This makes me smile, to see Jeannie, signing off as Head Over Heels!! :)



Everyone else ... wow! a lot of food for thought there. I think we all learned something and I learned a LOT! I'm not normally an online shopper or cross border shopper, thus my lack of knowledge in this whole subject!

Thanks!!! .... we'll see how the adventure goes! :)

We always ship internationally through the Post Office, because there are no additional brokerage fees assessed. UPS and FedEx, as others mentioned, do charge those fees, which can be quite hefty! If the customer does not pay the fees, they bounce back to the shipper... and I found that out the hard way once! So it's ONLY USPS, the Post Office, for international orders, from now on.

That said... there is no package tracking available for those economical USPS flat-rate envelopes, either. And while *most* of them do get delivered just fine, occasionally one goes missing. It is a big world out there! So if you're buying internally, it's important to check to see if the merchant is providing you with insurance. It is important to note that USPS does not offer any insurance on the flat-rate envelopes, so merchants have to buy it from a third party, such as Shipsurance.

In case you're wondering, we insure all of our international packages through either Shipsurance or USPS, because we don't like unpleasant surprises any better than our customers do!

Thanks for the further info and insurance concerns, FF!

I had been wondering with your proximity to the border that you might be driving it across, and sending via mail/courier on this side. I know some of the companies near the border do that, to "know" it's cleared customs and truly on the way to the purchaser.

We don't drive our packages across the border, though we are only a half-hour away (not counting bridge delays)...

We are always asked, when we visit Canada, if we are bringing any goods into the country. Betcha we would open a can of worms if we said yes!

Seriously, it probably would not be worth the time and money (gas and bridge fees) to carry the packages across and ship them from the Canadian side. We would have to charge for the time spent doing that, and I don't think that our customers would come out ahead if we did that. Plus I don't need anything else added to my "to-do" list right now! :wink:

Totally understand ......... unless the volume justifies, it would make no sense at all!

You have such lovely fabrics. Is it possible for you to mark the package as gift when shipping to Canada?
Thanks! :)

I should let FF answer this herself, though I will comment, as being the originator of this thread, I wouldn't want anyone to jeopardize their business to ship materials to me.

Taking the risk and calling a business transaction a "gift" would be just that ... risky! I would suspect if someone wants to stay in business they wouldn't want that risk taken.

As I said, JIMHO!!

You are right. Thanks!

It's a smart thing not to drive packages into Canada if you're the vendor, without doing a full declaration. The border guards get REALLY picky about that. When I worked for our family business, and would go down to the states to visit my mom's mom, they would ALWAYS ask me if I was bringing anything over. I never did, but I know that during the mail strike a few months ago, some small business owners just had to chance it. Similarly, marking as a gift when it's not - they check the return address to see if it sounds "businessy."

One thing I have learned is that if the item was made in North America there are no duties but you may have to pay our taxes (ontario) when you pick them up. Also the big thing they watch for is the value of the items being went. I picked up one item from an exchange here and was dinged with a $40 charge but it had a declared value of $200. I agree if you can break down the shipment in to smaller amounts, depending on what it is you are buying, I would. I am in Southern Ontario so I don't purchase a lot on line, most of my experiences have been through the board.