visiter555

First and foremost, the CBSA staff does the package inspection and decide IF any fees are due, not Canada Post. Canada Post is only the physical delivery agency. Second you clearly stated that "When it does finally arrive you need to have cash or a cheque available to pay the fees when the postal carrier knocks on your door. " Third " Not sure what your point is with the previous post but there are fee's and they need to be paid." There are not "always" fees. You are incorrect. CBSA does frequently decide to not assess fees on a package. It depends on the value, type of product, etc. There is no hard and fast rule, the same as it is a discretionary decision when crossing the border on whether you are assessed on overages. Fourth there are many Canadians that now utilize cross border parcel pickups. An obvious sign of this is the booming business of this type of services on the US side of border crossings. When you bring your own goods across the border you are not acting as a "broker" as this is personal goods carried on the individual. The reasons are multiple, price in US versus in Canada, shipping rates to/in Canada, Brokerage Fees where a vendor ships via UPS, FedEx etc, the vendor not shipping to Canada. You state that this "is not really relative to the average consumer." which is not necessarily true. Granted it is your opinion, but more and more consumers are becoming educated and interested on the expenditures. Consumers are becoming more aware of all associated costs and so they can make better informed decisions. You really need to read the CBSA rules and regulations and stop interpreting the written word. You seem to be taking the ability to buy and ship to the US quite personally, don't know why. Letting people know there are options that may or may not suit their circumstances is a good thing. Relax, and let information speak for itself and point consumers to the correct government sites so they can make an informed decision, it may cost you business in some cases, but people will know that you are open, above board and fair. Shouting that "the sky is falling" never helps unless it really is...

If you buy items from the USA, here is "THE" FACTUAL places where you can get information, and does not apply only to FLIRC, but to all goods, note that it is NOT Canada Post that applies the fees, but CBSA: One item you will need to know is that if the product is considered manufactured in the US or Mexico and is duty exempt under NAFTA, though you may still have to pay taxes. You can also ship to a "pick-up" location along the Canada/US border for less money, and works best if you make other pickups regularly. Also note that "You may have to pay duty, the goods and services tax (GST) or the harmonized sales tax (HST) and the provincial sales tax (PST) on items mailed to you. If you owe duty and tax, it will be indicated on Form E14, CBSA Postal Import Form, which will be attached to your mail item when it is delivered." It doesn't always happen at lower dollar amounts. You do NOT have to pay the postman, but can pick-up the package at your local Postal Outlet. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/import/postal-postale/menu-eng.html Postal Program -- Importing by Mail How the process works As with all goods coming into Canada, a proper declaration must be made on any items being imported by mail to enable border services officers (BSOs) to correctly assess the incoming goods. When an item is mailed to Canada from abroad, the sender completes a customs declaration form giving the value, origin and a detailed description of the goods. Upon arrival in Canada, all international mail items are presented by Canada Post to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) to process through the Agency's Postal Program. BSOs visually inspect each piece of mail to determine its admissibility and confirm whether it contains dutiable or taxable goods. If the BSO determines that a mail item is not prohibited from entering Canada and is not subject to duties or taxes, the item is released to Canada Post for immediate delivery. Otherwise, the BSO forwards the item for further inspection by the CBSA or by another government department or agency before the item can continue in the postal process.

Whatever you choose is up to you, but a difference of $23.29 adds up. I don't know if you have the figure that Pi-suppli pays for the units, but the cost will be less than the FLIRC direct price. Pi-suppli's price includes GST & PST, yet I cannot find them registered under the Manitoba companies or in the PST tax registration. They do not show an address on their site which, while not required, is not what you normally see (note FLIRC shows there address under the Terms of Service) when someone collects taxes. It is well established that Canadian companies charge substantially more than US companies do (take a look at this week's federal budget where there are moving -eventually- to address the overcharging by Canadian companies. I am now at four FLIRCs and ordering four more...so total savings of ~$100 TO DATE. At least we agree that the FLIRC is a great product.

After months of issues, I now have my FLIRC working on a Dell Opti 755 SFF and XBMC. So now I need two more FLIRCs for my other rooms. Just did a price check with the Canadian distributor Pi-Suppli, and two FLIRCs with shipping are $78.29 including $10 shipping and $8.39 in taxes. Ordering direct is $49.90 including shipping (US$ which is under $55 today Cdn). That is the price of one more FLIRC or an added $23.29 in profit (remember these are duty free to Canada). So much for buying "Canadian" and reasonable profit. lol

I think that you need to take another look at that $2 offer... No tracking, no guarantees and NO INSURANCE. You can't even prove it was shipped, but you get to pay for it and if it doesn't show up tough luck. So realistically it is $10 for shipping one FliRC plus $29.95 for a total of $39.95 versus $22.95 + $3.47 = $26.42 US$ (which at today's rate is $28.50) and there is zero duty on US mfg products, so it is an increase of almost 50% on the US pricing. Yes there is brokerage unless you clear the shipments, but you get a lot of brokerage for that profit on the retail...remember I didn't look at Distributor's actual cost. Pretty good profit taking... That is why many Canadians ship to a US point and have products picked up there...to avoid the Canadian Distribution chain. You should see the pricing on books! lol

i agree, there is a lot of profit added on that cant be justified and dont start me on the crazy price the Cdn distributer is charging for shipping.