Shipping from US to Canada - how long does it take?

[Bookwyrm]

Hello,

To anyone who has had a ring shipped from the US (David Klass) to Canada, around how long does it take? Will it get held by customs, and do you pay HST when it is delivered to you or will they call you?

Thank you!

 

[Mooshi]

He ships wicked fast, got to me in a day or two. Not held by customs, and I didn't pay anything extra.

 

[Dreamer_D]

If the declared value of the item is greater than about $500 Canadian you will be charged HST (or GST/PST). The shipping company will collect the money COD if the amount due is less than $500 or so. If you owe more than their threshold then they will hold the item in customs until they get ahold of you be email or phone to pay the duties. So in my experience for lower ticket items shipping is not delayed and takes however long the shipping company promises. For higher value items my goods have usually been delayed one day for customs.

For items under $500 the government usually does not bother collecting taxes on import, though I recently had a weird experience with UPS where they did, but the vendor described the contents as something strange and it may have affected things.

This is my experience importing many items from the US over the years. I have not bought from DK.

 

[chamois]

I think it will depend where you are in Canada. If on the West Coast, likely it will take longer. It always does for me. Nothing purchased from DK either unfortunately.

 

[butterflyrain]

It took around two weeks for me, and luckily, it didn't get held up in customs.

 

[winetime12]

I ordered earrings from James Allen back in November and I got them in about 3 days. I had to pay the tax through Fedex (they called me and gave me the link to the site to do that) then upon delivery I just had to show proof that it was paid. I didn't get charged any duty, just HST and a $10 Fedex fee (they were about $1500 CAD).

 

[Bookwyrm]

He ships wicked fast, got to me in a day or two. Not held by customs, and I didn't pay anything extra.

I’m glad to hear he ships really fast! I’m debating whether to have it shipped to me while I’m in Canada or pick it up during my layover in LA on my way back to Australia. DK hasn’t started making the ring for me yet and I just received my first CAD yesterday, so I wasn’t sure if I’d have enough time to get it shipped to me, as I’m in Canada for around 3 more weeks only.

 

[Bookwyrm]

If the declared value of the item is greater than about $500 Canadian you will be charged HST (or GST/PST). The shipping company will collect the money COD if the amount due is less than $500 or so. If you owe more than their threshold then they will hold the item in customs until they get ahold of you be email or phone to pay the duties. So in my experience for lower ticket items shipping is not delayed and takes however long the shipping company promises. For higher value items my goods have usually been delayed one day for customs.

For items under $500 the government usually does not bother collecting taxes on import, though I recently had a weird experience with UPS where they did, but the vendor described the contents as something strange and it may have affected things.

This is my experience importing many items from the US over the years. I have not bought from DK.

Thank you for your super detailed reply! This may be a silly question but what does COD mean? Am I correct in my understanding that if the HST owed is less than $500, they won’t hold the item? This is my first time ordering jewelry online, so I’m a little nervous!

 

[Bookwyrm]

I think it will depend where you are in Canada. If on the West Coast, likely it will take longer. It always does for me. Nothing purchased from DK either unfortunately.

Thank you for replying. I’m in Ontario at the moment, so hopefully it won’t take too long.

 

[Bookwyrm]

It took around two weeks for me, and luckily, it didn't get held up in customs.

2 weeks! I hope it doesn’t take that long for me…

 

[Bookwyrm]

I ordered earrings from James Allen back in November and I got them in about 3 days. I had to pay the tax through Fedex (they called me and gave me the link to the site to do that) then upon delivery I just had to show proof that it was paid. I didn't get charged any duty, just HST and a $10 Fedex fee (they were about $1500 CAD).

Winetime12 - Thank you for your reply! Were your earrings $1500 or was your HST $1500?

 

[Dreamer_D]

Thank you for your super detailed reply! This may be a silly question but what does COD mean? Am I correct in my understanding that if the HST owed is less than $500, they won’t hold the item? This is my first time ordering jewelry online, so I’m a little nervous!

Cash on delivery. When the amount owed is small… sometimes less than 500 but I’ve sometimes paid a little higher this way.. the driver will collect the owed money when they deliver the package. When you owe a higher amount they like to collect it in advance. You can often pay online, if you track your package it will show the amount owing as soon as it clears customs.

You should just assume it will be held for one day extra. Saves anxiety. Honestly it’s so rare for it to arrive on time in my experience! There is always some delay it seems.

So if he ships overnight service it will actually take an extra day. Two day service takes three days. And of course nothing happens on weekends so I ask vendors to hold my items so they can ship on Mon/Tuesday. Any later in the week and there is a risk of it being delayed to where it’s the weekend then nothing happens until Monday and I don’t like my expensive items being held by the shipper over a weekend. Just more opportunities for loss or theft.

 

[chamois]

Thank you for replying. I’m in Ontario at the moment, so hopefully it won’t take too long.

I am guessing it will be quicker shipping to Ontario. Fingers crossed for you! Good luck.

 

[chere]

Pay for overnight delivery and give yourself a couple of extra days for delays.

With UPS, I check the tracking number daily to see if it's cleared customs overnight and out for deliver in the morning. I pay the customs fee online. The driver does not collect cash on delivery and they don't wait while you do it online. They will stick the "missed you while you were out" sticker on your door and they come back the next day. They don't even ring the bell or knock... Edited to add: they will deliver your package if you paid your customs bill online before they arrive.

Fedex delivers the package and sends the customs invoice a month later. I have a Fedex profile and I save the $10 processing fee. I don't know if I need to pay HST or HST plus duty until I get the invoice.

DO NOT ship with USPS. I had a package that was lost in Canadian Customs while it was clearing customs.

 

[chamois]

Pay for overnight delivery and give yourself a couple of extra days for delays.

With UPS, I check the tracking number daily to see if it's cleared customs overnight and out for deliver in the morning. I pay the customs fee online. The driver does not collect cash on delivery and they don't wait while you do it online. They will stick the "missed you while you were out" sticker on your door and they come back the next day. They don't even ring the bell or knock... Edited to add: they will deliver your package if you paid your customs bill online before they arrive.

Fedex delivers the package and sends the customs invoice a month later. I have a Fedex profile and I save the $10 processing fee. I don't know if I need to pay HST or HST plus duty until I get the invoice.

DO NOT ship with USPS. I had a package that was lost in Canadian Customs while it was clearing customs.

That is very interesting. Our experience on the West Coast of Canada with FedEx is different. We get an email, or phone call requesting payment (gst & pst) prior to customs clearance.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Am in the process of having a package delivered by ebay via DHL, and they sent me an email invoice for the taxes and indicated they would hold the package until they were paid, and this was on a shipment valued under $500 CAN. So apparently everything depends on the shipping company! With UPS and FedEx the process was as I explained above. I am on the West Coast, as apparently this varies by region too!

 

[winetime12]

Winetime12 - Thank you for your reply! Were your earrings $1500 or was your HST $1500?

The earrings were! The tax was about $207

 

[Bookwyrm]

Thank you so much for all the detailed replies everyone! I've decided to do a longer layover in LA on the way back to Australia so I can pick up the ring from DK in person and save myself some stress. I'm also excited to have a look around his store and I've heard Singlestone is nearby too!
In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have read all those threads online about peoples' jewelry getting lost/stolen in transit

 

[Dreamer_D]

That is by far the least stressful option! What will you be collecting anyway?

 

[Bookwyrm]

That is by far the least stressful option! What will you be collecting anyway?

Hi Dreamer,

I’ve asked David to make me a bezel RH ring with a floral basket and a round brilliant from Brian Gavin, however, I still haven’t decided on a few things, and I need to approve the CADs in the next week so that it’s done in time.

I will probably make another thread to ask about design ideas, as I’m a bit stumped and really bad at making design-related decisions

This is a bit random, but would it be ok if I could send you a link to my diamond, just for a second opinion? I’m pretty new to the world of super ideal diamonds, and this is my first time purchasing unseen, so quite nervous over here… I’ve already purchased it, but I swapped over to it last minute from another one. I actually found this BG Black diamond in the BG Blue section of their website, and it was a bit of a spur of the moment decision to swap to it. I’m just a little worried about the graining in combination with the medium blue fluorescence, but I probably shouldn’t be, knowing that it’s a BG stone…

 

[Dreamer_D]

you could post the specs and people in RT can comment!

 

[Bookwyrm]

you could post the specs and people in RT can comment!

Hi Dreamer,

Thank you! I posted the specs in RT just now