I am shipping a project pin up from Iowa and looking for online documents that have to be sent to the guy shipping it for me.

I am thinking I must treat it like an import vice him treating it as an export since I am making the declaration and paying the taxes.

If I deal with it as an import what I am getting out of reading this is that I send a couple of documents from here to him to include with the shipment.

http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/import/acc-resp-eng.html#P266_22757

I am guessing it's these two documents with two copies of each and using an HS # of 9504.30.00.19

http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications/forms-formulaires/ci1.pdf
http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications/forms-formulaires/b3-3.pdf

Is that the process to send off the documents off electronically to the guy shipping them? It doesn't seem right to me though since the declairation can't be signed by me until it's here.

Any help would be appreciated.

When I imported a game from TX, I had to take all the paperwork down to a customs office (kennedy and 401 area) and pay the taxes on the spot. (I can't recall if the game was still in transit or if it had hit a warehouse by that point)  It was a long time ago, so the details are a little fuzzy.

D

I brought in a game 2 years ago from Texas with another one coming any day by Forward Air. The seller just filled out one form provided by Forward air and when I picked the game up at the airport, I walked over to airport customs, showed them the waybill with the value and paid my taxes and drove away. Pretty simple and the sheet provided by Forward Air was simply the sellers address, mine, brief description of the item (pinball) and the declared value.

ME

That is just the waybill, but Forward Air is charging an additional $40 to fill out a customs document from what I understand that they automatically incorporate into your shipping price. If you fill out the document(s) then you save $40. I am thinking putting pen to paper on a document isn't worth $40 so I will fill it myself. Just not sure what document it is beyond the waybill?

http://www.forwardair.com/forms/online/OnlineBOL.pdf

PFFFT!  For $40 you're going to put yourself through all of this??  It's $40!  With my time being at a premium these days that doesn't sound like too bad of a deal to not have to search for the right paperwork or be concerned about filling it out correctly.  (or even if you've filled out the right form)  

Sounds like you've got lots of spare time... can I have some?  

D

Doug leave him alone, the chair force doesnt pay well these days.

It's not that simple. Forward Air certainly does not have their stuff together. I have phoned them 4 times and gotten 4 different quotes and several different explanations. Ultimately I don't want the seller to show up without having all the proper documentation. It's a case of if you want something done right you have to do it yourself.

They also have a $60 warehouse charge in YYZ that they neglected to mention when you talk to them on the phone when getting quotes from the head office. In my conversation with the Toronto office they came up with that charge.

Yes I guess that I am apparently not so wealthy as some of you high rollers. $40 + another $60 or a $100 difference in shipping to me is a considerable descrepency to pay so resolving an issue as opposed to throwing money at the problem is the course of action I am going.

All in all it is looking better to still send it to Buffalo even when considering in the drive. If you send it to YYZ they levy a $60 charge on that they don't in BUF. You also are required to pick up documentation, drive 20 minutes to customs, clear the item, drive 20 minutes back and get your item. I can be in BUF in a little over 2hrs and customs is on the route coming back. So in the end you end up saving $40+60+another $50 on these shipping while adding less than 2hrs to the entire transaction with the extra drive. For $150USD it starts to become clear why you would examine all of these aspects.

The CCI form needs to be filled out by you or the seller.  Some of the freight companies know this if they are competent with cross border shipments.  Some require a broker as they don't want to deal with it at all.  Anyways, here's the link:

http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/import/acc-resp-eng.html

Download the CCI form.  It's easy to fill out and not worth the $40 charge once you do it once and realize how easy it is.

Thanks for the info.

Glen,

I can give you a copy of the paperwork that i've kept from sellers in the US, its pretty straight forward.

I've used EGL and a few others, I just pick up from their terminals around yyz. This was cheaper than me driving to buffalo by far.

By the sounds of it, Medvet's experience mirrors my own.

I brought a game in from Texas last year. I'd never imported anything before, so I was a little bit apprehensive.

The vendor used Hercules Freight --> http://www.herculesfreight.com/. Shipping charges were $299. Not sure if the vendor took a cut of that for paperwork or not.

When it arrived in Toronto, Hercules faxed me the appropriate paperwork. I went up to the customs office and paid the taxes. Make sure that you have something that shows the pin cost and the shipping cost. The vendor only provided a total amount, but I had the e-mails that showed the breakout. The customs guy was cool and subtracted the shipping fee from the invoice.

I took the paperwork to another office in the same building. They faxed something to Hercules to release the machine. The machine was in the garage by the time I got home from work.

Everyone involved - Hercules, customs, release team - made it very easy.

I think we're all forgetting the most important question, here... what game is it?  

Good consideration. I can assume that they could send me the paperwork for customs and cut out some of the running around to pick it up.

What I am being told is the shipment comes across held in bond. To my knowledge this means it hasn't cleared customs but is held in a bonded warehouse until you clear it. So for documents I was told on my last conversation with Forward that they only require a commercial invoice and the waybill. I am thinking that the CCI form should accompany the invoice the guy supplies for the purpose of crossing the border. I will still be required to clear it afterwards.

Does that sound right?

Quoted from machine.slave

I think we're all forgetting the most important question, here... what game is it?  

It's a deader than dead WW. I wanted another project and have limited my project scope to WW Sorcerer and ES for now.

I wanted a pin to work on and looking at titles I would like to keep (somewhere ) after they're done.

Quoted from mark

I've used EGL and a few others, I just pick up from their terminals around yyz. This was cheaper than me driving to buffalo by far.

This is what I was getting at.  The amount of time it would take to find the right documents and fill them all out and HOPE it's done correctly and not forgotten anything I think would be worth it to spend the extra bit of dough to have them take care of it all and know that the game will make it through customs without any headaches.

Driving to Buffalo while much easier in terms of all the paperwork BS is still half a day at the very least in terms of time plus all your travel expenses.  So a minimum of 2 tanks of gas, plus half a day at the very least to head to Buffalo to pickup a pin to save $100-150?  Doesn't really make much sense to me, unless you have a LOT of spare time on your hands.

And please don't sit there and try to feed us the line about not being as "wealthy" as some of us "high rollers"... Have you forgotten what pins are in your lineup???  I know you got good deals on all of them, but trying to sell us that bill of goods is a stretch.

D

Quoted from necro_nemesis

What I am being told is the shipment comes across held in bond. To my knowledge this means it hasn't cleared customs but is held in a bonded warehouse until you clear it. So for documents I was told on my last conversation with Forward that they only require a commercial invoice and the waybill. I am thinking that the CCI form should accompany the invoice the guy supplies for the purpose of crossing the border. I will still be required to clear it afterwards.

Pretty well how it worked. Although, I only recall seeing the invoice and waybill at my end. Not sure where the CCI form comes into play.

If it's still an open issue when I get home tonight, I can check my files and let you know what I was sent by the shipping company.

ccgc is blocked from work, but I think that they have a sticky that talks about the process. Maybe your answer is in there.

Quoted from Menace

And please don't sit there and try to feed us the line about not being as "wealthy" as some of us "high rollers"... Have you forgotten what pins are in your lineup???  I know you got good deals on all of them, but trying to sell us that bill of goods is a stretch.

D

I wouldn't say "all" of them. I have had a few reasonable deals but never did I think I was wearing a mask and gun when I left from a purchase. Most of the "deals" required huge amounts of work, long drives etc. As you know I put a lot of work into my machines which may tend to get overlooked. If I sent you some of my bills from Marco, Bay Area and other guys I bought parts from over the years, you may think otherwise. Thank goodness I work for free.

Quoted from necro_nemesis

I wouldn't say "all" of them. I have had a few reasonable deals but never did I think I was wearing a mask and gun when I left from a purchase. Most of the "deals" required huge amounts of work. As you know I put a lot of work into my machines which may tend to get overlooked. If I sent you some of my bills from Marco, Bay Area and other guys I bought parts from over the years, you may think otherwise. Thank goodness I work for free.

I have no problem with what you paid for your collection, and I honestly don't care.  I never implied you "stole" them from anyone.  What I was trying to point out is, given the cost of your collection, and the $$ you've put into it (with parts etc etc), don't try to tell us that you have a problem coughing up an extra $100-150 for a service that will give you the benefit of picking up a game 20 mins from your house vs a 5-6 hour road trip because you're not as you put it, a "high roller".

I guess what this boils down to is I'm jealous that you have enough spare time on your hands that you feel 6 hours of your day plus travel expenses is worth less than $100-150.

D

Quoted from TommyV

ccgc is blocked from work, but I think that they have a sticky that talks about the process. Maybe your answer is in there.

I read that but didn't get what specific documents are required.

As for crossing the border I doubt there a any variables when you cross a specific way. If it's going by bonded carrier to a bonded warehouse I am certain customs is only going to have one way of doing it and no exceptions.

Lack of knowledge from the shipper does not equate to variables in the process IMHO.

Doug I spend a huge amount of time away and there is some compensation for working often 25 days or more straight while away from home. Not what you would expect i.e. you do not get a day off for each weekend day you work you get about half of that. I consider myself an organized person and plan around these dates etc. Taking half a day out to go pick up a pin on a day off is really not an issue when it's planned down to the day. My kids are teenagers and my wife knows I like doing it so no one makes a fuss at home about it.

Quoted from Menace

I guess what this boils down to is I'm jealous that you have enough spare time on your hands ...

Doug,

I think your kids are similar in age to mine. Necro's are older. Right now we are in the phase where our kids want to be with us. Hence the lack of free time. I'm sure Necro will agree, there comes a time when the kids don't want to be around you as much and they want to hang with their friends.

Enjoy your lack of free time. I have friends with older kids and many have said I am in the  best "phase" of family.

Duane

Ok some more information on how Forward Air works that may be of interest:

I found out why they were all over the map for pricing the shipping. When I called the first guy took the size of the machine packed itself. Now as soon as you get into palletizing a pinball they price based on "dimensional weight". Basically the size of the pallet and the height set the price so a pinball sitting on a 36 x 36 pallet costs $148.42 to Buffalo in this example. The same pinball shipped on a 40 x 40 is $183.24. They allow for 319lbs and 390lbs respectively in those dimensions regarless of how much it actually weighs as long as it's under. Now here's the kicker, in chatting with the branch who is receiving the pinball for shipment, they will charge just for the weight of the unit and not the dimensional size if it is not palletized. The funny thing is they will palletize and band it for you if you do all the wrapping up before hand at no charge. So it ends up being less expensive and less work if you bring it to them for them to palletize it because they base the shipping on the actual weight and not the "dimensional weight". For instance WW weighs 235Lbs and I can't off hand think of many machines that will hit the dimesional weight value.

For those of you that might be interested a 36 x 36 pallet which would be the most efficient size to put a pinball on is a "beverage" pallet. Your not going to find those at most shippers. Most are 40 x 40 or 40 x 48. Pallets are 5" high for your calculations and again get factored into that "dimensional weight" equation.

If you wrap it up for them to palletize it the cost is $128.59 to Buffalo in this case. I estimated 260Lbs which is 235Lbs net weight for the machine plus 25Lbs worth of packing junk around it. I don't think you'll have anywhere near 25Lbs worth of stuff on it. Insurance $1 per $100.

For payment they take cashiers check, business check or money order. I asked if postal money order is ok and they said yes.

YYZ charges $60 to pick it up. Buffalo does not as do most other US offices I have been told. When I asked why Toronto did they said t was Canada and they do things differently up there. I guess putting the screws to you for an unexpected $60 is differently. All depots will hold the item for 48hrs after they notify you for no charge. Each day thereafter is $30/day to hold your item.

I know this isn't huge $ differences but when you are trying to send a guy the right amount of money to ship your pin, you don't want to look like your trying to stiff the guy and get the value right. At least this way you will know by the way it is packed up what to ask when they quote it. The worst case scenerio using a 40 x 40 pallet and shipping to YYZ with the pickup charge was over $300 all things factored in. To ship to BUF using actual weight is $129. That is a big difference in my view and was worth investigation. At $300 that gets into NAVL pricing territory without anywhere near the level of service. Just doesn't compute. If this weren't a project I wouldn't think twice about using NAVL instead.

Another variable is the fuel surcharge. It changes weekly. If your getting something shipped you should also get an update on your estimated shipping charge just before shipping to get latest rate.

Quoted from necro_nemesis

It's a deader than dead WW. I wanted another project and have limited my project scope to WW Sorcerer and ES for now.

I wanted a pin to work on and looking at titles I would like to keep (somewhere ) after they're done.

Why didn't you mention the sys 11 choice before . That proto ES is still sitting in my storage waiting for me to get to it. Altho it's more cosmetically needing help than electronically so probably wouldn't fit the challenge you want. Plus it would take a good trade to get it out of my hands

We have chatted about that one before. Still have it eh? We need to chat again.

I should have grabbed one for a good price out of Vermont when it was offered to me while I was out there. My mind just wasn't on ES at the time though.