Canadians who have sent their diamond to BGD for a recut?

[lollyyeahyeah]

Hi everyone! I posted last week about nicking my engagement ring. I have decided that I would like to send it to BGD for a recut, but I'm having a lot of difficulty with deciding how to send it over so that it doesn't get lost in the mail somehow. BGD recommended that I try registered mail but registered mail insures only up to $60 and no further coverage can be bought. Another option is XpressPost but they insure only up to $1000 (and I believe jewelry is an exclusion and they will only pay $500 if it gets lost). Since I'm sending the whole ring over and it's value is about $8000, I want to make sure the whole thing is insured.

How have any fellow Canadians sent their diamonds over the border? Thank you very much!

 

[Gailey]

Re: Canadians who have sent their diamond to BGD for a recut

I think you will have a similar issue with couriers too. I believe Fedex will only insure up to C$500.

I will ask Lisa Elser to wade in on this, because I know she uses a particular company. She cuts and sells coloured gems and also lives in Canada so she does a lot of shipping.

One thing that is important to know is that if you send your ring out for a repair, accompanied by the correct paperwork from Canada Customs, you will likely escape GST/PST/HST if it is returned to you in the original ring because technically it is a repair. If you have it reset, or if you don't have the correct forms and paperwork accompanying the ring on the return journey, you will get dinged for whatever it is your province charges, i.e. 5% in Alberta (God love Alberta), and a whopping 13% in Ontario where I now reside

I know what the correct form is that you need to fill in, in fact there is a thread here somewhere started by Litigator Chick in which I posted all the same information and a link to the form, but I am not sure how to locate it. She was hopping mad because she sent her ring out for repair without the paper trail and got dinged when it was sent back to her.

I kept all my paperwork, in the event that I do this again, I will know what to do. I've just moved house, so it may take me a bit of time to find the form, but I will find it and come back to you and tell you what it is and what you have to do.

 

[lollyyeahyeah]

Re: Canadians who have sent their diamond to BGD for a recut

I think you will have a similar issue with couriers too. I believe Fedex will only insure up to C$500.

I will ask Lisa Elser to wade in on this, because I know she uses a particular company. She cuts and sells coloured gems and also lives in Canada so she does a lot of shipping.

One thing that is important to know is that if you send your ring out for a repair, accompanied by the correct paperwork from Canada Customs, you will likely escape GST/PST/HST if it is returned to you in the original ring because technically it is a repair. If you have it reset, or if you don't have the correct forms and paperwork accompanying the ring on the return journey, you will get dinged for whatever it is your province charges, i.e. 5% in Alberta (God love Alberta), and a whopping 13% in Ontario where I now reside

I know what the correct form is that you need to fill in, in fact there is a thread here somewhere started by Litigator Chick in which I posted all the same information and a link to the form, but I am not sure how to locate it. She was hopping mad because she sent her ring out for repair without the paper trail and got dinged when it was sent back to her.

I kept all my paperwork, in the event that I do this again, I will know what to do. I've just moved house, so it may take me a bit of time to find the form, but I will find it and come back to you and tell you what it is and what you have to do.

Thank you I would appreciate the information very much! I also live in Ontario so I definitely want to avoid being hit with taxes

 

[Gailey]

Re: Canadians who have sent their diamond to BGD for a recut

Here's the thread I mentioned:

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/canada-customs-hell.141789/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/canada-customs-hell.141789/[/URL]

 

[dreamer_dachsie]

Re: Canadians who have sent their diamond to BGD for a recut

Can BGD let you use their FedEx account? You may want to ask.

Regarding taxes, I recently looked into this issue and called the customs office directly to get the answer.

When you send the diamond down to the US, you will indicate on the package the value of the diamond and that it is being sent for repairs. When it comes back to you, there will be two values that will be indicated on the customs form -- one is the replacement/insured value of the diamond and the other is the invoice for the works done. You should only pay taxes on the invoice for the work that was done.

 

[Gailey]

Re: Canadians who have sent their diamond to BGD for a recut

One thing you might want to consider if you don't want to pay 13% on the total value of a new ring, is to have Brian re-cut your diamond, as well as make your new ring, but have the stone and the ring shipped back separately. Have the stone set locally. Regardless of the correct paperwork, you will pay HST on the full value of the new ring if it is sent to you in one piece.

 

[lelser]

Re: Canadians who have sent their diamond to BGD for a recut

I use G4S http://www.g4s.com/ for my shipping insurance. You have to have an account with them, and you have to follow strict rules about shipping and labeling but they've been great to work with. Many folks I know in the trade use and are happy with ParcelPro.

When I'm shipping gonzo expensive goodies to the US, I usually use a broker on the US side to clear but I have used Fedex's broker. When you have BGD ship the return, it should come back as Returned Canadian Goods - Repair with a copy of the outbound Fedex paperwork in the sleeve. That will keep you from being charged HST on the value of the return. Let BGD know that you'll need them to keep the inbound paperwork and include it. Fedex charges about $35-60 for brokerage on top of the shipping charges. They also do a pretty poor job of it, so track your parcel (did I mention I have north-bound and south-bound brokers?)

BDG almost certainly HAS a broker, and an insurer. Ask if you can list their broker for the south-bound shipment, and if they can cover your parcel.

You can only insure for declared value. No one will write insurance for anything about the customs value declared. Fedex and UPS are notorious for taking you money to insure, and then refusing to pay out on jewellery claims.

I sometimes ship things to myself at a friend's address when coming to the states for shows - the worst case scenario is I get a dunning letter from the Sales Tax guy in whatever state the package landed, and have to fax them my return shipping notice.

If you've got any questions, let me know and I'll do my level best to answer them. Being in the trade, I'm set up for some things that most people aren't but I'll give whatever help I can.

Cheers,

Lisa
www.lisaelser.com

 

[bennyblanco]

Re: Canadians who have sent their diamond to BGD for a recut

Speaking of which, I'm looking at buying a ring from WF - what is the duty applicable on a diamond+ring set? 8% on top of the 13% HST?

Also, if I have them send the ring + diamond unset, will I not have to pay duty?

 

[bennyblanco]

Re: Canadians who have sent their diamond to BGD for a recut

Can any Canadian comment on the duties part?

"Speaking of which, I'm looking at buying a ring from WF - what is the duty applicable on a diamond+ring set? 8% on top of the 13% HST?

Also, if I have them send the ring + diamond unset, will I not have to pay duty?"

 

[dreamer_dachsie]

Re: Canadians who have sent their diamond to BGD for a recut

Can any Canadian comment on the duties part?

"Speaking of which, I'm looking at buying a ring from WF - what is the duty applicable on a diamond+ring set? 8% on top of the 13% HST?

Also, if I have them send the ring + diamond unset, will I not have to pay duty?"

There is no duty on jewelry. You will only pay HST.

 

[dreamer_dachsie]

Re: Canadians who have sent their diamond to BGD for a recut

I think you will have a similar issue with couriers too. I believe Fedex will only insure up to C$500.

I will ask Lisa Elser to wade in on this, because I know she uses a particular company. She cuts and sells coloured gems and also lives in Canada so she does a lot of shipping.

One thing that is important to know is that if you send your ring out for a repair, accompanied by the correct paperwork from Canada Customs, you will likely escape GST/PST/HST if it is returned to you in the original ring because technically it is a repair. If you have it reset, or if you don't have the correct forms and paperwork accompanying the ring on the return journey, you will get dinged for whatever it is your province charges, i.e. 5% in Alberta (God love Alberta), and a whopping 13% in Ontario where I now reside

I know what the correct form is that you need to fill in, in fact there is a thread here somewhere started by Litigator Chick in which I posted all the same information and a link to the form, but I am not sure how to locate it. She was hopping mad because she sent her ring out for repair without the paper trail and got dinged when it was sent back to her.

I kept all my paperwork, in the event that I do this again, I will know what to do. I've just moved house, so it may take me a bit of time to find the form, but I will find it and come back to you and tell you what it is and what you have to do.

Gailey I received a different message from customs when I spoke to them directly. I told them I was sending a diamond down for a setting, and they assured me that as long as I had the correct paper trail to prove that I indeed sent down the diamond from Canada and which I already owned (which could be an appraisal or bill of sale) then I would only pay HST on the new setting (i.e. the difference in value between what I sent and what I got back).

 

[Gailey]

Re: Canadians who have sent their diamond to BGD for a recut

Call me an old sceptic, but unless I actually saw that in writing, I don't think I would believe it. From what I remember, the little brochure I read at the airport a few years ago indicated the opposite. Maybe things have changed.

Are you sure the person you spoke to was 100% aware that the diamond was going into a new setting and not just being re-set?

If I was you, I would read up on their website and see what it says.

 

[Gailey]

Re: Canadians who have sent their diamond to BGD for a recut

Lolly,

I'm doing a bit of investigating myself, having just bought a painting from The Netherlands and I came across a couple of sites that I thought might be of interest to you:

http://www.canadacustomsinfo.com/

http://betterdollar.com/