Hi all,

Long time reader, 1st time poster! I'm currently compiling my Goods To Follow list. The wiki and forum search have been infinitely helpful about grouping items etc. etc..

However, I have two desktop PCs I built myself that I will eventually ship to Canada. Can I just list "Custom Built PC" without any serial numbers or will I have to list every single component and serial number? (I will swap out the power supplies for 110V.) Are keyboards, mice, cables, flash drives etc.. considered part of the computer or do they too need listing?

Excited about landing!

Wow. I don't think I will make so detailed a list. I will probably say Dell Desktop computer or something like that. I doubt they will really care for all the details. I certainly would NOT take appart the computer to figure out the serial number of each HD and CD-ROM drive and off the power supply and...

My main concern was that my custom built PCs do not have a serial number like a PC bought from Dell/HP.

Just call it 'Generic PC - no label, no serial #'. If you consider it an appliance, like any other, why would it necessarily need a serial number?

WoW - Detailled list or what??

Due to a whole set of issues we couldn't find our "Goods to Follow" List when we arrived at Toronto and had to write one out and return it to the airport the next morning before we flew onto Winnipeg.

The guys and Girls at customs were brilliant and our list was about 15 things.......... Kinda read :

Crate of clothes
Selection of Photos/Painings
Selection of Hand Tools
Scuba Diving Equipment

and so on......... Perhaps we were lucky or they felt sorry for us, who knows

When I shipped my home-built PC over I put the first part of the Windows serial number on the list because the Windows sticker is on the side of the case.

I think the reason they ask for serial numbers is so that you don't bring another computer over in a year or two and claim it's the one you declared on landing; so it's unlikely to cause problems when you first arrive.

Thanks for the replies.

@MarkG - Good idea. Actually both PCs are now exclusively Linux but have Vista/XP stickers on them from when I tolerated Windows' incompetence.

So excited was I at landing (and trying to make a short connection to London ON), that I forgot to ask the customs officer.

Luckily the PCs were built using an online retailer and I can still dig out the invoices from my gmail account. And some of the components have date stickers on them.

That's the kind of list we brought. Everything was okay, including our garden tools