Rigol DS1052E shipping to Canada (Toronto)

[markedagain]

worst case scenario there is a store right after the border in the states that allows youi to shipp items straight there then you drive and pick it up , so its a 2 hour drive, i did this a few times with dell machines i bought and worked out pretty good. let me know if you want the name of the company i have to look it up

[Kilroy]

For me, buying from the USA and shipping to Canada using USPS (and *only* USPS) has literally been cheaper than crossing the street and buying from in country sellers.

Sad, I know...but true.



And  yeah....don't *ever* use UPS, or their ilk, to bring anything into Canada or you will have to endure several embarrassing moments writhing in your own froth at the feet of the grim faced delivery chap when he presents you with the brokerage fee.

[Shocked]

Hey jp1390, did you purchase and oscilliscope from the US and if so, how did it go?

The reason I am asking is that I live in Canada as well and I am trying to purchase items to setup my home lab and I am encountering the same issues as you. The shipping on the Mastech power supply I want from the USA is $80 (wow) and I'm looking to get a Rigol scope as well but have never purchased from Saelig either.

I just orderd a fluke 187 off ebay from the US shipped USPS so we will see how that goes.

I too am wary of UPS from the US, I got hit with the $50 import fee for replacement CD media from microsoft with a declared value of a few dollars. I have had good luck with USPS from the USA but the thing I dont like is that their online tracking service for items to Canada is quite poor.

[The_Penguin]

Hey jp1390, did you purchase and oscilliscope from the US and if so, how did it go?

The reason I am asking is that I live in Canada as well and I am trying to purchase items to setup my home lab and I am encountering the same issues as you. The shipping on the Mastech power supply I want from the USA is $80 (wow) and I'm looking to get a Rigol scope as well but have never purchased from Saelig either.

What part of Canada? I purchased a cheap Chinese supply on Ebay from Ontario and shipping to Alberta was reasonable.

Here's a similar one in BC $109 shipped  ebay item 310355978301

[Shocked]

Hey jp1390, did you purchase and oscilliscope from the US and if so, how did it go?

The reason I am asking is that I live in Canada as well and I am trying to purchase items to setup my home lab and I am encountering the same issues as you. The shipping on the Mastech power supply I want from the USA is $80 (wow) and I'm looking to get a Rigol scope as well but have never purchased from Saelig either.

What part of Canada? I purchased a cheap Chinese supply on Ebay from Ontario and shipping to Alberta was reasonable.

Here's a similar one in BC $109 shipped  ebay item 310355978301

I'm in Sask.

Thanks for the tip, I'll have a look at this auction. Was this the same seller as you used?

[The_Penguin]

Different seller, different brand name, but I'd bet it's exactly the same supply.

[jp1390]

I recently purchased a Rigol DS1052E from Aidetek (on eBay: aidetech_us). Great seller to deal with and responded to messages very quickly. The scope was shipped here (Toronto) via DHL from Hong Kong and arrived in four days with free shipping and only a $21.50 brokerage/customs fee.

[mctaylor]

So, putting the pieces together... Order from the States and make sure it's shipped by USPS?

Since you're in Toronto, you might check with ACA TMetrix just in case they actually  have stock in Miss.

As far as Fedex/UPS go, it's the standard ground service what carries the ridiculous brokerage fee.
Higher classes of service like International Priority etc don't have that.  I routinely get shipments from Monoprice, Digikey without problem.  But when in doubt USPS is he way to go.

For Canadian major cities, check Electro-sonic www.e-sonic.com, and Active, www.active123.com.  I tend to use them for heavier or bulky components (i.e. transformers & cases) and tools. There are other suppliers, but I don't have any experience with them. I also don't know of any reasonable surplus test equipment dealers.

Digikey and Mouser ship with an arrangement that they handle (or contract) the brokerage service themselves, rather than leave it to the courier's own to go through customs, which does two things, it's gets processed faster (on my desk in under 24 hours of ordering to Eastern Ontario), and they build in the brokerage fees into the price as far as I can tell. With them, I always use FedEx, though I use to use USPS for small Mouser orders. I think that's their defaults shipping values are $8 and $20 flat rate if I remember correctly.

There are some small/home business importers in Vancouver and Toronto areas that sell Chinese products on eBay with reasonable prices as well. I pick up two low-end "lab power supplies" from a seller in BC.

Canada Post, which handles USPS (US Postal Service) and Post from other countries charges $8 handling fee I believe it is, and the current exemption value is for parcels is anything under $75 or $80 value I believe nowadays. It might be as high as $100, as I've had very few parcels arrive with HST/GST owing. Normally you won't encounter any duty based on my own experience. Though I did have one shipment containing electric motors (hobby / robotics size) arrive with a NAFTA declaration or statement.

So, for smaller parcels / packages I typically use USPS or other Postal Service (airmail is fast from HK, China, Western Europe). Another limit (beside size and weight restrictions) is insurance for values over $100 may not be available for international post from all countries.

For larger or bulky items like a fair bit of test gear, power transformers, electric motors, using a courier (in my personal order of preference): Purolator (very little availability in US), FexEx (more expensive but fair and good service), DHL (cheap-ish but not as good as FedEx, avail in much of US), and just avoid UPS -- I've had nearly 50% loss / major delaye with UPS domestic parcels and their handling fees are nearly random.

[kaptain_zero]

So, putting the pieces together... Order from the States and make sure it's shipped by USPS?

Canada Post, which handles USPS (US Postal Service) and Post from other countries charges $8 handling fee I believe it is, and the current exemption value is for parcels is anything under $75 or $80 value I believe nowadays. It might be as high as $100, as I've had very few parcels arrive with HST/GST owing. Normally you won't encounter any duty based on my own experience. Though I did have one shipment containing electric motors (hobby / robotics size) arrive with a NAFTA declaration or statement.

I would just like to clear up the Canada Post issue a bit.

The official exemption on *any* package arriving from outside Canada is "less than $20" as in $19.99 Canadian *actual* value, unless it is a gift (and the package must contain proof such as a "happy birthday note" or some such if it is opened and inspected) in which case the limit is $60 Canadian. Note that Customs Canada officers can open the package and assess a value other than the declared value on the outside of the box if they feel it's not the true value. The customs officers will also remove and destroy anything they deem to be hazardous and not permitted for mailing, such as products containing alcohol or other flamable liquids etc. (I can no longer order aftershave/colognes from outside Canada through the mail system as Customs just removes and destroys it in order to save me from such dangerous goods.....<sigh>)

Taxes and or duties are assessed by Customs Canada, not Canada Post. When shipments arrive from outside Canada, they must be routed through Customs Canada for inspection... Customs Canada officers decide which items to tax and which not to...  Often, they will cull what appears to be high value items and release the rest for delivery, other times they appear to nitpick their way through the pile and ding almost everything. 

The $8 collection fee is charged by Customs Canada, but paid to Canada Post to cover CPCs expense of collecting the money, doing the paperwork etc.

Will your $25 item in the mail get dinged? Most of the time it won't, but it CAN HAPPEN... I suspect it relates to work loads.

Regards

Christian

[codeboy2k]

...I can no longer order aftershave/colognes from outside Canada through the mail system as Customs just removes and destroys it in order to save me from such dangerous goods.....<sigh>

either that, or the customs officers all smell great now 

[mctaylor]

*any* package arriving from outside Canada is "less than $20" as in $19.99 Canadian *actual* value, unless it is a gift (and the package must contain proof such as a "happy birthday note" or some such if it is opened and inspected) in which case the limit is $60 Canadian.

Ref: Postal Imports Remission Order, Memorandum D8-2-2 (1998) as of 30 May 2012. There is also an equally boring Memorandum D8-2-16 entitled, "Courier Imports Remission Order" for the perversely curious or not yet confused enough.

Yup, I screwed up. Perhaps I mis-remembered and confused it with the 2012 personal travel exemption limits that are being raised as of June 1st, 2012.

And the obsessive of even the most obvious in me feels compelled to point out that "Customs Canada" is now "Canada Border Services Agency" (after being lumped with Canadian Revenue Agency for sometime).

Note that Customs Canada officers can open...

Yup, been there, done that. And some feel free to be careless and damage goods with sheer stupidity and impunity.

Taxes and or duties are assessed by Customs Canada, not Canada Post.

Duh. I didn't mean to imply or suggest otherwise. Though as the consumer normally doesn't have to deal with CBSA themselves unless there is a problem, it appears as Canada Post is the interface for process, or broker.

The $8 collection fee is charged by Customs Canada, but paid to Canada Post to cover CPCs expense of collecting the money, doing the paperwork etc.

I thought it was charged and collected by Canada Post, so I stand corrected. Again.

Will your $25 item in the mail get dinged? Most of the time it won't, but it CAN HAPPEN... I suspect it relates to work loads.

Honestly I haven't had a parcel under $100 charged in a number of years, even well marked commercial parcels (multiple manifests, bill of lading, etc.). It has been so consistent, that I honestly thought it had changed.

Maybe your seized colognes can double as a thank-you gift from me.

[kaptain_zero]

Yeah, I know it is now called "Canada Border Services Agency", but a "Customs Officer" sort of rolls off the tongue a little better. 

I wonder if I'm the only one who remembers waaaay back when packages that came through the mail and were taxed or charged duty, would arrive at your door with a small envelope attached with the bill inside and it was hoped that the recipient would be honest enough to remit the money owed?  I guess they were having problems collecting.....<sigh>.

Another thing I remember and still sort of miss is when the customs officers of days gone by, would roll stamp a package with the following "Cleared Customs Canada".

Oh well... thankfully I hear that they are cutting back staffing at the "CBSA" which hopefully means they'll have less time to make out forms on low value packages... I just don't understand why they don't just raise the limit, but then that would sort of be telling us to shop outside our borders instead of paying huge markups locally and then paying huge taxes on top of that!

Regards

Christian