Buying direct from Japan

[skieur]

Has anyone in Canada bought camera accessories over the Internet directly from Japan? Obviously this item is not sold in Canada or I would not be buying direct.

There is supposed to be no duty on camera equipment, but there is probably GST. Do such things get shipped right through or are they stopped somewhere in a customs office? Is everything usually prepaid or are some costs paid on delivery?

skieur

 

[Big Mike]

There may be duty, I'm not sure. There is no duty coming from the US because of NAFTA...and of course, that doesn't include Japan.

You will have to pay GST, that's a given. It will most likely get stopped in Customs, or if coming via airmail of some sort, it will sit in a location for a time, while the customs paper work goes through all of it's red tape.

There will most likely be some sort of brokerage/customs fees. From my experience, these are hard to predict, so you may have to pay them upon receiving the shipment...as opposed to prepaying...but check out the courier for details.

Just curious, what is it that you can't get here? Might it be easier to have a camera store in Canada or the US, order it for you? Might cost a bit more but be less of a hassle for you.

 

[skieur]

There may be duty, I'm not sure. There is no duty coming from the US because of NAFTA...and of course, that doesn't include Japan.

Just curious, what is it that you can't get here? Might it be easier to have a camera store in Canada or the US, order it for you? Might cost a bit more but be less of a hassle for you.

A HD high resolution slide copier. The company does not deal with any camera store and so far no camera store will order it for me.

skieur