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Shipping To Canada?


MO Outdoorfamily

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I've always used tokens on customs forms. I was hoping I might be able to put them in a normal envelope and send them. And my post office swears up and down I don't need customs forms on anyhting less than 1 pound.

 

What's the best way to send them then? Usually I send overseas coins Global Priority mail which isn't cheap. I don't like the thought of paying $5 to ship each of these coins I need to send to Canada.

Edited by outdoorlady79
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I've always used tokens on customs forms. I was hoping I might be able to put them in a normal envelope and send them. And my post office swears up and down I don't need customs forms on anyhting less than 1 pound.

 

What's the best way to send them then? Usually I send overseas coins Global Priority mail which isn't cheap. I don't like the thought of paying $5 to ship each of these coins I need to send to Canada.

Well when I ship from Canada to the US I pay just over $2 CAD now. Not cheap, but not $5 either - I doubt if you'll have to pay that much.

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Put the coin into a padded mailer with lots of padding....fill out the Customs form attach it to the lower left corner....make sure that the address on any label is in all CAPS....send it Air Letter Post...depending on how far you are sending it...less than $2.

 

Make sure as others have said to just call it a "Novelty Token" check the "gift" box...place the value at no more than $2 US (its NOT for insurance purposes). Same method for Germany, UK, Netherlands, etc.

Edited by Go JayBee
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I'm sure this has bene discussed but since the search is broken.........

 

Do I need to do anything special to ship a coin to Canada or can I send it just like I do coins staying within the USA?

I have received over 50 trades so far from the States and most of them were sent as regular mail in a bubble-pack mailer with the mention TOKEN or NOVELTY TOKEN or GAME TOKEN marked on them. All were received here no problem whatsoever. The same holds true for the ones I sent to the States. I never put a monetary value on the mailer, and every one of my trades got to where they were going, no problem. And no one had to fill a customs notice.

 

The one problem I did get a couple of times, was when someone labeled them with a money value instead of token or gift. When a value is marked on a green tag, Customs automatically open them and then charges a customs fee when I receive the coins.

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It appears that there are several different versions of whether you have to fill out a custom's form or not.  I wonder what the disadvantages are to filling it out and sending it to make sure the post office doesn't return the package.

I'm thinking requiring the customs form to be filled out is a post office branch-specific thing. A local cacher a couple of zip codes away just slaps some postage on the bubble mailer and mails out the coin. So recently I tried the same thing on my latest batch of intl mailings. Most of them came back to me with a big form taped onto the front saying I needed a customs form. The one I sent to Canada and one of the two that I sent to the United Kingdom didn't come back. But the 3 to Germany and 1 to the UK I sent came back. And since the PO put tape all over my stamps, I had to pay postage again to send it...and stand in line for 15 minutes to mail them out. And when they were being entered into the PO's register, the screen said no customs form was required. Totally random I guess. :)

Edited by Mauison
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My post office won't let me mail to Canada without a customs form. They have requested a dollar amount be filled in as well. I always write $5 and Token or Novelty Token. I don't know if anyone has been charged a customs fee. They also tell me to address the package in ALL CAPS so as to eliminate the possibility that they will send it back (apparently that is a requirement that they can enforce if they choose to).

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My post office won't let me mail to Canada without a customs form.  They have requested a dollar amount be filled in as well.  I always write $5 and Token or Novelty Token.  I don't know if anyone has been charged a customs fee.  They also tell me to address the package in ALL CAPS so as to eliminate the possibility that they will send it back (apparently that is a requirement that they can enforce if they choose to).

Exactly...same here

I just automatically fill out the Customs form..attach it to the envelope..declare it as a Novelty Token at a very low $ value...as a gift...no questions asked. It really irritates me when standing in line for 15+ minutes..to have someone who does not know this stuff..have to slow everyone else down so they can fill out a customs form that they could have done at home before they got to the PO!

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I don't get the writing in CAPS. It's not in the IMM (International Mail Manual). As for customs forms.....Some countries and APO/FPOs require them unless item is under 1 ounce. Some require the white form regarless of weight and other will accept the green one if under 4 pounds. It gets very confusing and I work at the post office! Because I work on a military base, we do international mailings frequently (several times a day to lots of countries). The general rules are: if it is over 8 ounces, it needs a custom form. If it is obviously not a letter, it needs a customs form. If it is questionable, put the customs form on just in case. As for returned mail for customs forms.....you should not have had to repay postage. Your post office should have just had you fill out the customs form and put in back into the system. However, as with all jobs, some folks don't care and customer service has gone out the window. FYI, international postal rates have gone up as of 8 January. Do not be surprised when you do your mailings. And while postage to Canada and Mexico are lower than other international mailings, they are still internation! You wouldn't believe how many people try to send stuff to Canada with domestic postage.

 

terri

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I've received trades both with and without customs forms on the mailer. I don't think they are necessary unless your local post office requires them. I know for most of my stuff going to the states I don't need a customs form.

 

I would suggest you just mail it as you would if it were going to somewhere in the states and if they ask you to fill out a customs form put 'token' and a value of $0. Call it a gift if you want.

 

I have rarely had customs open anything and the ones I have had that arrived opened were ones where there was a value on the form.

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According to the little book (not so little) of rules at the post office that the manager pulled out, as well as the customs dec. they have from Canada, if you are sending printed material (on paper) you do not need a customs form. Any packets containing goods need a customs form.

I have had different p.o.'s tell me no/yes, but this is what the printed material from both countries state.

Canada is really cracking down on their mail and is sending a lot of mail back to the U.S. for what our postmasters say is "no good reason".

For me now, I'm filling them out, better safe than sorry and I don't want it coming back cuz someone decides to crack down.

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I've always used tokens on customs forms. I was hoping I might be able to put them in a normal envelope and send them. And my post office swears up and down I don't need customs forms on anyhting less than 1 pound.

 

What's the best way to send them then? Usually I send overseas coins Global Priority mail which isn't cheap. I don't like the thought of paying $5 to ship each of these coins I need to send to Canada.

I just started having the same problem today. What's the cheapest way to send coins internationally?

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I've always used tokens on customs forms.  I was hoping I might be able to put them in a normal envelope and send them.  And my post office swears up and down I don't need customs forms on anyhting less than 1 pound.

 

What's the best way to send them then?  Usually I send overseas coins Global Priority mail which isn't cheap.  I don't like the thought of paying $5 to ship each of these coins I need to send to Canada.

I just started having the same problem today. What's the cheapest way to send coins internationally?

AIR LETTER POST

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Just to let people know and to help canadian from getting dinged a fee. If you put a montary value over 20$ our package is opened and we are charged. (5$ handling fee + provincial and federal tax) so a 21$ value will ding us about $8.60 . It is different for every province. I recently got one that said no montary value token yet the person wrote 100$ for the value I was dinged 22$. The $4.00 game token idea seems to work. The "no good reason returns" may also be a result of mail sabatoge due to labour disputes. I heard this was happening too.

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We do not have to put a value? I am going to stop putting it on there.

 

I'm not sure that's wise. If you don't put a value I believe it'll be an invitation for them to open the package and look for the internal customs form that has the value. If you're missing THAT form, then I don't know what happens.

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I have not put customs forms on any of my trades yet.. Everything has seemed to work out..

 

Well that's probably because its under a lb. I get mixed opinions from USPS employees as to whether this 1lb limit applies to all packages or just letters.

 

Anyway, customs forms are free and fast to fill out. Since you have to go to the counter anyway, why not just fill it out?

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Just to let people know and to help canadian from getting dinged a fee. If you put a montary value over 20$ our package is opened and we are charged. (5$ handling fee + provincial and federal tax) so a 21$ value will ding us about $8.60 . It is different for every province. I recently got one that said no montary value token yet the person wrote 100$ for the value I was dinged 22$. The $4.00 game token idea seems to work. The "no good reason returns" may also be a result of mail sabatoge due to labour disputes. I heard this was happening too.

 

Yes, exactly. Most of the guys mailing coins to me from US knew about the value thing and declared low value. If anyone doesn't know that yet, please, when mailing coins internationally, ALWAYS declare low value, for example: you are mailing 3 coins, mark $6 value. As stated above, packages arriving to Canada are tax free if the declared value is $20 CAD or less! That means approximately $17 US or less! So please do not declare higher value than this when mailing coins to Canada. Thanks.

Edited by Thrasher22
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