Duty fee for a used Rotel from Canada

[Carl]

All,

I am about to purchase my first Rotel unit from a private party. I was able to find a nearly mint condition (3 months old) 1055 in Manitoba, Canada. I am currently trying to determine the exact "duty" I'll need to pay to bring this baby into California. I can't seem to find anywhere that gives me the rate/equation to calculate the amount. Can someone please help me out here?? Thanks.

P.S. If the duty works out to be too much, I would be better off buying the unit from a local vendor.

Carl




CC

[Andrew Pratt]

I'm not totally sure on this but of all the stuff that I've sold to americans I don't ever remember any saying they had to pay duty on them.

PS I'll likely be doing a firmware upgrade on that 1055 before it gets sent down to you

[Carl]

According to the LA Custom office, there is a 3% tax & duty fee due upon delivery. But then I saw the following posting regarding the $100 charge for the first $1000 for product purchased in Canada. That's where it raised my concern.

http://www.htguide.com/CFBoards/index.cfm?fuseaction=Threads.viewthread&CFB=1&Tid=56190&Forum=25&DoOnePage=Yes&RequestTimeout=500

So is the above posting specific to "new" product only?? Since I am talking about a "used" product, does that mean the $100 does not apply??




CC

[Rock Dog]

According to the LA Custom office, there is a 3% tax & duty fee due upon delivery. But then I saw the following posting regarding the $100 charge for the first $1000 for product purchased in Canada. That's where it raised my concern.

http://www.htguide.com/CFBoards/index.cfm?fuseaction=Threads.viewthread&CFB=1&Tid= 56190&Forum=25&DoOnePage=Yes&RequestTimeout=500

So is the above posting specific to "new" product only?? Since I am talking about a "used" product, does that mean the $100 does not apply??

My post about $100 for the first $1,000. Was for new products. I'm not sure how they handle "used"

About a month ago, a friend of mine (in Toronto) ordered some rims for his Carerra from a dealer here. When my wife and I took a trip up there to visit. We brought the rims with us. We got stopped at the border and had to pay duty. He claimed (re: lied) that the wheels cost him $1,200 bucks. The duty charge was $240 canadian. The rims were really $4,200 or something like that.




-Thomas-

The easiest way to find something lost around the house, is to buy a replacement.

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[Andrew Pratt]

I can't really answer that but as I said no one I've sold things to have complained about any tax/duty etc. Hopefully one of the US guys can chip in though with some insight

[kendrid]

I just got completely screwed on the purchase of a used Rotel amp from Canada. The UPS ground shipping charge was $60, which I thought was ok. Two weeks later I got a bill from customs for another $60. I called and they stated that:
You are required to pay customs on any item over $200 that was not made in the USA. The only way out of it is if the item is over 100 years old.

They don't care if the item is used. Each time it crosses the border, the tarrif is charged.

The tarrif was 4.9%, plus an additional $30 for 'handling' of the package.

I have read that the post office's fees are much lower. You might want to look into it.

Watch out...




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Kevin

[Carl]

Good to know that the $100 only applies to new purchases.

I just got completely screwed on the purchase of a used Rotel amp from Canada. The UPS ground shipping charge was $60, which I thought was ok. Two weeks later I got a bill from customs for another $60. I called and they stated that:
You are required to pay customs on any item over $200 that was not made in the USA. The only way out of it is if the item is over 100 years old.

They don't care if the item is used. Each time it crosses the border, the tarrif is charged.

The tarrif was 4.9%, plus an additional $30 for 'handling' of the package.

I have read that the post office's fees are much lower. You might want to look into it.

Watch out...

What number did you call to verify the charge? I called the US Customs office and they referred me to call the LA customs office. That's where I got the 3% rate for California.

It seems like the duty rate is different from state-to-state while the handling fee is different from one carrier to another. Can anyone else on this board offer any additional insight to this topic?




CC

[kendrid]

I was given the number of the customs clearing house my package went through, which was in NY. I don't have it with me.

My understanding is that the 'fee' is based on the carrier. UPS charged me $30.

The real fun part of my situation was that I had the package shipped to my work (my name on the top of the address), so UPS took it upon themselves to bill my company for the $60 without contacting me. There was a company wide email that stated 'whoever purchased a Rotel Stereo Amplifier from Canada, please see accounting." That was embarrasing, and it looked like I was trying to make my company pay for my shipping. Luckly I work for a small company and they understood that UPS billed them since it was their address.




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Kevin