| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| roomloo |
Posted - 03/16/2004 : 18:48:41
To those selling tickets to other forum members internationally, read this. And since I have about as many questions as answers, if anyone with experience can fill in the blanks I'd appreciate that as well.
I've mentioned a couple times issues of insurance through the post office. I sent a couple tickets to Toronto a few weeks ago via Global Express Mail and insured it for $300. No problems. I tried to send a couple more shipments (domestically this time) through the mail that same week and got different stories from different postal employees. The first one told me that using "regular" mail, tickets are only paper and cannot be insured for any amount, but for whatever reason if I used registered mail, I could insure it for any amount as long as I could prove later that the tickets were worth that. The third time, a different employee told me it doesn't matter, no matter what method I chose, and regardless of whether it was international or domestic, insurance can't cover tickets because they're only paper. A person who sent me tickets had an even different experience -- she was able to insure them for face value, but not for the eBay price.
So a couple weeks later when I needed to send tickets to someone in Calgary, I thought screw it, this US Mail stuff is for the birds, I know FedEx's insurance is supposed to be pretty good (their website has a detailed list of things they won't insure, and concert and event tickets are not on the list). Right off the bat though, my experiences were not so great. First off, FedEx is not nearly so easy and hassle-free as US Mail. If you want to ship (or at least if you want to ship to Canada), you need to sign up for an account online (it's free), print out your own labels, and being them to the FedEx office. Their website is a nightmare. Also, once you ship they don't really give you any good feedback as to what shipping actually cost (they only give an estimate), and the charges don't appear on your credit card until sometime later. All mere inconveniences -- I haven't gotten to the worst of it yet.
I insured my shipment -- three Calgary tickets -- for $400 US. In other words, I entered a declared value of $400 (the customer service rep confirmed with me on the phone tonight that yes, that is necessary to insure a package). It shipped fast, it arrived there just fine. Then today I get an e-mail from a somewhat irate fb.net member (who never seemed to really trust me much in the first place, for whatever reason -- I really wanted this shipment to go as smooth as possible) saying that FedEx sent them an invoice for $75 CAD. $75!!!! I just called FedEx and they confirmed that yes, Canadian customs collects a duty tax based on the declared value of the package.
So while I had been advising to people before to use FedEx for shipments, I think it's clear now that you DON'T use it for international, at least to ship from the US to Canada. By the way, that package I sent to Toronto a few weeks ago via US Mail? There were never any duty taxes, in spite of my declaring a value of $300 (when I insured it). The FedEx lady on the phone tonight said it's possible that the postal service just has a way around duty taxes. FedEx obviously does not.
I don't know the answers. I don't know why there's a difference between FedEx and postal service, I don't know if there is a way I could have gotten around this, and most of all, if I ever had to ship something valuable to Canada again, I don't know what the best and safest method would be. It's kind of like you either pay an unreasonable amount in taxes or risk not being able to collect insurance -- damned if you do, damned if you don't.
Maybe UPS ... anyone have experience with UPS? |
| 19 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| offerw |
Posted - 04/07/2004 : 14:00:21
quote:
Originally posted by offerw
You should've tried a courier like DHL or TNT. I've sold three tickets for the Zenith show to a forum member. Fortunately it all went very well, mostly because I dealt with a very nice person. I had the tickets sent by courier from Pretoria to Brussels, I've sent it on Monday afternoon and it arrived in Brussels this morning. The package could be tracked all the way on the internet which helped soothe the nerves a bit. Another bit of avice to memers shipping tickets abroad: Check your bank's foreign exchange policy. I'm losing quite a bit to handling fees and the exchange rate being against my favour. At the end of the day I'm very pleased at how easily this whole thing went. You are sleeping with those tickets underneath your pillow tonight Evelyne?
wilhelm
wilhelm |
| offerw |
Posted - 04/07/2004 : 13:54:59
You should've tried a courier like DHL or TNT. I've sold three tickets for the Zenith show to a forum member. Fortunately it all went very well, mostly because I dealt with a very nice guy. I had the tickets sent by courier from Pretoria to Brussels, I've sent it on Monday afternoon and it arrived in Brussels this morning. The package could be tracked all the way on the internet which helped soothe the nerves a bit. Another bit of avice to memers shipping tickets abroad: Check your bank's foreign exchange policy. I'm losing quite a bit to handling fees and the exchange rate being against my favour. At the end of the day I'm very pleased at how easily this whole thing went. You are sleeping with those tickets underneath your pillow tonight Evelyne?
wilhelm |
| roomloo |
Posted - 04/07/2004 : 13:29:36
I'll bump this partly to remind everyone, although I'm sure most tickets have already been mailed -- and also to add some other important information I found out today.
Based on the information I had that USPS insurance was worthless for concert tickets but that Ticketmaster would re-print lost tickets as long as you had a photocopy, I went to just sending uninsured registered mail. This would give me absolute proof that a ticket had been delivered, and also, as the post office told me, is the safest way you can send anything.
However, what they did NOT tell me is that registered mail is also one of the slowest methods to send anything. I sent tickets to Saskatchewan on March 26 and they still haven't arrived. The postal worker I talked to today basically told me "good luck" as far as them getting there in time for the Regina show. It's been 12 days already -- by the Regina show, it will be 3 weeks. Apparently all registered mail sent from the US first goes to Louisiana. Another thing nobody told me until now.
Anyway, the good news is that the first of the four sets of tickets I sent to Canada via registered mail, sent on March 19th, did make it there on the 30th. I'm still worried about the other three, though. One has taken 12 days so far, another has been 9 days and needs to make it to Winnipeg in time for the Winnipeg show, and the last has only been 4 days but it needs to get to Calgary in time for that show on the 19th. At the very least, if anyone is sending anyone tickets from the US to Canada in the next few days, by all means don't even think about sending registered mail. Send it Global Express instead -- it costs $15.50, a mere $5 more than registered mail, and provides tracking, signature proof, and a 2-3 day delivery time. |
| hammerhands |
Posted - 03/17/2004 : 18:18:57
People there to "work things out" sounds like a big hairy dude named Moose with a piggy bank shaped anvil.
On the old eBay, before Paypal was popular, everything was done with money orders, I usually sent them Purolator. It must have been the same idea, always marked as documents (tickets are just documents, there should be no duty because it's a service to be completed in Canada), value $0. |
| mattb |
Posted - 03/17/2004 : 15:52:52
My brother decided to go to Buffalo to see the Leafs play with his friends a few months ago since tickets in Buffalo are so much cheaper than Toronto. They were going to buy tickets there because Buffalo games never sell out. As they were walking to the stadium one of his friends sees two tickets lying on the ground. They thought they scored and wouldn't have to buy tickets. They did rock, paper, scissors for the other ticket and my brother and the other guy lost so they were forced to get tickets. About half way through the first period two security guards come up to the guys who found the tickets with two people with them. They told them that these people bought their tickets and they have proof because they showed the credit card they used to buy the tickets and that they would have to leave. I'm pretty sure that if the tickets were stolen you could do the same thing in Winnipeg since it's a seated theatre.
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http://www.geocities.com/kittridge1/ |
| kromkamp |
Posted - 03/17/2004 : 14:33:34
Well, if you use a tracked service I dont see how that could happen. You know if the recipient got it. The only way you could run into duplicate problems is if the lost package was found by someone who tried to use your tickets, which is pretty unlikely.
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| roomloo |
Posted - 03/17/2004 : 14:21:25
Although I suppose if tickets got "lost" you can never be too sure they weren't actually stolen ... in which case there will be two copies of the same tickets floating around and it's just a matter of who gets to the venue first. I did hear someone (marbleslinger?) say something recently though about how Ticketmaster will have people at the venue who can "work things out" with you if you get screwed that way. Although it might only involve getting a face value refund. If it were general admission I figure they could just be nice and let you in anyway if they decide they believe you, but at the Cummings it might not be so favorable. |
| mattb |
Posted - 03/17/2004 : 14:06:06
Shit! I never thought of just reprinting the tickets if they got lost. If I have to ship tickets to the U.S. I'll keep that in mind and just use expresspost without insurance.
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http://www.geocities.com/kittridge1/ |
| Cult_Of_Frank |
Posted - 03/17/2004 : 13:23:41
It seems that UPS is a little better south of the border and FedEx is far superior up here. I refuse to use UPS after the last few times with them.
 "Join the Cult of Frank / And you'll be enlightened" |
| Gratefuljason3 |
Posted - 03/17/2004 : 13:20:38
3 tickets to Regina via USPS Global Priority. No problem. FedEx and UPS are somewhat more complicated and you need all sorts of customs forms, etc. At least that's the way our shipping department explained it to me. Our shipping supervisor says USPS Global Priority is the best bet when shipping from the US to Canada. - Jason |
| roomloo |
Posted - 03/17/2004 : 13:08:56
Damn, if point 2) is correct that probably answers all my problems about what to do if a shipment gets lost.
Global Express got some tickets from here to Toronto quickly and painlessly a few weeks ago. They also let me insure for $300 (which I guess I might not have to do again). So Andy, if we do that trade soon, I think I know how I'll swing it shipping-wise. Still haven't gotten my tickets in the mail, by the way, but hopefully by Friday... |
| kromkamp |
Posted - 03/17/2004 : 12:49:18
BTW in Canada you dont need to have a Fedex account or pre-print anything. I love using Fedex up here. UPS, in comparison, is a nightmare. In fact, usually its UPS with the outrageous customs fees.
Global Express is good (turns into Purolator up here), I have no problems with them.
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| kromkamp |
Posted - 03/17/2004 : 12:46:56
1)Fedex up here will not let you declare a value of > $100 on a letter. Is that the same as in the US?
2)The fedex counter person said there is no need to declare value on tickets, make a photocopy of them and if they get lost ticketmaster will re-print them.
I dont know if thats 100% true but its food for thought. It may be true, although the hassle of dealing with ticketmaster in this case could be extreme.
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| offerw |
Posted - 03/17/2004 : 10:41:23
Roomloo, sorry to see your good intentions lead you into such hassles. Looks like the easy way to get tickets to forum members would be to meet at the show, that is if the seller does attend the specific show. As my travel arrangements are taking shape it looks as if I might have extras for Brixton and Zenith. I am worried though, if I do arrange with a forum member to hand the tickets over at the gig that the person may not show up or have found tickets elsewhere. On the other hand they buyer may be worried that I will not be there with the tickets. Both parties will have to have a good deal of trust in each other. Difficult thing to work at over the faceless internet. Sad to see though that the member you dealt with did not have a bit more trust (and manners)
wilhelm |
| gunner |
Posted - 03/17/2004 : 09:09:18
If you declare the item as a gift, you can send up to $60 CDN duty and tax free through the mail. The other option is for the buyer to pay the duties and then send in the form on the package to have the duties refunded because the seller over priced the item. I have done this a few times, but you have to have some form of proof of payment to show that the purchase price was less than the declared value. |
| chrischob |
Posted - 03/16/2004 : 23:01:44
You can skip the brokerage fee if you do the paperwork yourself. Its just a matter of getting the papers from UPS, going to customs and paying the tax then going back to UPS for the letter. Kinda a pain but better then getting charged $40.
Chris Choboter
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| hammerhands |
Posted - 03/16/2004 : 21:39:29
Isn't Free Trade wonderful? |
| roomloo |
Posted - 03/16/2004 : 19:00:20
That's really helpful information Jeferey. Wish I had known before. As for USPS, it is clearly less of a hassle than FedEx. It's just that I don't trust their insurance to be any good if the package were to get lost or stolen, based on the information (conflicting as it may be) I got from various postal employees. |
| Jefery With One F |
Posted - 03/16/2004 : 18:57:10
UPS is exactly the same as FedEx.
Because they are couriers, they charge "brokerage" fees. What this means is that they fill out the paperwork to get your package through cutoms and across the border. In return, they charge a ridiculous amount of money. I remember paying $40 for my last purchase that was shipped by UPS and then another $40 in brokerage fees, etc., to UPS. I now state upfront in any international transaction that I will not accept UPS shipments.
Anyhow, to get back to the costs to the person receiving the item, if the value is declared as anything above $20 Canadian ($15 US), the buyer has to pay 7% GST (Goods and Services tax). In addition, there is a $5 handling fee for the trouble of collecting the GST. For a private company (UPS, FedEx, etc.) to fill out papers to show how much GST will cost, it's generally an extra $25-50 depending on the declared value. Then there is 7% GST on the brokerage fee, because it's considered a service.
As much hassle as it might be, USPS really is the best way to ship to Canada. |
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