Back before Amazon had a Canadian arm, I ordered a book which was shipped from the US by Amazon's standard method, whatever that is. The package ended up at my local post office and they held it for ransom. GST, PST & a $7 flat "customs processing fee". I have had other packages come in the mail without being package-napped.

Larry at Raka told me in advance that he ships UPS and that for Canadian shipments, UPS charges various fees to be paid on delivery (he didn't know the details and couldn't say how much, but he was aware that it happened). So before I ordered, I called around to UPS, Fedex, etc. to see what they had to say. They all told me the same thing. They all have arrangements with customs brokerages, and some packages pass through the brokerage, while others sail through without any trouble.

Maybe it has something to do with the shipping documents that accompany the package (or the type of goods being shipped). I once ordered something from a US mail-order computer supplies house. They were set up to collect the GST and include it on their billing, so the shipping papers would have reflected that. I ordered it at 10:30 pm, from a Seattle warehouse, and it arrived in my driveway at 10:00 am the next morning, by UPS, with no extra charges.

Has anyone tried having epoxy shipped by Fedex?

Ken

: It is UPS that is taking Canadians to the cleaners, unfortunately the US
: suppliers don't seem to know about this and send us our orders via UPS.
: Specify a different shipper and you will most likely not pay any ridiculous
: hidden charges.