Canadian Customs for large lens HELP

[cardinal]

1) The safest way I found is to buy via B&H as one of their many Canadian customers. Items are cleared in bulk and shipped via Mississauga (Toronto suburb) with Purolator at a bargain price.
Only takes a few days (try ordering on Monday) and gets right to your door.
2) GST is only charged to non HST Provinces. All HST Provinces residents have to shell out the full amount. For Quebec it's only 5% for the moment as opposed to 13.5% in Ontario.
Delivery address must be same as Credit card.
The added advantage is that B&H collects the full amount (shipping and customs clearance).
All you need to do is sign

[seanmcr6]

I bought my 200 f2 from B&H and saved a bundle. It was shipped UPS and all I paid was GST...at the door with my credit card.

Saved $900 Cdn over buying in Canada...with my CPS price!

That was 2 years ago, thankfully the pricing difference is much less (for pro shooters at least)

sean

[DeepShadows]

I sent you a PM mr. admin sir. Would be so grateful if you can help me

[Mt Spokane Photography]

When I ship by priority mail via USPS, I see it typically take one day to the Border, but tracking then stops and no one knows when it will be delivered, could be in a day or in 6 weeks.

B&H and Adorama have contracts with the shippers that typically cover the cost of customs handling.  Its lucretive for a shipper to ship several truckloads a day from a company like B&H, so the discount is very hefty.  amazon has warehouses at key locations around the US so they are never more than two-three days from the customer, but if it comes from a distant warehouse, they eat any extra cost to give 2-3 day shipping..

[rumorzmonger]

The downside to B&H/Purolator shipping is that as a business, I can no longer claim back the GST I pay to B&H, as they won't provide a receipt for the GST - it is all lumped into "shipping costs" (which also includes all of their phoney handling, security, duty, and brokerage fees).  With all of these extra costs factored in, I'm finding it's usually cheaper to buy from a Canadian retailer (especially with my CPS discount). 

One of the few things that are still cheaper in the US are batteries (which for some reason Canadian stores love to screw customers with...)