[geeks] Stupid people rant

[Greg A. Woods]

[ On Tuesday, February 12, 2002 at 15:58:22 (-0500), Mike Nicewonger wrote: ]
> Subject: Re: [geeks] Stupid people rant
>
> To be honest I do not like shipping to Canada. Not that I distrust any of our
> brothers in the great white north, but because of the silly games customs play
> with us regarding paperwork and your import/VAT/whatever taxes

Yeah, but FedEx and, wonders of wonders, the USPS make this all pretty
easy at both ends.  FedEx Canada, once they have our credit card
numbers, will automatically clear most things right through and then
send us statemtents showing how much duty and taxes they dinged us
for....  :-) Same thing happens with the post office.  UPS is similar,
but they have a much bigger "brokerage fee" if I remember correctly, and
it also seems the only way UPS can get stuff across the border is by
kicking it, rolling it, dragging it, or otherwise beating upon it and
pushing it off the back of a truck a couple of times.  (I hate UPS  ;-)

With parcel post if you don't need major insurance, etc., it's much
easier to make it look like something's a one-off packaging job
(i.e. not done by a professional shipper) and then just declare it as a
"gift", which is normally duty and tax free (except of course for
controlled substances like tobacco or liquor).  Of course Canada Customs
may open the box, or any attached envelope, so don't include anything
looking like a waybill or invoice!  ;-)

-- 
								Greg A. Woods

+1 416 218-0098;  <gwoods at acm.org>;  <g.a.woods at ieee.org>;  <woods at robohack.ca>
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