I've spoken with Canada Customs and had it confirmed that a phone w/ $399USD value would incur a max of $64 in taxes (PST+GST) at current exchange rates. Being manufactured outside of NAFTA zones, it is possibly subject to duties of 6% (about $30), though I was just explicitly told by someone at customs that "this is rarely applied", esp. for gear like cel phones. I'm pretty sure that it is not illegal when it doesn't get applied, but IANAL either. UPS charges a brokerage fee of $51 for $500+ value.
Allow for $20 of other misc charges, and go as high as $15 on the exchange spread for the CC/bank. You've still got $180 CAD here in what I think it's safe to call "worst case", and that's a far cry from the $330+ CAD being charged. I will more than likely ship to the US and get it over here myself - which will likely only cost me a lunch break and an extra $64 (taxes). But the hassle, and the lack of a real explanation for the incredibly high extra fee makes me think twice -- not a great first experience on what I hope will be a fun and productive ride with this platform. Loads of US companies have no problems shipping to Canada without incurring these kind of costs - I'm really disappointed that Google/ Brightstar managed to get it so wrong. Why does Google hate Canada? ;) On Dec 8, 1:00 pm, "Justin (Google Employee)" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Even when they are levied, they are charged > > through to the party receiving the shipment, > > Not in this case. In this case the duties and taxes have been charged > to the shipper, which is why the cost of shipping *and handling* is > much more than just the shipping cost. > > As to the amount, I'm not a lawyer or a customs specialist. Therefore, > I assume the costs vary by country according to the laws of that > country. While it is true that sometimes duties are not assessed > depending on how shipments are labeled, it doesn't mean that legally > they shouldn't be. > > Cheers, > Justin > Android Team @ Google > > On Dec 8, 4:30 am, J Dietrich <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > So, I signed up for the Market, and then suffered a severe bout of Jaw > > Drop when I saw that it was going to cost $264.19 to ship to Canada. I > > quickly retreated from purchasing what had been looking like one hell > > of an x-mas present for myself. > > > According to the Help/FAQ, the fee includes "applicable customs, > > duties, import and country specific other fees". As anyone in Canada > > ordering from the US knows, duties and taxes are levied somewhat > > arbitrarily - it's not uncommon to receive something with no > > additional taxes levied, despite accurate declared value that > > technically warrants it. Even when they are levied, they are charged > > through to the party receiving the shipment, and it's hard to see how > > they could ever come in so high as to approach this up-front cost - > > higher than *every* other country on the list. > > > Phone: 399.00 USD = 499.63 CAD > > Shipping: 264.19 USD = 331.19 CAD (66% of the cost of the device!) > > Total: 830.82 CAD :( > > > No regrets about joining the Market, as I am going to develop on this > > platform in any case. I'm just disappointed that I won't be dabbling > > with real hardware over the holidays, and I know other developers here > > who are in the same boat - all willing to lay out the price of the > > phone, but not about to pay 66% on top for shipping. > > > Can someone please take a stab at breaking down or otherwise > > rationalizing this number, helping me (and other Canucks scratching > > their heads and/or already being preyed upon by eBay sellers) to > > understand this? For $18.99, I could have this next-day shipped to a > > location in NY state a mere 5km away. Why are these heavy additional > > charges rolled into the shipping cost, and why are the extra charges > > for Canada so high relative to all other countries? --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Android Developers" group. To post to this group, send email to android-developers@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
