Following on from my other thread on steel bikes it seems the US bike market has not seen the COVID tax we are seeing here and it might make sense to buy a bike from there and get it shipped here.
Looks like about $200 for shipping. $50 for a box. Insurance varies dependent on value of the bike of course.
I’m most worried about duties and taxes. It looks like 13% for duty then another 13% tax.
Anyone tried this and what did they get dinged for in taxes / duties? Who did they use for bike shipping? There seems to be a few out there.
Thanks @PatM . I reached out to Pros closet and they pointed me to the right page on the feds page. Looks like 13% for duty on complete bikes and 13% tax for 26% total. Parts might be slightly less duty (so if the seller splits the shipment in two might save some costs) but it is going to be still fairly pricey. However, a 26% markup might still be better than the local pricing.
My nephew bought 2 ebikes from the US. Shipping costs only. No taxes. It was a good deal for him. I find it’s hit and miss with duty and taxes. It seems to depend on the carrier and the origin. For instance DHL, they make sure you pay it all.
Be prepared to pay that 26%. Anything less is a bonus.
Brian
Don’t forget to factor in exchange rates. And I hear that in the ‘before times’ another approach was to ship bikes to a US postal agent (e.g. a UPS store in Buffalo), build the bike, ride it through a few puddles, and then bring it back to Canada.
You also want to watch out for brokerage fees, these can add up depending on the shipper. I have done the drive across the boarder and pick up at a shipping location, for frames and bike racks. I had one case where it was going to 200 US +brokerage fees to ship to Canada but it was free to a US location. Cost me an hour of my time a bridge crossing and something like 1 US to drive across and pick up the rack, it helps that we have family in Niagara so we are often close.
