Shipping from Canada to U.S.

[linzp]

Hi everyone, this is my first post although I have been lurking for some time. My BF recently bought a stone locally that is set in a simple WG setting, and then we ordered a Ritani endless love setting from Pearlman''s last week. We are in Ontario, Canada, and have decided to ship the ring to Pearlman''s so that they can reset it in the Ritani setting for us. We felt this was safer than having it set by a jeweler here. However, I am nervous about shipping the ring to them. Will FedEx allow us to insure it for the full amount? Will it be safe to ship it across the border? Any advice would be very much appreciated.

 

[mela lu]

Hey Linzp!
I don''t really know the answer to this, but I too live in ON (Toronto) and I did the reverse...I bought a stone from WF and they FedEX''ed it to me here. FedEx insured the stone (at it''s full value) until the moment I signed for it. I can only imagine that it would work the same way.

Hope that helps!

PS. I *wish* I''d had the forsight to ship my setting to WF and have them set the new stone. I would have avoided a lot of pain and suffering with this local B&M who did some shotty work on my setting.

You''re making a good desicion!
Good luck!

 

[linzp]

Thank you for your reply! Do you mind me asking, did you have to pay customs charges when your stone was shipped to you? I''m also worried that when they send the finished product back, I''ll be paying a fortune in taxes.

 

[mela lu]

I had to pay PST and GST, (14%) but because my stone was loose as opposed to set, I was free from the 10% additional tax which is applied to clothing, jelwerly, etc.

Can you make a fun weekend to the states and have it shipped to you there?

 

[neatfreak]

Unfortunately, Mela is incorrect I think. It does NOT work the same way from what I understand.

I don't believe that FedEx will allow consumers to ship jewelry through them. Only jewelers with accounts and insurance policies can ship through Fed Ex.

I know here in the States, the only way consumers can really ship jewelry and have it insured is through USPS. So I would try the Canadian Postal Service. You really need to make sure to tell them it's jewelry as it does make a difference whether they will let you insure it or not.

 

[pricescope]

Date: 6/22/2007 2:12:22 PM
Author: neatfreak
Unfortunately, Mela is incorrect I think. It does NOT work the same way from what I understand.

I don't believe that FedEx will allow consumers to ship jewelry through them. Only jewelers with accounts and insurance policies can ship through Fed Ex.

I know here in the States, the only way consumers can really ship jewelry and have it insured is through USPS. So I would try the Canadian Postal Service. You really need to make sure to tell them it's jewelry as it does make a difference whether they will let you insure it or not.

Canada Post does not ship jewelry either, UPS is a pain too - no insurance over $500.
linzp make sure your post clerk understands what exactly are you requesting.
I have been thru it and would never come back.

 

[chrono]

I thought USPS will ship up to $5K with registered insured?

 

[pricescope]

We don't have USPS up here, sorry i meant UPS - the brown one.

 

[linzp]

Hmmm...I'm beginning to think our original plan of just having Pearlman's ship the setting to us and getting the stone reset here might be a better option. How difficult/risky would it be for a jeweler here to reset the stone? It is an Adura diamond (cut corner princess) in a white gold solitare setting now, and the new setting is the Ritani endless love setting without a halo. The setting is being ordered from Ritani using the measurements of my stone. Do you think this would be relatively easy and less risky to have a jeweler here set it? Again thanks for all of the help.

 

[sunshine14]

Where in Canada are you? How far from the border? I went across and shipped my stone using USPS, which is the safest (and usually the slowest) way of doing it.

I for one wouldn''t trust someone other than Ritani setting the stone...plus if there is damage to the setting by some random setter, who knows if Ritani would fix it?

 

[neatfreak]

For any of the halo settings, I wouldn''t want anyone but Ritani setting it. BUT for these ones, which I assume is the same as mine, with no halo, it''s not much different than setting any other setting.

I **might** trust someone local to do it, as long as you can see examples of their work and the setting and stone are insured while they are being set. I just had a gorgeous bezel sapphire pendant made by a local jeweler and she did a superb job. So great local jewelers DO still exist!!!

 

[linzp]

sunshine14 - We are in the Toronto area, so not too far from the border, but I''m not sure that going across the border to ship will work time-wise. We did consider that. Oh, and what would we tell the customs officers at the border? Saying we''re going across to ship something might sound a little weird!!

neatfreak - My setting is the same as yours (love your ring by the way!), so I thought the same as you, that it wouldn''t be a really difficult job for a jeweler here. Does anyone know if jewelers are able to insure the stone and setting if we pay extra for insurance when we are getting it reset? Or do we have to insure it separately?

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 6/23/2007 9:08:46 AM
Author: linzp
neatfreak - My setting is the same as yours (love your ring by the way!), so I thought the same as you, that it wouldn''t be a really difficult job for a jeweler here. Does anyone know if jewelers are able to insure the stone and setting if we pay extra for insurance when we are getting it reset? Or do we have to insure it separately?

Most likely, you will need to insure the pieces separately. I am pretty sure that Jewelers Mutual (if they do Canada) will do it but that you need to have all the paperwork in to them first. Which is super easy because you can just upload it to them online.

I would call them first and see if they do insurance in Canada and go from there.