NAFTA? International fees rant...

Jimmy McKenzie · October 13th, 2006, 07:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marcus Marchesseault

"I worked on that road. A lot of good men were lost on that road. The problem was that they didn't think a safety net was needed and instead had us wearing life preservers, but they forgot about the sharks! THE SHARKS!!!

That is the funniest thing I have read online this year!

Mike Teutsch · October 13th, 2006, 07:28 AM

About 6 months back, I offered to send a basic filmmaking book to a young member in Ireland I think it was. He was just starting out and looking for a way to learn. He was very excited about the prospect of receiving the book.

I had it packaged and was ready to head to the post office, when I get this frantic email from him. He said, "Please don't send it!" The post office, or whoever would deliver it, would charge them $20.00. He said, "My mom will kill me!" :)

That is a lot of money to pay for a used book!

Mike

Steve House · October 13th, 2006, 08:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike Teutsch

About 6 months back, I offered to send a basic filmmaking book to a young member in Ireland I think it was. He was just starting out and looking for a way to learn. He was very excited about the prospect of receiving the book.

I had it packaged and was ready to head to the post office, when I get this frantic email from him. He said, "Please don't send it!" The post office, or whoever would deliver it, would charge them $20.00. He said, "My mom will kill me!" :)

That is a lot of money to pay for a used book!

Mike

Ireland may be different but we send parcels to family in Germany all the time and there's no delivery charge to them on their end. The outgoing postage here can get a little pricey but that's another issue.

Greg Boston · October 13th, 2006, 09:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marcus Marchesseault

I consider myself fairly liberal, but I'm with the Republicans regarding high tax and how it hurts business and therefore the whole of the economy. I don't mind a little skim off the top (devil his due and all that), but 25% is robbery.

Anyway, enough rant. I got word from both Dennis Wood and a confirmation from Ben Winter that there are no fees coming into the U.S., so I think I will be getting a Brevis after all. Apparently, this is strictly a Canadian tax. There is even a provision for not paying the tax on returning products for warranty service. So...!

Should we blame the government?
Or blame society?
Or should we blame the images on TV?
No, blame Canada!
(Everyone): Blame Canada!
It seems that everything's gone wrong
Since Canada came along
(Everyone): Blame Canada! Blame Canada!

Marcus,

I understand your frustration here. What you have to understand is that the folks living in Canada have higher tax rates and they are responsible for paying those taxes, not you. Your buyer would understand, because he/she lives there and knows the law.

You need to understand also the 'law' of DVINFO. Our posting policies prohibit ranting, along with religious and political postings. I've highlighted the parts of your post above that violate this policy. It may seem like trivial statements to you, but this is often how very serious arguments get started or how people get offended and we like to prevent that stuff from happening in the first place.

Thanks for your understanding,

-gb-

Keith Loh · October 13th, 2006, 11:02 AM

Here's a page from a guy in Canada who has learned the hard way about getting things shipped across the border and made a nice page detailing all of the various shipping options and their pluses and minuses.

http://www.imageswest.ca/cross-border.htm

By the way I also learned the hard way. Do not ship UPS Ground from the U.S. to Canada for a start.

Marcus Marchesseault · October 13th, 2006, 02:50 PM

Greg, I didn't intend to make an inflammatory or truly political post. I overestimated how well-known the lyrics of "Blame Canada" would be. Those lyrics were used in the South Park movie in a backwards way to illustrate how silly conflict between our countries would be. Canada is used as a scapegoat in South Park for various problems to bring light to how ridiculous some American behavior can be. It is always very silly and I don't think anyone familiar with it would take it seriously. Since the shipping tax ended up being Canadian, I thought the lyrics were lighthearted and appropriate.

"Blame Canada" was nominated for an Oscar in 2000:

http://imdb.com/title/tt0158983/awards

I should never have mentioned Republicans and their stance on taxes so therefore apologize.

Sharyn Ferrick · October 13th, 2006, 04:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jimmy McKenzie

That is the funniest thing I have read online this year!

We need to do a movie on it, building the road to Hawaii ;-)
Hey here in AK we get grief for bridges to no where

Sharyn

Greg Boston · October 13th, 2006, 11:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marcus Marchesseault

Greg, I didn't intend to make an inflammatory or truly political post. I overestimated how well-known the lyrics of "Blame Canada" would be. Those lyrics were used in the South Park movie in a backwards way to illustrate how silly conflict between our countries would be. Canada is used as a scapegoat in South Park for various problems to bring light to how ridiculous some American behavior can be. It is always very silly and I don't think anyone familiar with it would take it seriously. Since the shipping tax ended up being Canadian, I thought the lyrics were lighthearted and appropriate.

"Blame Canada" was nominated for an Oscar in 2000:

http://imdb.com/title/tt0158983/awards

I should never have mentioned Republicans and their stance on taxes so therefore apologize.

Yeah Marcus, it's just one of those things that you have to tread lightly because you are reaching a very large audience. It only takes one person being offended to start the ball rolling. We just want to keep the ball at rest and stationary.

Thanks for your understanding on this Marcus. We strive to keep DVINFO a place where you can come to in cyberspace and not get flamed or trolled.

-gb-

Marcus Marchesseault · October 14th, 2006, 04:42 AM

Here in Hawaii we had a completion of a highway going over the mountains on this island (Oahu) that was a project started as part of Hawaii's statehood agreement. It was a multi-generational project and was started before I was born. It's a nice road and seems a challenging bit of engineering, but most people would think that taking over three decades to build about 10 miles of road and tunnels is a bit much...

We have a stairway/trail here called Haiku Stairs or Stairway to Heaven that was revamped a few years ago for millions of dollars. Because of a political fight over who has responsibility, hikers are not allowed to use any part of it. Now, thousands of dollars per year are spent hiring a security guard service to prevent people from entering the trailhead.

I'm getting ready to start working on the tunnel to California (my day job) and I think we are getting a fix on how to tunnel through the subterranean lava lakes. Our biggest fear is popping the Pacific tectonic plate and causing the earth to deflate. I'll try to give yall a heads up so you can leave orbit promptly.

Dennis Wood · October 24th, 2006, 08:00 AM

Marcus, UPS charges $50 brokerage..even for something with no value. This is likely the charge your customer saw. With few exceptions, there are no tax, customs, or brokerage fees charged at the seller's end. These are levied by the shipper or customs at the receiver's end and will vary with the country(duty), tax rates(tax), and shipping provider(brokerage).

Items sent FedEx express have no brokerage fees charged (built into shipping costs) which may make it actually as cheap as slower methods when you add all the costs in. Speed and reliability are excellent. As already mentioned, priority mail is usually the cheapest, and Expresspost here in Canada works well. Where shipping through post breaks down is when packages are passed from one mail system to another, particulary when customs is involved.

October 13th, 2006, 07:28 AM	#17
Mike Teutsch Inner Circle Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Port St. Lucie, Florida Posts: 2,614	About 6 months back, I offered to send a basic filmmaking book to a young member in Ireland I think it was. He was just starting out and looking for a way to learn. He was very excited about the prospect of receiving the book. I had it packaged and was ready to head to the post office, when I get this frantic email from him. He said, "Please don't send it!" The post office, or whoever would deliver it, would charge them $20.00. He said, "My mom will kill me!" :) That is a lot of money to pay for a used book! Mike __________________ Chapter one, line one. The BH.

October 13th, 2006, 11:02 AM	#20
Keith Loh Air China Pilot Join Date: May 2002 Location: Vancouver, B.C. Posts: 2,389	Here's a page from a guy in Canada who has learned the hard way about getting things shipped across the border and made a nice page detailing all of the various shipping options and their pluses and minuses. http://www.imageswest.ca/cross-border.htm By the way I also learned the hard way. Do not ship UPS Ground from the U.S. to Canada for a start. __________________ -- Visit http://www.KeithLoh.com \| stuff about living in Vancouver \| My Flickr photo gallery

October 13th, 2006, 02:50 PM	#21
Marcus Marchesseault Trustee Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Honolulu, HI Posts: 1,961	Greg, I didn't intend to make an inflammatory or truly political post. I overestimated how well-known the lyrics of "Blame Canada" would be. Those lyrics were used in the South Park movie in a backwards way to illustrate how silly conflict between our countries would be. Canada is used as a scapegoat in South Park for various problems to bring light to how ridiculous some American behavior can be. It is always very silly and I don't think anyone familiar with it would take it seriously. Since the shipping tax ended up being Canadian, I thought the lyrics were lighthearted and appropriate. "Blame Canada" was nominated for an Oscar in 2000: http://imdb.com/title/tt0158983/awards I should never have mentioned Republicans and their stance on taxes so therefore apologize.

October 14th, 2006, 04:42 AM	#24
Marcus Marchesseault Trustee Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Honolulu, HI Posts: 1,961	Here in Hawaii we had a completion of a highway going over the mountains on this island (Oahu) that was a project started as part of Hawaii's statehood agreement. It was a multi-generational project and was started before I was born. It's a nice road and seems a challenging bit of engineering, but most people would think that taking over three decades to build about 10 miles of road and tunnels is a bit much... We have a stairway/trail here called Haiku Stairs or Stairway to Heaven that was revamped a few years ago for millions of dollars. Because of a political fight over who has responsibility, hikers are not allowed to use any part of it. Now, thousands of dollars per year are spent hiring a security guard service to prevent people from entering the trailhead. I'm getting ready to start working on the tunnel to California (my day job) and I think we are getting a fix on how to tunnel through the subterranean lava lakes. Our biggest fear is popping the Pacific tectonic plate and causing the earth to deflate. I'll try to give yall a heads up so you can leave orbit promptly.

October 24th, 2006, 08:00 AM	#25
Dennis Wood Major Player Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 916	Marcus, UPS charges $50 brokerage..even for something with no value. This is likely the charge your customer saw. With few exceptions, there are no tax, customs, or brokerage fees charged at the seller's end. These are levied by the shipper or customs at the receiver's end and will vary with the country(duty), tax rates(tax), and shipping provider(brokerage). Items sent FedEx express have no brokerage fees charged (built into shipping costs) which may make it actually as cheap as slower methods when you add all the costs in. Speed and reliability are excellent. As already mentioned, priority mail is usually the cheapest, and Expresspost here in Canada works well. Where shipping through post breaks down is when packages are passed from one mail system to another, particulary when customs is involved.