customs fees

I got rims/tires coming from usa, and i figure ill have to pay at least 200$ in customs fees. I read somewhere a while ago that someone just went to a customs office or something and got some forms to fill out to take to the shipping company so they didnt have to pay a ridiculous amount in fees. Anyone have any clue what im talking about? i just want to get the papers all ready before i get the rims to my door so i can just go down to the shipping company and pick them up and only pay a small customs fee.

Any help is appreciated.

its cheaper to pick them up at the border
i picked up some used rims for z31 in the US, the cost was 400$ for the rims, and i payed 11$ duty. all you do is go inside and show them a receipt and pay them for duty and your on your way.my advice is if your going to the border keep your answer straight, no bullshit.
if your having them shipped to canada expect to pay few 100$ bucks at the shipping office. they get me everytime.

good luck

What rims?

going to the boarder isnt a option. i work shift work and dont have time. also i cant fit 4 rims/ 4 tires in my car. i thought someone said that they went somewhere got some forms and went to the shipper ie. ups, and used the papers or something. and they saved like 100$ or more. i wish i remember where i read it.

the rims are 18 X 7.5" Motegi Touge
http://www.tirerack.com/images/wheels/motegi/swap/motegi_touge_ltgy_ci3_l.jpg

If they aren’t already sent ask the seller to say they are a gift.
This might work & no duties as far as I know <- someone confirm if possible
my friend told me about this but I don’t know exactly how it works.

or at least to state the price of the rims to be lower than they actually are.
lower cost rims = less duty and taxes
I did this with a bunch of parts that were sent up and it saved a TON.

It is true! The ONLY problem with it is, you can not insure it! If they get lost / stolen you’re fucked!

i think im getting those too. if you say your with d sport at the trail tire on fort road you get cost plus 10. i priced those out (in 17’s) yesterday when i picked up my fuzion tires. everywhere else wants 2000 for rims and rubber. they can do both for around 1300.

customs officials don’t fall for the “gift” thing very often anymore. i used to order parts from slowboyracing.com and after about the 3rd thing i ordered from them labeled “gift” i still had to pay customs on it.

yah i always ask to put gift on the packages from usa, but i still get rapped.
cant you insure the package for whatever you want? regardless what the value on the box says? ive had stuff shipped before and had a value of 50$ but insured for 500$.

i paid 1200$ to my door for 18" rims. best deal i could find.

btw 17" in this rim are not at nice. they have like a dual lip action going on.
the single lip only comes in 18" and bigger.

heres what 17" look like.

http://www.buywheelstoday.com/images_products/L_2964.jpg

I bought my exhaust from japan and had the company ship it as a gift. … no customs. . . mind you that was 1 year ago :partyman:

lucky!!!

rims were shipped today w/ ups. he said he couldn’t write “gift” or he would be in trouble. instead he lowered the stated value for me.

anyways, nobody has any clue what im talking about when i ask about these so called customs papers…?

I buy all of my stuff from the US or Japan I have never heard of these “PAPERS” I know customs called me when my volks got to the boarder and said it was cheaper to pay them at that time than if I waited till they were delivered then payed. I think it was $50-60 bucks cheaper.

haha how do i get ahold of them? and do they still deliver to my door?

Hope you have some lube! :lol:

I’ve gotten some of my parts shipped with ups = rape on brockage fees = :butthead:

i know thats why i was trying to find out how to avoid the fees.
oh well a 1lb of butter should do.

It is true! The ONLY problem with it is, you can not insure it! If they get lost / stolen you’re fucked![/quote]

Not true.

When I ordered my Cobb Accessport, it was worth $600us, I told the seller to declare the item $20 for customs. He then insured it for the item worth ($600). I got zero in customs on a $600 item. Some sellers will do it, some won’t, just ask before you buy.

did some searching, and beyond.ca actually has the “papers” that im talking about. i copied the important info for those ppl that dont have a clue wtf im talking about.

coles notes: you self broker your goods and save a ton of money.

THIS IS WHERE IT GETS IMPORTANT

Whether your shipment is a personal thing, or a business thing, you have the option of “Self Clearing”. What this means is that you are going to have to do the filling and filing of the paperwork yourself. In the case of a personal shipment, you MUST notify UPS as soon as you have the tracking number that you intend to self clear. In the case of a business, they will contact you - at which point you indicate you are going to self clear.

SELF CLEARING - THE BASICS

Once you have indicated that you are going to self clear…when your package ‘arrives’ at your shippers warehouse, they will prepare the necessary forms for self-clearing. You must then go to your shippers warehouse, and pick up these forms. You won’t even require a pen! The forms are filled out already with the necessary information from the computer. So, off you go…

Once you have the clearing forms, you must then proceed to Canada Customs. (It’s just off 32nd Avenue, N.E. - you turn left just before Staples, then right, then right in to the parking lot). This is handy, because pretty much all the shipping companies have warehouses just minutes away from this location.

Keep in mind you must be the person who the shipment is to, or you must be an individual with Power of Attourney over the Company if it is a business shipment.

Once you are inside, you will find a computer - and a book. The book contains all the line codes you may require to understand in order for you to fill out the forms correctly. Kind of like doing your taxes! (Same idea). When you have entered all the information, which will usually include ports of exit and port of entry, method of shipment, costs of goods, classification of goods, importer name, shipping costs, etc. The computer will then print out the finalized forms which will indicate how much you must pay in Duty and GST for your imported goods.

They have agents there who will then have a quick once over of your information, and then you will proceed to pay what you owe at the cash desk.

Once you have paid what you owe, your papers will be stamped “cleared”. You return to your shipper with these papers, and they will retrieve your packages. You have just brokered your own packages, and have avoided brokerage fees completely.

SOUNDS LIKE TOO MUCH WORK

Then pay the damn brokerage fee and don’t bitch! :rolleyes:

AS PROMISED, CHEATING THE SYSTEM

All goods imported in to Canada have different DUTY rates applied to them depending on the type of good. Even within the automotive realm, duty rates are not all the same. For example, importing a flywheel, may have a higher duty rate than say, ‘automative transmission components’ - now, you’re just a silly chump filling out the forms, so if you know which areas require less duty, you can ‘work’ the system slightly to allow a lower rate of duty to be applied to your imported goods. You’re only going to save a few percentage points. But it can be done. Uhm, and if for some reason what you are doing gets questioned, you’d be like :dunno: But more often than not, you’re not going to be questioned unless you are completely re-classifying the goods.

Cheating the duty by a couple percentage points isn’t the point of this thread. Completely removing brokerage fees is the point!

Hope some people find this helpful. If brokerage fees annoy you, this the way to avoid them. If you think it’s easy, power to you. If you think, my god, why would I do that? Pay your brokerage fees but at least understand the process so you know what it is you are paying for…