Canadians: The importing a sub into Canada thread.

For us Canadians who are on this forum, one of the biggest questions is: how do I get my hands on some of these awesome ID subs that are regularly recommended on this forum?

For great subs, Canadians have a choice of: SVS or Funk Audio (Funkywaves) subs, but there are many others that are awesome but there is no way to get them unless you import them yourselves from the USA

For normal items, when you import things, the general rule is to use USPS and avoid UPS Ground, or go with vendor/method that will include brokerage or customs costs. However, with subs, since they are so heavy, there may not be many options

I would like to consolidate some actual specifics from people that have actually imported a Hsu, Rythmik, Seaton, JTR whatever. It seems this information is spread out all over the place.

So please post what your experience with importing these products.

- What sub did you buy?
- How much was shipping to your city (please state)
- What was the shipping method (UPS, Fedex, DHL, whatever)?
- Please state the total LANDED costs of the sub, breaking down the fees if you know them.
---- What brokerage/handling fees did the shipper charge when you received the sub?
---- What was the assessed duty (note this is different from PST or HST)
- Any other considerations such as delivery times, or customs delays

Also, has anybody had to ship parts back for warranty purposes? Please post how that went.

I hope this thread can be helpful for Canadians trying to decide what sub to buy. The actual total cost can easily sway the value for money equation if the added cost is an extra $500 on top of what USA people are paying.

I don't actually have any direct experience importing a sub into Canada by shipping, but I have bought a few subs by picking them up myself.

- I ordered the subs from Amazon.com and had it shipped to a UPS Store. Amazon.com lets you specify a US address even though you have a Canadian billing address. I use this trick all the time when I am in the USA, often shipping an item to a hotel where I am staying.
- I drove across the border. The shipping place held them for me for a fee.
- I declared the subs while crossing back.
- The subs were Energy subs, so made in Canada. They charged me the HST on top of the total price (ironic that I was buying a Canadian sub in the US, at a much cheaper price)

...thanks.

It would be useful to post your experience there as well....can't have too much information! Especially since JTR caps are one of the most revered subs on the forum.

interesting turn of events you went through vexxd. Glad it worked out, even though it was a pita.

The choice of shipper that the vendor uses can make a huge difference to the process of receiving the goods. It helps to deal with a vendor who's used to shipping stuff to Canadians and can relay which exactly which shipper they will be using when you place the order (and don't switch shippers at the last minute)

thanks.

that's always the part that scares me, but I'm guessing that it will be the standard 6.5% for a Made In China sub for duties. For Fedex I remember being charge a $10 ROD fee even though there was no brokerage fee. Hopefully somebody who has ordered a Hsu can chime in.

edit: I forgot about vexxd's post while reading this on my phone. Yes, 6.5% duty fee + tax applies, but it doesn't seem like there was any additional fees. Fedex seems like a safe choice for ordering Hsus without any real surprises in extra costs (other than the pretty hefty shipping fee)

With the border I cross often, they are very picky. They ask specifically where something was made. On a brand new unopened TV they wanted to see the TV itself even though it was marked Made in Mexico on the box. For tires they definitely ask everybody and tires are some of the most popular items that are imported.

I found this guide, but it is probably very outdated. Most electronics, cameras, and computers are duty free. But overseas made TVs and speakers are not. So it would seem that subs SHOULD be charged duty unless you buy a ID brand that assembles in North America. I think most of the time border crossings will just charge the flat rate HST/PST because they are lazy.

http://www.aacb.com/tools/tariffguide.htm

Things work a bit differently in Canada

We pay provincial and national sales taxes on everything we import from out of country. It's a "sales tax" so that means if it costs you money to buy, you pay sales tax on its value. There is no loophole like what you have in the USA. We don't have states, we have provinces, and even if an item is shipped from a different provice, they still have to charge us the sales tax. It's a bit more complicated than that because some provinces have two separates taxes, some have one big sales "harmonized" sales tax, and one only has national sales tax.

I guess this has the side effect of making it fair to everybody, local vendors are not at a disadvantage. As I understand it, some consumers in the US have to pay state taxes even if they are being shipped from out of state...(not sure about the details). I can see that eventually this will be more widespread.