General Forum

I've purchased from Sportlots before but this is the first time I am using their PO BOX option which seems to be quite convenient. My question is around the option to pre-pay duty and taxes. In all my years I have never had to pay duty or taxes on any cards shipped to me from the US. Wondering if anybody has skipped the pre-pay option and ended up having to pay when the package was received?

I have not, but I'm wondering the same thing. I'm also wondering what their box rates are to Canada, it seems like a good second option to Comc

Duty and taxes are charged when the packages declared value is over a certain $ amount, I'm not sure the exact threshold. I've had to pay at least once when I bought from a member here, so I'm hesitant to do that again.

Message Sportlots, he has always answered my questions in a day or two.

bigcountry98  sure hope it was not me that cause you to pay more.   I did it to another member by mistake (he let me know about it nicely) and I made it right with him.  He is willing to buy again but I now know how NOT to send packages up North.

Right now I have 35 cards in the box (estimated weight 8 oz) waiting to be shipped @ a cost of $15USD.

Never choose to pre-pay customs if the merchant gives you an option.

Following the exact letter of the law, any package with a declared value greater than $20 CAD is susceptible to a flat $10 handling fee plus the applicable sales taxes (PST/GST/HST) for your province of residence.

In practice whether or not any particular package gets dinged is usually up to the whim and mood of the government employee handling the package. In my experience less than one in ten packages over the $20 limit will actually get hit, and I have had packages with declared values of more than $200 US make it through unscathed.

The merchant will follow the letter of the law and isn't going to offer you a discount. So you can pay the hypothetical maximum up front or take your chances and, at worst, have to pay the same amount when the package arrives. But more likely you won't have to pay anything.

I have never used the box method.  I have kept my purchases to Canadian dealers, or a single American with low Canada budget rates, which is rare.  I just didn't see the Box method being worth it, especially when you might get hit with customs.

How can you tell Canadian dealers?

Best clue for me is the shipping rate to Canada. Chances are if it's $4 or less to ship 10 cards to Canada, it's a Canadian seller.

I've stopped buying through the box now that my needs are very specific and stick with sellers with the lowest shipping. 9 times out of 10, I get a Canadian seller. The other time it's an American seller shipping PWE. Either way, I'm happy 

As CollectorTBNL said, based on shipping rates.  US and Cdn sellers used to have similar rates several years ago but now it's easy to tell.  If they want $99.99 for budget shipping for a single card to Canada, then you know they ain't located in Canada.  American Budget shipping to Canada tends to skyrockets after 4 cards.  For Canada you can usually get 8-10 cents card s/h around the 40 or 50 card mark, which is what I usually aim for.

$20 or less is duty free , so when having something shipped from the US ask them to declare that on the custom form ... regardless of actual cost.