Oh, forgot to mention - I'm located in Ottawa.

I'm far from an expert on Canadian duties, but vintage Ludwig drums were made in the U.S. and doesn't NAFTA exempt U.S. and Mexican products from duty? (Does that apply only to new goods, or "vintage" as well?) That doesn't help with the Canada Post $5 or $8 per package customs processing fee (possibly higher from shippers other than USPS/Canada Post) or GST/PST/HST.

Also keep in mind that if the seller uses UPS or Fedex to ship, there will probably be a brokerage fee and taxes on the brokerage fee...To give an idea, I bought a vintage splash cymbal (10") for $35.00 USD off of Ebay and the brokerage fees and taxes were $23 CAD...

Just a heads up!!

Cheers and good luck

Appreciate the responses so far guys. Got the vendor back on-line and we've settled on a price. Just a matter of calculating all the additional charges.@SkyDog75; been wondering about the NAFTA issue myself, and whether HST etc. applies to 'used' items. Seems to be a lot of variables.@grantro; yeah, what I'm afraid of is that extra charges will amount to a considerable percentage of cost. I'm already stretching my budget. Hoping I can keep all costs under what I've calculated as my limit. Be a shame, as even with shipping I feel it's well worth the investment.

Any more definitive help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Here is a link for use with Ebay purchases that will help calculate duties, fees and taxes upon entering Canada...I'm not sure if you can use this site if purchased outside of Ebay...Hope it helps...

http://www.myborderpro.com/2006/

Cheers

That brokerage fee grantro mentioned is for courier services like UPS & FedEx. The postal service's equivalent fee is $5 per box, or $8 for "priority" packages.

Looking at the Canada Border Services Agency web site, I don't see any HST/PST/GST exemption for used items. I've got a feeling CBSA will charge you for sales tax. A legal blog entry on "Will HST Apply to Imports into Ontario" kinda reaffirms that HST will apply to shipments between private individuals, but doesn't explicitly mention used goods.

I live in Canada and by drums and drum parts from the US quite frequently. I only live a few minutes from the US border so I have a place(The Mailbox) in the states that I have all my purchases sent to. When the package arrives at the Mail Box they send me a email to let me know that the package has arrived. Today I drove down and picked up about $300 worth of used drum parts and I pay a $5 handling fee. When I go back across the border I tell customs what I have and it seems to be their discretion as to weather or not to charge HST. Today I was lucky and payed no fees at the border. This way I have never payed any brokerage fees or duties only sometimes the HST, and the shipping fees I pay are less because the seller does not have to ship outside the US. I know Ottawa is more than just a few minuets from the border so of course this may not work for you.

There won't be any duties on the drums, but if the Customs people are paying attention, they'll ding you for 13% HST. Depending on the shipper, you will also have to pay a customs brokerage fee. If it's USPS/Canada Post, this won't be a big deal. If it's UPS, it will be more--I've had to pay UPS a $40 customs fee on a package that only cost $30 to begin with!

Thanks again guys. Looking forward to being a part of this forum. @ 14361, not a bad idea. I have a relative in Cornwall that might be able to assist me if I do more of this sort of thing, but for now I think I'll proceed with plan A. @ section2, do you know if I have to fill out any special forms for the duty issue, NAFTA forms? Also, do they ream you for full HST, even if the merchandise is used??? Been suggested I insure shipment for less value, but that of course could be risky. Was told by vendor that there would be no brokerage fee, but could that be possibly tacked at the border? Not real clear on how that works... Shipper is Fed-Ex.