that live in Central Alberta?(or Calgary/Edmonton) I am in Red Deer, AB. Would love any people close to me to contact me so we could set up an order/pickup of some sort.
Last edited by Haveaheartcrafts; 02-21-2011 at 06:56 AM..
Hi all,
I was doing some research on your thoughts about products from Papertreyink and found this thread. Thank you all very much for this information! I do love the idea of their products.
Just wanted to let you know that I have a couple things in the shopping cart with PTI and the shipping to Toronto, Ontario, Canada is only about $11.00. That's ok, isn't it?
I love PTI stuff but I'm hesitant to order from them because of the ridiculously high shipping costs. They seem to do very well as a stamp company and I wonder why they don't offer free shipping to their international customers the way other (also small) stamp companies do. I'm sure they'd get a lot more orders if they did.
For those of you who have ordered from them despite the shipping costs, how long did it take for you to receive your order and did it come by USPS regular post or UPS courier? I read on another PTI post that their paper gets damaged in shipping. Has this also happened to you?
Thanks for your input!
I was going to order but the item was 15 dollars and postage was 24
so I did not order it
Even if you order a $5 die, shipping is still $24. I agree with you about offering free shipping to large international orders and I've asked them about it on several occasions but the answer is always the same. I will only shop from them if family or friends are coming up to visit. I wish I could order their cardstock on a regular basis!
Papertreyink
