PayPal has put up an offer where you can skip paying the duty at select US retailers from March 26th to April 3rd. Simply enter the promo code DUTYFREE at checkout when using PayPal to pay.
US Retailers Participating
- Bloomingdales
- Buckle
- Cache
- Chefs
- Crate & Barrel
- Garnet Hill
- Guitar Center
- JOS A Bank
- Macy’s
- Motosport
- Readingglasses.com
- Rocky
- Saks Fifth Avenue
- Sears
- Shoes.com
- True Religion Brand Jeans
- Utrecht Art Supplies
- Woodwind & Brasswind
Now if only Macy’s would waive its something like $30 shipping/handling fee to Canada!
I don’t see the big deal here. there isn’t any duty on MOST items coming from the US anyway.
You might pay sales tax, but that’s not the same as duty. Duty is what you pay to import specific types of products into Canada but fur the most part there is almost no duty anymore.
For the few categories of items that duty does apply, the “Duty Free” option is not up to Pay Pal to determine. That’s up to the CBSA. Pay Pal has no jurisdiction to waive duties the CBSA might determine are owing at the time the goods cross the border. You don’t pay duties at checkout when you buy online.
That being said,
@bhlombardy I believe all of those companies listed uses the fifty-one checkout which includes the mandatory duty on checkout for those websites listed. So this deal is technically with fifty-one where you don’t have to pay those fees upon checkout, or will you get any surprise duty fees.
Of course, fifty-one probably overcharges, no doubt.. but i guess they are “waiving aka paying for those fees” ..
@ lil E: You’re missing the point. No one can impose duty charges except CBSA (Canada Border Services Agency). And if any one else IS collecting them, they are collecting them falsely. In the same respect, NOR can anyone EXEMPT you from duty charges except the CBSA. The final dettermination is the CBSA. Not a retailer, and not a payment handler. A broker MIGHT collect it, and submit it to CBSA if it’s owing, but they cannot “waive” the duties. It’s just not up to them to do so.
FURTHERMORE, and for the most part, items coming into Canada are NOT subject to duty. That’s what NAFTA is all about. Of course, there are some MINOR excptions: think along the lines of Alcohol, Tobacco, Meat, produce, dairy items, other restricted items. — Under certain circumstances and conditions you are allowed to import certain amounts of each. Exceeding those amounts, outside of the conditions, requires you to pay duty on the excess amounts.
For example, you can drive across the border (for a couple of hours only) and buy a frozen turkey and a kilogram of cheese, and come back and not pay any duty. (and since those items are tax-free in Canada, you wouldn’t pay sales tax either). BUT, if you came back with 5 turkeys, and 20 kgs of cheese, then CBSA would want to have a word with you, and would charge you duty on 4 of those turkeys (because you’re only allowed one) and (if i recall correctly) you’d pay duty on about 15kg or 16kg of that cheese.
If on the same trip, you bought 12 DVDs, an iPod, and 6 pairs of jeans — then you wouldn’t pay duty on those, because they don’t require you pay duty on them… but you WOULD pay sales tax at the border.
If, on the same trip, you bought a bottle of Vodka. You would DEFINTELY pay both DUTY AND SALES TAX.
If you spent 48 hours away, and bought the same amounts of the same items I just mentioned: You would STILL pay DUTY on the turkeys, and the cheese because you still exceeded the limites for importing… but you wouldnt pay tax on the dry goods (valued at less than $800). — You would ALSO be allowed to import 1.25L of that Vodka… DUTY & TAX FREE. … but if you brought more than 1.25L, you would pay both DUTY and SALES TAX on the amount of alcohol that put you over.
NOW…
Looking at the list of retailers, most of the kinds of items I imagine they’re selling would not have duty imposed on them in the first place. Dry goods like clothing, music, movies, books, electronics, and so on, wouldn’t be subject to duty.
Sales tax, YES… Duty? No.
Anyone who is “collecting duty” on these types of items — and i don’t care if it’s PayPal, the retailer, or this “fifty one” service — is doing so under false pretense because there shouldn’t be any duty on at least 95% of what those retailers sell.
I checked by pricing something, while paypal’s advertising says duty, the service clearly showed it was HST collected for the Cdn government
Is it possible that this “Duty Free” option is just a percentage discount? For example a flat 15% off or something?
Yeah, I totally get where you are coming from and I know exactly what you mean.
Maybe I’m just thinking in simpler terms. Kind of like what Amy said. That maybe they were just saying it’s “Duty Free” to give you some sort of the discount so they aren’t EXACTLY waiving those exact fees. So if “duty” is like $40, then it’s really $40 discounted off somewhere else. I mean not everybody is as knowledgeable as you with the trade agreements. Maybe Paypal was just trying to make it simpler so you know exactly what kind if discount you are getting off the total purchase. Just my opinion anyways.
Look at how many people on the forums say they paid duty coming back across the border, the fact is, most people don’t know the difference between duty and taxable allowance
I tried to shop at Macy’s with this DUTYFREE thing and I couldn’t find a way to check out with a Canada address!!! This is all bullsh*t!!