Shipping from the US
 

I heard that if you get stuff airmailed you arent likely going to pay any duty... any truth to this ?

I haven't had to pay duty on anything I've ordered from the US I can thank Nafta for that. You do need to watch brokerage fees, Ups has a crazy fee system so I always suggest shipping with usps it's 5 bucks flat brokerage fee. This is all for drygoods I have never found anyone that will go through the hassle of shipping livestock to Canada.

Agreed on Nyxis comment about duty. However, on anything worth over I think it's 10 or 20 bucks you will have to pay tax as if you'd bought it here. In addition to that, you will then have to pay a brokerage fee. From the post office this is 5 bucks, from a courier it is anywhere between 20 and 30.

I just received 2 metal halide strips from the US, via UPS. The shipper was nice and claimed the package value was $300. I paid $46.06 GST, $53.83 brokerage, and $3.23 GST on the brokerage. So I paid $103.02 on something they thought was $300....PLUS shipping.

It's the brokerage fees that are silly excessive. There are companies just south of the border (Bellingham) that will accept packages shipped to them for pickup. If you drive it across the border, you don't pay any brokerage fees.

Just tell them what you've bought, make sure you have an invoice. Go inside and pay GST and PST. 100% legit.

Hey Reefer, I had a similar experience with the goods being overvalued (some art materials on sale for about $20 but valued originally at about $80) There is a form on the package which you can use to claim back the excess customs gst etc. Customs were fine ,they sent me a refund after a few days :) :)
...............Dave

Learned a trick recently - if you call up ups/fedex/dhl/etc - give them the tracking number; you can tell them you will be acting as your own broker. Then it's a quick trip over to the CCRA office behind the toyota dealer on 32nd ave n.e. (once package arrives); fill out a form, and walk out lighter only in the gst.

Wow ! That's a good tip Andy ,must remember that . I wonder if that could work on the island ?
..................Dave.