Hey,

Thinking about buying an Iron Horse from the states. Shipping should be around 70 -100 dollars. My biggest fear is the taxes. Please tell me that there is only one tax on stuff from the states, I think that was the case for my Camelbak and seat. PLEASE! I don't want to pay 14% as well as shipping. Just give me a shout about any experiances.

Thanks.

Any guesses...?

I live in Winnipeg and usually get dinged for both. If you are buying a complete bike you may not save much money unless the deal is really good.

Depends on how its shipped. If it comes with a carrier that has their act together (like fedex) you'll pay a $7 brokerage fee plus GST and PST, if it comes Canada Post you MAY pay a $5 brokerage fee and PST and GST, sometimes due to the volume of mail and innaccurate record keeping some stuff gets through tax free. If it comes UPS you'll pay an outlandish brokerage fee, PST and GST. There is no way to guarantee avoiding taxes. They even nail you on used goods.

This is bad news. Why is it then that my camelbak was only 7%? Are bikes just different? Stuff from other provinces are only at 7% also. This is indeed unfortunate.

This is bad news. Why is it then that my camelbak was only 7%? Are bikes just different? Stuff from other provinces are only at 7% also. This is indeed unfortunate.
I'm not sure why the Camelback was only 7%, perhaps it was too low for the PST to kick in, perhaps it was an error (was it Canada Post?) The GST is all encompasing, I'm surprised the province hasn't started collecting PST on cross Canada purchases, must be a manpower issue rather than a philosophical one. Anyway if your spending enough it might be cheaper, or slightly more expensive but you'll get a vacation out of it to ship it to Grand Forks (if you're in Winnipeg) and "smuggle" it back yourself. I retract that last statement I in no way advocate "cheating" the Canadian government out of my hard earned dollars.

I've had a number of things shipped from the US, using USPS to Canada Post, and have never paid PST....Granted I'm in Ontario and none of the shipments came near the size or cost of a bike....

You would have to "smuggle" it back to Canada? Can't you just bring it back? I didn't purchase it in the states, technically. As well, gas to and from N. Dakota would probably be more than the PST!

I think it has something to do with how the pieces are declared. "Bike Parts" are not subject to duty or taxes, just brokerage if applicable. I've never purchased a full bike and had it shipped, but check the Cdn gov't website - should help you figure it out.

Canada Post (UPS?) is the way to go if the company you want to deal with will do it!! it costs a very small fee - regular mail cost plus I think $5 CDN. As soon as you use a courier service, you get hit by the brokerage fee and transport fee. You must pay the 7% GST (and PST since you are in Manitoba.)

If you go to the Turner forum and search my name or older Turner Flux posts (I think the title was "Shipping to Canada from the US" or something), you will find more details on my quest to bring a Turner Flux up to Calgary, AB in the fall - I believe it was a couple of weeks after Interbike, so mid to late October (maybe early November as I was riding down in Moab the week before Moab Fat Tire fest.)

I wish I knew how to import the link here to save you searching it...

Hope this helps,