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Showing 1 of 675 conversations about:
Drop + Dan Durston X-Mid 1P Tent
KyleG82
35
Apr 11, 2019
Too excited for this tent! I now have an addiction to checking the shipping tracker a little too regularly... I hope i'm not alone one? haha.
dandurston
5116
Dan Durston
Apr 11, 2019
KyleG82When's it supposed to arrive?
KyleG82
35
Apr 11, 2019
dandurstonBased on past drops I've purchased. I figure it will be here by end of next week or early week after. (Which is completely fine with me)
It is currently in final processing in New Jersey. I'm in Canada, so I figure it'll take a little longer to get here. The Canada Post tracking number indicates " Electronic information submitted by shipper" as of today.
dandurston
5116
Dan Durston
Apr 11, 2019
KyleG82Yeah it'll be a bit. My Massdrop stuff to Canada is usually 1.5 - 2 weeks as well. We might see the first USA deliveries today.
KyleG82
35
Apr 11, 2019
dandurstonYa, that's cool. It's a lot earlier than expected and the fact that it's on the way is great!
Glad for them! I hope they get out and test right away to see some reviews.
Greg2
86
Apr 11, 2019
KyleG82Once you get can you let me know if taxes or duties you are assessed?
KyleG82
35
Apr 11, 2019
Greg2I can tell you now. There will very likely be duty cost. I've ordered a few things and have had to pay duty on all.
Also, Canada Post usually holds your item and makes you pick it up at a Canada Post kiosk location (to make sure you pay the duty I guess). At least, they did it for me on all items I've purchased on massdrop.
Greg2
86
Apr 12, 2019
KyleG82Usually Canada Post won’t charge duty just the $10 fee plus gst whereas if it’s DHL it’s the $10 fee plus duty plus gst which for tents ends up being 17% plus gst. So really I’m wondering if you get dinged with the extra 17% or just GST.
KyleG82
35
Apr 12, 2019
Greg2Interesting, I'll definitely let you know once it arrives.
dandurston
5116
Dan Durston
Apr 12, 2019
KyleG82@Greg2 @KyleG82
With Canada Post I'm normally charged $10 plus the same tax rate I'd pay locally. That has been true for 2 of 3 Massdrop packages I've received in the last few months. The other one slipped through with no charges.
In Alberta that's $10 + 5% GST, whereas in BC it's $10 + 12% HST. We pay 5% GST + 7% PST in BC but on the customs forms they lump that together as 12% HST. When I lived in Ontario it was similar to BC.
With couriers (FedEx, UPS) it's the same except the $10 handling fee is replaced with an infuriatingly large pile of other fees ("handling fees", "brokerage fees" etc) which can be $50 or more.
Then with both of those, there is a risk that additional duty is charged. This is a confusing topic because many folks refer to the normal GST/HST as duty. But what can happen is that you get unlucky and your package runs into a keen customs officer who knows some obscure duty/tariff to slap on it. Sometimes they actually open the package to find out exactly what's in there and they really know their stuff, so they correctly apply some obscure tariff, but just as commonly they're just too keen and slap on an incorrect tarriff. In the latter case, you can fill out the back of the form it comes with to request your money back. I did that once when they classified some camping gear as "women's leather gloves" which apparently have a 30% duty on them. I am unsure whether an applicable tariff exists for this tent, but even if it does it would only rarely be enforced.
Offsetting the above is that some packages slip through with no charges because they're too busy to process them all. When I lived in Ontario almost nothing slipped through, but here in BC probably half my stuff slips through with no charges.
(Edited)
Yeslets
6
Apr 16, 2019
Greg2I just had to pay $101.29 to pick mine up at a Canada Post in Ontario: $48.15 duties, $43.14 taxes, $10 fee. That ... hurt a bit, not going to lie.
KyleG82
35
Apr 16, 2019
YesletsThanks for th update. I kinda figured it would be a bit hit in the wallet.
Yeslets
6
Apr 16, 2019
KyleG82With exchange rate, duties, taxes and fees, this tent cost me just under $400!
KyleG82
35
Apr 16, 2019
YesletsThis is why I don't buy many things on Massdrop. With the cost of taxes/ duty... you end up paying more than if you just bought it in Canada. So many items on Massdrop are not "deals" for Canadians.
I'll only buy specialty items from Massdrop, like this tent, since you can't get it anywhere else. I don't mind pay extra for these types of items.
dandurston
5116
Dan Durston
Apr 16, 2019
KyleG82@KyleG82 @Yeslets
I have heard from a few other Canadians over the past day about the same thing, so unfortunately it's not an isolated thing. I'm not sure if it's just Ontario that got hit or everyone.
The shipping method Massdrop used starts with DHL but then gets handed over to Canada Post at the border which is normally a good thing because couriers charge tons of extra fees (handling fees, brokerage etc) whereas Canada Post charges a less painful $10 handing fee.
In both cases you normally have to pay tax ("HST") which is same as the tax rate you'd pay if you bought something locally (~12%), but sometimes Canada Post doesn't bother with any of that which is sweet when it happens. The killer is that sometimes there are additional duties/tariffs applied, which can be a lot and can happen from both Canada Post and couriers. It comes down to the individual processing it and whether they think certain duty/tariffs apply.
In this case, about half of that $100 is additional duty because whoever processed these at the border for Canada Post thought that some duty applied. The rules for duty are extremely complicated, but basically Canada has a huge list of random stuff that gets taxed extra (e.g. wine is an extra 30%). Normally this doesn't get charged on consumer purchases because it's so complicated and most package processors can't possible keep track of it all, but occasionally you run into a keen border officer that slaps duty on. When this happens, they are usually wrong because often they don't even know what's in the box. Once I had a backpack arrive that got classified as "womens leather gloves" which is an extra 40% duty (or something rediculous like that).
In this case, it looks like the tents to Canada came through in one batch and the same keen person slapped about 20% ($50) extra duty on all of them (this is on top of the $10 handling fee and ~$40 in normal tax). As far as I can tell this is wrong because I'm pretty sure there's not supposed to be extra duty on tents (I can't find any record of this). Usually when you get a form saying that duty is owed, it will say the code for which tariff they applied and you can google that number and see what it is. Likely it'll be something bogus like "marine supplies", and if so, there is an appeal form on the back where you can attach your receipt to show the item isn't what they classified it as, so you get your money back (eventually).
So yeah it sucks. Hopefully it's a mistake and you can get a lot of it back.
(Edited)
KyleG82
35
Apr 16, 2019
dandurstonThanks Dan,
I'll look into it and see what they say.
I had the exact same thing with a Backpack I ordered earlier this year. "womens leather gloves" i was wondering why the duty was so high on it. Were you able to get any $ back on that?
Cheers,
dandurston
5116
Dan Durston
Apr 16, 2019
KyleG82Yeah I got all the duty back (not the HST) for the "womens leather gloves" indicident. That tariff must be a favourite of some parcel processing person. It took about 3 months but it happened.
If you show that your item isn't what that tariff is for, then you'll get it back.
(Edited)
KyleG82
35
Apr 16, 2019
dandurstonI don't mind not getting the HST back.
I just picked up my item and was charged the $100. I asked the 2 people at the Canada Post kiosk and they said it was DHL that charged the $50 duty.... I told them I didn't believe that was correct, they just went silent and shrugged their shoulders.
There isn't a label indicating what the product is. Just says "Duty: $47.96". I will still attempt to get this back.
Cheers,
dandurston
5116
Dan Durston
Apr 16, 2019
KyleG82They probably don't really know because DHL and Canada Post are supposed to be working together at the border. Perhaps someone from DHL charged wrong duty and didn't pass on info as to what tariff they were basing that on to Canada Post. Seemingly the best bet would be call DHL with the tracking number, and insist on knowing what specific tariff they applied. Then you can google that code to see if it applies to tents. There are tariffs on raw materials like polyester that aren't supposed to be applied to finished goods, but someone that doesn't know what they're doing could easily mess that up.
KyleG82
35
Apr 16, 2019
dandurstonInteresting. Thanks for the info!Definitely going to check it out.
Can't wait to test the tent out. Suppose to rain this weekend too.
v8rumble
3
Apr 16, 2019
dandurston17% import duty on tents. $200 USD plus $15 shipping is about $287 CDN. 17% of $287 is about $48. So completed expected. Probably shouldn't be paying duty on the shipping, but if you do that math, duty would be $45 instead.
(Edited)
KyleG82
35
Apr 16, 2019
v8rumbleAh, never knew that was the duty for tents. Thanks.
dandurston
5116
Dan Durston
Apr 16, 2019
v8rumbleHmm....thanks for the info. That's too bad. I've never been charged that on tents I've bought, but some more searching indicates it does happen sometimes. So it sounds correct but unlucky.
https://forums.clubtread.com/14-gotta-love-gear/45266-duty-paid-tents-bought-us.html
Since it's Canada's rules, this sounds like something that would apply regardless of the shipping method (DHL, Canada Post etc) but often it seemingly doesn't get charged because the person processing doesn't know about it.
Yeslets
6
Apr 17, 2019
dandurstonAll very interesting! I'm still unsure about the $43 in taxes though, not sure where that's coming from. Also, as an FYI, minus the stakes and extra line, my tent is weighing- in at 864 grams/30.47 oz. I know there's been some discrepancies due to coating etc.
Greg2
86
Apr 17, 2019
Yesletsthe $43 in taxes is base price converted to CAD plus duty times the PST/GST. So 200 / .75 = 266 * 1.17= 311 * .12 is $37 so that’s gets you pretty close to the 43.
dandurston
5116
Dan Durston
Apr 17, 2019
Greg2The tariff that the Canadian federal government has on tents is actually 18%. I called them today to get more info on it. I have a bit more detail in this post:
https://www.massdrop.com/buy/massdrop-x-dan-durston-x-mid-1p-tent/talk/2404631
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