Tariffs: A Cautionary Tale

[philo98]

Originally Posted by Michael B

It could be relatively easy if there was a collector in a U.S. city/town near the border who could drive across and post from Canada. Don't forget the passport though. If you lived near Buffalo drive to Fort Erie or Niagara Falls. Detroit is across the river from Windsor. Bellingham is fairly close to Vancouver. You do not need to disclose to CBP if you have a few envelopes or small boxes you wish to mail. You just tell them you are visiting a friend for lunch or shopping. A Canadian that lives near the border could also rent a box at a Mailbox Etc. or UPS Store, possibly even at a U.S. Post Office. From what I understand the Post Office cannot require you to live near them to rent a box.

I have a friend in Switzerland who does something similar. He purchases quite a few items on EbayUSA. Everyone wants to charge exhorbitant shipping to send it to him. He has them sent to me and I package them together. If I am travelling to Europe I will bring them along, but if not, I send the package to Germany and he drives there to pick it up. He lives in Zurich so it is less than an hour to the border town. An additional issue for his is Swiss Customs knows he is a collector and opens every package addressed to him and he gets hit with duties. Not so if he is driving across the border to pick up.

Ive done this for many years. Used a shipping consolidator based in NJ and once I gave the go-ahead would ship my packages to Hong Kong. Hong Kong has no import taxes, duties, fees, etc. Therefore it clears "customs" quickly. Normally, from the date it shipped in NJ it would be in my house 48 hours later in HK. I would look for one of these shipping consolidators in Detroit, Buffalo, etc etc and just drive across, obviously if thats feasible on where you live in Canada.