VANCOUVER ISLAND WINDTALK

Anyone brought in a board from the US lately? The Kona is sold out in Canada right now, but Wardog has some in Calif. I know the shipping is likely to be more from the US - $200 will get it to Vancouver, but then there is local shipping on top; presumably taxes added are the same? What about duties? Would these be applied on top of everything else? First new board I've bought since 1989; I'm pretty stoked!

if you have work trips to the mainland planned anyway, consider shipping it to "tsb shipping" in point roberts then picking it up and crossing the border yourself. maybe you could sail it a bit before you cross back so its not new! shipping costs that are not trans-border would likely be a lot less; not sure what their max package size is. i got a sail this way and it worked out ok; a mainlander buddy of mine did the pickup.

ps cant wait to race your fancy kona with my 40$ longboard (sail or paddle)!

I have had nothing but trouble shipping with UPS (need a personal address or they ship it, then ship it back without notice) or trucking outfits (if the pick-up person is not there, they ship it back to their depot which can be butthole of the world, Arkansas, and expect you to pick it up there within 24 hrs), so try to use Fedex.

Shipping across is WAY more $$ and they impose the duty which seems to vary depending on the customs mood of the day AND their very subjective brokerage fee. UPS for example like to charge more than the friggen item is worth unless under $20 Send it to Hagen's in Blaine, they call you when it's in, whopping $2 charge and hold it without charge for 30 days.

What you do at the border is up to you...if you have an importer number and have done this before, you could likely classify it as a PFD using the books at the truck crossing, find a code for it, and import it for free I did that once with rescue toboggans by having them coded as safety equipment for railways (ski lifts are classified under the railway act).

If it planes in no wind, just sail it to the ferry terminal from Blaine

I figured ship it to Port Angeles and sail it back from there. It has a daggerboard afterall if its light and upwind, and at 50 kmph it would only be 40 minutes or so. Too bad about the shipping lanes in the way!

I may find out that the Canadian distrib has a container coming in before too long. "Bruce" wasn't at Silent Sports today and the other guys said "Kona" we don't stock that brand of bike".

Dave, you could probably beat me on anything you were standing on(although I WAS the first around the mark in the first slalom race last summer; I just couldn't stay dry on the gybes! )

Usually you get charged PST, GST and a 6% or 7% import duty unless it's made in the US. Brokerage fees on top of that are based on the value of the item and are likely up to $70 for a windsurfer. So if you go pick it up you save 19% taxes plus brokerage, plus shipping. There is another trick with UPS to avoid all those charges but I won't risk getting flamed, and it probably wouldn't work for that large an item.

For smaller stuff (all kiting gear) I always use US Postal service Airmail Parcel Post. There's no PST if you address it to your business, and no brokerage or import duty. So just GST plus the mailing charge. If you send it ground mail, they usually charge you an import duty and maybe brokerage - can't remember - so best to avoid ground.

I work for Canada Post and its basically a 50/50 chance that customs will charge you pst/gst,like Kus said its up to the customs officer's mood.As for UPS they blow $35 brokerage fee plus the regular customs fee if the customs officer adds the tax's and duty.

US post Ground is probly the best if you can get the shipper to mark it as a gift and declare it at $0 and send it to your familly name,for example "To The Smith familly,Bill,Sandra,jackie,john" Add all you familly members names in most cases the customs will let it slip through as it is not going to just one person its a familly gift.this has worked for allot of my customers.

If you do get charged customs on the back of your recipt are instuctions on how to appeal the charges and get your money back.It does take some time for them to evaluate it but if its going as a gift and you got charged customs in most cases they will refund you back your money.probly takes them at least 3 months for your refund though.i have allot of E-bay junkies on my route the usually save up all there custom reciepts for a few months and send like 4-6 back at a time then three-6 months later they get there refund.

We are driving to California, maybe we can bring it back for you. Do you think I could disguise it as used kite gear!... Looks mighty long

Thanks for all the replies! The problem with writing a low amount on the receipt is that if it is damaged in shipping, the insurance only covers the declared amount. It sounds a lot easier/cheaper if its shipped from whereever Silent Sports is. I hope a container is expected soon.

do you mean silent sports in ontario? they shipped me a bic tempo back in 1995 or so, i cant remember the details!

maybe you can make a sweet deal with some of the crew coming back from baja in the next few mos.

mf4 you are correct, silent sports does not carry exocet kona's, there is no canadian distrributer either.... however if you talk to bruce this week he can get you one from the distributer steve in florida, he has ordered a kona surf for me and one for himself, and as you know as volume increases prices usually decrease... i'm not putting prices on here but i already have a price on mine also he could ship them(mine and yours)(cheaper) together to the depot here in victoria, i had already told him you were interested in a kona, by the time you get one from wardog, 200 for shipping gst brokerage fee etc exchange rate it will be cheaper to have got it from bruce....so do your self a favour pour favour and give bruce a call when he gets back...another thing to remember, if ever there is a warranty problem, the board goes back to the dealer you bought it from....cheers for now