Hi all,

I'm in a bit of a quandary. I'm moving to BC from the UK in 9 days and just getting the final items all packed up.

I am in need of shipping a box of items from my office (including desktop computer and printer) which I use for my business so can't wait the 8-12 weeks for them to arrive with our furniture being shipped by Pickfords so I want to send them via a courier. I've just booked through Interparcel using FX Express which all seemed to be good but I've now just found a list saying printers are prohibited items and computers are restricted!

I'm at my wits end trying to find a courier that doesn't list these items as prohibited or restricted. I do not have any scope to take them as excess baggage (I'm travelling alone with 2 cases and hand luggage already with Air Transat) and I don't want to sell and repurchase the items - the computer is less than a year old as is the printer.

Does anyone have any experience of shipping these particular items via courier to Canada from the UK? If so, who did you use?

Many thanks

Try a commercial "freight forwarder" (Google <freight forwarder "your town"> ) as they'll airfreight stuff for you. For a small shipment, such as you're describing, you may need to drop the boxes off yourself, and for the quickest access, not to mention a cost saving, request that the delivery is by pick up at/near the airport. You should find that end to end the process takes less than 48 hours, and I have made three such shipments (a few boxes and/or trunks) over the past 17 years, always for pick up at the airport (but not in Canada).

Most computers these days work on both 110v and 240v - a quick look on the spec plate, usually near where the cable is connected will tell you if it will work on 110v; occasionally there might be a voltage switch that needs to be flipped. Anything that uses a "power brick" transformer is invariably going to be dual voltage, just requiring a new cable with a different plug on the end.

Yep, exactly this. It's an iMac and dual voltage. They're almost brand new items which is why I'm loathe to sell and re-buy there. The computer is all set up for my business and I don't really want to have to do that all again!

Can I just clarify that the computer you intend to bring is your own PERSONAL computer but might have certain business applications on it?

13. The following are examples of goods which are not admissible under tariff item No. 9807.00.00 and are to be classified under the appropriate provision of the Customs Tariff:

• (a) goods for the accommodation of others, for sale or hire, or for use in a business or manufacturing establishment, or as contractors' outfits, such as office equipment and furniture, dental chairs, welding equipment, metal and woodworking machines, vehicles and trailers for commercial use;

Why not just bring it with you on your flight air cargo? You can arrange it online and it will likely be MUCH cheaper than trying to send them by courier! Air Transat's cargo department https://www.leisurecargo.com/

My son bought his computer, dj'ing decks, 7 cases of records and a myriad of other items air freight with Air Transat. He took them to the cargo department at Gatwick airport 3 hours before the flight -when he got to Canada he had them on his goods to follow / goods accompanying lists.. went to the cargo department and cleared the items.

Edited to add that I re-read your original post - excess baggage may not be of use, but air cargo can be collected the following day if necessary - don't forget your goods to follow list https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/travel-v...c-drc-eng.html - you'll need to add it to it if you send by courier or cargo - and you'll probably need to arrive before it does if you want to import it free of duty/taxes. I wouldn't bother with the printer though - they are dirt cheap here.

if it's brand new then you should get good resale value, just clone the HD on to a portable drive, use the £'s to $CAD conversion in your favour to buy a chunky machine when you get out there. printers are cheap across the world so frankly just bin that and buy one out there.

there's literally no point in complicating what's already a pretty complex situation...

What is the printer? If its an inkjet, it will be available at a disposable price over here - the 'exchange rate' on printers is 1 dollar to 1 pound pretty much. It may well be worth less than its transport cost.

Also, bear in mind that the ink may freeze in transit in Canada.

If it is a laser printer, don't even bother unless it says it is rated for 60HZ electricity, even if it does say 110 volts. It won't work properly. I made this mistake when I brought over an expensive Brother network laser printer. It was basically garbage and the replacement PSU for 60HZ was almost as much as the printer cost new....

I had a 40' sea can to fill (half of it was filled with a Defender), so we basically brought everything except the washer, dryer, cooker and fridge. Otherwise probably wouldn't have bothered with most electrical stuff.

I've shipped electrical items as part of a container package between UK and Canada, and back again. Each time I've packed electrical items that could be used with either an adaptor plug (dual voltage), or with a transformer. Invariably over 14 years some items have been replaced due to wear and tear, but throwing things away and replacing with new instead of shipping would have been a financially daft decision - a Macbook Pro, iMac, printers, power tools, TVs, Bluetooth players, kitchen equipment etc etc. add up to $10k+. Why pay that out rather than ship serviceable goods?