Cyan

Did you have to pay import customs duties/taxes on anything that was shipped over from Amazon.co.uk ? Other than that, was it a fairly straight-forward transaction (including paying with Canadian credit card) ?

Thanks in advance.

BristolUK

Not if an amazon marketplace order.

Yes if it was something direct from amazonUK...but maybe not every time.

Getting There

Is the item not available on Amazon.ca? We maintain accounts on both, one for sending pressies in UK and such and the other for buying DVDs or whatever, here.

This is not an Amazon specific comment but generally speaking, we have found it expensive to bring things into Canada, although in saying that, we're more thinking from the States and especially when UPS get involved in the chain (never again!)

Eamonn & Janet.

iaink

I use a canadian card to buy pressies for shipping direct to UK rellies on amazon uk, its not a problem.

Havent shipped through amazon uk to canada, but budget to pay PST/ GST and $6 canadapost customs brokerage fee if sent by regular mail, although they by no means always collect it.

I agree with the above comment regarding UPS. Avoided like the plague, their regular handeling fees after shipping charges are a total rip off. Fed Ex is not much better. I have a bill for $33 from UPS in my briefcase for importing a $50 item. I'm holding out till the collection agency gets involved...at least that way it will cost them a bit more.

Cyan

There are several DVDs (and books) in my mental shopping basket which are not available on either Amazon.ca or the BBC Canada store. One immediate example that springs to mind is the Series 3 dvd of the Royle Family....

iaink

I'm assuming you have something that will play a region 2 PAL format disk, because thats what they will ship you...

Cyan

Good point.

Yeah - plenty of cheap DVD players in Walmart etc which will play PAL format DVDs etc. (Not sure if my PS3 will play PAL).

kastan

What i do is purchase dvd's from amazon uk via my nationwide account,and get my parents to ship them over.I have been doing this for over 2 years now,and you do not pay any custom fees this way.

fledermaus

I paid customs tax on a book from them. I had to go to the post office to pay up and get the parcel.

I paid with UK credit card

amazed

If you're buying books the book depository www.bookdepository.co.uk based in gloucester have free shipping worlwide with prices, and choice as good as amazon, if not better. delivery usually takes a week

ann m

I've got it in my mind that we came up against a brick wall when we tried to order stuff from amazon.uk to us here in Canada? Not sure if that was an address issue, a credit card issue or a postal issue!! Haven't tried recently enough to jog my brain as to what the problem was.

Suffice to say that Spooks Series 7 comes out in October, and we've already given hubby's brother the money to buy it and post it to us.

We've bought and sent plenty of stuff to in-laws' homes for various birthdays and xmas - having said that, we used a combination of Canadian credit cards and our own Canadian address for those - but got it shipped to a UK address - so perhaps it is the shipping that causing an issue.

Amazon.ca has a pitiful selection on some things. And don't even get me started on ebay or itunes !!

Biiiiink

Way back when the "new" Dr Who came out on DVD in the UK I had it shipped to me from Amazon UK to Canada. Big mistake, it cost me 24 CAD I think in fees to get the damned thing from the post office...

I only use .uk as a last resort for stuff that isn't on .com (which I get sent to me in the US and smuggle in to Canada ) - same with iTunes, buy from .ca where possible and .uk if it's not available in Canada.

I can't find any good .ca book/cd/dvd sites, rubbish selection, too expensive, slow release dates often months and months behind...

BristolUK

There are some electrical things they won't ship. I wanted a TV/VHS combo to play all my UK VHS tapes but they won't ship it abroad.

Maybe it was marketplace items? Some sellers won't ship abroad.

What I think is funny is that marketplace orders via AmazonCanada sometimes come from the USA and you pay the Canada mailing rate (around $3.50 for a dvd) but if you order the same item from the same seller via the AmazonUSA site you pay the US rate which is about $12.50.

grumpyhaggis

Please have a read at this:

http://cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/import/postal...roits-eng.html

I wouldn't want anyone to think they can have stuff posted from overseas and not be charged - although some people clearly get away with it.

iaink

In my experience, on average about half the time, maybe more.

The smaller it is the less likely the post office will hold it for collection. I often ship to my work address as that seems to make the odds even better.

To be honest that's the main reason I try and use post office shipping rather than couriers...yes, the shipping fees are often less, but the usual couriers nearly always collect, and always gouge on their brokerage and handling charges.