EbonyLP Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 I'm interested in purchasing a guitar from MF b/c they are the only trusted dealer that ship to Canada. But I want to know before I purchase, are there any Canadians who have bought a guitar from MF? If so, what extra costs were there (like customs, etc.)? Thanks in advance for the help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carverman Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 I'm interested in purchasing a guitar from MF b/c they are the only trusted dealer that ship to Canada. But I want to know before I purchase' date=' are there any [b']Canadians[/b] who have bought a guitar from MF? If so, what extra costs were there (like customs, etc.)? Thanks in advance for the help. I haven't bought a guitar from MF, but I did buy some on E-Bay. If you buy it in the US and have it shipped by UPS and the shipping is extra, you will be paying substantial shipping charges + UPS customs clearance + applicable gst/pst taxes + gst on the customs clearance charge as well, but it will get there faster. The last time I had anything shipped to Canada by UPS, it cost $75 to get it cleared + taxes. I believe it is slightly more now. You can have it shipped by USPS/Canada Post with a tracking number. It will take 2-3 weeks, but the customs clearance is only $5.00 + gst/pst on the value of the guitar in CDN funds. Shipping charges are extra. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casinogino Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 I have bought several guitars and amps not to mention pedals in the lower 48 thru ebay since 99 with never any issues........Caverman is right may take a lil longer but shipping by mail is much cheaper, I always insist on tracking numbers which is a paypal requirement when using their service.......I have had a few smaller items slip thru customs with out any surcharges, but its hit and miss..........the last mia tele I bought in Kentucky was here in two weeks and I saved close to 300.00 buying it down there............as soon as its sent by a shipper they start whacking on the customs paperwork charges, and they can be brutal....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EbonyLP Posted January 27, 2009 Author Share Posted January 27, 2009 Does anybody have an estimate at what the cost of customs would be if I'm buying a G-400 or a LP Studio and getting it sent to Atlantic Canada? I know MF has free shipping on both guitars, but in an e-mail they sent we they wouldn't know what the customs fees would be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carverman Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 Does anybody have an estimate at what the cost of customs would be if I'm buying a G-400 or a LP Studio and getting it sent to Atlantic Canada? I know MF has free shipping on both guitars' date=' but in an e-mail they sent we they wouldn't know what the customs fees would be.[/quote'] I just finished explaining in a previous post, what the options are as far as shipping and custom fees. Two choices: You want it fast? ship by UPS (5 days or maybe less). You pay about $80 in custom fees to clear it + applicable gst/pst or HST if it's going to Alantic Canada. The person you are sending it to would pay by credit card to UPS. You want it cheap? Ship it by USPS with a tracking number, so you can track it on line and find out where the guitar you ordered is sitting. $5 custom clearance + applicable taxes (HST)..the receiver of the goods signs for it and pays the Canada Post delivery guy the charges by credit card. Note: This can easily take up to 3 weeks, as CP don't work weekends or on holidays. Note: applicable Cdn taxes on the shipped goods are the US dollar amount converted to Cdn dollars. So a $100 worth of US goods can be taxed at the applicable bank exchange rates which are a bit higher than official. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BSAKing Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 I'm a Canuck and get stuff shipped all the time. The customs charges are real easy - it is basically the GST and PST on the cost of the goods once converted to Canadian Dollars. So the Cdn $$ X 1.14. Hint: Get the ship charges split out so you just show them the cost of the item at customs, otherwise you pay duty on the shipping. Avoid UPS like the plague except within the country you are dealing with. Ie ship within Canada or within the US. Their brokerage fees thru customs are totally absurd and for that reason I will not accept them cross border as an option. USPS is the way to go in that instance. However, what I do is get them shipped to a US address just across the border and go pick it up myself. Why? Less hassles and certainly much quicker. UPS WITHIN a country is great with the tracking number and usually pretty quick. Caveat: Although I (so far) have had good success with numerous purchases, probably about 5 guitars shipped with UPS, there are instances I have seen elsewhere and the guitar has been totalled by them. Even in really sturdy packed boxes. Always get the insurance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Norm Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 If they use UPS...stay away from them...it will cost you a fortune in custom, gst, provincial taxes, UPS custom clearance and etc... I bought 2 guitars in USA, ( e-bay not MF ) shipped by UPS. The guitars were around $300, and UPS charged me $120 for all those stuff...They are Bandits when it comes to international shipping. By USPS-Canada post, there is 85% chances they won't charge you nothing extra, and if they do, it will be minimal fees. This is my experience with ebay (350 transactions approx. ) but none with MF or something like them. Anyway, MF don't ship to Quebec...they would have to translate in French all the infos that are coming overhere and they don't have that respect ! So for me, they can go to hell ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acewarslave Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 lucky u guy are in canada in australia if u spend under $1000au you are safe over that amount i do belive they hit you pretty hard a freind of mine bought a 80s ibanez ar model guitar for about $1200au and i think in taxs and gst he paid another $350.00 on top of the price..importing guitars in australia at the moment is painful with the dollar the way it is](*,) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carverman Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 The customs charges are real easy - it is basically the GST and PST on the cost of the goods once converted to Canadian Dollars. So the Cdn $$ X 1.14. Hint: Get the ship charges split out so you just show them the cost of the item at customs' date=' [b']otherwise you pay duty on the shipping.[/b] There is no Cdn duty on guitars or shipping. Normally the vendor will show a customs declaration slip on the package indicating the value of the goods in US dollars and separate amount for the shipping. IF shipped from Canada, gst applies to the postage (shipping), however if it is shipped from the US, the shipping is not taxed here again AFAIK. I've had two guitars shipped by USPS/CP properly packed, strings slackened in cases with no problems at all for $5.00 custom clearance + applicable taxes. I've done it both ways..also had guitars shipped to a UPS depot in NY state at the border and brought it across myself. You have to show valid receipts of the purchases. If you don't have the personal time exemption for visiting the US, you will have to pay both taxes on the value in cdn dollars. If they don't believe the value or become suspicious, they will pull you over and you will have a lot of explaining to do. If they discover any undeclared guitars or goods, they have the right to seize the goods and the vehicle it is transported in or you can pay a hefty fine as much as the value of the guitar plus (possibly) their assessed current value of your vehicle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvyelwhiteflag Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 I've bought twice from MF and NEVER been dinged with the mystery processing fee. They usually ship fed ex, but last time it was UPS, in June, and the duty was $20.17 and the tax $46.33 on a $336.00 Dot blemish. That was collected at the door on delivery. As for the shipping, I think it was around 50 bucks. It took them about a week to ship to Ottawa. Be alert though, they kept me hanging on for guitar that wasn't in stock/didn't ship for a couple of weeks. Good quality stuff, both times I've purchased Bstock Epiphones and been really happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvyelwhiteflag Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 Oh, Big Norm, it's all dollars and cents with American companies. I didn't know it was due to the "language laws" that MF won't ship to Quebec because of language laws, first I've heard of this. But, it's not about respect, I assure you, MF could care less about the politics of language in La Belle Province -all they care about is selling guitars. If it's going to be a hassle for them to create bilingual forms, they won't bother, it's not worth it to them to do business in a restrictive environment. Drag for you though, but don't blame MF, blame your province for having stupid rules. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Norm Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 Oh' date=' Big Norm, it's all dollars and cents with American companies. I didn't know it was due to the "language laws" that MF won't ship to Quebec because of language laws, first I've heard of this. But, it's not about respect, I assure you, MF could care less about the politics of language in La Belle Province -all they care about is selling guitars. If it's going to be a hassle for them to create bilingual forms, they won't bother, it's not worth it to them to do business in a restrictive environment. Drag for you though, but don't blame MF, blame your province for having stupid rules.[/quote']No company can sell a product in Quebec if they cannot provide French instructions...like if we would need instructions to play guitar...lolll In some cases it's not important, like buying guitars or stuff you already know about, but there is a lot of people up north the province that really needs those French papers because for them, chinese or english, would be the same....I would say 80 % of the people living in the Province of Quebec are able to read or at least understand english instructions, but the law, the way it is now, do not allow us to enjoy products that would come only with english papers... and American stores, like MF, must figure out it does'nt worth to print a sheet of paper with french instructions, so they decided not to ship in Quebec. It might be a good business decision, but a bit insulting for us. I know we don't represent a large business and they don't really need our busines...but you can't ask me to help them selling their stuff somewhere else. Anyway, this could be discuss very long without any solution, so...they are full of s h i t for me...lolllll Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carverman Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 I've bought twice from MF and NEVER been dinged with the mystery processing fee. They usually ship fed ex' date=' but last time it was UPS, in June, and the duty was $20.17 and the tax $46.33 on a $336.00 Dot blemish. That was collected at the door on delivery. As for the shipping, I think it was around 50 bucks. It took them about a week to ship to Ottawa. Be alert though, they kept me hanging on for guitar that wasn't in stock/didn't ship for a couple of weeks. Good quality stuff, both times I've purchased Bstock Epiphones and been really happy.[/quote'] Well that's certainly interesting..they only charged $20.17 and $46.33 taxes on $336 US? They must have realized that they were overcharging, because the last time I used UPS to for a $300 US value (a few years ago), they charged me $75 + taxes to clear it! heres a link to their current clearing charges...a bit confusing, depends on whether you send it standard delivery or express delivery? http://www.ups.com/content/ca/en/shipping/cost/zones/customs_clearance.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EbonyLP Posted January 29, 2009 Author Share Posted January 29, 2009 Ok MF is starting to tick me off with all their charges and crap so I'm not bothering to buy from them anymore. Ebay has a few good SGs with return policies, shipping insurance, shipping with UPSP, and low prices so I might just get one from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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