Howard on thu 25 jan 01
The last few days have been very enlightening. One of the significant
things that I have heard is the degree to which it is difficult for
Canadians to do business with Axner and with other companies in the
United States. We do have many Canadian customers who repeatedly order
from us so I know that it can be done with at least some level of
satisfaction. I suspect that many of our Canadian customers consider the
costs and procedures to simply be a normal process for doing business.
I had already been aware of the burden of an unfavorable exchange rate
and I already had some knowledge of duties, although that knowledge
remains somewhat incomplete. Nonetheless, there is obviously more to
learn and I would like the help of this group in that learning process.
Although it will be useful to hear your complaints, it will be even more
useful to get constructive suggestions on how to make things better.
This will be good public information for all U.S. potters and U.S.
vendors. We very much appreciate our Canadian neighbors and now we have
an opportunity to learn some things that we may not have known before.
I will listen carefully to all suggestions and I will consider their
implementation. But please, please, please understand that I may not
implement them all. I will use the information and assess how it will
fit in with our policies in ways that I perceive to make sense for both
Axner Co., Inc. and our customers. The information should be valuable to
all U.S. readers.
Howard Axner
Larry Phillips on fri 26 jan 01
Howard wrote:
>
> I had already been aware of the burden of an unfavorable exchange rate
That's mostly a psychological problem, in that the names of our two
entirely different currencies is the same. If Canada used the bazoogle,
and the bazoogle was worth 65 cents US, nobody would think of it as a
disparity in the dollar.
> and I already had some knowledge of duties, although that knowledge
> remains somewhat incomplete.
I don't think even the customs folks are all that complete in their
knowledge, and it always pays to know a classification under which an
item falls. It's often true that an item MAY fall under two, three, or
even more classifications, and if you can point out the one that has the
lowest tariff, it's to your (well, the customer's) benefit.
That being said, here's the main thing you need to know. Any item made
in the US should come into Canada duty-free, due to NAFTA. Any item made
outside the US MIGHT come in duty free, but MIGHT have duty added, the
rate depending on the classification as well as the country of origin.
Don't even try to second-guess this one. It's complex (likely to
guarantee the perpetual jobs of a whole of of customs folks).
All items, regardless of whether or not duty is paid, will be charged
GST (Goods and Services Tax) and PST (Provincial Sales Tax). GST is 7%
of the item price, excluding shipping, and PST varies from (I think) 5
to 7%. In at least one or two provinces, that are combined into a single
amount of 15% (Yeah, I know, but they add the GST on and then calculate
the PST, on that total, and then round it up to 15% from 14.49, and tell
us it's a bargain. Welcome to the Union of Socialist Provinces).
You might be tempted to declare a low value on the item to save the
customer money. It usually isn't worth the hassle. If the declared value
is low enough to save any worthwhile amount of tax, the customs folks
will just check out its market value and charge tax on that amount.
> Although it will be useful to hear your complaints, it will be even more
> useful to get constructive suggestions on how to make things better.
> This will be good public information for all U.S. potters and U.S.
> vendors. We very much appreciate our Canadian neighbors and now we have
> an opportunity to learn some things that we may not have known before.
1. Never use UPS to ship into Canada if you can possibly help it. The
main reason for this is that UPS will charge a customs brokerage fee,
minimum of about $35 Cdn.
2. If you have no choice but to ship UPS, inform your customer that it
is possible for them to refuse the shipment and have it returned to the
customs warehouse, where they can clear it themselves. Unfortunately,
this only works with folks that live close to a customs warehouse.
3. Ship by mail if you can. The post office charges the taxes and a $5
fee for handling.
4. If the person lives next to a border, it is often possible to ship
via any standard method (FedEx, Mail, UPS) to a postal drop in the US.
UPS will not ship to a box number, so the service that receives the
package must have an address the customer can use. A good example (and
the one I use often) is 'The Letter Carrier' in Point Roberts, WA. I can
use my name, their address, and pick up my package when it arrives, all
for a small fee. The will optionally (at a small extra charge), phone me
when my package arrives.
This last is the best method by far if the service isn't too far away. I
often use it as much for the convenience of the merchant as for mine.
> I will listen carefully to all suggestions and I will consider their
> implementation. But please, please, please understand that I may not
> implement them all. I will use the information and assess how it will
> fit in with our policies in ways that I perceive to make sense for both
> Axner Co., Inc. and our customers. The information should be valuable to
> all U.S. readers.
As someone who has felt the frustration of dealing with a US firm or
individual, and with Canadian Customs, I appreciate your taking the time
to ask, regardless of whether or not you can make things easier. Hope
this helps.
--
If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much room!
http://cr347197-a.surrey1.bc.wave.home.com/larry/
Tom Buck on sat 27 jan 01
Howard A:
Since you asked for a response, here is mine, partly a defensive
one, of course. You also asked for comment to be posted on Clayart too.
Most US suppliers see Canada as a very marginal market and most of
them are unwilling to bother with potters here. But you, Howard, are an
exception. So your colleagues are asked to service a Canadian order with
dispatch, even though it means more bother with forms, etc.
As I gather from Sam's posts, she wanted a special elephant's
ear sponge that you stock, but wanted it too quickly for the
system.
On Clayart I suggested you favour us on prices, and some
Clayart people read that as asking you to break Canadian laws.
I had no such thing in mind; I must have written this sentence badly.
Your pricing is based on the US market, and a certain volume
of sales. If you wish to expand those sales marginally by exporting
to Canada, you should have a price list that takes into
consideration the cost of an incremental sale, not the cost of
a regular sale.
If you and other US suppliers want to cultivate Canadian
potters as an extra market, you should practice what Sears has
learned, namely, high-price everything, then run SALES, and
price-discount everything in sight. Works great, Sears captures a
bigger market share and makes lots of profit. Their department
stores and catalogue sales lead the way in Canada, outdoing even
Wal-mart.
That is what I was suggesting, I was not saying break the
law. But if a sponge normally was listed at $15 US, sell it to us
at $12 US, and so list it as such on the Customs Forms. When it gets
to us we pay $18 Cdn + 1.80 duty (a presumed rate of 10% av) + 1.38
GST + 1.57 OST = $22.77 Cdn which is still plenty costly. If it was
listed for Customs at $15 US, the cost would be $28.50 Cdn. The higher
the price the more our taxes/fees mount up.
BTW, when it comes to drugs/pharmaceuticals, the shoe is on the
other foot. US citizens are flocking to Canada to buy presciption drugs
here at way below US costs, sometimes the price would be 20% of the US
price. And just last year some Internet operations began to allow ordering
from a patient's home-city. This of course is totally against US laws, and
US Customs seized 10,000 drug shipments last year. But for people without
insurance or Medicare, reported at 40 million citizens, buying drugs from
Canada is the only way to get the medicine(s) they need at costs they can
afford.
Why are our drugs cheaper? Because years ago, our federal
government passed legislation that ordered the Big Pharma Corps to
license Canadian-based generic drugmakers to produce drugs (eg,
Valium, aka diazepam) at a small royalty. The licensing was to begin
after a set number of years beyond the start of the 17-year patent
period (now 21 years). As a result, Canada has a dozen or more
generic drugmakers who provide access to hundreds of presciption
drugs at a fraction of the cost charged by international drug firms.
If you wish to read more on this, go to
http://www.hamiltonspectator.com
In summary, Howard, please continue to supply Canadians with your
specialty items, but with perhaps a clearer understanding of our cost
structure. We'll trade you illegal drugs for "illegal" sponges, etc.
til later. Peace. Tom B.
Tom Buck ) tel: 905-389-2339
(westend Lake Ontario, province of Ontario, Canada).
mailing address: 373 East 43rd Street,
Hamilton ON L8T 3E1 Canada
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