Q: declaring my alien bees.
 

hey all...
lets say if I were to purchase $3,000 worth of products from alien bees shipped to TSB shipping, when I declare my purchase at the border, how much tax do you think will they charge?

or is there a way for me to order from alienbees without getting hit with ridiculous amount of charges (UPS)?

thanks

They'll charge you HST when you bring it across the border from TSB. AFAIK there's no duty on camera equipment. Do not use UPS.

LOL saw this under "new posts" so I didn't see it as photography terms, but when I first read it I thought you were trying to smuggle in an invasive species
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funny, i thought of the same thing :D

One thing you might be able to get with alien bees that I have done with previous online purchases from other sites to REDUCE taxes is ask for a fake invoice with lower prices printed.

I'm not sure what the difference in rules for camera equipment of personal use and business use are, but I'm guessing personal you might be taxed less? but maybe business you can write off. but that might be worth looking into

I wouldn't chance having a lower price printed - because insurance will be on the declared value of the items. God-forbid anything happens - if they get lost, get damaged, even if TSB loses it - you won't get the full value of the items back.

and ya, it's only HST - which is a decent amount on $3000 though.

thanks for all the info! I can live with just HST, any other BS charges, i will have to think twice.

ill go ahead and make the purchase! :D

What I have done is had the fake invoice e-mailed to me and that's what I'd show to the border, the insurance etc. would still be with the original invoice. Obviously this is fraud and it's illegal but depends if the risk is worth it for you.

Another thing I have also done previously is order separately and declare only one of your invoices. I did this last week when I got a catback/downpipe and basically crossed the border as if they were one item. You might be able to do this with a camera and a "kit" lens etc.

Sorry if it sounds like I'm a really shady person, I'm just cheap and generally respect the law :haha:

What I want to know, is how on earth you are going to spend $3000 on alien bees?

Its some of the most affordable stuff out there, how much are your ordering that you can rack up that large of a total? totally jealous though :whistle:

http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/4834/tariff2fa3.jpg

No duty, but HST. "Cameras, lenses and flashes"

This is in the same chart that I have for my Nexus materials.

"Rice Cooker"

LOL

this is risky. I picked up some car parts for my friend out of the country, he gave me a 'fake' receipt to reduce the tax of which I was aware, but the border agent searched online for the "real price" and I got fined and a record... =/

You can buy a decent Profoto two head monohead kit for $3000.

it's not worth it imo, all they have to do is go on google and they'll find out really fast that you are lying

from what I hear, once you get a record, the guys may end up stopping u and inspecting your car everytime

car stuff is worse than photo stuff though
I've seen people cross the border in ricers and they end up getting pulled over and their cars get torn up as the border ppl think they might have installed something on it and tried to bring it over without paying taxes/duties

77Civic1200: I'm ordering not only for myself but for a buddy too. we came out to a total of 6 AB strobes so thats already almost $2,000...plus a couple of soft boxes and other accessories, thats easily $3000 :)

I'll probably wont ask for a fake invoice as paying HST is not too big of a deal for me....im trying to avoid extra costs but also trying to keep it as legit as possible.


forgot to ask, on their website they asked for "Shipped to you via:"
since im shipping it to TSPshipping, Should I put it as "Ground residential" or "Ground commercial"?

Thanks for the help !

I'm thinking you might want to give TSB a call just to make sure:
360.945.0740

Ship those ABs to a US address near border.. bring ur frd n a model (girl frd) and your camera. Pick up Abs, do a shoot on the model with ABs, test them as well. Drive back Van with the ABs. If officer ask, show them the pics. No tax at all!

LoL, that's even worse! They won't let you into the USA in the first place if you do that!