Quote Originally Posted by jrhymeammo
Hey Feanor,

If you were to purchase a phono from US for $100, how much would it end up be after GST?
I thought GST was only 6% but seems like there are other fee that Canadian consumers are charged with.

Regards,
Well, GST isn't the end of it. I could pay duty, (??%), depending on the product and the country of origin, GST (6%), Ontario Provincial Sales Tax (8%), and -- here's the really sweet part -- brokerage. If sent by standard USPS, Canada Post will charge me $5 flat fee, (not too bad), or $8 if USPS expedited. The latter sucks because Canada Post doesn't "expedited" the shipment in any way, in my experience. There might be a minimum below which charges are waived, but it is very low: let's say <$20. In my experience, sometimes very small packages, (e.g. 1 or 2 CDs), sneek under Canada Post's radar regardless of value.

However mimium I would typically pay on a $100 item would be $6+8+5 = $19.

On the other hand, if the carrier is FedEx and you don't have a personal customs broker, (who has a personal customs broker?), FedEx Trade Networks, (their customs broker division), would charge something like $10-15 on a hundered dollar item. UPS charges slightly more than FedEx. And BTW, GST is charge on the brokerage -- in otherwise I'm being charged tax on service whose only purpose is collect tax. Now that's egregious.

I'll let you know what I actually paid in the case of the TCC preamp I ordered.