anyone know how long they keep records for if you get flagged/blacklisted?

I believe it's seven years.

yup sent it to pt roberts
should be fine..

came back with $350 worth of goods and didnt get taxed! whooo!!!

Picked up stuff from blaine yesterday 480 and no tax!!! Yeah yeah!

picked my tires from blaine. got taxed 12% HST only. Oh wells, still cheaper than buying in Canada after taxes and conversion.

the past 5 or 6 times I've gone across I've had anywhere from $350-450 and haven't been taxed once. Each time I'm gone anywhere from 30-45 minutes.

It's all about being honest, having the stack of receipts ready, and just declaring everything.

best feelin bros....
goin through point roberts with hundreds of dollars worth of stuff and not getting charged a single dollarama

Personally, I've always calculated the possible duty/tax on top of my package as something that I'm expecting to pay. If I buy something, I'll be sure to find out where it's made, etc, to find out if I would have to pay duty on it (I've never actually seen duty actually been charged at the border in my experience).

So definitely any time I get waved through, it's just a nice bonus.

here's a side note for you guys. when shipping freight to point roberts i've been having problems with point roberts auto freight. this is a third party freight shipper used buy fedex, ups, and to my knowledge all other major shipping companies. freight destined to pr gets dropped in bellingham at point roberts auto freight and they are the company that actually make the final drop off. they have been holding my transmission for no apparent reason for over 2 weeks. every time i call them they just say yeah we have it.

That's the same approach I take. I figure out what I'll have to pay on something if I get sent inside. Most stuff I order is from out of state so I don't actually pay any taxes on it stateside. Save that 8.5% tax and even if I have to pay the 12% at the border, it's still a better deal.

150$ to ship to door $50 to ship to pt roberts
20$ at tsb
Got taxed 70$
So 50+ 20+ 70= 140
Save 10 dorra and and got here pretty quick ordered last Thursday came in yesterday

You do know that you would get taxed $70 even if you got it shipped to your door, right? Plus handling fees from Canada Post or brokerage fees from UPS/FedEx.

So you saved at least $80.

Anyone know if it is possible to park your car by the border at Point Roberts and just walk across through customs to pick up something at TSB? Sometime it seems like such a long wait to get across the border when you don't have a Nexus pass.

I've seen plenty of ppl just walking across.

Oh yeah?

Sweet! Hopefully I won't get into any trouble when I pick up my Samurai Sword Umbrella next weekend :P

Do I just walk into the customs office with my passport and just go through?

I'm pretty sure you've been to TSB before, but remember, it's quite the walk. Especially if you're going to pick up something heavy.

You still have to go through all the same procedures as if you were in a car, and then walk quite a distance anyway. I would estimate that the walk there and back to your car would be about the same, if not longer, than the border wait (depending on the time of day and day of course).

hhmm well that Saturday I did go, it was early afternoon, so the line up was about 30 minutes long. I think the walk will be about that, and I'm comfortable do long distant walks. I'll see next weekend though. Thanks

Use point2point shipping if you are planning to walk across, they are maybe a 5 min walk across the border. TLC just a bit further. TSB is quite a ways, I'd guess it would be a solid 15-20 min walk from the border.

I just time my visits into PR now, esp with gas being so expensive here PR seems to get busy consistently from ~11am-2pm on weekdays. Before 11am there is rarely anything more than a 5-10min wait. I'm guessing weekends they are busy at most times, I never go down on weekends.

Where do you guys park if you walk over?

Used TSB for years. Very pleased with them. Never been taxed....yet..

Nexus pass is the best $50/5 years I've spent in a long time...

If you guys go to PR frequently, it's a no brainer... unless of course you don't qualify to get it..

By the park thats right there

Does anyone know how Duties/Customs work in the US if i'm shipping something from the UK?

But be prepared for the total time for actually getting a nexus card, from getting conditionally approve to the actual interview date.

Mine was about 3 months total.