[quote]Ruggerlife wrote:
For example, mine were classified as “Vitamins and Minerals”. This meant I only had to pay GST. Different classifications would result in other charges but I didn’t ask for details.
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they tried to make me pay the provincial sales tax once and the raw whey import tariff once. on both occasions i told them that only the GST is charged as in stores and that i have only paid that in the past. they begrudgingly changed it to only the GST. that is the advantage of being there in person to ‘guide’ your package through.
[quote]ubl0 wrote:
Ruggerlife wrote:
For example, mine were classified as “Vitamins and Minerals”. This meant I only had to pay GST. Different classifications would result in other charges but I didn’t ask for details.
they tried to make me pay the provincial sales tax once and the raw whey import tariff once. on both occasions i told them that only the GST is charged as in stores and that i have only paid that in the past. they begrudgingly changed it to only the GST. that is the advantage of being there in person to ‘guide’ your package through.[/quote]
Agreed.
It all depends who you get. The guy doing up the tax charge wasn’t sure what to put it under and I think he was going to use a few different categories, but then the woman next to him said, “Just put the whole thing under either Vitamins or taxable groceries so he’s only charged GST”.
I took the leap (and should have read this thread before placing the order). SND is pretty expensive and they are pretty limited in their choice. I placed a big order on here (whey, Metabolic Drive - all their flavours to pick out my fav ones for next time, protein bar and creatine). The seal has been broken for whey.
Custom do need to check what you order. Fedex service was really fast. I was surprised. My supplies will last for a bit. I didn’t want to risk ordering HOT-ROX and get all my shipment seazed but after reading all the post, I’m thinking it would have passed the Border without any problem.
When you consider everything (products, shipping, and customs) it comes way cheaper than getting it from a canadian retailer.
[quote]marycler wrote:
…
The seal has been broken for whey.
Custom do need to check what you order. Fedex service was really fast. I was surprised. My supplies will last for a bit. I didn’t want to risk ordering HOT-ROX and get all my shipment seazed but after reading all the post, I’m thinking it would have passed the Border without any problem.
When you consider everything (products, shipping, and customs) it comes way cheaper than getting it from a canadian retailer.[/quote]
I’ve ordered a lot from Biotest and my last order (this past week) was inspected by customs. I think the previous time that an order had been inspected was 4/5 years ago. Fortunately, I only had protein in it so nothing was confiscated. It still taking a chance as I know another member had his bottle of HOT-ROX taken.
[quote]thighlord wrote:
I’ve ordered a lot from Biotest and my last order (this past week) was inspected by customs. I think the previous time that an order had been inspected was 4/5 years ago. Fortunately, I only had protein in it so nothing was confiscated. It still taking a chance as I know another member had his bottle of HOT-ROX taken.[/quote]
I’m wondering if it’s being inspected when the order is big? At least we know it’s being inspected when seeing the tape.
Now you mention that the bottle was taken… and maybe I was right when not ordering it. Health Canada restrict supplements with yombuline (sp?). The old version, you were able to import it but not the Extreme version.
[quote]marycler wrote:
thighlord wrote:
I’ve ordered a lot from Biotest and my last order (this past week) was inspected by customs. I think the previous time that an order had been inspected was 4/5 years ago. Fortunately, I only had protein in it so nothing was confiscated. It still taking a chance as I know another member had his bottle of HOT-ROX taken.
I’m wondering if it’s being inspected when the order is big? At least we know it’s being inspected when seeing the tape.
Now you mention that the bottle was taken… and maybe I was right when not ordering it. Health Canada restrict supplements with yombuline (sp?). The old version, you were able to import it but not the Extreme version.
[/quote]
I’ve had bigger orders than my last one. And some of them included Spike and/or HOT-ROX. I think they randomly select a box to inspect but if they have a system, I’d certainly would like to know it.
Health Canada restrict supplements with yombuline (sp?). The old version, you were able to import it but not the Extreme version.
[/quote]
Yohimbine is not permitted to be sold in Canada, but importing it (up to a 3 month supply is permitted). See my first post on this thread for the applicable Canada Border services memorandum.
That said, many of the inspectors won’t have a clue about supplements and may confiscate it. you could likely call them and direct them to the memo indicating it is legal for import, but it’s a long shot.
Thank you for explaining the memo. It’s hard to decipher
[quote]Ruggerlife wrote:
Yohimbine is not permitted to be sold in Canada, but importing it (up to a 3 month supply is permitted). See my first post on this thread for the applicable Canada Border services memorandum.
That said, many of the inspectors won’t have a clue about supplements and may confiscate it. you could likely call them and direct them to the memo indicating it is legal for import, but it’s a long shot.[/quote]
I ordered two t-shirt cost $ 25. In addition to paying $ 25 for transportation costs by fedex, I had to pay $ 20.58 fee for customs clearance. I wanted to order supplements but I think I’ll let it go.
Biotest tells me that they charge a flat rate of $25.00 for shipments to Canada. I wanted to order a pile of supplements myself but until someone can tell me what exactly the charges will be (brokerage GST etc.), I’ll wait. So the original question stands . . . . is there a Canadian retailer for these products? I’ve purchased HOT-ROX from Herc’s in Hamilton but that’s about the only Biotest supplement I could find there.
That’s the one…as for the other comments, the last time I ordered I am pretty sure I used USPS( a while back I know). I just ordered a four pack of bars so when it gets here I will let you know what the extra fees are. Not sure about Fedex charges yet but I know I won’t order if a company uses UPS since they charge virtually blackmail level of charges.
That’s the one…as for the other comments, the last time I ordered I am pretty sure I used USPS( a while back I know). I just ordered a four pack of bars so when it gets here I will let you know what the extra fees are. Not sure about Fedex charges yet but I know I won’t order if a company uses UPS since they charge virtually blackmail level of charges.[/quote]
Thanks. Appreciate the quick response.
I’m also gonna place a sizeable order and i’ll post the total extra charges. I’m assuming the online Canadian retailers get hit with massive duties because they’re pretty fair with their pricing for most other products.
USPS and Fedex were fair with the customs charges in the past, but if they are shipping UPS, forget it. I’ve paid almost double with shippig from other companies for stuff from the states. Montrealmma, if you plan to place a large order, look into a PO box in Plattsburg. You’ll still have to pay taxes and duty, but at least you won’t get raped for brokerage charges.
[quote]dianab wrote:
USPS and Fedex were fair with the customs charges in the past, but if they are shipping UPS, forget it. I’ve paid almost double with shippig from other companies for stuff from the states. Montrealmma, if you plan to place a large order, look into a PO box in Plattsburg. You’ll still have to pay taxes and duty, but at least you won’t get raped for brokerage charges.[/quote]
And the shipping would be free I believe. Can a courier ship to a PO box?
From what I’ve read, the free shipping doesn’t count to P.O. boxes. (I was going to set one up in Port Huron). That may have changed though, but doubtful.
It seems the only option now is Fedex but my last order was switched to UPS by Biotest because I was told it is cheaper. Fedex is still the only option on the order page (which is now $29.99 not $25.00). I just ordered yesterday so I’ll see if it is still shipped Fedex or not.
As for the brokerage fees, for me it’s usually been around 10% of my order. I try and order around $150-250 worth of stuff and expect to pay $20 extra or so.
[quote]TYR wrote:
From what I’ve read, the free shipping doesn’t count to P.O. boxes. (I was going to set one up in Port Huron). That may have changed though, but doubtful.
It seems the only option now is Fedex but my last order was switched to UPS by Biotest because I was told it is cheaper. Fedex is still the only option on the order page (which is now $29.99 not $25.00). I just ordered yesterday so I’ll see if it is still shipped Fedex or not.
As for the brokerage fees, for me it’s usually been around 10% of my order. I try and order around $150-250 worth of stuff and expect to pay $20 extra or so.[/quote]
I wouldn’t be pleased if they switched to UPS on me. As for being cheaper, UPS has always charged me somewhere from an 80% to 100% brokerage cost on top of their shipping charge. For example, I ordered a DVD a while back from Elite Fitness for about $35 with around $16 shipping. When it got here, UPS wanted $47 in brokerage costs. The only time UPS works for me is when the company has in house clearance so it just gets dropped on the doorstep. Then I have only paid the tax on the items.
Fedex hasn’t charged me anything insane when I have used them with other companies. And the post office has always been the best, and doesn’t take any longer than the courier services.
Just checked the status of my latest order-shipped Fedex. Maybe the price increase has to do with actually using only Fedex to Canada? Regardless, it’s still cheaper (and better) to order right from here no matter how it’s shipped.