USA package held at Canadian customs..

[mastercool]

So here's the story.

I recently bought a 13" MBP on ebay. Seller shipped out UPS. Told the seller to mark the items down to $50 and as a gift because I don't want to pay any outrageous fees.

Now honestly I've bought lots of stuff online and this has never happened to me. The tracking # shows that the package is being held at customs. Seems they did a random inspection and now they know what the package includes.

Has anybody been in this situation before? I guess I'll have to pay the fee now, but does it get cleared? Useful information is appreciated, thanks.

[Jucius Maximus]

Congratulations, you will probably be on the CBSA hit-list for 7 years now due to false declarations, and have your address flagged for more thorough screenings.

Items with false declarations can be seized, so you may not actually get the MBP.

[Akraz]

Mac Book Pro Im assuming? That sucks dude. lol

[Lulz]

Congratulations, you will probably be on the CBSA hit-list for 7 years now due to false declarations, and have your address flagged for more thorough screenings.

Items with false declarations can be seized, so you may not actually get the MBP.

That's all good and dandy, but he is the buyer, not seller.
He has no power of what the seller put. Seller could have put it as marijuana, buyer won't be responsible.

[koleso]

Happened to me once. In my case i had to fill out the import papers myself and provide a valid invoice + proof of payment. Went to Pearson CBSA, had 5 minutes of very unpleasant conversation with one of the officers, paid GST + PST and picked up the package from UPS.

Never had a package inspected again(and i get them very often via same courier) so to me the flagging of your name and address is bs.

[Gloaming]

who cares?

[rommelrommel]

Congratulations, you will probably be on the CBSA hit-list for 7 years now due to false declarations, and have your address flagged for more thorough screenings.

Items with false declarations can be seized, so you may not actually get the MBP.

There will be terms of release (% of the undervaluation) assessed and once paid it can be released, assuming they seize it.

Usually in mail stream they just assess taxes on the true value, but it depends... this is pretty blatent and they may go after him.

[Flyer]

You want to mark down a laptop to $50, and I will not hesitate to cut the box open ont he side facing closest to me and look for a receipt. If I do not find one, I will enter the value for a new one on the system for duty and tax calculation. Of course, since you may have actually paid less, it will be up to you to fill out the paperwork and provide proof of what you paid. All this because you wanted to see if you could beat the system...and here's the kicker: If it had been declared properly, there's a good chance it would of been released free at primary. Due to the low rating, it probably got someone's attention to the point where they sent it up to secondary for processing.

In addition, undervaluing one or two items won't get you on a list. However, retailers that are known to do this can and will get flagged. At that point, everything coming from that company or person gets sent up with specific instructions to open the package and rate as necessary.

[mcg]

Wow.. I do the same for some items (ie. undervalue them) but my 12" tablet from eBay, I didn't want to risk it and told the seller to declare it full value + insurance. Came pretty quick, paid like $100 in duties but it was worth it.

Guess you'll have to speak to them I suppose?

[broc]

And if the package went through.. and the Macbook showed up damaged or broken somehow, or was stolen/lost in transit.. the company would only be able to get $50 bucks back for it, since that's the value they declared.

Not smart.

[simms]

I hope it wasn't UPS ground or you'll get nailed twice - once for duties/tax, and another one for UPS's brokerage fees..

[koleso]

And if the package went through.. and the Macbook showed up damaged or broken somehow, or was stolen/lost in transit.. the company would only be able to get $50 bucks back for it, since that's the value they declared.

Not smart.

Maybe he was smart enough to insure it

[Jucius Maximus]

And if the package went through.. and the Macbook showed up damaged or broken somehow, or was stolen/lost in transit.. the company would only be able to get $50 bucks back for it, since that's the value they declared.

Not smart.

UPS shipments have separate values for customs and insurance.
I just did one for and RMA recently and had to specify them separately.