Anyone go through process of ordering from US to Canada?

[someguy]

Hi everyone,

This is my first post, but I''ve been lurking for a while. It seems that I''ve finally found the diamond that I want, but am a little worried about ordering it from the states (I live in Canada). The stone is at the upper limit of my budget and I don''t know if I would be able to pay duty, excise tax (I''m not sure what this is, just that I don''t want to pay it!) and canadian taxes on top of everything else...

Has anyone else gone through the process before? Can you tell me what I should expect in terms of extra costs? Is there any way to get out of paying these extra things, like if I went to pick it up myself? Anyway, that''s all for now, and thanks for reading this!

 

[Daniela]

I would never want to recommend anything illegal, but people have been known to drive across the border and pick up the ring themselves from a FedEx or UPS holding location and then drive across the border with it themselves. If you go this route, people generally have the paperwork, etc. mailed to thier home address in Canada, and you could consider having your girl wear it across the border.

Tax is a bummer. Max your budget out on the stone and not the tax.

 

[k-man]

Do a search and check this post out: "The Whole Story for Newbies" by k-man. It breaks down the costs and speaks to bringing a diamond across the border. If you go that route you'll save over 25% just in taxes (10% excise, 8% provincial, 7% GST). Plus, the Canadian dollar is pretty high at the moment so it might save you even more money!

Good luck. Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

[adamas]

You can expect to pay 10% excise tax at the border and GST. The 10% is calculated on the invoice value at the time of entry using rev.can conversion rate. It is added to the stone value, gst on top.
e.g. 1,000 US, 1.3 exch = 1300 can
excise 130 can
cost 1430
gst 100.1
cost becomes 1,530.10
As a canadian your aware of the t.v. ads re theft of satelite signals. No one likes taxes. Myself included. But smuggling is smuggling, theft is theft. Be glad the exchange rate has dropped, utilize your saving there to pay the taxes. Quick math say's your even over goods that have been in the pipeline for over 6 months.
If it's caught at the border your out the taxes and pay a penalty. Keep the conversions, buried tax in mind when your price comparing CA to US. The stores/vendors you'v been to in CA have to pay so if you think there high priced remember they pay it up front, finance the stock, the store, the employees.
Were do people draw the line, smuggling it is theft, gee why not just buy one that was stolen from someones house. Then you'll really save, my guess would be -80% rap and no taxes.
Does taking the $ out of the CA market apply at all to your business? Think about it.
Nothing personal just the answer and a rant.

 

[someguy]

Thank you for the replies everyone. At least I know now what I have to pay extra. I wasn't sure about the excise tax... that's a real kicker! I'm luckily living in alberta so at least I don't have to pay provincial taxes on top of that. I'll probably end up getting it shipped to my home address because the logistics of picking it up in person are a real nightmare, and I would also feel bad about smuggling the ring... But ouch, that's going to cost me an extra $1500 on top of what I allready couldn't afford!

One last question, does anyone know if you have to pay the taxes right away? Maybe if I could wait 'till I got my tax returns it would be allright.

Thanks once again for the help!

 

[adamas]

Excise and GST are both due when it's delivered.
If you go through a brokerage, or if the vendor does, it will charge you brokerage fees on top. Both fedex and UPS have fairly reasonable rates for brokerage.

 

[pqcollectibles]

My general feeling on taxes (in the US anyway), is that we pay way too much too often. Kudos to if you do decide to be honorable about the purchase. I'd be far toooo tempted to ferry it across the border w/o declaring it for that kind of savings!

 

[someguy]

Thanks for the praise pqcollectibles, but I'm not sure if I really am worthy of it! Half of the issue is that I'm just not sure how to pull it off. You see, I live in Calgary and don't have a car (the horror!). My ring will be in NY at the end of the month. Also at the end of this month, I'll be in the Ottawa area (in Ontario, just north of NY, about a 9-11 hour bus ride for those of you from other countries). I'll be visiting my family there and me gf will come along. I would really like to propose during that time since I can anounce it to my family in person, but this would require that long bus ride to pick up the ring, and I don't really know how to justify it without ruining the surprise. Maybe I could suggest that we go visit NY for a day or two since we're so close and while we are there get the ring (another problem). Maybe we could go look at the rings together since we were just *coincidentaly* driving by a jewlery store. Then I could somehow get the ring when she's not looking, or I could even propose to her at that very moment! But maybe that would be extra lame, I don't know. I would also be worried that she wouldn't think that the ring is anything special compared to all of the other pricier ones around in the store.

The other thing is that I could get it delivered to my home in Calgary. The problem is that I don't think we'll be home since we'll be spending christmas in the mountains with her family, and then we're flying straight to Ottawa to see mine. However the biggest thing stopping me from getting the ring earlier is that I won't have the money until the end of the month.

Finally, I could get the ring delivered to my home in Calgary when we all get back from the holidays. But this would kind of suck because I probably wont see my family for a 3-4 months after that. I think that it would be nice to share the news in person...

Maybe another option would be to get it delivered to my parents house while we are there, but I'm not sure if that's the best idea. So it almost seems that the best thing, regardless of price, would be to get the ring in NY. But then... And it goes round and round.

Ahgrg! This is so complicated! Sorry for the long rant. Cheers everyone,

some frustrated and stressed guy

 

[grandpa witty]

Hi someguy,

It's probably too early to ask.
But have you decided on where to get the diamond?
I live in the Ottawa area and I'm trying to find out where the nearest border is to pick up the diamond.
Please post a message if you find one.
Thanks and good luck!

 

[Diamondsbybree]

DO you have any family that lives in the states>?

 

[SG]

I haven't it yet but I'm learning about the process now. I thought about carrying it across from NY but I don't know how the gal would feel about getting a smuggled ring...kind of takes some of the romance out of it...

I'm going legit. Blue Nile has a good too for estimating your costs to import to Canada http://www.bluenile.com/product_policies_canada.asp

Their estimate includes shipping, duties and taxes. Just convert it to C$ and it should be accurate.

Even with the taxes and duties, I still figure I'm saving 40% on Canadian retail prices, and my conscience is clear. Wish I could say that about my Visa balance...

Good luck!

 

[grandpa witty]

SG,

That's right.
I've been to few jewellers in O-town and the prices are a lot more expensive here. Thanks for the link, I'll check Blue Nile website.
I've been looking at Whiteflash.com, heard many good reviews about them.

 

[alexah]

Just FYI, in case you'd feel more cumfy seeing the stone(s), USA Certed is able to show diamonds at some major cities in the US & in Toronto... they are a PS vendor (and it looks like they give a PS discount too).

Their website's a bit off-putting, but I remember reading some good reviews about them in the past... USA Certed

 

[Gale]

Sorry, edited to delete my reply - I didn't quite catch how old the initial post was...