my advice, dont try to aviod the fees
customs is not stupid, if they think you are avoiding fees (a tax), they will come after you

you got lucky with the playfield, have a beer

Just luck of the draw

Order legs for the Baywatch machine as well?

You may get a bill in the mail from Fed Ex in a few weeks. I have shipped things from the States and had this happen. Arrived at my door without any fees, and then got the bill later with customs / brokerage fees.

Yup, me to. Several times in fact.

http://www.cgcc.ca/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7594

You know it's messed up when that occurs ... lol

If Fedex/UPS is involved there is a pretty good chance you will get a bill. ( since they will charge you a fee on top of it ) They grossly over charge for fees too. Call and speak to a manager, ask them how they come up with this.... ( might not be exact numbers anymore )

$0-20 free

$20-$100 is a $15 clearing fee

Then above $100 is a percentage. LOL, its the same fucking paperwork, pure gouging, its pathetic.

I don't order anything from the States unless it can ship via USPS (which arrives via Canada Post). I avoid UPS like the plague, nasty brokerage fees every time!

My last three purchases all have been charged tax ... And nicely slowed down my delivery time as they explore my packages!
If you want to get a game over the border I have a custom broker than I'm on retainer with!
You have my number !

Where did the playfield come from? Was it shipped from the US? Or was it CPR in Canada? Or Mirco in Germany?

The brokerage fee is a fee for a brokerage house to pay the sales tax upon the item entering the country. When you ship with USPS, Canada Post farms out the brokerage 'service' to a separate brokerage house. Fedex and UPS use an internal brokerage service, so without competition, their brokerage fees are quite high, and they never not charge brokerage.

Ordering from the US is usually a bit of a rip-off. I just ordered from Pinball life some items with a value of just under $300USD. They gave options to ship FedEx @ approx. $65USD(no mention of anything about customs or what the fees would be which sucks)and was bad enough then I get the parcel with a $103 customs fee. I agree with another earlier post go with USPS as that is usually the least expensive option and stay away from ordering from some of these vendors that don't give you the FULL COSTS upfront as they really don't care once they sell you the product. Lets just hope they don't slap a 25% tariff on pinball parts or machines soon.

Only use USPS I make sure I tell anybody I'm buying parts off I only use USPS before I pay.

I've had stuff show up with no fees and taxes, was just dropped off.

I've had stuff show up with taxes applied.

There doesn't seem to be a rhyme or reason.

If you want to get philosophical about it, I feel fortunate to buy pinball stuff in the first place, and that comes with paying my taxes.

I agree we are lucky that we can buy parts for our high priced toys but being butt @#$#%! by the shipping companies is never a pleasurable experience. I guess that's the price we pay to live in the best country in the world - CANADA!!!

I don't mind paying taxes on goods purchased. The made up processing fee of $10.00 and another delay of 3 to 10 days while it's out for processing is infuriating.

Has anyone considered opening a marcos or pbl style shop in Canada? I'm sure most parts are from China anyways?

Yup they screwed me once never again. USPS or nothing.

That is the best advise for sure. Problem is, I doubt USPS would ship a boxed playfield. They have size and weight limits that are a lot less then UPS/Fedex.

Yes I always forget about that.

Oh that sucks! Ouch!

Normally you will.

I thought this was brought up on pinball revolution with bringing games into the USA for a show. Someone mentioned that you can get a form stating that it is product of Canada already. You’d need to fill out the paperwork before going across

I've requested this paperwork at the airport when flying out of Canada, which I show again coming back in (it was electronics that I didn't want to be accused of buying in the states). I'm sure this can be done for a playfield.

There must be someone that does this on a semi-professional level here in Edmonton.

But I honestly can't blame anybody for not wanting to do this as a career (or even as part-time work). 2Pac is Super toxic, and the whole clearing process is repetitive, finicky, and very time-consuming. The worst part is when you think you are finally finished and then watch the clear die-back over the next 3 months... I'm getting angry just thinking about it...