The Freedom Kilts Carry-All Sporran

[The Wizard of BC]

I just got an email from Grant.

Our first shipment of production sporrans will be in the mail on the 16th of November.

Pics to follow about ten minutes after they arrive.

[cable scot]

Me too! Me too! I want one!

[turpin]

That looks like a real winner, Steve. It's great you are keeping it "in-continent". I stopped into L&M's facility in Dartmouth NS last month and will attest that they are anything but a mass producer. One of the new owners, Heather, took me on a tour and I saw the whol facility and talked to the workers - all in about 10 minutes. It's amazing what they can turn out but they do it.

[Matty Ross]

I have never bought anything from Canada. How much can we expect to pay in Duties and shipping for something like this?

[Steve Ashton]

Matty,

Although the time to send from Canada to the US is a bit longer due to having to clear customs, I can usually ship from my Victoria location to anywhere in the US in under 7 days. Sometimes that will stretch to 10-11 days. (Even Jerry at Stillwater, with his warp drive, cannot ship faster across the border.)



I very seldom have a customer tell me that their products were hit with duty or taxes. The price of these sporrans is way under the $200.00 personal exemption limit.

I include the HS codes on my packaging and that makes it just a bit smoother as the customs agent does not have to guess what the applicable code is based on a text description.

I always use the postal system unless the customer specifically asks for courier service delivery.

There is nothing in these sporrans that would arouse any customs alarm bells. No endangered species, no restricted or special materials.



That said, I will not lie to avoid a customs charge. I know that is acceptable for some to undervalue the price of what they are shipping or to list retail sale items as gifts.
I value my company and its reputation too much to lie just to save a buck.

But I usually don't need to lie. In 9 years of business only three customers have been hit with customs duty. The product they ordered contained a high Cotton fiber content. Cotton is regulated and charged customs duties upon entering the US.

No Cotton in these Sporrans.

[Matty Ross]

Thank you very much Steve. On the average how does postage compaire ?

[Steve Ashton]

Well Matty, it is international shipping. The cost is going to be more than if you ship from Salt Lake City to St. Louis.
But far less than shipping from the UK.

I am going to make a guess as I have not weighed any of these sporrans yet, but around $6.00 - $8.00usd to anywhere in N. America.

[Rob, ClanMacMillan, NM]

So if I ordered three, and that put it over the $200 limit, will that cause a customs charge? Or is it "per item"?

Thanks!

Rob.

[Downunder Kilt]

Most countries take the value of the entire parcel and treat it as a single import. if you want to try and get around that, beware, as it is not unknown that if you try to split a shipment, especially of like/same items and they are imported within a day or two, then they can retrospectively combine the two, hit you with a bill, and possibly prosecute for attempted smuggling

[The Wizard of BC]

The way the US and Canada determine import duties is rather complicated.

What the article is, is only one factor.
Where the article is made and of what materials are two more.
Where the article is being shipped from and to where are two more again.

Import Duty is usually figured as a percentage of the declared cost of the whole shipment. For example a Pakistani grown Cotton, made in Tawain t-shirt, sold by a US company and shipped to Canada would be subject to 11% duty. That same shirt shipped from Canada to the US would be subject to 14% duty.

There is always the guy at the customs office who is reading the customs form. He may not know what a sporran is. If he does he may automatically assume that it contains seal fur and raise alarm bells.

I did try something to give you a ballpark figure. I took one of my sporrans off the shelf, weighed and measured it and put that info into the Canada Post website calculator.

It says that the shipping from Victoria to the middle of the United States would cost about $18.00cdn for expedited post with tracking number.
It also said that the Import Duty could be around $13.00cdn.

I know for a fact that if I carry a parcel into the post office and have the clerk calculate the shipping, the amount is always significantly lower than if I do it on-line.

Items shipped via the postal service often skip or are not hit with import duty.

So I'm sorry, I can't give you a definitive answer.