Canadian buying from US site

[roadstar]

Hi,

It is my understanding that when you buy a diamond from an online site, you frequently ship it to an indepedent appraiser to confirm the specs before keeping it. Also, as Canada no longer charges a luxury tax on diamonds, we only pay sales taxes on diamonds shipped from the U.S..

However, how does it work if I order a diamond from say whiteflash but want to return it? Is it a lot of work to return it and try to get the sales tax back? Do you ship to a U.S. appraiser or a Canadian one?

I''d really appreciate it if some Canadians can help me out on this one.

Thanks!

 

[SBee]

There''s a really simple form that you fill out and mail to the CBSA (Customs)...

I don''t have the link for it anymore and it took me awhile to find it, but I do have it saved to my hard drive. I can email you with it if you want...

Basically you just have to describe the item, the parties involved, and attach proof of having paid the taxes and proof of having returned the item.

That being said, we''ve just shipped back a setting to the US that we had to pay $300 on when it crossed the border. We''re just waiting for the refund to show up and then we''ll be sending in the form...it''s our first time doing this so I''m not sure how long it will take to process etc.

Hope that helps!

Sarah (Vancouver)

 

[canuk-gal]

HI Roadstar:

Welcome. Having shopped across border and online for some years, I have returned an item or two and have never had a problem getting my GST refunded to me. In Dec I returned a ring to an online vendor, but couldn''t find the requsite "refund form" on the Canadian Gov''t website--so I called the Gov''t 1-800#, and spoke to a fellow who gave me the proper online link; I printed the form, filled it out, and sent it away with copies of the return shipping ( Fedex) receipt. A month later, I received my GST cheque in the mail.

Hope this helps.

cheers--Sharon

 

[SBee]

Oh--one more thing I should add:

The most difficult part for us was trying to ship the item across the border (back to the US) in the first place, refund aside. Canada Post, UPS, Fedex, etc. etc. wouldn''t ship insured and we couldn''t find an insurance agency that would cover something outbound from Canada.

(If anyone has a solution, i''d love to know for next time!)

Luckily we live about 15 minutes from the border so we drove it across and shipped it USPS...which ended up being very cheap and it sounds like their service is highly secure. But again...you need to have a US address to put down as the return address (we used a friend''s).

So many hassles!

 

[roadstar]

Thanks - how about the independent appraisal? Do you just ship it to the appraiser first?

Thanks